May 22, 2011 Sunday
Tonight we went hunting more “unknowns.” The first two were bad addresses. The silly inactive people move and don’t tell anyone. Nobody knows them or misses them, and they become lost. The biggest problem the church has here in West Australia is that nobody has taken the time to find everyone on the ward list. (Today we mentioned John, the guy we bought some food last week, and the bishop said, “Who’s that?”) At one house tonight, the people said they’d been living there for 3 years and do get mail occasionally for the woman we were looking for. So no one in the church has made an effort to locate her for at least 3 years. Obviously, she hasn’t been assigned home or visiting teachers in that period. It’s amazing how many people we find who haven’t had visits from the church for years. Very sad.
Now that I’m off my “soapbox,” I’ll proceed with my story. The third visit we tried to make was to William McKiddie. The list said he’s 39 and is a deacon. A guy came to the door; we asked for William. He opened the door, held out his hand and said, “I’m John.” So we asked if he was William’s brother, and he told us that he is William but goes by John. We asked if he had a minute and he invited us in. We met his non-member wife, Chris, who is a friendly, sharp lady, and also Tommy, 5, and Abby, 7. And they are cute, blonde kids. John was really upbeat; he was born in the church and had great experiences growing up and in the youth programs. He even went on bus rides to the Sydney Temple for baptisms—one way=3 days. However, he’s just drifted away. We think Chris may have had something to do with that; she was wearing a cross around her neck. He mentioned that if he ever went to the states, he only wanted to go to the south. He’d take a box and fill it with car parts! He’s a car nut. Right now he’s working on an 84 Bronco, and he says car parts are super cheap in the southern US compared to over here. He buys all kinds of things through E-bay. It’s cheaper to buy something from the US and have it shipped than to get it here in Aussieland. Anyway, it was a great visit, and he told us to feel free to call on him if anyone in the ward needs help with something. What a nice guy.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
AN EXPERIMENT
May 21, 2011 Saturday
Before we came to Australia, we were studying Preach My Gospel one day and the idea came to us of showing a church DVD in a member’s home. A few days before, we would invite people living near the member to come to the movie. Last week in priesthood and Relief Society, the lesson was on missionary work. Orson mentioned the idea in High Priests, and Brother Witahira took him up on the idea. So we have scheduled to show “The Testaments” on Monday at 11:00 am and again at 7:00 pm. Today we went to their neighborhood and started inviting people. We’ve made up a flyer that invites people to “come and enjoy a DVD about a family in ancient America as they anticipate and enjoy the Savior’s visit to them after his resurrection.” There were a lot of people who said they “weren’t sure” but took the flyer. We will drop back on Monday and remind them about it. We are really hoping it works. We’ve told Witihiras that they are our “guinea pigs” and they are comfortable with that.
The mission has called a Sister Miles who has years of experience teaching English as a 2nd Language to teach free English classes here in Perth. Today Orson and I went to the class to see how she does it because we’d like to see a similar program going here on the south side of Perth. She is very good; it almost discouraged me from thinking we can do the same. However, we talked to Sam, our son who served a Mandarin Chinese mission in Sydney a few years back. He said he thought they had some lesson plans that the senior missionaries used over there. On Monday we will call to see if they still have them and are willing to share. Also, I have a friend who taught English at the Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake who said she has some things she used that she can e-mail to me. There are so many people here who struggle with English. It would be a great service to them and a way for us to share the gospel with them.
Before we came to Australia, we were studying Preach My Gospel one day and the idea came to us of showing a church DVD in a member’s home. A few days before, we would invite people living near the member to come to the movie. Last week in priesthood and Relief Society, the lesson was on missionary work. Orson mentioned the idea in High Priests, and Brother Witahira took him up on the idea. So we have scheduled to show “The Testaments” on Monday at 11:00 am and again at 7:00 pm. Today we went to their neighborhood and started inviting people. We’ve made up a flyer that invites people to “come and enjoy a DVD about a family in ancient America as they anticipate and enjoy the Savior’s visit to them after his resurrection.” There were a lot of people who said they “weren’t sure” but took the flyer. We will drop back on Monday and remind them about it. We are really hoping it works. We’ve told Witihiras that they are our “guinea pigs” and they are comfortable with that.
The mission has called a Sister Miles who has years of experience teaching English as a 2nd Language to teach free English classes here in Perth. Today Orson and I went to the class to see how she does it because we’d like to see a similar program going here on the south side of Perth. She is very good; it almost discouraged me from thinking we can do the same. However, we talked to Sam, our son who served a Mandarin Chinese mission in Sydney a few years back. He said he thought they had some lesson plans that the senior missionaries used over there. On Monday we will call to see if they still have them and are willing to share. Also, I have a friend who taught English at the Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake who said she has some things she used that she can e-mail to me. There are so many people here who struggle with English. It would be a great service to them and a way for us to share the gospel with them.
WARREN
May 20, 2011 Friday
One day last week we decided to spend some time looking for “Unknowns” on the ward list. Nobody was home at the first two houses. At the 3rd house, the man who answered the door explained that Cynthia Qegu just lived at their place when she is in town. Cynthia and they are from South Africa but not related. Cynthia is a midwife and works for a temp agency working all over West Australia. We asked him if she ever talked about her religion with him. The answer was, “No.” So we began talking to him. He was very friendly and polite. He was raised Catholic but became “born again” at some point. He said he didn’t know anything about the Mormons. After we explained a lot, he admitted that he had heard about Mormons but claimed he hadn’t because he wanted to hear us explain us instead of listening to others’ opinions. He goes to church and then comes home and reads the Bible and studies it to find out what it really says. So tonight we went back and read 1 Nephi 13 & 14 with him; it explains about John writing Revelations which he had brought up the first time we talked to him. We told him the Joseph Smith story and gave him the Book of Mormon explaining it was up to him to read and pray about it. He absorbed it all and said he would study it. We told him we’d give him a call in a couple of weeks to see what he thought about it. If we are any judge of character, we think he will give it a fair trial. It was a great visit.
We also dropped by Wendy Rosales, a former “unknown.” Her family is from El Salvador. She’s the only member. She was at the door before we even got there. Her mom came in and sat down to talk too. When they first joined the church, elders used to go to their house all the time because they loved the Latin friendliness and food. We had a good visit. Wendy even asked what time the meetings were. Her brother has been teasing her about going to church lately. She wants to come and bring him. We’ll see.
It rained almost all day today. Everyone is so happy when it rains (except missionaries).
One day last week we decided to spend some time looking for “Unknowns” on the ward list. Nobody was home at the first two houses. At the 3rd house, the man who answered the door explained that Cynthia Qegu just lived at their place when she is in town. Cynthia and they are from South Africa but not related. Cynthia is a midwife and works for a temp agency working all over West Australia. We asked him if she ever talked about her religion with him. The answer was, “No.” So we began talking to him. He was very friendly and polite. He was raised Catholic but became “born again” at some point. He said he didn’t know anything about the Mormons. After we explained a lot, he admitted that he had heard about Mormons but claimed he hadn’t because he wanted to hear us explain us instead of listening to others’ opinions. He goes to church and then comes home and reads the Bible and studies it to find out what it really says. So tonight we went back and read 1 Nephi 13 & 14 with him; it explains about John writing Revelations which he had brought up the first time we talked to him. We told him the Joseph Smith story and gave him the Book of Mormon explaining it was up to him to read and pray about it. He absorbed it all and said he would study it. We told him we’d give him a call in a couple of weeks to see what he thought about it. If we are any judge of character, we think he will give it a fair trial. It was a great visit.
