Tuesday, July 20, 2010
BRAN NU DAE
July 20, 2010 Tuesday
It’s been a great few days. Sunday morning Tony was at church when we got there. He had his little boy with him, but Tony was dressed in shorts and an ugly T-shirt. He came by to tell us he was sorry, but he had to work. We were so impressed that he would do that. Most people who say yes they will come just don’t show up.
The Cahoons both spoke in Sacrament Meeting and then he taught Sunday School. The subject was the priesthood. He stuck to the manual, threw in a few personal experiences from when he was a YSA bishop, scoutmaster, and YM president, and taught an incredible lesson. He pointed out a few things I’d never paid attention to in the scriptures. We had an ice cream social afterwards so folks could get acquainted with the Cahoons and people hung around for 2 ½ hours!
We picked up the Cahoons at 5:30 and went to the Robinsons for dinner. It was great. Renee had roasted 2 chickens, some potatoes, pumpkin, and carrots. I’d made an apple cake and we had leftover ice cream with it. Great dinner! The subject came up that Americans don’t eat pumpkin like the Aussies do. Then President Robinson said, “You know what drives me crazy? Jelly! That’s what you guys call Jello. It’s sweet. Why do you serve it with dinner? It should be a dessert.” We had a great laugh over that. We spent the rest of the evening talking about the branch and other things. We had some great spiritual discussions and some hilarious ones.
Monday, the Cahoons chased around with us as we handed out invitations to the Family Home Evening we did that night. They were awesome. President Cahoon jumped in and helped out and talked to people about what they should be doing. We also stopped at Wyldes to invite them since Karen hadn’t been at church. Karen wasn’t home, but we had a good visit with Kevin. As we were leaving, Ricardo, our Brazilian investigator drove up. He immediately began apologizing for not coming to church the day before—he’d been sick. We introduced him to the Cahoons, and I asked him if he was still reading the Book of Mormon. He said yes and then I asked him how he felt about it. He couldn’t say enough good. Talk about a great time to have the Mission President with you! Orson asked if he was praying and said he was. We don’t think it was by chance that he drove up while we were there. The Lord has been blessing us so much with that couple.
After we ran out of people to see, we took the Cahoons out to Gantheume (named after the first explorer who charted it) Point. As we were starting to walk down the trail to the point, a lady told us there were 3 whales out beyond the point. President Cahoon had his binoculars with him. We could see them way out there. You’d see a spout of water first and then some black as they would come up to the surface. Even without the binoculars, you could tell when there was a great view of their tails. They would do that for a minute or two, and then they must have gone down to check out the bottom. After 3 or 4 minutes, they’d be back at the surface. And the best part was that it didn’t cost us $200 each for a whale watching tour.
Then we went to Cable Beach. We all took off our shoes and socks and walked along the shore. Sister Cahoon loves a beach, and she was constantly stopping to pick up and look at the shells that were washed up. It was very relaxing. She told me that the mission presidents were told in their seminars that they needed to take some “down” time occasionally to enjoy where there were. We brought them back to the house and fed them meat pies for a late lunch. President Cahoon took a quick nap on the couch while I made peanut butter bars for FHE. Then Orson took them to the airport.
Family Home Evening turned out well. We had 6 adults and 8 kids in ages from 7 to 15. The lesson was about guilt and how it’s a good thing. Then we played “Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar.” A fitting game after a lesson on guilt, don’t you think?
Today, we went to Bran Nu Dae, a new nursing home in town. It’s very nice. The new director had us go in with 4 men to whom she’s trying to give some interaction so they just don’t sit and smoke all the time. We all introduced ourselves. Then we then did a quick quiz about Commonwealth Sports. Orson and I did as well as the rest of them. (Does that mean we are ready to take up residence, or was it because we aren’t big sports enthusiasts?) Then we did a crossword puzzle about Australian trivia. I learned a few things on that one: The Australian flower is the Golden Wattle; Banjo Patterson is a famous Australian poet; “Mug” is Australian slang for “fool;” and a swag is a bedroll. Then we just sat around and talked. The activity director, Di, is part Chinese, German, & Aborigine. She bubbles over with enthusiasm for life and is very well read. She knows a lot of Americans about town who have stayed here permanently and wants to introduce us to them. She took us on a tour of the facility. There are 4 units: high care, low care, dementia, and day care. We came out of there feeling very good about the time we spent there and will go back on a weekly basis to do some service.
We got a box in the mail from Sydney full of stuff to use at our Family History Week display we are going to do in the library the first week in August. It will be Australian National Family Week. This afternoon I did the grocery shopping while Orson contacted out in front of the shopping centre. He did so well that we have a lesson scheduled to teach on Thursday. He is incredible when he’s contacting.
It’s been a great few days. Sunday morning Tony was at church when we got there. He had his little boy with him, but Tony was dressed in shorts and an ugly T-shirt. He came by to tell us he was sorry, but he had to work. We were so impressed that he would do that. Most people who say yes they will come just don’t show up.
The Cahoons both spoke in Sacrament Meeting and then he taught Sunday School. The subject was the priesthood. He stuck to the manual, threw in a few personal experiences from when he was a YSA bishop, scoutmaster, and YM president, and taught an incredible lesson. He pointed out a few things I’d never paid attention to in the scriptures. We had an ice cream social afterwards so folks could get acquainted with the Cahoons and people hung around for 2 ½ hours!
