THE TIME IS FAR SPENT, THERE IS LITTLE REMAINING...

Not even a month since I have written but so much has and is changing! It has been hard to write because even though there are lots of things happening with our mission here there are also lots of things happening as we prepare to go home.

We had a lovely time meeting with the Self-Reliance missionaries from Melbourne and Canberra during our retreat. We had a lot of training and a lot of time to socialize and get to know each other. Besides our training we all attended the temple together, ate at various restaurants and even took the Rivercat to Circular Quay and then an impromptu trip to Paddy's Market so the Melbourne missionaries could have  the chance to buy some Aussie ties. I mean who does not want a tie with kangaroos or koalas on it?

A last chance to be at Circular Quay love seeing the iconic Sydney bridge
with the opera house just around the corner.

Our self-reliance group in front of the fountain in Hyde Park.
This park is my favorite place in all of Sydney!

Another chance to see the hammocks in the Barracks Museum. I find them fascinating!

Front entry of the magnificent cathedral near Hyde Park .

Ahh, Paddy's Market what an amazing place with hundreds of shops full of souvenirs, and other interesting  things designed to empty our wallets, including Aussie ties with kangaroos and koalas.

Several mornings a week will often find us out walking around a soccer field just south of the  temple. We have met lovely people there many walking or doing Tai Chi or dancing. Because Elder Jenkins has had such a hard time walking we have met even more people who have tried to help him. There is one man who tries to teach him a special exercise intended to strengthen his leg muscles. There was just something about this man's countenance that drew us to him. He is Vietnamese and knows only a few words of English. But somehow between sign language and a translator app we have become friends. We felt that he should have a copy of the Book of Mormon so we got a copy in Vietnamese. He was so happy to get it and hugged Elder Jenkins 4 times. That evening he texted, with the help of a translating app, that he was so happy and grateful we had given him this book so he could learn more about Jesus Christ.

We found someone who could speak Vietnamese and we invited him to come to their ward to church. This lady was able to translate for him so he could understand what is going on. We spent a couple of hours after the meeting talking about the Gospel and teaching him how to pray. And now a couple of weeks have passed and tomorrow we will bring him to another ward [congregation] where  a family of Vietnamese people attend. We have also been invited to their home for lunch. Our friend will have his first missionary discussion in Vietnamese via Skype with Vietnamese Elders who are serving in Melbourne. 

It is impossible to relate all that has happened but he LOVED conference when he was able to hear it in Vietnamese. He now has the app on his phone that allows him to hear talks in Vietnamese. This has truly been a wonderful experience for us to see someone be so happy and grateful as they have learned about Jesus Christ through reading in the Book of Mormon. We experience great joy as we see what is transpiring and feel he will be in good hands with his new friends as we prepare to return home.

We also loved General Conference. It always happens the first weekend of October and the  first weekend of April. But of course the sessions are in the middle of the night over here so we watched the sessions on lds.org. They were broadcast in the church houses the following week but we did not want to wait that long. If any of you missed conference or are wondering just what it is check out this link: general-conference  You will have the chance to hear the Prophet

Our Prophet Russell M. Nelson
still going strong at 94 years of age

speak as well as other leaders of the church. You can even find it in your own language from the drop down bar.

This is such troubled world in which we live and yet after watching all of the sessions of conference I felt such peace and comfort. I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and for the knowledge I have that I can live with my family forever if that is my wish. And I suppose that testimony along with my love of our Savior is why we have been willing to come on this mission at our own expense.

Elder Jenkins is still having trouble with his hip. The effect of the vibrator wore off after a couple of weeks. We have been trying to find one for sale in some of the shops just so he could try it out but we didn't. Finally tried the internet and found one on Gumtree which is like Craigs list at home. For only $80 we were able to buy it and then  it was quite an adventure getting it into our smallish car to travel home and then out of our smallish car. Nevertheless less it sits in our living room where he can use it frequently . Some days it seems to help and some days it doesn't. The physio has recommended that he be checked again by a doctor. She will talk with the doctor to give him her observations. But she is wondering if he may have the beginnings of Parkinson's disease which is not a very happy thought. So Wednesday he will go see the doctor and we will go from there.

In the mean time we are preparing to go home. It is a series of long goodbyes. We both got pretty teary eyed in Priceline today as we spoke to the chemist and assistant there. We will be so glad to reunite with our family but we will miss the wonderful people we have come to love here in Australia. I have said 'goodbye' to my hair dresser as I have had my last haircut here. We are packing our large orange suitcases again and weighing them to make sure they are not over 50 pounds or 23 kilos. Packing this time is just different than packing to come over here.

We have had our last English class for the young missionaries. That is a sad end of this chapter for us. But there have been enough schedules changes that we cannot help them in the short time remaining. We continue to hope that others will come and work with them. Working with these wonderful missionaries has been one of the great blessings of being here. We love them and just hope that somehow we have been able to help them a little bit.

So much rain!!! Pouring rain!
Then the skies were empty and we will actually have a sunset.

WOW!!! The skies are rumbling big time right now!!! Lots of thunder and lots of lightning and lots of big rain drops. The birds are complaining loudly! What an amazing storm!!! I hope the farmers are the recipients of some of the rain! I love thunder storms!

Our house is coming along!

Our house is moving forward. The roof is on and the windows have been installed. I can hardly wait for it to be finished so we can move in. It will be such fun to get our belongings out of storage and put everything where it belongs. And today we bought a car which will be waiting for us when we get home.

Next week will be busy. We have 4 meetings, a day of giving tests, a doctor appointment and a physio appointment and the following  week promises to be just as busy. And then we will be in the last week of our mission. How can that be possible??!!

It is a bitter sweet time. So many endings and so many wonderful memories! But still a lot of work to be done!