We also dropped by Wendy Rosales, a former “unknown.” Her family is from El Salvador. She’s the only member. She was at the door before we even got there. Her mom came in and sat down to talk too. When they first joined the church, elders used to go to their house all the time because they loved the Latin friendliness and food. We had a good visit. Wendy even asked what time the meetings were. Her brother has been teasing her about going to church lately. She wants to come and bring him. We’ll see.
It rained almost all day today. Everyone is so happy when it rains (except missionaries).
“NEED A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS”
May 19, 2011 Thursday
This afternoon we went looking for some of the people on the ward list that nobody seems to know. First we found Christine. She was coming outside just as we drove up and was a little embarrassed because she was wearing shorts. The poor lady’s legs are so swollen that they look like logs with a 12-15 inch diameter. But they didn’t seem to bother her. She stood and talked to us for quite a while. She didn’t have any teeth either. She’s lived in her house for 8 years and hasn’t seen a home or visiting teacher. She’s in her mid-fifties and is very wrapped up in caring for her parents. They are still in their own home, but her dad has dementia and her mom gets around in a wheel chair. It just breaks your heart to hear the problems some people have to deal with. She works a couple of days a week at the Good Sammy’s (a thrift store run by Good Samaritans) nearby. She says she’s planning to come back to church some day.
Then we went to John’s. He’s 62 and moved over from the east coast 4 years ago to work at the mines. He lived with a member family down in Rockingham for a couple of years; that’s when he joined the church. Then he moved into our ward and became one of the huge “pool of unknowns.” When we met him, he welcomed us in but told us we’d come on a day that was sort of a disaster. He then told us about breaking his leg a while back so he lost his mine job. He worked another job (he drives buses) for a while but was laid off. He’s been trying to find work but just hasn’t had anything pan out for him. He was really upset. We sat at the kitchen table and there was one Granny Smith apple visible. That was the only sign of food. Orson asked him if he had food and he said he had enough for tonight. He was very upset about the economic situation and how it seemed like the big corporations were running everything without any attention paid to the “little guys.” We prayed with him and left. We returned about an hour later with some groceries. He was so appreciative. He also said that after we left he called someone he’d known at one of his jobs. He has an appointment to visit with him tomorrow in hopes of getting a job. The poor guy is alone over here. All his family is on the east coast. You just feel so badly for people like that. He said he would show up at church Sunday. The ward list says he doesn’t have any priesthood; he must have moved right after his baptism.
Tonight we taught Mowana and her girls. We got hugs from all the girls when we arrived tonight. That was very special. The best news is that they are reading the Book of Mormon, taking it just one verse at a time and understanding it. Mowana was very happy about that. We found out her parents are members of the ward too. We plan to visit them. She said she will keep working on her husband to see if he will come around to marrying her and listening to the lessons. The girls, Ebony, Sarsha (pronounced Sasha) and Jade seems to have good recall of what we’ve been teaching them. We finished the Plan of Salvation tonight.
This afternoon we went looking for some of the people on the ward list that nobody seems to know. First we found Christine. She was coming outside just as we drove up and was a little embarrassed because she was wearing shorts. The poor lady’s legs are so swollen that they look like logs with a 12-15 inch diameter. But they didn’t seem to bother her. She stood and talked to us for quite a while. She didn’t have any teeth either. She’s lived in her house for 8 years and hasn’t seen a home or visiting teacher. She’s in her mid-fifties and is very wrapped up in caring for her parents. They are still in their own home, but her dad has dementia and her mom gets around in a wheel chair. It just breaks your heart to hear the problems some people have to deal with. She works a couple of days a week at the Good Sammy’s (a thrift store run by Good Samaritans) nearby. She says she’s planning to come back to church some day.
Then we went to John’s. He’s 62 and moved over from the east coast 4 years ago to work at the mines. He lived with a member family down in Rockingham for a couple of years; that’s when he joined the church. Then he moved into our ward and became one of the huge “pool of unknowns.” When we met him, he welcomed us in but told us we’d come on a day that was sort of a disaster. He then told us about breaking his leg a while back so he lost his mine job. He worked another job (he drives buses) for a while but was laid off. He’s been trying to find work but just hasn’t had anything pan out for him. He was really upset. We sat at the kitchen table and there was one Granny Smith apple visible. That was the only sign of food. Orson asked him if he had food and he said he had enough for tonight. He was very upset about the economic situation and how it seemed like the big corporations were running everything without any attention paid to the “little guys.” We prayed with him and left. We returned about an hour later with some groceries. He was so appreciative. He also said that after we left he called someone he’d known at one of his jobs. He has an appointment to visit with him tomorrow in hopes of getting a job. The poor guy is alone over here. All his family is on the east coast. You just feel so badly for people like that. He said he would show up at church Sunday. The ward list says he doesn’t have any priesthood; he must have moved right after his baptism.
Tonight we taught Mowana and her girls. We got hugs from all the girls when we arrived tonight. That was very special. The best news is that they are reading the Book of Mormon, taking it just one verse at a time and understanding it. Mowana was very happy about that. We found out her parents are members of the ward too. We plan to visit them. She said she will keep working on her husband to see if he will come around to marrying her and listening to the lessons. The girls, Ebony, Sarsha (pronounced Sasha) and Jade seems to have good recall of what we’ve been teaching them. We finished the Plan of Salvation tonight.
CONFERENCE WITH A GA
May 18, 2011
Today all the city missionaries were invited to a conference with David Evans. He’s a seventy from Sandy, Utah. They have 8 kids. They served as mission president in Nagoya, Japan, then a full-time mission, and he’s now a seventy. In June he will take over as director of the MTC so he’s touring missions and teaching missionaries until then. He was very sharp and taught from the scriptures and Preach My Gospel. It’s always a pleasure to be taught by a GA. The spirit guides them and it’s very evident. It’s one of the perks of going on a mission.
After the conference, we taught Ariel about Joseph Smith. She remembered what we’d given her on Sunday. She’s a sweet girl and she’s starting to open up with us a little more. We then watched “The Restoration” with her. Her grandpa, Franklin Witehara, watched it with us. He hadn’t seen this new version before and really liked it. The poor guy. He was hired to install a bunch of piping in some mines in New Zealand years ago and was exposed to asbestos. He’s been on oxygen for 9 years now because of it. He’s super cheerful and so happy to be part of the church. What a great spirit he has.
On Monday, Scott and Melissa Mortley invited us over for dinner. Orson did some work in the yard with Scott. I helped Melissa with dinner. She had me grate some cheese. She had an awesome grater she’d gotten for a wedding present. Like a dumbhead, I exclaimed over how neat it was. Tonight she and Scott showed up at our house with a grater for me and some homemade fudge. What good kids! She’s expecting their first baby in a few months. (We also taught them to play Mexican Train on Monday—we all laughed a lot over that.)
Tonight we gave James the Word of Wisdom. He said he knew it was coming—that made us laugh. His partner is an inactive Mormon. Giving up drinking was easy since it was the cause of his “marital” problems. He’s more worried about the smoking but said he would do it and coffee at the same time since he only uses them at work and always together. He’s a good guy—we really like him. And D’nella, his partner, promised to sit in on our lesson with him next week for sure.