We picked up the Cahoons at 5:30 and went to the Robinsons for dinner. It was great. Renee had roasted 2 chickens, some potatoes, pumpkin, and carrots. I’d made an apple cake and we had leftover ice cream with it. Great dinner! The subject came up that Americans don’t eat pumpkin like the Aussies do. Then President Robinson said, “You know what drives me crazy? Jelly! That’s what you guys call Jello. It’s sweet. Why do you serve it with dinner? It should be a dessert.” We had a great laugh over that. We spent the rest of the evening talking about the branch and other things. We had some great spiritual discussions and some hilarious ones.
Monday, the Cahoons chased around with us as we handed out invitations to the Family Home Evening we did that night. They were awesome. President Cahoon jumped in and helped out and talked to people about what they should be doing. We also stopped at Wyldes to invite them since Karen hadn’t been at church. Karen wasn’t home, but we had a good visit with Kevin. As we were leaving, Ricardo, our Brazilian investigator drove up. He immediately began apologizing for not coming to church the day before—he’d been sick. We introduced him to the Cahoons, and I asked him if he was still reading the Book of Mormon. He said yes and then I asked him how he felt about it. He couldn’t say enough good. Talk about a great time to have the Mission President with you! Orson asked if he was praying and said he was. We don’t think it was by chance that he drove up while we were there. The Lord has been blessing us so much with that couple.
After we ran out of people to see, we took the Cahoons out to Gantheume (named after the first explorer who charted it) Point. As we were starting to walk down the trail to the point, a lady told us there were 3 whales out beyond the point. President Cahoon had his binoculars with him. We could see them way out there. You’d see a spout of water first and then some black as they would come up to the surface. Even without the binoculars, you could tell when there was a great view of their tails. They would do that for a minute or two, and then they must have gone down to check out the bottom. After 3 or 4 minutes, they’d be back at the surface. And the best part was that it didn’t cost us $200 each for a whale watching tour.
Then we went to Cable Beach. We all took off our shoes and socks and walked along the shore. Sister Cahoon loves a beach, and she was constantly stopping to pick up and look at the shells that were washed up. It was very relaxing. She told me that the mission presidents were told in their seminars that they needed to take some “down” time occasionally to enjoy where there were. We brought them back to the house and fed them meat pies for a late lunch. President Cahoon took a quick nap on the couch while I made peanut butter bars for FHE. Then Orson took them to the airport.
Family Home Evening turned out well. We had 6 adults and 8 kids in ages from 7 to 15. The lesson was about guilt and how it’s a good thing. Then we played “Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar.” A fitting game after a lesson on guilt, don’t you think?
Today, we went to Bran Nu Dae, a new nursing home in town. It’s very nice. The new director had us go in with 4 men to whom she’s trying to give some interaction so they just don’t sit and smoke all the time. We all introduced ourselves. Then we then did a quick quiz about Commonwealth Sports. Orson and I did as well as the rest of them. (Does that mean we are ready to take up residence, or was it because we aren’t big sports enthusiasts?) Then we did a crossword puzzle about Australian trivia. I learned a few things on that one: The Australian flower is the Golden Wattle; Banjo Patterson is a famous Australian poet; “Mug” is Australian slang for “fool;” and a swag is a bedroll. Then we just sat around and talked. The activity director, Di, is part Chinese, German, & Aborigine. She bubbles over with enthusiasm for life and is very well read. She knows a lot of Americans about town who have stayed here permanently and wants to introduce us to them. She took us on a tour of the facility. There are 4 units: high care, low care, dementia, and day care. We came out of there feeling very good about the time we spent there and will go back on a weekly basis to do some service.
We got a box in the mail from Sydney full of stuff to use at our Family History Week display we are going to do in the library the first week in August. It will be Australian National Family Week. This afternoon I did the grocery shopping while Orson contacted out in front of the shopping centre. He did so well that we have a lesson scheduled to teach on Thursday. He is incredible when he’s contacting.
THE LONG RIDE HOME
July 17, 2010 Saturday
It always seems to take twice as long to drive home from Port Hedland than it took to drive down. But we had great company. The Cahoons rode back with us. We talked about everything from missionary work to politics to Australians to kids, and it was just great. President Cahoon spent some time writing his talk for church tomorrow and some time napping. We stopped at Tony Connelly’s on the way back to see if we could catch him at home and because the president couldn’t believe that anybody would have a camel on their place. Tony was home! He wasn’t super excited to see us but warmed up. He explained that he was driving late one night between Broome and Port Hedland and came upon a camel that had been killed by a road train. The male and a young camel were still bouncing around the accident area. Tony says he always carries a rope and a knife in his truck when he travels. So he parked between the old male and the baby, put a noose around the baby’s neck, gave him a push up into the back of his truck, and drove home with him. He said the male was long gone before he even had taken off. So anyway, he’s raising this camel at his place. He says he’s got a few more down the road a ways along with 5 or 6 horses also. He’s an interesting guy. He said he’d come to church tomorrow although he wouldn’t commit that his partner and her mother would come. She’s the lady from Germany we visited with a couple of weeks ago.
We drove around Broome a little bit to give the Cahoons the “lay of the land.” Then he wanted to see our house, help us set up for church, and then go get something to eat. We dropped them at their hotel, The Seashores, and made it home by 9 o’clock. I mixed up an apple cake for dinner at the Robinsons tomorrow. We are learning we are glad we aren’t mission presidents. Their phones were ringing all the time from missionaries with health problems. One elder was hospitalized this afternoon with a bad reaction to an antibiotic he’d been given for an infection on this leg. They said they get calls at all hours of the night. Maybe being an old proselyting missionary isn’t so bad after all. Sister Cahoon is a nurse and worked the ER for 30 years. Not too much with missionaries’ health problems fazes her, although she knows enough to worry about some things that we would just pass off.
