I have been pondering sunsets for awhile. We are so lucky to live on the 4th level of our apartment complex and facing west because we are treated to magnificent sunsets almost every day. However, it was interesting that a few days ago we had a day without any clouds resulting in a sunset that was very bland, so I did not think to take a photo. It got me to thinking about how the clouds make all the difference in designing the sunset. The clouds are the accents and sometimes the focus which make the sunsets so beautiful.
Going philosophical I understood that the clouds in our lives help us realize the beauty of our lives. Jacob was told by his father, Lehi, that although he had "suffered afflictions and much sorrow," God would "consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain." [see 2 Nephi 2:1-2]. Like Jacob we will suffer afflictions and sorrow over the course of our lives. That is part of the plan. But when we are able to look back on our lives we will see that those hard things worked together, with the Savior's help, to make our lives beautiful. I am grateful for the Savior who makes it all possible.
And then there are sunrises full of hope, possibility and encouragement. Since we face west we don't always catch the sunrises but sometimes they are gorgeous on the west side too. See the difference the clouds make? The morning is heralded by a cacophony of bird song. I love to sit with the doors open and listen. This morning was particularly beautiful and when the clouds shifted just a little we could see the full moon caught up in the display. Can you see it?
The past few weeks have been interesting to say the least. We have been recovering from being sick and trying to regain our energy. Crazy how being sick for a few days can knock you down.
Then a week ago on Saturday, after I had baked all day long to prepare muffins. raisin bars and brownies for our Departing Missionary seminar in the South mission, I went back into the kitchen and discovered the floor was covered with water. At first I thought it was a fridge issue but the water kept coming at a rapid pace from under the fridge. Going out into the hall we could hear water gushing from the flat next door. It took about an hour to reach the owner and for her to get home. As her door was opened her friend immediately shut off her water by the washing machine. But the damage had been done. Her whole floor was covered in water and most of our carpet - even into our bedroom - was wet.
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| It was just a LOT of water! |
Thankfully we had help to pull it up and put it out on the deck. Our neighbor had friends pulling up her carpet and padding. After the missionaries left about 11:00 PM another neighbor came home, saw the problem, changed his clothes and came to pull out the padding. It was about 1:30 AM when rugs and padding were pulled out and we had pulled the remaining carpet over the couch to dry.
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| More water |
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| It took a few of hours of hard labor to pull out all the wet padding and carpet and mop up the water! |
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| Wet carpet is VERY heavy! |
It was the weekend of General Conference and we had considered waking up at 2 AM so we could watch the first session of conference live. But we were already awake. Then we realized that daylight savings time was falling back so we went to bed for 45 minutes before waking up to watch conference.
It was wonderful to watch the Solemn Assembly and be able raise our arms to sustain the First Presidency for the first time since President Nelson had become the new prophet and president. But we were too tired to stay up very long so went back to bed. We have watched the other sessions on https://www.lds.org/?lang=eng over the course of the week. I am so grateful for technology [love my computer!] that allows us to watch in real time or even in delayed time, the broadcasts from across the world.
Sunday was a strange day as we were exhausted from the night before but thankfully were still able to watch conference before taking a nap.
Monday we drove to Mortdale to hold the seminar for 10 departing missionaries. We discussed getting job, getting an education, basic life decisions, etc for about 7 hours. And we had enough muffins, brownies, raisin bars with fruit and croissant sandwiches for lunch.
We limped through the week "camping" in our flat. The rest of carpet started to smell bad because it just did not dry and could not be saved. So, again Elder Ellison and Elder Bott came to the rescue to cut and pull out the remaining wet carpet.
Then Friday morning they came again to help move out our furniture so new carpet could be laid. Our sweet neighbor had asked if we could have the missionaries move the furniture and save her the cost of paying for that service so of course we tried to help. She has delayed replacing her carpet to take care of us first.
The carpet was laid and the missionaries came to put the furniture back. After working all day Saturday we have most of our flat back in order. Still a few bits and pieces to find and return to their spots.
We now have brand new carpet throughout. It is much lighter than what we had before which was not my choice but it looks nice. I am nervous about keeping it clean. We have the large area rug which we had before and we will get a few little ones to put in high traffic areas. But now we almost have our life back.