Today all the city missionaries were invited to a conference with David Evans. He’s a seventy from Sandy, Utah. They have 8 kids. They served as mission president in Nagoya, Japan, then a full-time mission, and he’s now a seventy. In June he will take over as director of the MTC so he’s touring missions and teaching missionaries until then. He was very sharp and taught from the scriptures and Preach My Gospel. It’s always a pleasure to be taught by a GA. The spirit guides them and it’s very evident. It’s one of the perks of going on a mission.
After the conference, we taught Ariel about Joseph Smith. She remembered what we’d given her on Sunday. She’s a sweet girl and she’s starting to open up with us a little more. We then watched “The Restoration” with her. Her grandpa, Franklin Witehara, watched it with us. He hadn’t seen this new version before and really liked it. The poor guy. He was hired to install a bunch of piping in some mines in New Zealand years ago and was exposed to asbestos. He’s been on oxygen for 9 years now because of it. He’s super cheerful and so happy to be part of the church. What a great spirit he has.
On Monday, Scott and Melissa Mortley invited us over for dinner. Orson did some work in the yard with Scott. I helped Melissa with dinner. She had me grate some cheese. She had an awesome grater she’d gotten for a wedding present. Like a dumbhead, I exclaimed over how neat it was. Tonight she and Scott showed up at our house with a grater for me and some homemade fudge. What good kids! She’s expecting their first baby in a few months. (We also taught them to play Mexican Train on Monday—we all laughed a lot over that.)
Tonight we gave James the Word of Wisdom. He said he knew it was coming—that made us laugh. His partner is an inactive Mormon. Giving up drinking was easy since it was the cause of his “marital” problems. He’s more worried about the smoking but said he would do it and coffee at the same time since he only uses them at work and always together. He’s a good guy—we really like him. And D’nella, his partner, promised to sit in on our lesson with him next week for sure.
PASSIONFRUIT CHEESECAKE
May 17, 2011 Tuesday
This afternoon we taught Alma and Ed again, the Filipino couple we met last week. We taught them the Joseph Smith story and the Book of Mormon. They are willing to read and pray. Alma gave the closing prayer and it was a good one. They already have family prayer with their boys each night. Ed said that what we told him gave him a lot to think about. He leaves Thursday for the mines, so it will be a while before we get back to visit them. We also gave them the DVD, Families Forever, to watch.
We dropped by James’ house tonight and gave him the same DVD. We want so much for him and his partner, D’nella, to get married and become active in the church. It would be so good for them and for their family.
The bishop told us to visit Jared to see if we can teach him the lessons again. He went inactive 15 years ago when he was 1 7. Then he married Dana who was raised in an atheistic home where they won’t let anyone make any references to God. So she’s not interested at all and he’s very contented with his lifestyle. He still believes, but he won’t start the whole church thing without his wife coming with him. The high point of the visit was when he offered us some passionfruit cheesecake. Oh, my goodness, it was good! However, just as good was getting to play with Corrie, their 3 year old little girl. She wasn’t shy in the least and brought me her tablet she was coloring in. We colored suns, dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. She and her 18 month old little sister, Jaycee, both have dark, dark eyes, and blonde hair. They are so cute! It was fun to be there. Jared is really a nice guy and said we could drop by and discuss stuff with him. We’ll see how it goes. He’s not planning on changing anything soon; but if we can help him gain a better understanding of the gospel, that will be a step forward.
This afternoon we taught Alma and Ed again, the Filipino couple we met last week. We taught them the Joseph Smith story and the Book of Mormon. They are willing to read and pray. Alma gave the closing prayer and it was a good one. They already have family prayer with their boys each night. Ed said that what we told him gave him a lot to think about. He leaves Thursday for the mines, so it will be a while before we get back to visit them. We also gave them the DVD, Families Forever, to watch.
We dropped by James’ house tonight and gave him the same DVD. We want so much for him and his partner, D’nella, to get married and become active in the church. It would be so good for them and for their family.
The bishop told us to visit Jared to see if we can teach him the lessons again. He went inactive 15 years ago when he was 1 7. Then he married Dana who was raised in an atheistic home where they won’t let anyone make any references to God. So she’s not interested at all and he’s very contented with his lifestyle. He still believes, but he won’t start the whole church thing without his wife coming with him. The high point of the visit was when he offered us some passionfruit cheesecake. Oh, my goodness, it was good! However, just as good was getting to play with Corrie, their 3 year old little girl. She wasn’t shy in the least and brought me her tablet she was coloring in. We colored suns, dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. She and her 18 month old little sister, Jaycee, both have dark, dark eyes, and blonde hair. They are so cute! It was fun to be there. Jared is really a nice guy and said we could drop by and discuss stuff with him. We’ll see how it goes. He’s not planning on changing anything soon; but if we can help him gain a better understanding of the gospel, that will be a step forward.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Random Shots
Wanna take a tour?
Gum trees shed their bark, not their leaves down here.
If we only had a Harley...
Kangaroo figures are all over around Perth
Gum trees shed their bark, not their leaves down here.
If we only had a Harley...
Kangaroo figures are all over around Perth
HERE WE GO AGAIN!
May 15, 2011 Sunday
We started teaching Ariel again today. She’s the girl whose parents thought we were giving her “too much, too soon” when we taught her the first half of the first lesson. So today we started from the basics and just talked to her about the Godhead and who is in it. We talked a little about Christ and reviewed His birth. She really hasn’t had any religious training until she moved over here from New Zealand and in with her active father’s family.
Fifi came back from Indonesia and came to church today. She cut her hair while she was there, and it’s changed her from looking like a young girl to looking like a smart professional. It’s amazing what a difference it made on her. She stayed for all three meetings and exchanged phone numbers with a girl from Taiwan who is about her age and who just moved into the ward. She is still excited to learn the Gospel.
Today for the Aaronic Priesthood restoration, they had all priesthood bearers come forward to sing, “Praise to the Man.” Adam Mortly, the organist, played the accompaniment on the organ with it set so it sounded like a bagpipe. It was beautiful. He said he copied it from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was also very neat to have all those men up there singing together.
We started teaching Ariel again today. She’s the girl whose parents thought we were giving her “too much, too soon” when we taught her the first half of the first lesson. So today we started from the basics and just talked to her about the Godhead and who is in it. We talked a little about Christ and reviewed His birth. She really hasn’t had any religious training until she moved over here from New Zealand and in with her active father’s family.
Fifi came back from Indonesia and came to church today. She cut her hair while she was there, and it’s changed her from looking like a young girl to looking like a smart professional. It’s amazing what a difference it made on her. She stayed for all three meetings and exchanged phone numbers with a girl from Taiwan who is about her age and who just moved into the ward. She is still excited to learn the Gospel.
Today for the Aaronic Priesthood restoration, they had all priesthood bearers come forward to sing, “Praise to the Man.” Adam Mortly, the organist, played the accompaniment on the organ with it set so it sounded like a bagpipe. It was beautiful. He said he copied it from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was also very neat to have all those men up there singing together.