It always seems to take twice as long to drive home from Port Hedland than it took to drive down. But we had great company. The Cahoons rode back with us. We talked about everything from missionary work to politics to Australians to kids, and it was just great. President Cahoon spent some time writing his talk for church tomorrow and some time napping. We stopped at Tony Connelly’s on the way back to see if we could catch him at home and because the president couldn’t believe that anybody would have a camel on their place. Tony was home! He wasn’t super excited to see us but warmed up. He explained that he was driving late one night between Broome and Port Hedland and came upon a camel that had been killed by a road train. The male and a young camel were still bouncing around the accident area. Tony says he always carries a rope and a knife in his truck when he travels. So he parked between the old male and the baby, put a noose around the baby’s neck, gave him a push up into the back of his truck, and drove home with him. He said the male was long gone before he even had taken off. So anyway, he’s raising this camel at his place. He says he’s got a few more down the road a ways along with 5 or 6 horses also. He’s an interesting guy. He said he’d come to church tomorrow although he wouldn’t commit that his partner and her mother would come. She’s the lady from Germany we visited with a couple of weeks ago.
We drove around Broome a little bit to give the Cahoons the “lay of the land.” Then he wanted to see our house, help us set up for church, and then go get something to eat. We dropped them at their hotel, The Seashores, and made it home by 9 o’clock. I mixed up an apple cake for dinner at the Robinsons tomorrow. We are learning we are glad we aren’t mission presidents. Their phones were ringing all the time from missionaries with health problems. One elder was hospitalized this afternoon with a bad reaction to an antibiotic he’d been given for an infection on this leg. They said they get calls at all hours of the night. Maybe being an old proselyting missionary isn’t so bad after all. Sister Cahoon is a nurse and worked the ER for 30 years. Not too much with missionaries’ health problems fazes her, although she knows enough to worry about some things that we would just pass off.
NEW KIDS IN TOWN
July 16, 2010 Friday
Today we met President Paul and Sister Tanya Cahoon. What great people. They are just very down-to-earth type people rooted deeply in the scriptures and a willingness to serve. He had two separate dental offices in Edmunton when the call came. They have sold one and are still looking for a buyer for the 2nd one. Our conference was great and they shared with us that a different emphasis would be placed on Preach My Gospel for the next few years. It answers a lot of questions that our AP’s had been seeing in the zones and districts of the mission. The main emphasis is in teaching the missionaries how to be better teachers.
After conference, we went back to Port Hedland (conference is in South Hedland) to the library and did some e-mail. The Cahoons came back to the hotel, and we headed out to find something to eat. All the restaurants in town were closed. As we were driving along the beach road, we could see a place where it looked like people were eating. We parked and walked down. It turned out to be the local “Yacht Club.” Actually, it’s a group of people who all love sailing. They’ve bought the property to build a proper club, but haven’t got it started yet. So they have a big old cement slab, a kitchen and bar, a grassy area for tables that don’t fit on the cement, and a big play area for the little kids. It’s a Member’s Only place, but we explained our situation and they let us eat there. It was Thai food along with fish n chips. Good stuff.
Today we met President Paul and Sister Tanya Cahoon. What great people. They are just very down-to-earth type people rooted deeply in the scriptures and a willingness to serve. He had two separate dental offices in Edmunton when the call came. They have sold one and are still looking for a buyer for the 2nd one. Our conference was great and they shared with us that a different emphasis would be placed on Preach My Gospel for the next few years. It answers a lot of questions that our AP’s had been seeing in the zones and districts of the mission. The main emphasis is in teaching the missionaries how to be better teachers.
After conference, we went back to Port Hedland (conference is in South Hedland) to the library and did some e-mail. The Cahoons came back to the hotel, and we headed out to find something to eat. All the restaurants in town were closed. As we were driving along the beach road, we could see a place where it looked like people were eating. We parked and walked down. It turned out to be the local “Yacht Club.” Actually, it’s a group of people who all love sailing. They’ve bought the property to build a proper club, but haven’t got it started yet. So they have a big old cement slab, a kitchen and bar, a grassy area for tables that don’t fit on the cement, and a big play area for the little kids. It’s a Member’s Only place, but we explained our situation and they let us eat there. It was Thai food along with fish n chips. Good stuff.
TALK ABOUT ENDURANCE!
July 15, 2010
We drove to Port Hedland today. We hadn’t seen any wallabies at all, but this afternoon we came within an inch of killing one. Orson was driving when suddenly a wallaby came out of the bush left of the car and jumped right in front of the car. He saw it coming and slowed down just in time so it made it across the road. We were so relieved. It was small enough that I doubt it would have hurt the car, but it was cute enough we’d have felt really bad if we’d hit it.
On the way, we pulled into a roadside stop to get some “rest.” There were 3 or 4 campers there. I was taking care of business when I heard someone start talking to Orson. When I came out and Orson went in, this guy kept on talking. He was older than us and very interesting to talk to. He mentioned he liked the internet because he could research stuff. Then he asked us how the Mormon church got started. There was our chance—we probably spent 20 minutes or so talking about the church. We were able to explain that it really started with Adam, and we ended up giving him a Book of Mormon. He thumbed through it and exclaimed over the fact that it had an index. We are pretty sure he will do some reading in it. Not bad for a “potty stop.”
