Whoops! It's District Conference

JUNE 11, 2010 Friday

I learned today that if there are only 3 companionships the conference is called a district conference. Broome, Port Hedland, and Karratha each have one set of missionaries. So President Maurer, his wife, and the AP’s brought the total in the conference to 10. We met IN the chapel of the tiny building here in Port Hedland. The building consisted of a combination kitchen/library, the font room, and the restrooms. The chapel had plastic chairs that could be hooked together at the arms. There were 4 tables we set up to sit at facing each other and a small white board that was used to project the power point stuff that was presented. It was much more casual than the first zone conference we attended the day after we flew in to Australia, but the spirit was good and we learned a lot. President Maurer focused on baptism, Sister Maurer on the Holy Ghost, and the APs talked about preparing lesson plans. For lunch the sisters in the branch had provided pumpkin soup and 4 kinds of sandwiches. (I wasn’t the only American who didn’t eat the pumpkin soup.) Dessert was a “Lamington” and vanilla ice cream. A Lamington is a two inch square piece of white cake about the texture of pound cake covered with a thin layer of chocolate on all 6 sides and rolled in cocoanut.
The Maurers are staying at the same hotel we are so we ate dinner with them tonight. This is their last trip up here since they will be home in Brisbane for the next 6-week cycle. They’ve done so much and worked so hard. The schedule of a mission president and his wife is a killer!