SOUTH AFRICA
May 14, 2011 Saturday
Last Sunday a “young” couple about our age visited our ward. They are visiting their son and his family and are from South Africa. Brother Comrie has been in the stake presidency over there and also temple recorder for a long time and was recently released from both. He and his wife are here for a month and then are going on to Texas to visit a daughter and her family. Today Orson and he went over to visit Benny Van Huizen, a fellow from South Africa who heard the lessons a couple of years ago and has a beautiful family. We had tried to re-interest Benny but have been unsuccessful. Benny was happy to meet a fellow compatriot and Brother Comrie is going back over on Tuesday to visit. We are hoping he can help Benny swing over to the true church. As we were driving him back and forth, he talked about his country. They are experiencing “reverse discrimination” to the point that most of the young professionals are leaving the country. He explained that what South Africa is going through is what most of the rest of Africa did years ago when they kicked most of the white professionals out of their countries. The African traditions are very strong and it is difficult for the Africans to move their countries forward on their own. Many of the dictators there now were democratically elected years ago and then they refused to step down. Corruption is rampant and the quality of the schools and hospitals is going down. He said the church is the bright spot in South Africa. Very few white folks are joining now; it is mostly the blacks and it’s a real struggle to get them to leave behind the traditions that are holding them back. One example he gave is that of the “dowry.” Basically, the young man has to buy his wife. He said it’s very difficult for young LDS young men to come home from missions, get married, and get an education because of this custom. Most cannot afford to be married and many fall back into “just living together.” Another is the “manhood” camp that all young men have to participate in. They take large groups out into the “bush.” Here they circumcise them and then leave them for a certain period of time to prove they can survive. About 10 percent die because of the unsanitary conditions the procedure is done in, and it’s no big concern to anyone. The more he talked, the more we realized once again what a blessing it is to have been born in the good old US of A!
Last Sunday a “young” couple about our age visited our ward. They are visiting their son and his family and are from South Africa. Brother Comrie has been in the stake presidency over there and also temple recorder for a long time and was recently released from both. He and his wife are here for a month and then are going on to Texas to visit a daughter and her family. Today Orson and he went over to visit Benny Van Huizen, a fellow from South Africa who heard the lessons a couple of years ago and has a beautiful family. We had tried to re-interest Benny but have been unsuccessful. Benny was happy to meet a fellow compatriot and Brother Comrie is going back over on Tuesday to visit. We are hoping he can help Benny swing over to the true church. As we were driving him back and forth, he talked about his country. They are experiencing “reverse discrimination” to the point that most of the young professionals are leaving the country. He explained that what South Africa is going through is what most of the rest of Africa did years ago when they kicked most of the white professionals out of their countries. The African traditions are very strong and it is difficult for the Africans to move their countries forward on their own. Many of the dictators there now were democratically elected years ago and then they refused to step down. Corruption is rampant and the quality of the schools and hospitals is going down. He said the church is the bright spot in South Africa. Very few white folks are joining now; it is mostly the blacks and it’s a real struggle to get them to leave behind the traditions that are holding them back. One example he gave is that of the “dowry.” Basically, the young man has to buy his wife. He said it’s very difficult for young LDS young men to come home from missions, get married, and get an education because of this custom. Most cannot afford to be married and many fall back into “just living together.” Another is the “manhood” camp that all young men have to participate in. They take large groups out into the “bush.” Here they circumcise them and then leave them for a certain period of time to prove they can survive. About 10 percent die because of the unsanitary conditions the procedure is done in, and it’s no big concern to anyone. The more he talked, the more we realized once again what a blessing it is to have been born in the good old US of A!
WE LOVE FILIPINOS!
May 13, 2011 Friday
The nicest people we run into seem to be Filipinos. Many times they invite us right in to talk to them. We received a referral last Monday of a lady whom the elders met while contacting in the city. Her name is Alma and they had even set up an appointment with her for 6 pm tonight. Our problem was that we already had an appointment for that time. But it was with James and he cancelled as usual. Alma came out through the carport and invited us to come around in back and into the family room. Her husband is Ed and we met their 11 year old son, Ahn. They also have a 15 year old son. They have been in Australia for 6 years. The referral said that she had told them that her family was what made her happiest. Ed agreed with that. So we talked about the principle of eternal families and how it affects all that we do and is so important to Heavenly Father’s plan. They are Catholic so we also got into the apostasy and the need for a restoration. They liked what we told them and told us that they let lots of people come in to talk to them so they can learn. They agreed to let us come back next week. Ed works two week on and one week off in the mines so we have them teach while he’s in town. He leaves on Thursday. We also invited them to church. We have an awesome Filipino couple that love missionary work in the ward that we can use to fellowship them.
We had lunch today with the Osgoods. It was a lot of fun. They are both in their late 70’s and so cheerful and happy. She attends the Baptist church craft group and has lots of stories about how she’s “planting seeds.”
This afternoon we went searching for some of the “unknowns” on the ward list. A fellow at one house told us the lady had gone to South Africa because her son had died. Evidently she’s a friend of his family. We got talking to him and found out he’s a “Born Again.” But he was different because he says he goes to church and then comes home and studies the Bible to get a clear understanding. He had some ideas that agree with our ideas. So we talked a long time and he consented to have us back next week also. He thinks Cynthia will be back from South Africa by then too. Should be interesting.
The nicest people we run into seem to be Filipinos. Many times they invite us right in to talk to them. We received a referral last Monday of a lady whom the elders met while contacting in the city. Her name is Alma and they had even set up an appointment with her for 6 pm tonight. Our problem was that we already had an appointment for that time. But it was with James and he cancelled as usual. Alma came out through the carport and invited us to come around in back and into the family room. Her husband is Ed and we met their 11 year old son, Ahn. They also have a 15 year old son. They have been in Australia for 6 years. The referral said that she had told them that her family was what made her happiest. Ed agreed with that. So we talked about the principle of eternal families and how it affects all that we do and is so important to Heavenly Father’s plan. They are Catholic so we also got into the apostasy and the need for a restoration. They liked what we told them and told us that they let lots of people come in to talk to them so they can learn. They agreed to let us come back next week. Ed works two week on and one week off in the mines so we have them teach while he’s in town. He leaves on Thursday. We also invited them to church. We have an awesome Filipino couple that love missionary work in the ward that we can use to fellowship them.
We had lunch today with the Osgoods. It was a lot of fun. They are both in their late 70’s and so cheerful and happy. She attends the Baptist church craft group and has lots of stories about how she’s “planting seeds.”
This afternoon we went searching for some of the “unknowns” on the ward list. A fellow at one house told us the lady had gone to South Africa because her son had died. Evidently she’s a friend of his family. We got talking to him and found out he’s a “Born Again.” But he was different because he says he goes to church and then comes home and studies the Bible to get a clear understanding. He had some ideas that agree with our ideas. So we talked a long time and he consented to have us back next week also. He thinks Cynthia will be back from South Africa by then too. Should be interesting.
WE CHALLENGED HER
May 12, 2011 Thursday
Tonight Yingping came over and brought some of Maud’s things for us to store. Maud decided to go home to Taiwan for 3 months, and she decided we could store her stuff. It’s really not much. We just hope we don’t get transferred before she comes back. I can see it turning into a “comedy of errors” if we leave it here and elders come back in. We are excited for Yingping though. We found out there is an employment specialist couple in Perth who are willing to work with her. We gave her their phone number so she can get in touch with them. Bless her heart, she is so afraid that if she doesn’t get a job she will have to return to China and become “rubbish” (her word.) She’s not impressed with her government and its corruption. She says if she works over there she will be required to be a robot doing everything to please her boss and not be able to express an opinion.