We stopped next at the Sandfire Roadhouse. There was a bus and two other cars with stuff all over them about the first woman to run around Australia. She had started in Sydney and gone up the east coast, across the top, and was heading south to Perth. She runs about 60 kilometers a day, half in the morning and half in the evening. She used to run marathons in her 20’s but was looking for something to do since she’d quit the marathon thing. When she got the idea to run around Australia, she started checking and found there’d never been a woman who had done it. She has a little girl about 5 and an 18 month old boy along with her crew. Her charity that she encourages people to donate to is one that stresses eating healthy without all the additives. She commented that people are willing to “feed their kids half the periodic table everyday.” Her website it Onelapnoexcuses.com. She was really good to talk to. Orson was able to give her a passalong card, a picture of Christ, and the booklet we have about happier families. She was slim, but I never would have picked her out of a group of people as the runner that she is.
We are staying in Port Hedland instead of South Hedland like we did last time. This time we have a view of the ocean out our window, but dinner isn’t included like at the other hotel. We had chicken sandwiches at Chicken Treat—sort of like a KFC at the local shopping centre.
We drove to Port Hedland today. We hadn’t seen any wallabies at all, but this afternoon we came within an inch of killing one. Orson was driving when suddenly a wallaby came out of the bush left of the car and jumped right in front of the car. He saw it coming and slowed down just in time so it made it across the road. We were so relieved. It was small enough that I doubt it would have hurt the car, but it was cute enough we’d have felt really bad if we’d hit it.
On the way, we pulled into a roadside stop to get some “rest.” There were 3 or 4 campers there. I was taking care of business when I heard someone start talking to Orson. When I came out and Orson went in, this guy kept on talking. He was older than us and very interesting to talk to. He mentioned he liked the internet because he could research stuff. Then he asked us how the Mormon church got started. There was our chance—we probably spent 20 minutes or so talking about the church. We were able to explain that it really started with Adam, and we ended up giving him a Book of Mormon. He thumbed through it and exclaimed over the fact that it had an index. We are pretty sure he will do some reading in it. Not bad for a “potty stop.”
We stopped next at the Sandfire Roadhouse. There was a bus and two other cars with stuff all over them about the first woman to run around Australia. She had started in Sydney and gone up the east coast, across the top, and was heading south to Perth. She runs about 60 kilometers a day, half in the morning and half in the evening. She used to run marathons in her 20’s but was looking for something to do since she’d quit the marathon thing. When she got the idea to run around Australia, she started checking and found there’d never been a woman who had done it. She has a little girl about 5 and an 18 month old boy along with her crew. Her charity that she encourages people to donate to is one that stresses eating healthy without all the additives. She commented that people are willing to “feed their kids half the periodic table everyday.” Her website it Onelapnoexcuses.com. She was really good to talk to. Orson was able to give her a passalong card, a picture of Christ, and the booklet we have about happier families. She was slim, but I never would have picked her out of a group of people as the runner that she is.
We are staying in Port Hedland instead of South Hedland like we did last time. This time we have a view of the ocean out our window, but dinner isn’t included like at the other hotel. We had chicken sandwiches at Chicken Treat—sort of like a KFC at the local shopping centre.
BREAD RUN DOES IT AGAIN
July 14, 2010 Wednesday
Hurray! Justin Good returned our call; and as you can tell, I have a new keyboard where all the keys work. Justin seems like a really nice guy. We took the computer in to the place where he works yesterday and picked it up today. He said that it was a physical problem with the keyboard. So we bought one that just plugs in to the computer rather than replace the original keyboard. He said replacement would have run $150 to $300. The computer is working faster than it was. I’m glad we took it in. He did all the work for free. I think we’ll invite him over for dinner to thank him. He’s single; we think maybe he’d like that. If he turns us down, then I’ll make some cinnamon rolls or something after we get back from Port Hedland. We invited him to church Sunday to hear the new mission president, and he admitted that he needed to get back to church. Sure hope he comes.
We tried a little tracting yesterday up in Roebuck Estates. Only one lady listened. She accepted a Joseph Smith pamphlet but wouldn’t agree to let us come back. Another looked at us from a distance down her driveway and yelled, “Not interested, not interested!” We went at 4 in the afternoon but are beginning to think that later would be better. The days are getting longer. When we came, it was dark by 5:30. Now you can see until 6:30 or so.
We did the bread run. We had a lot of extra bread after visiting the people we knew who could use it, so we went to an overflow caravan park (trailer park in American). It was great. There are a ton of people traveling Australia, and they all come north during this time of year. Anyway, we ended up talking to one lady who had been traveling with her husband and kids for 4 months now. She was home schooling them so they could take this trip. We got to talking about the importance of families, and you could tell she totally agreed with everything we said. She said she knew a good Mormon in Melbourne. We told her to ask her friend about temples and eternal families when she got back home. She said she would. There was a great spirit there while we were talking to her. Some people just resonate with the spirit. It’s so great. The gospel is true. We are doing the Lord’s work.
Hurray! Justin Good returned our call; and as you can tell, I have a new keyboard where all the keys work. Justin seems like a really nice guy. We took the computer in to the place where he works yesterday and picked it up today. He said that it was a physical problem with the keyboard. So we bought one that just plugs in to the computer rather than replace the original keyboard. He said replacement would have run $150 to $300. The computer is working faster than it was. I’m glad we took it in. He did all the work for free. I think we’ll invite him over for dinner to thank him. He’s single; we think maybe he’d like that. If he turns us down, then I’ll make some cinnamon rolls or something after we get back from Port Hedland. We invited him to church Sunday to hear the new mission president, and he admitted that he needed to get back to church. Sure hope he comes.
We tried a little tracting yesterday up in Roebuck Estates. Only one lady listened. She accepted a Joseph Smith pamphlet but wouldn’t agree to let us come back. Another looked at us from a distance down her driveway and yelled, “Not interested, not interested!” We went at 4 in the afternoon but are beginning to think that later would be better. The days are getting longer. When we came, it was dark by 5:30. Now you can see until 6:30 or so.
