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.