Later we went to Moana’s and taught her and her girls about more of the plan of salvation. We also read from the Book of Mormon with them and showed them how short “10 minutes a day” can be. When we were done, we asked if we could talk to her alone and challenged her to talk to Rob to see if he would be willing to talk to us so we can present the concept of family, priesthood, and the patriarchal concept. We asked if they’d ever discussed marriage. She said they had but not for a while. He was originally turned off of it because his first marriage ended in failure. He and Moana have 15 years together so there’s a good chance this one will last. She said she would talk to him about it. Before, she had just said that he wasn’t interested. Hopefully we will have a change of heart. We also challenged her again to bring the girls to church.
Tonight Yingping came over and brought some of Maud’s things for us to store. Maud decided to go home to Taiwan for 3 months, and she decided we could store her stuff. It’s really not much. We just hope we don’t get transferred before she comes back. I can see it turning into a “comedy of errors” if we leave it here and elders come back in. We are excited for Yingping though. We found out there is an employment specialist couple in Perth who are willing to work with her. We gave her their phone number so she can get in touch with them. Bless her heart, she is so afraid that if she doesn’t get a job she will have to return to China and become “rubbish” (her word.) She’s not impressed with her government and its corruption. She says if she works over there she will be required to be a robot doing everything to please her boss and not be able to express an opinion.
Later we went to Moana’s and taught her and her girls about more of the plan of salvation. We also read from the Book of Mormon with them and showed them how short “10 minutes a day” can be. When we were done, we asked if we could talk to her alone and challenged her to talk to Rob to see if he would be willing to talk to us so we can present the concept of family, priesthood, and the patriarchal concept. We asked if they’d ever discussed marriage. She said they had but not for a while. He was originally turned off of it because his first marriage ended in failure. He and Moana have 15 years together so there’s a good chance this one will last. She said she would talk to him about it. Before, she had just said that he wasn’t interested. Hopefully we will have a change of heart. We also challenged her again to bring the girls to church.
ZONE CONFERENCE
Orson drove one of these (the Holden) on his first mission.
May 10, 2011 Tuesday
Today was zone conference, and it was wonderful. President Cahoon started it out talking about Christ and the Atonement. It was such a powerful talk. The spirit was very strong and he helped me understand a few things I’ve never put together before. Just a few notes from his talk: Joseph Smith said that “All things pertaining to our church are appendages of the Atonement of Christ.” To each person to whom we testify of Christ is brought an “echo” of the council in heaven. If we lived what we sing in the hymn, “Come Unto Jesus,” we wouldn’t need a zone conference. If you want power, testify of Christ. He then told the story of a man on an airport shuttle who stood up just before getting off the bus, turned to the other passengers, and asked, “Have you heard the news?” He then said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoso believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,” and got off the bus. Sister Cahoon gave a recap of Elder Robbins conference talk of “To Do or To Be.” The AP’s followed that up with a challenge for us to add an extra step in our commitment pattern by not merely asking, “Will you be baptized?” but “Will you be obedient by being baptized?” thus offering the investigator the opportunity to “be” something and not just to “do” something. There were more things said and done, but those were the highlights. We really benefited by being there today.
All the senior missionaries came into town either last night or today, so this evening we all met and had supper at the Crawford’s. There are now 14 of us, but Crawfords leave in 6 weeks. It seems strange to even think of their not being here. (They served in Broome before we did, but then they were called to work in the office and have done so for a year now.)
YOU KNOW IT’S BAD…
May 9, 2011 Monday
…when the mission president gets a phone call complaining about you. Remember a couple of days ago when I wrote about the lady and her apostate husband who are part of the 15 Families reactivation program? Tonight President Cahoon called and said he’d had a phone call from the husband (who identified himself as a member) complaining that we had come banging on his door and given him a whole bunch of stuff to read. Then he told the president to tell us that he couldn’t meet with us this week and that we should come the next week. We explained to the president that we “banged” on the door because we didn’t get any response when we knocked. It was 11:00 am on Saturday and we were dropping off some information about the history of the trinity doctrine that he seems quite enamored with. Poor president—not only does he have 100 young missionaries to deal with; now he’s getting complaints about us old folks too!
…when the mission president gets a phone call complaining about you. Remember a couple of days ago when I wrote about the lady and her apostate husband who are part of the 15 Families reactivation program? Tonight President Cahoon called and said he’d had a phone call from the husband (who identified himself as a member) complaining that we had come banging on his door and given him a whole bunch of stuff to read. Then he told the president to tell us that he couldn’t meet with us this week and that we should come the next week. We explained to the president that we “banged” on the door because we didn’t get any response when we knocked. It was 11:00 am on Saturday and we were dropping off some information about the history of the trinity doctrine that he seems quite enamored with. Poor president—not only does he have 100 young missionaries to deal with; now he’s getting complaints about us old folks too!
DINNER WITH THE US CONSUL GENERAL
May 7, 2011 Saturday
This afternoon, Stephanie Rogalski called and invited us to dinner at their house. She mentioned that she had invited Alicia Woodburn, who is the US Consul General for West Australia. Rogalskis were at the dinner we had with the Tomlinsons a couple of weeks ago. Sister Rogalski had been the Public Affairs Chairman for West Australia (recently released), and we remembered she had mentioned that the new Consul General was LDS. So we went and had a great time. Sister Rogalski had fixed beef curry which was excellent. Alicia turned out to be a single girl in her late 30’s who was raised on a farm in Washington State. She came in jeans and looked just like anybody you might see at a kid’s soccer game. She said she’d wanted to be the US Ambassador to the UN since she was 8 years old. She’s been in London and a few other places before coming to Australia. She loves her job and all the perks that go with it. Stephanie said she has an incredible apartment in downtown Perth, and she drove a really nice car. For dessert they served an Italian ice cream treat that looked like a large peach (for each one of us). It was incredibly good, and the pit turned out to be a Roche chocolate.
This afternoon we visited Michael, a fellow from Zambia. His English was excellent. He and his family have been here for 4 years. He was street contacted by elders in downtown Perth. He grew up Anglican but attends a Pentecostal church here. He was happy to listen to us, but we couldn’t tell if he was sincere in his interest. He works in the mines so he wouldn’t commit to another appointment but said we could call him on Friday to see if he would be in town on Saturday. There sure are a ton of people who fly in and out to the mines which are all over West Australia.
This afternoon, Stephanie Rogalski called and invited us to dinner at their house. She mentioned that she had invited Alicia Woodburn, who is the US Consul General for West Australia. Rogalskis were at the dinner we had with the Tomlinsons a couple of weeks ago. Sister Rogalski had been the Public Affairs Chairman for West Australia (recently released), and we remembered she had mentioned that the new Consul General was LDS. So we went and had a great time. Sister Rogalski had fixed beef curry which was excellent. Alicia turned out to be a single girl in her late 30’s who was raised on a farm in Washington State. She came in jeans and looked just like anybody you might see at a kid’s soccer game. She said she’d wanted to be the US Ambassador to the UN since she was 8 years old. She’s been in London and a few other places before coming to Australia. She loves her job and all the perks that go with it. Stephanie said she has an incredible apartment in downtown Perth, and she drove a really nice car. For dessert they served an Italian ice cream treat that looked like a large peach (for each one of us). It was incredibly good, and the pit turned out to be a Roche chocolate.
This afternoon we visited Michael, a fellow from Zambia. His English was excellent. He and his family have been here for 4 years. He was street contacted by elders in downtown Perth. He grew up Anglican but attends a Pentecostal church here. He was happy to listen to us, but we couldn’t tell if he was sincere in his interest. He works in the mines so he wouldn’t commit to another appointment but said we could call him on Friday to see if he would be in town on Saturday. There sure are a ton of people who fly in and out to the mines which are all over West Australia.