We did the bread run. We had a lot of extra bread after visiting the people we knew who could use it, so we went to an overflow caravan park (trailer park in American). It was great. There are a ton of people traveling Australia, and they all come north during this time of year. Anyway, we ended up talking to one lady who had been traveling with her husband and kids for 4 months now. She was home schooling them so they could take this trip. We got to talking about the importance of families, and you could tell she totally agreed with everything we said. She said she knew a good Mormon in Melbourne. We told her to ask her friend about temples and eternal families when she got back home. She said she would. There was a great spirit there while we were talking to her. Some people just resonate with the spirit. It’s so great. The gospel is true. We are doing the Lord’s work.
Computer key board no G H see if you notice
July 10, 2010 Saturday
KEYBOARD PROBLEMS
We just discovered tat tree of the keys on my keyboard are not working. Can you notice? You probably can pick out the first two missing letters, but te tird is te quotation marks. Since I don’t quote a lot, tat souldnt be a problem. Look at tat! Te apostope sowed up in don’t in te line above, but now it doesn’t work. O, I just fiured it out. Te automatic spell cecker inserts it in some words, but not all. Mm—I can o back and ave te spell cecker insert a lot of te words.
So today we taut the Brazilian couple, Ricardo and Luisa Lima. What a blessing tat was. They sat transfixed as we explained about our loving heavenly Father and how e wants us to be happy. We went on to discuss how od calls prophets and so on. They totally agreed tat there needed to be a restoration and were trilled when we ave tem a Book of Mormon in Portuguese. We ad tem read Moroni 10:4-5 in it out loud. It was so good to ear the language again. Ricardo said the closing prayer, and it was so sincere. They said they would come to curc tomorrow. We are praying tat they will.
Weve ot to et tis fixed!!!
July 12, 2010 Monday
We’ve tried to et old of the less active member who works wit computers, but e hasn’t returned our pone call. I sure hope we et this fixed soon.
Sad news: Yesterday, Luisa & Ricardo didn’t come to curc. We felt really bad about tat. But, Brother Davis, whom we hadn’t met before came wit is 2 little boys. E is part aborigine and is a medical doctor and very sharp. I took is two boys in for Primary. Jaaron is 8, and Amaaron is 5. Te theme for yesterday was I will Follow Jesus. We worked on learning, Come, Follow Me. Ten we talked about different pictures of Christ and how e was helping others. We tied it to the theme and they came up wit different ways and people they could help. They ad never sun, Do As I’m Doing. They tout tat was a lot of fun. Ten we took walks around the room wit each of tem being the leader so we could follow tem like we are supposed to follow Jesus. It was a lot of fun. I was worried tat I mit not be able to keep tem entertained for an our, but it worked out really well. They are darling boys. Their mom is from the Philippines and a non-member. Jaaron hasn’t been baptized yet because of er.
After curc we ad Ice Cream Sunday. We ad cones and cups of ice cream and just sat around and visited. Tere were 12 of us at curc. Ray eartys mom and er husband were there visiting from Pert. They were a sharp couple. They couldn’t give us any help as to how to reactivate Ray. But they were lad we ad made the contact wit him and is wife.
Tere was a beautiful sunset tonight. We went to Cable Beac and took some potos.
KEYBOARD PROBLEMS
We just discovered tat tree of the keys on my keyboard are not working. Can you notice? You probably can pick out the first two missing letters, but te tird is te quotation marks. Since I don’t quote a lot, tat souldnt be a problem. Look at tat! Te apostope sowed up in don’t in te line above, but now it doesn’t work. O, I just fiured it out. Te automatic spell cecker inserts it in some words, but not all. Mm—I can o back and ave te spell cecker insert a lot of te words.
So today we taut the Brazilian couple, Ricardo and Luisa Lima. What a blessing tat was. They sat transfixed as we explained about our loving heavenly Father and how e wants us to be happy. We went on to discuss how od calls prophets and so on. They totally agreed tat there needed to be a restoration and were trilled when we ave tem a Book of Mormon in Portuguese. We ad tem read Moroni 10:4-5 in it out loud. It was so good to ear the language again. Ricardo said the closing prayer, and it was so sincere. They said they would come to curc tomorrow. We are praying tat they will.
Weve ot to et tis fixed!!!
July 12, 2010 Monday
We’ve tried to et old of the less active member who works wit computers, but e hasn’t returned our pone call. I sure hope we et this fixed soon.
Sad news: Yesterday, Luisa & Ricardo didn’t come to curc. We felt really bad about tat. But, Brother Davis, whom we hadn’t met before came wit is 2 little boys. E is part aborigine and is a medical doctor and very sharp. I took is two boys in for Primary. Jaaron is 8, and Amaaron is 5. Te theme for yesterday was I will Follow Jesus. We worked on learning, Come, Follow Me. Ten we talked about different pictures of Christ and how e was helping others. We tied it to the theme and they came up wit different ways and people they could help. They ad never sun, Do As I’m Doing. They tout tat was a lot of fun. Ten we took walks around the room wit each of tem being the leader so we could follow tem like we are supposed to follow Jesus. It was a lot of fun. I was worried tat I mit not be able to keep tem entertained for an our, but it worked out really well. They are darling boys. Their mom is from the Philippines and a non-member. Jaaron hasn’t been baptized yet because of er.
After curc we ad Ice Cream Sunday. We ad cones and cups of ice cream and just sat around and visited. Tere were 12 of us at curc. Ray eartys mom and er husband were there visiting from Pert. They were a sharp couple. They couldn’t give us any help as to how to reactivate Ray. But they were lad we ad made the contact wit him and is wife.