It is so strange to realize that we have been here in Australia over a year! It is kind of sad to see different flowers, bloom and then leave, knowing that we will not see them again next year. We have been here for a full cycle. It is April and fall but my northern hemisphere head still thinks of April as spring. Of course it has been warm so far and does not seem like fall at all.
We have just had transfers which released some of the young missionaries we have come to love and sent them back to their homes. It has been fun to connect with some on Facebook and be able to keep in touch. And many of the Senior missionaries will also soon be finished their time here. We miss those who have already gone and will miss those who are soon to leave. It has been a great experience to work with and make friends with people who understand and love the Gospel.
A few days ago we awoke to see a pile of furniture across the street. It looked like the person who had lived in the house must have died and everything was just put out in the street. The people in the neighborhood and those who walk by take the opportunity to go through what is there and take what they want. It just kills me to see all of the "good stuff" that is discarded. We constantly are driving by piles of furniture just set out. I saw a beautiful white table the other day but of course we left it. After about a week this pile was just gone. They hire a truck to come and gobble it all up. It breaks my heart to see things destroyed that could be of value to someone. But I guess in a city there is no other way to get rid of things. If we lived here I would find a way to get things to people who could use them. I did pick up up a lovely painting which we have here in the flat now.
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| With everything piled up in strange places and the wet carpet draped over the furniture to hopefully dry, we connected to lds.org and watched the first part of the first session of conference |
Sunday was a strange day as we were exhausted from the night before but thankfully were still able to watch conference before taking a nap.
Monday we drove to Mortdale to hold the seminar for 10 departing missionaries. We discussed getting job, getting an education, basic life decisions, etc for about 7 hours. And we had enough muffins, brownies, raisin bars with fruit and croissant sandwiches for lunch.
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| Sunset over the deck full of wet carpet and padding. |
Then Friday morning they came again to help move out our furniture so new carpet could be laid. Our sweet neighbor had asked if we could have the missionaries move the furniture and save her the cost of paying for that service so of course we tried to help. She has delayed replacing her carpet to take care of us first.
The carpet was laid and the missionaries came to put the furniture back. After working all day Saturday we have most of our flat back in order. Still a few bits and pieces to find and return to their spots.
We now have brand new carpet throughout. It is much lighter than what we had before which was not my choice but it looks nice. I am nervous about keeping it clean. We have the large area rug which we had before and we will get a few little ones to put in high traffic areas. But now we almost have our life back.
It is so strange to realize that we have been here in Australia over a year! It is kind of sad to see different flowers, bloom and then leave, knowing that we will not see them again next year. We have been here for a full cycle. It is April and fall but my northern hemisphere head still thinks of April as spring. Of course it has been warm so far and does not seem like fall at all.
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| This is just in front of the mailroom and distribution centre. I think these Birds of Paradise flowers are so lovely. |
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| This specimen was new and fresh with no dried leaves so I thought it was worth seeing. |
We have just had transfers which released some of the young missionaries we have come to love and sent them back to their homes. It has been fun to connect with some on Facebook and be able to keep in touch. And many of the Senior missionaries will also soon be finished their time here. We miss those who have already gone and will miss those who are soon to leave. It has been a great experience to work with and make friends with people who understand and love the Gospel.
A few days ago we awoke to see a pile of furniture across the street. It looked like the person who had lived in the house must have died and everything was just put out in the street. The people in the neighborhood and those who walk by take the opportunity to go through what is there and take what they want. It just kills me to see all of the "good stuff" that is discarded. We constantly are driving by piles of furniture just set out. I saw a beautiful white table the other day but of course we left it. After about a week this pile was just gone. They hire a truck to come and gobble it all up. It breaks my heart to see things destroyed that could be of value to someone. But I guess in a city there is no other way to get rid of things. If we lived here I would find a way to get things to people who could use them. I did pick up up a lovely painting which we have here in the flat now.
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| So much stuff! |
It is getting late. I went to bed early but could not get to sleep. So I got up and a few hours later the blog is written. Hopefully I can get to sleep. Lots to do this coming week!
I will leave you with a few sunsets that have decorated our sky in the past couple of weeks. I hope you love them as much as I do! Good night!
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