Transferred already!

May 25, 2010 Tuesday

Well, today started out quite normal. We did some work on referrals at the library. Orson called President Maurer about an item, and he asked that we drop by the office during the day. We went to visit Winston Bristow. He’s in his early 70’s, is a widower and inactive. What an interesting man! He’s originally from England and traveled around the world at least 3 times as a young man working on tramp steamers. He spent anywhere from a couple of months to a year in any port that interested him. He finally settled here, married and raised a family. His front yard is an English garden. He’s planted flowers up close to the window so he can watch the birds. He raises all kinds of vegetables in his back yard. He’s into organic gardening. We asked how he could raise anything in the sand that is here, and he said you have to feed it constantly. He has 8 compost bins in his back yard and then gets manure from a local stable. He joined the church after a friend referred him, but I think he became inactive after his friend moved away. He has 3 kids, none of whom live in Australia anymore. One son now lives in England so Winston is thinking of selling and moving back there. He visits there every 2 years and enjoys the siblings and cousins who still live there. He really has no family here. It makes you sad for people who are so alone.
I had an appointment at noon to get some prescriptions written. Kate Hammond is the doctor the mission uses. She was very nice. There were probably 8 doctors in the clinic. The doctor would come out and take you back to his/her own examining room. No PA’s or nurses to take your vitals and enter it into the computer. The doctor did it all. Sure seemed different from Intermountain Healthcare’s set-up. The receptionist (one for all these doctors) also took your payment. Dr. Hammond asked me about a brief medical history, took my blood pressure and then wrote prescriptions.
From there we went to the mission office. President Maurer said he had an assignment for us that would be both “exciting & challenging.” After spending just 4 weeks (five by the time we move) in Jandakot Ward, he is transferring us to Broome. Broome is way up north from here. We will fly to get there. It has a tiny branch of the church, and the branch president has just told the president that he and his family will be moving out by the end of the year at the latest. Broome is a town of 5000 people which swells to 30,000 in the winter because of tourists. The branch is struggling and the president wants us there ASAP so we can get acquainted and possibly have Orson be the branch president if the current one leaves soon. He’s leaving at the end of the year for sure. There are 2 young elders there now, but they will be moved out after we get there. The wife of the last missionary couple up there was the RS President. She also said she got YW going, but it was dropped after they left. It will be hot up there! At least we are going up there in the cool part of the year. Orson is giddy with excitement about being a “country elder” again. I’m nervous. I’ve never worked in a branch that small. We don’t even have a chapel. We meet in some rooms at a technical school, I think. We will probably fly up there a week from Friday. There’s a new senior couple, the Nielsens from Layton, coming in tomorrow to work in the office. We will train Sister Nielsen to handle the referrals before we go. Now we understand why President Maurer was so slow in working to get the internet into our flat here. Elders will probably move back in here when we leave. Lots to worry about, but I’m sure the Lord will help us. It will be tropical with all the bugs, spiders, and snakes you can expect in that type of climate.