Tere was a beautiful sunset tonight. We went to Cable Beac and took some potos.
CLAUDIA
July 8, 2010 Thursday
Some people just make your heart ache. We drove out to 12 Mile to meet a less active member, Tony Connelly, today . He’s from New Zealand and a brother to another fellow in the ward who is also inactive. 12 Mile is just what it says: 12 miles outside of town. It must have been named before Australia went metric. It’s an area of just 3 very long, parallel streets. The lots are huge. All down one street, people have planted hundreds of mango trees. They make mango wine, chutney, etc., and have a big mango festival in September. Tony lives halfway down the middle street. There were at least 3 trailers sitting around on the property; only one looked big enough to live in and it was in tatters. However, there was a huge steel barn-like building. We pulled up by it and could see a bar and some bar stools in it against a far wall. A lady, Claudia, came out and announced, “He’s not here.” A little boy about 3 years old also came out. Claudia, it turned out, is Tony’s “partner.” She’s from Germany and met Tony 4 years ago when she was backpacking around Australia. Tony wasn’t home, and Claudia tried to let us know that we shouldn’t bother him but let him contact us when he is ready. She’s from Berlin. We just felt bad for her living in a metal barn out in the sticks with a husband who travels a lot. They also had a camel in a pen out in the back as well as chickens, dogs and goats. As we talked, you could tell that she wished she lived in Germany. At least she’s been back to visit every year.
We had YW here tonight. Two members and 3 of their friends came. It was good. We watched the beginning of the YW General Meeting at the end of March. Then they worked on their YW journals we are starting. They are so uneducated in the gospel that it makes you feel bad. They do dress up to come over. Three of them wore really nice spaghetti strap tops. There is so much to do here!
BREAD RUNS ARE GOOD!
July 7, 2010 Wednesday
BREAD RUNS ARE GOOD!
We did the bread run tonight. After the hitting the regulars who need the help, we went to Town Beach where there are always backpackers who love free bread. There was a group of 4 or 5 older couples who had just pulled in in small rented motorhomes. They were from New Zealand. We had a good conversation with them and gave them pass along cards. We then went over to the other side of the parking lot where there were about 4 vans. Some of the kids there had gotten bread from us in the past and were happy to see us again. One Chinese youth came over to talk to us and his first question was, “You believe in life after death, right?” Well, that was enough to get us started. He was very sharp and is from Taiwan. He’s working here for a little while to get some more money to continue on his trip. He gave us his phone number; we’re going to try to teach him while he’s here. He’s familiar with the church in Taiwan and has seen the elders over there. His name is Joseph Tang. His English is great, and he even commented that he has a great first name after we gave him the Joseph Smith pamphlet.
Then we went to the Wylde’s home hoping we would also run into the Brazilians we’d met 2 weeks ago. We did, and they apologized all over the place that they’d had to cancel the lesson Sunday. We’d given them an Ensign last week, and Ricardo had read a lot of it and was very interested in the concept of temples. We’d worried about all the Buddhist looking stuff in their home, and he brought up the concept of Karma while talking to Orson tonight. So we do have a bit of a challenge there. They made an appointment for Saturday afternoon so we can teach them. Hurray!
Poor Luisa, though. She works at a pre-school that takes in Aboriginal kids. She said that the other day a little kid threw a hand full of sand in her face. And the laws here are so strict that they couldn’t punish him in any way for what he did. Evidently, no one can even look them in the eye (which is like challenging them) or touch them in any way that could be construed as forceful. No wonder some of them are the challenges that they are in school!
BREAD RUNS ARE GOOD!
We did the bread run tonight. After the hitting the regulars who need the help, we went to Town Beach where there are always backpackers who love free bread. There was a group of 4 or 5 older couples who had just pulled in in small rented motorhomes. They were from New Zealand. We had a good conversation with them and gave them pass along cards. We then went over to the other side of the parking lot where there were about 4 vans. Some of the kids there had gotten bread from us in the past and were happy to see us again. One Chinese youth came over to talk to us and his first question was, “You believe in life after death, right?” Well, that was enough to get us started. He was very sharp and is from Taiwan. He’s working here for a little while to get some more money to continue on his trip. He gave us his phone number; we’re going to try to teach him while he’s here. He’s familiar with the church in Taiwan and has seen the elders over there. His name is Joseph Tang. His English is great, and he even commented that he has a great first name after we gave him the Joseph Smith pamphlet.
Then we went to the Wylde’s home hoping we would also run into the Brazilians we’d met 2 weeks ago. We did, and they apologized all over the place that they’d had to cancel the lesson Sunday. We’d given them an Ensign last week, and Ricardo had read a lot of it and was very interested in the concept of temples. We’d worried about all the Buddhist looking stuff in their home, and he brought up the concept of Karma while talking to Orson tonight. So we do have a bit of a challenge there. They made an appointment for Saturday afternoon so we can teach them. Hurray!
Poor Luisa, though. She works at a pre-school that takes in Aboriginal kids. She said that the other day a little kid threw a hand full of sand in her face. And the laws here are so strict that they couldn’t punish him in any way for what he did. Evidently, no one can even look them in the eye (which is like challenging them) or touch them in any way that could be construed as forceful. No wonder some of them are the challenges that they are in school!
COMMUNICATION?
July 6, 2010 Tuesday
So this morning we picked up Raffey and went to his sister’s house. Her name is Joy, and she lives not far from our house. She’s a widow and has her divorced daughter and her kids living with her. Raffey knocked on the door, and a kid answered it. He asked for Joy. She came to the door, and we greeted her and asked about teaching her the gospel. She looked as if that were a complete surprise to her. Raffey tried to explain a little about a missionary lesson. She wasn’t too excited. We told her about Joseph Smith and the first vision. She still didn’t look too excited. So we said we would drop by later with a Joseph Smith pamphlet. That was probably a good idea since there was so much noise in the house that it would have been impossible to teach a lesson. Raffey stayed there, and we left.