SOME DAYS YA GOTTA WONDER.
May 6, 2011 Friday
A few days ago we received a referral for a guy whose name was remarkably close to the name of a ward member who had moved. Orson and Tai went there this morning and he said he moves every 6 months or so. He also told them he’d been “excommunicated by mistake.” Evidently his sister wanted somebody to drop by on him. He wasn’t exactly receptive.
This afternoon, we looked up a sister on the ward list that nobody seems to know. She was very friendly. She proceeded to tell us that her daughter worked at a “lingerie club.” “Better than working on the streets,” she said. She told us how she used to go to the club and how all the folks there used to call her a party girl. She even told us how they were throwing her up into the air not long after a surgery. Sure glad we don’t have to live like that.
Later this afternoon, we went to teach a lesson to a lady who is a member and her non-member husband. This was part of the “15 Member Program” in the ward. She told us she’d studied to be a preacher in the Church of Christ. Then she wondered if we really needed prophets and why couldn’t we just believe in Christ. Then she wondered if reincarnation had any truth to it. Her husband had been baptized into the church once but then asked to have his name removed. They go to a bible study group of a friend of theirs. It was really a challenge to even keep them focused on one idea for more than a minute.
Where do these people come from?
A few days ago we received a referral for a guy whose name was remarkably close to the name of a ward member who had moved. Orson and Tai went there this morning and he said he moves every 6 months or so. He also told them he’d been “excommunicated by mistake.” Evidently his sister wanted somebody to drop by on him. He wasn’t exactly receptive.
This afternoon, we looked up a sister on the ward list that nobody seems to know. She was very friendly. She proceeded to tell us that her daughter worked at a “lingerie club.” “Better than working on the streets,” she said. She told us how she used to go to the club and how all the folks there used to call her a party girl. She even told us how they were throwing her up into the air not long after a surgery. Sure glad we don’t have to live like that.
Later this afternoon, we went to teach a lesson to a lady who is a member and her non-member husband. This was part of the “15 Member Program” in the ward. She told us she’d studied to be a preacher in the Church of Christ. Then she wondered if we really needed prophets and why couldn’t we just believe in Christ. Then she wondered if reincarnation had any truth to it. Her husband had been baptized into the church once but then asked to have his name removed. They go to a bible study group of a friend of theirs. It was really a challenge to even keep them focused on one idea for more than a minute.
Where do these people come from?
MORE ON MIKE
May 5, 2011 Wednesday
We met with Mike again today. It’s been interesting to see how the spirit is directing our teaching. Orson has been able to come up with analogies that really are meaningful to Mike. We talked some more about life and how what we do here is a preparation for the next life. We also helped him understand that this will be a life-long commitment. Then we asked him if he was willing to make this kind of commitment and he said he is. He’d talked to his girl friend about the church and she said she might come with him on Sunday. When we asked if he’d read the Joseph Smith pamphlet, he said he’d read up to page 10. He then told us in detail everything he’d read and had no questions about it. We teach him again on Saturday. It’s not often you get to teach someone 3 times a week!
Tonight we visited Lori Manners. Her visiting teacher told us it’s better to visit her in the evenings. She was up watching TV. We had a good visit. She’d gotten a letter and pictures from her son in Melbourne. He’s involved with a church that sends missions to South Africa. He and his family of 5 little kids are on their way there for 5 months. We finally found some slippers that fit her and she was happy with them.
We met with Mike again today. It’s been interesting to see how the spirit is directing our teaching. Orson has been able to come up with analogies that really are meaningful to Mike. We talked some more about life and how what we do here is a preparation for the next life. We also helped him understand that this will be a life-long commitment. Then we asked him if he was willing to make this kind of commitment and he said he is. He’d talked to his girl friend about the church and she said she might come with him on Sunday. When we asked if he’d read the Joseph Smith pamphlet, he said he’d read up to page 10. He then told us in detail everything he’d read and had no questions about it. We teach him again on Saturday. It’s not often you get to teach someone 3 times a week!
Tonight we visited Lori Manners. Her visiting teacher told us it’s better to visit her in the evenings. She was up watching TV. We had a good visit. She’d gotten a letter and pictures from her son in Melbourne. He’s involved with a church that sends missions to South Africa. He and his family of 5 little kids are on their way there for 5 months. We finally found some slippers that fit her and she was happy with them.
MIKE
May 4, 2011 Wednesday
On Sunday, there were 3 baby blessings so the chapel was packed. Somehow Orson noticed a black young man that he didn’t recognize (I figured he was part of the 3 baby blessing parties). Shortly before the end of the meeting, the young man got up and left. Orson followed him out and talked to him. He’s the older brother of a couple of member kids who are inactive. He said he’d felt a need to pray so he’d come to the church. He wasn’t too impressed because he had no clue about testimony meeting and he was sitting in the back where most of the people with little kids sit and it’s anything but reverent. He said we could drop by to talk to him. We went over on Monday, but he’d been called to work. His family is just super nice. They came from Sudan five or six years ago. We tried to get his parents to agree to listen to the lessons with Mike, but they said they were Muslim. We met both Sham and Pieter, his brothers. They wouldn’t give any kind of reason for their inactivity. One is 13 and the other is 17. There are two more little brothers and a little sister in the family. The father is Abdella and the mom is Kuku.
So we went back on Tuesday and Mike was there. It was a good discussion. He flat out told us that he had a hard time making commitments and sticking with them. But he did realize that his life needs some direction. We talked about how Satan wants to keep us from achieving good things. The conversation rolled around to when he would get married and have kids; he said, “I already have a kid, a little girl who turns one this month.” Well, that led us to find out his girl friend is also from the Sudan and in their customs all he has to do is settle on a dowry (about $12,000) that he has to pay her folks and then she can move in with him. He doesn’t live at his folks’ house—he rents a place somewhere else but spends lots of time at home. We explained that he’d need to marry Julia in order to be baptized and challenged him to ask her about having the lessons too. We let him know that membership in the church is a long term commitment and that he would have to work hard to be a member. He expressed that he wanted to do it. It will be interesting to see how this all works out.
We finally got to teach James again after a month. We read Alma 34 with him. His partner he’d separated from has moved back in. She came in and sat down and listened to the last part of it. We aren’t sure that he wants to make a go of it anymore with her even though they have 3 kids together. Who knows what will happen here? Later, at ward council, we found out that James lives in an area that is really in the Belmont Ward. But it’s much closer to our chapel for the folks who live there. So, some of the folks attend Belmont and some attend Thornlie and the missionaries have a “gentlemen’s agreements” to work with whoever comes to their ward. We are finding out there seem to be a lot of gray areas about stuff here in the church in West Australia.
On Sunday, there were 3 baby blessings so the chapel was packed. Somehow Orson noticed a black young man that he didn’t recognize (I figured he was part of the 3 baby blessing parties). Shortly before the end of the meeting, the young man got up and left. Orson followed him out and talked to him. He’s the older brother of a couple of member kids who are inactive. He said he’d felt a need to pray so he’d come to the church. He wasn’t too impressed because he had no clue about testimony meeting and he was sitting in the back where most of the people with little kids sit and it’s anything but reverent. He said we could drop by to talk to him. We went over on Monday, but he’d been called to work. His family is just super nice. They came from Sudan five or six years ago. We tried to get his parents to agree to listen to the lessons with Mike, but they said they were Muslim. We met both Sham and Pieter, his brothers. They wouldn’t give any kind of reason for their inactivity. One is 13 and the other is 17. There are two more little brothers and a little sister in the family. The father is Abdella and the mom is Kuku.
