A WONDERFUL DAY

August 26, 2010 Thursday

We attended the Zone Conference of the Rockingham Zone which we were in when we worked in Perth. It was in the Thornlie Chapel where we had attended while in the Jandakot ward. We ran into several elders that we knew and it was good to see them and how well they are doing. Conference started right at 8 am.
Some background: When we spent the 3 days with President and Sister Cahoon a few weeks back, they were very new to the mission. But they had begun to sense that the level of obedience was not where it should be among the missionaries. Tuesday evening Sister Cahoon told us that Elder Hamula had confirmed that to them after interviewing some missionaries in the afternoon. He also said that the previous 4 general authorities who had been here in the last 14 months had sensed the same thing. So President Cahoon started the conference talking about missionaries seeing how close they could get to breaking rules without being sent home. Then Elder Hamula got up and just laid it on the line to the missionaries. He stood there and listed many of the things that were happening that shouldn’t be: TV, DVD’s, traveling outside of areas, staying home when they should be out working, flirting, and more. It was amazing and then he said, “And not all of it was admitted to me in Tuesday’s Zone Conference. The Lord told me. You can’t hide it, elders. We know what’s going on.” He then talked about how they can change. He told them they had to because they were setting the foundation for the rest of their lives. And his teaching was wonderful. The man is such a good teacher. We listened to him for 5 hours (with a lunch break) and the time just raced by. It was fascinating as he taught us about Lehi’s dream and the Garden of Eden. Everything he said, he then referenced it to a scripture and had us look it up and read it. And he did it all without one note! I just wish we could have stuck around to hear him speak again today.
After conference, we went to the temple. It was so good to be there. It’s been 3 months since we’d been. The peace and spirit in there is so powerful. Then we went to Elder and Sister Crawford’s flat for a dinner with all the senior missionaries. We each had brought something. Those who had traveled into Perth brought items that could just be purchased. The others did the work of the main course and salads. We took toppings for the ice cream. We sat around and talked and laughed at each others’ experiences. It was such a good time. We were able to get acquainted with the Orth’s—they are from Brisbane and good friends of the Maurers who were the mission president and wife we got here. The Walkers are from Highland, Utah and are on their 3rd mission. They’ve served in Martin’s Cove and Samoa before coming here.
We flew back home this morning, threw a load of wash in and then ran to the grocery store. Caleb, one of the neighborhood kids, dropped by so we played 3 games of dominoes with him.
We are really tired. The bed in the hotel wasn’t the best and we didn’t sleep well. But we are grateful that we had a place to stay where we were able to control the temperature. It was cool down there and downright cold in the mornings. Hot, humid Broome felt really good when we got here.