We had to laugh as we drove away. It was very obvious that Raffey had not said anything to his sister the night before about us coming to teach her. I guess he thought it would just be better for us to show up and surprise her.
So this morning we picked up Raffey and went to his sister’s house. Her name is Joy, and she lives not far from our house. She’s a widow and has her divorced daughter and her kids living with her. Raffey knocked on the door, and a kid answered it. He asked for Joy. She came to the door, and we greeted her and asked about teaching her the gospel. She looked as if that were a complete surprise to her. Raffey tried to explain a little about a missionary lesson. She wasn’t too excited. We told her about Joseph Smith and the first vision. She still didn’t look too excited. So we said we would drop by later with a Joseph Smith pamphlet. That was probably a good idea since there was so much noise in the house that it would have been impossible to teach a lesson. Raffey stayed there, and we left.
We had to laugh as we drove away. It was very obvious that Raffey had not said anything to his sister the night before about us coming to teach her. I guess he thought it would just be better for us to show up and surprise her.
BROOME RAIN
July 5, 2010 Monday
It’s raining. Yesterday and Saturday were cloudy. Yesterday we had a few short little rainstorms, and then last night it started to rain. It’s been raining steadily every since and it’s 4 in the afternoon as I write. There’s still a lot of traffic out there (we live on the corner of a busy road and a not so busy road. But Broome doesn’t have a storm drain system. So the roads just fill up with water. The worst places are the traffic circles; I guess because they dug a little deeper there to make them. I suppose it all eventually runs into the ocean since our little peninsula has water on 3 sides. Have I mentioned that down on Town Beach you can look across Roebuck Bay and see the western coast of the continent out in the distance? The park at Town Beach recently opened a Water Activity that is really popular with the mothers of young children (except on rainy days, of course).
Tonight we had FHE here. There were 13 of us. Seven were kids from 6 to 13. I picked up Tammy Rollason and her little sister. Mellanie Jan, came and brought her daughter who is a nonmember. Caleb, a neighbor boy came and brought a friend. Carolyn Shires came with her younger brother Michael. That made 4 nonmember kids who came. Elaine Cooper came and brought homemade sausage rolls. That’s something I’m going to have to try to make. Raffey had us pick him us since it was still raining. We did a lesson about commitment and used the Living Scriptures animated story of Nephi. The kids really paid attention and were able to answer the questions about all the commitment that was displayed in that story. We played “Conference Bingo” afterwards using the talk that Elder Foster gave in April Conference. He had some good stories that held the kids’ attention. I’d made an apple cake that was consumed except for 3 pieces. Some blonde brownies disappeared entirely as did the sausage rolls.
Orson took Raffey home. He asked if they could swing by the store so he could pick up some bread to drop off at his sister’s. Orson told him to ask his sister if we could come by to teach her about the church. Raffey came back to the car and said we could come back tomorrow at 10 am.
It’s raining. Yesterday and Saturday were cloudy. Yesterday we had a few short little rainstorms, and then last night it started to rain. It’s been raining steadily every since and it’s 4 in the afternoon as I write. There’s still a lot of traffic out there (we live on the corner of a busy road and a not so busy road. But Broome doesn’t have a storm drain system. So the roads just fill up with water. The worst places are the traffic circles; I guess because they dug a little deeper there to make them. I suppose it all eventually runs into the ocean since our little peninsula has water on 3 sides. Have I mentioned that down on Town Beach you can look across Roebuck Bay and see the western coast of the continent out in the distance? The park at Town Beach recently opened a Water Activity that is really popular with the mothers of young children (except on rainy days, of course).
Tonight we had FHE here. There were 13 of us. Seven were kids from 6 to 13. I picked up Tammy Rollason and her little sister. Mellanie Jan, came and brought her daughter who is a nonmember. Caleb, a neighbor boy came and brought a friend. Carolyn Shires came with her younger brother Michael. That made 4 nonmember kids who came. Elaine Cooper came and brought homemade sausage rolls. That’s something I’m going to have to try to make. Raffey had us pick him us since it was still raining. We did a lesson about commitment and used the Living Scriptures animated story of Nephi. The kids really paid attention and were able to answer the questions about all the commitment that was displayed in that story. We played “Conference Bingo” afterwards using the talk that Elder Foster gave in April Conference. He had some good stories that held the kids’ attention. I’d made an apple cake that was consumed except for 3 pieces. Some blonde brownies disappeared entirely as did the sausage rolls.
Orson took Raffey home. He asked if they could swing by the store so he could pick up some bread to drop off at his sister’s. Orson told him to ask his sister if we could come by to teach her about the church. Raffey came back to the car and said we could come back tomorrow at 10 am.
Raffie
July 1, 2010 Thursday
After dinner tonight, we were sitting here working on the lessons we are giving on Sunday when there was a knock on the door. I turned around and all I could see were the whites of someone’s eyes. It was Raphael, one of the aboriginal members of the branch. He had dropped by to let us know he was back in town and ask for a ride to church. He’s been gone about 2 weeks visiting family up north . He came in and sat down to talk a bit. He’s full-blooded aboriginal so his skin is as dark as it can be. He’s been a member about 5 years. He lives with his brother and is in his thirties. President Robinson thinks he’s a little slow mentally because he drank so much before he joined the church.