So we went back on Tuesday and Mike was there. It was a good discussion. He flat out told us that he had a hard time making commitments and sticking with them. But he did realize that his life needs some direction. We talked about how Satan wants to keep us from achieving good things. The conversation rolled around to when he would get married and have kids; he said, “I already have a kid, a little girl who turns one this month.” Well, that led us to find out his girl friend is also from the Sudan and in their customs all he has to do is settle on a dowry (about $12,000) that he has to pay her folks and then she can move in with him. He doesn’t live at his folks’ house—he rents a place somewhere else but spends lots of time at home. We explained that he’d need to marry Julia in order to be baptized and challenged him to ask her about having the lessons too. We let him know that membership in the church is a long term commitment and that he would have to work hard to be a member. He expressed that he wanted to do it. It will be interesting to see how this all works out.
We finally got to teach James again after a month. We read Alma 34 with him. His partner he’d separated from has moved back in. She came in and sat down and listened to the last part of it. We aren’t sure that he wants to make a go of it anymore with her even though they have 3 kids together. Who knows what will happen here? Later, at ward council, we found out that James lives in an area that is really in the Belmont Ward. But it’s much closer to our chapel for the folks who live there. So, some of the folks attend Belmont and some attend Thornlie and the missionaries have a “gentlemen’s agreements” to work with whoever comes to their ward. We are finding out there seem to be a lot of gray areas about stuff here in the church in West Australia.
IT’S WARM IN HERE!
April 29, 2011 Friday
The weather has turned chilly and at night it gets downright cold. Our house has no central heating. Just before we were transferred to Broome last year, we were really getting worried about how we would not freeze to death here during the winter. It got down to freezing several times last winter here in Perth. So today, we took the ironing board and drying racks out of the spare bedroom, covered the swamp cooler vent with paper, hauled our two favorite chairs and our table in here and turned on the little space heater we have. It’s so warm, we are amazed. We have another little space heater for the bathroom, so we won’t have the shower water freeze on us. We are two happy campers; we feel like we will survive the winter.
I’m not sure if I mentioned this old guy or not when we first met him, so I’ll tell you about “Brother” Ryder. We found him tracting a couple of weeks ago. As soon as we introduced ourselves we were invited in. He’s an 89 year old fellow from India. His wife had been in the hospital for quite a while and he asked us to pray that she would get better and be able to come back home. So we did. We’ve been surprised at how many Christians from India that we have run into lately. He expressed his great faith that God would answer his prayers. So we dropped by yesterday to see how things were going. It takes him a long time to get to the door, but he was happy to see us. He told us how the doctors had been ready to give up on Marjorie, his wife, but thanks to everyone’s prayers they are now going to let her come home as soon as they find a good “carer” (home care nurse) for her. Bless his heart, he expressed his frustration when his daughter and grandchildren came to see him on Easter when he was gone with his other daughter to visit Marjorie at the hospital. He talked about how his grandchildren are being raised “the Australian way” and not “the Indian way.” He feels they are missing out on a lot of the lessons of respect, integrity, and work. But then he spent a long time telling us of all the blessings the Lord has given him over the years and how he and Marjorie have been taken care of by Him. He gives most of his pension to charity and believes that’s why the Lord has let him live so long because the people won’t get helped if he dies. Talk about the pure in heart. This man is at the top of the list.
We taught Moana and her girls last night about the first half of the plan of salvation. Ebony, the 15 year old, had a friend staying over who sat in on the lesson. You should have seen how big Courtney’s eyes became as we reviewed the story of how Joseph Smith was able to obtain the golden plates and translate them. I’m sure Ebony had a lot of explaining to do after we left about angels and somebody seeing God and Jesus Christ. There seems to be a good spirit there when we teach. We just wish so badly that Moana’s dumb partner would be willing to marry her so she feels like she’s not “less than” all the other members at church.
We didn’t have anything lined up for this afternoon so we went to the temple. It was so nice to be there again. It seems like forever since we’ve been able to go. Working in Perth is a real blessing when it comes to being able to go to the temple.
The weather has turned chilly and at night it gets downright cold. Our house has no central heating. Just before we were transferred to Broome last year, we were really getting worried about how we would not freeze to death here during the winter. It got down to freezing several times last winter here in Perth. So today, we took the ironing board and drying racks out of the spare bedroom, covered the swamp cooler vent with paper, hauled our two favorite chairs and our table in here and turned on the little space heater we have. It’s so warm, we are amazed. We have another little space heater for the bathroom, so we won’t have the shower water freeze on us. We are two happy campers; we feel like we will survive the winter.
I’m not sure if I mentioned this old guy or not when we first met him, so I’ll tell you about “Brother” Ryder. We found him tracting a couple of weeks ago. As soon as we introduced ourselves we were invited in. He’s an 89 year old fellow from India. His wife had been in the hospital for quite a while and he asked us to pray that she would get better and be able to come back home. So we did. We’ve been surprised at how many Christians from India that we have run into lately. He expressed his great faith that God would answer his prayers. So we dropped by yesterday to see how things were going. It takes him a long time to get to the door, but he was happy to see us. He told us how the doctors had been ready to give up on Marjorie, his wife, but thanks to everyone’s prayers they are now going to let her come home as soon as they find a good “carer” (home care nurse) for her. Bless his heart, he expressed his frustration when his daughter and grandchildren came to see him on Easter when he was gone with his other daughter to visit Marjorie at the hospital. He talked about how his grandchildren are being raised “the Australian way” and not “the Indian way.” He feels they are missing out on a lot of the lessons of respect, integrity, and work. But then he spent a long time telling us of all the blessings the Lord has given him over the years and how he and Marjorie have been taken care of by Him. He gives most of his pension to charity and believes that’s why the Lord has let him live so long because the people won’t get helped if he dies. Talk about the pure in heart. This man is at the top of the list.
We taught Moana and her girls last night about the first half of the plan of salvation. Ebony, the 15 year old, had a friend staying over who sat in on the lesson. You should have seen how big Courtney’s eyes became as we reviewed the story of how Joseph Smith was able to obtain the golden plates and translate them. I’m sure Ebony had a lot of explaining to do after we left about angels and somebody seeing God and Jesus Christ. There seems to be a good spirit there when we teach. We just wish so badly that Moana’s dumb partner would be willing to marry her so she feels like she’s not “less than” all the other members at church.
We didn’t have anything lined up for this afternoon so we went to the temple. It was so nice to be there again. It seems like forever since we’ve been able to go. Working in Perth is a real blessing when it comes to being able to go to the temple.
GONE WITH THE WIND
April 27, 2011 Wednesday
Actually it was rain that started last night, continued all day, and is still falling tonight. It’s great for Perth, but there seems to be a drain problem at the intersection of our street where it meets the bigger street. The puddle covers the entire intersection and is at least 6 inches deep. But it’s okay. Rain is good.
What went with the wind were our lessons. We had 4 marked for today. The first one was with a fellow we found tracting yesterday. He wasn’t home. Our 1:30 cancelled because the wife, who is the new member, was called in to work. When we called to confirm our evening appointment, Sushant said he couldn’t meet with us and would call us later, (Yeah, right).
