WE WERE CONTACTED. TWICE!

JUNE 19, 2010 Saturday

This morning we visited the “Courtyard Market.” There’s a big old house near the town area that was built as the headquarters for the cable company in the early 1900’s. Broome has now taken the building as its courthouse. The property around it is large and has lots of mature trees of all kinds on it. Every Saturday during the tourist season, a market is held similar to a farmer’s market. The biggest difference was the lack of fruits and vegetables. The majority of the stands were craft type stuff with paintings, t-shirts, jewelry, etc. There were two aborigine men on opposite sides of the courthouse playing didgeridoos with their hats out so folks could toss in coins. And then the cutest thing: a girl of 12 or so was playing her flute with a dish in front of her. I guess if there isn’t a youth symphony to play in, you can always perform at the market. One lady had a booth with handpainted t-shirts and also some puppies in a plastic container with high sides so they couldn’t get out. They would whine and bark until someone paid attention to them. I’m not sure if she was trying to get rid of them or if she brought them along to attract people to her booth.
We did some contacting there and then went to the grocery store to pick up supplies for cinnamon rolls for Family Home Evening. While I was shopping, a fellow came up to Orson and started talking to him. Rod’s familiar with the church and has played basketball here with the elders at times. He and Orson had a great conversation about the lecture we went to the other night.
After lunch, we stopped at the other shopping center in town to find a basket for some of our kitchen things. As we were walking there, a young man rushed out of a coffee place and asked if we were Seventh Day Adventists. He’d seen our badges and wanted to know who we were. He’s here in Broome volunteering at Notre Dame University, but he’s not Catholic. We talked to him, and he agreed that we should have apostles and prophets. He gave us his name and phone number. We explained where church was and that it’s a lay ministry. We may see him tomorrow. If not, we will call him for sure.
Tonight, our neighbor across the street had her 70th birthday party. She had invited us over with a warning that there would be lots of drinking. Oh my word! That was an understatement! We stayed long enough to eat some emu curry (dark meat, kind of like beef) and some crocodile (white, but tough). They’d also roasted a pig. We were just happy to leave. Thank heavens for the Gospel!!! Jello, punch, and cookies aren’t all bad!