He told us about going turtle hunting with his family while he was north. They go out in a boat in the shallow waters. After they kill it, they “pull the intestines out” and then fill the inside with hot rocks, bury it in hot coals and wait for it to cook. We asked him what his people eat if they can’t get fish and stuff that lives by the river. Bats was the answer. We asked what part they ate, and he said they eat the fleshy parts by the bones. They hunt them at night with spears and kill them in the trees and sometimes right out of the air as they fly around. We also asked him what the aborigines who live inland eat. They eat snakes, lizards & possums.
He had mentioned he likes to play cards when he was here before. So we taught him the first round of Michigan Rummy. Orson won, Raffie had 60 points, and I lost with 185. He left after that so he could go visit his sister who lives down around the corner from us.
After dinner tonight, we were sitting here working on the lessons we are giving on Sunday when there was a knock on the door. I turned around and all I could see were the whites of someone’s eyes. It was Raphael, one of the aboriginal members of the branch. He had dropped by to let us know he was back in town and ask for a ride to church. He’s been gone about 2 weeks visiting family up north . He came in and sat down to talk a bit. He’s full-blooded aboriginal so his skin is as dark as it can be. He’s been a member about 5 years. He lives with his brother and is in his thirties. President Robinson thinks he’s a little slow mentally because he drank so much before he joined the church.
He told us about going turtle hunting with his family while he was north. They go out in a boat in the shallow waters. After they kill it, they “pull the intestines out” and then fill the inside with hot rocks, bury it in hot coals and wait for it to cook. We asked him what his people eat if they can’t get fish and stuff that lives by the river. Bats was the answer. We asked what part they ate, and he said they eat the fleshy parts by the bones. They hunt them at night with spears and kill them in the trees and sometimes right out of the air as they fly around. We also asked him what the aborigines who live inland eat. They eat snakes, lizards & possums.
He had mentioned he likes to play cards when he was here before. So we taught him the first round of Michigan Rummy. Orson won, Raffie had 60 points, and I lost with 185. He left after that so he could go visit his sister who lives down around the corner from us.
Daughters of God
July 1, 2010 Thursday
We had Young Women here at the house tonight. We’d told both the Shires and the Rollasons that we’d pick up the girls, but evidently no one told the Shires girls. When I went out to get in the car, Carolyn Shires and her friend, Jessica, were just arriving. So I put them in the car, and we went to the Rollasons. Tammy had forgotten, but she quickly changed her clothes and came. Both Shires and Rollasons have older daughters who could have come, but they didn’t. I hope we can get them coming.
After the prayer, I showed them copies of the YW theme. Nobody even knew the YW had a theme. Tammy is 14 and Carolyn is 12 as is Jessica. So we stood and read it together. They thought it had some hard words in it.
I had them make some rice krispy treats before we did the lesson. The only marshmallows I could find were strawberry flavored. The treats ended up tasting really good. I’d found out on the way to our house that none of them had eaten dinner (6:30 pm), so we gave them the left over chicken noodle soup from dinner. It was homemade and they really liked it. I also opened a small bag of Doritos we had, but the girls hardly touched them. That surprised me.
Coincidentally, the first lesson in the YW manual #1 is “Daughter of God.” So the lesson was well correlated with the theme. Part way through the lesson, Jessica asked if she was sinning to be learning about a different church than the one she attends. (She couldn’t tell us the name of it.) I assured her that it wouldn’t be a sin because she is learning truth. Sure hope the people in the other church agree. Jessica lives with her mom in Derby and visits her dad down here when school is out. Random questions came up through the lesson: Do you believe in resurrection? Why are we called Latter Day Saints?
It all wrapped up in an hour, and the two Beehives were getting rowdy just like Beehives do. We let them take the rest of the treats home to their families.
I hope I can keep it up on a weekly basis. These girls need the instruction so much, and President Robinson thinks that they really need to be able to come into a stable family home and just “soak in” what it can be like.
We had Young Women here at the house tonight. We’d told both the Shires and the Rollasons that we’d pick up the girls, but evidently no one told the Shires girls. When I went out to get in the car, Carolyn Shires and her friend, Jessica, were just arriving. So I put them in the car, and we went to the Rollasons. Tammy had forgotten, but she quickly changed her clothes and came. Both Shires and Rollasons have older daughters who could have come, but they didn’t. I hope we can get them coming.
After the prayer, I showed them copies of the YW theme. Nobody even knew the YW had a theme. Tammy is 14 and Carolyn is 12 as is Jessica. So we stood and read it together. They thought it had some hard words in it.
I had them make some rice krispy treats before we did the lesson. The only marshmallows I could find were strawberry flavored. The treats ended up tasting really good. I’d found out on the way to our house that none of them had eaten dinner (6:30 pm), so we gave them the left over chicken noodle soup from dinner. It was homemade and they really liked it. I also opened a small bag of Doritos we had, but the girls hardly touched them. That surprised me.
Coincidentally, the first lesson in the YW manual #1 is “Daughter of God.” So the lesson was well correlated with the theme. Part way through the lesson, Jessica asked if she was sinning to be learning about a different church than the one she attends. (She couldn’t tell us the name of it.) I assured her that it wouldn’t be a sin because she is learning truth. Sure hope the people in the other church agree. Jessica lives with her mom in Derby and visits her dad down here when school is out. Random questions came up through the lesson: Do you believe in resurrection? Why are we called Latter Day Saints?
It all wrapped up in an hour, and the two Beehives were getting rowdy just like Beehives do. We let them take the rest of the treats home to their families.
I hope I can keep it up on a weekly basis. These girls need the instruction so much, and President Robinson thinks that they really need to be able to come into a stable family home and just “soak in” what it can be like.
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