But we did finally get to teach Tai his first new member discussion. He’s very quiet and doesn’t say much while we are teaching, but ya gotta love his questions: How early should I start working on my mission papers? And, What’s a patriarchal blessing? We loved it. The spirit was really strong as we talked with him. He’s a good guy.
Today was supposed to be p-day. After everything fell through, we did get our shopping done. Then we went to the library hoping to do e-mail, but there wasn’t even one open computer. But we did run into a family that just moved here from Tahiti. Talk about neat. Only the mom speaks English well. The husband and son could understand better than they could speak. (French is spoken in Tahiti.) They came over here so their son can get a better education. He’s about 15 or so. We found out they were converts 7 years ago, so we asked for their conversion story. They had a daughter younger than their son who died. It was very hard for them. The mom went to New Zealand to stay a while just to get over it. She kept wondering where her daughter was and would they ever see her again. A voice told her to go to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When she returned to Tahiti, she told her husband. He told her that while she was gone, a co-worker had given him a Book of Mormon and invited him to church. They decided to go that weekend. They went out to dinner on Saturday night. Their son saw a kid from school in the restaurant and said he thought he was a Mormon. They rushed over to talk to him and were given the address and meeting times. They went to church. After sacrament meeting, they told some people in the foyer that they wanted to get baptized. After stuttering for a few minutes because they’d never had anyone just walk in and want to be baptized, the ward members explained about the missionary lessons. They started them immediately and were soon baptized. The husband has been the ward mission leader ever since and the wife is a ward missionary. When they were baptized, they were the only members in their area. Now there are 20 member families there. (We should have gone to Tahiti, but our French is non-existent.) It was a real treat to visit with them.
Actually it was rain that started last night, continued all day, and is still falling tonight. It’s great for Perth, but there seems to be a drain problem at the intersection of our street where it meets the bigger street. The puddle covers the entire intersection and is at least 6 inches deep. But it’s okay. Rain is good.
What went with the wind were our lessons. We had 4 marked for today. The first one was with a fellow we found tracting yesterday. He wasn’t home. Our 1:30 cancelled because the wife, who is the new member, was called in to work. When we called to confirm our evening appointment, Sushant said he couldn’t meet with us and would call us later, (Yeah, right).
But we did finally get to teach Tai his first new member discussion. He’s very quiet and doesn’t say much while we are teaching, but ya gotta love his questions: How early should I start working on my mission papers? And, What’s a patriarchal blessing? We loved it. The spirit was really strong as we talked with him. He’s a good guy.
Today was supposed to be p-day. After everything fell through, we did get our shopping done. Then we went to the library hoping to do e-mail, but there wasn’t even one open computer. But we did run into a family that just moved here from Tahiti. Talk about neat. Only the mom speaks English well. The husband and son could understand better than they could speak. (French is spoken in Tahiti.) They came over here so their son can get a better education. He’s about 15 or so. We found out they were converts 7 years ago, so we asked for their conversion story. They had a daughter younger than their son who died. It was very hard for them. The mom went to New Zealand to stay a while just to get over it. She kept wondering where her daughter was and would they ever see her again. A voice told her to go to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. When she returned to Tahiti, she told her husband. He told her that while she was gone, a co-worker had given him a Book of Mormon and invited him to church. They decided to go that weekend. They went out to dinner on Saturday night. Their son saw a kid from school in the restaurant and said he thought he was a Mormon. They rushed over to talk to him and were given the address and meeting times. They went to church. After sacrament meeting, they told some people in the foyer that they wanted to get baptized. After stuttering for a few minutes because they’d never had anyone just walk in and want to be baptized, the ward members explained about the missionary lessons. They started them immediately and were soon baptized. The husband has been the ward mission leader ever since and the wife is a ward missionary. When they were baptized, they were the only members in their area. Now there are 20 member families there. (We should have gone to Tahiti, but our French is non-existent.) It was a real treat to visit with them.
ACCENT
Missionary cars come in two colors now.
New missionary car--we don't have one yet :o(
April 26, 2011 Tuesday
Can the lack of an accent make one homesick? You bet it can! After dinner tonight I answered the phone and the speaker identified himself as Brother Chun from our ward. He and his wife do the LDS bookstore here in Perth. He was calling in response to a phone call I’d made last week concerning getting a Book of Mormon Stories from them. They’d been sick all week with the flu, and he was calling to tell me they were out of the books. I was thoroughly enjoying talking to him (I hadn’t ever been formally introduced to him at church, just had an idea of who he was) when I suddenly realized he was talking just like an American, and it sounded sooooo good. He’s from California, and he and his Aussie wife moved here 8 years ago to care for his wife’s parents. Her dad died 5 years ago, and her mom, Betty Reeves, is whom we visited last week. After we hung up, I was still excited and then I realized I was feeling homesick for people talking like that. Sigh.
New missionary car--we don't have one yet :o(
April 26, 2011 Tuesday
Can the lack of an accent make one homesick? You bet it can! After dinner tonight I answered the phone and the speaker identified himself as Brother Chun from our ward. He and his wife do the LDS bookstore here in Perth. He was calling in response to a phone call I’d made last week concerning getting a Book of Mormon Stories from them. They’d been sick all week with the flu, and he was calling to tell me they were out of the books. I was thoroughly enjoying talking to him (I hadn’t ever been formally introduced to him at church, just had an idea of who he was) when I suddenly realized he was talking just like an American, and it sounded sooooo good. He’s from California, and he and his Aussie wife moved here 8 years ago to care for his wife’s parents. Her dad died 5 years ago, and her mom, Betty Reeves, is whom we visited last week. After we hung up, I was still excited and then I realized I was feeling homesick for people talking like that. Sigh.
HAPPY ANZAC DAY!
April 25, 2011 Monday
Have I mentioned prams? That’s the English and Aussie word for baby strollers. Most are just like ours in the states, but the thing that makes them stand out here is that lots of families just load the baby into the pram and bring it into the chapel for church. They park it at the end of the bench they are sitting on. If a kid needs to go out, sometimes the mom puts him in the pram and wheels him out. It really surprised me when we first came.
This afternoon while tracting we met Hasnat, a man from Pakistan who is Muslim. He was willing to talk about the differences between Mormonism and Islam. He invited us in and we spent an hour telling him about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. We threw in comparisons to Islam every now and again. At one point we asked if it was true that if a Musmlim changes religion that he can be killed, and he said it was true. We asked him, “Where is the righteousness in that?” He sat and thought for a minute and then said, “That is a very important question.” At the end, he said we had raised some very important questions he needs to find out about and that he would read the Book of Mormon. We will check back on him in 3 weeks and see what he thinks. He has a wife and two kids and has been in Australia 2 years working on a PhD in Economics.
Tonight we attended another of the Mortley holiday parties. This one is for ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corp) Day. It’s like our Veteran’s Day, but it seems like more people pay attention to it here than in the states. These folks are very proud of the contributions they made to overcoming evil to maintain the freedoms that the majority of the people want to have. Dinner was at Paul Mortley’s. He cooked an incredible roast and then had roasted potatoes and all the trimmings. We took a veggie plate. There was also a family there, the Cushmans, who used to live in the ward and are visiting from Darwin. They have 15 year old triplet boys and 13 ½ year old twin boys. And the mother is still sane! I even got to cuddle 3 week old Emma Mortley who had a tiny, tiny nose and mouth just like our little Erin had when she was born.
Have I mentioned prams? That’s the English and Aussie word for baby strollers. Most are just like ours in the states, but the thing that makes them stand out here is that lots of families just load the baby into the pram and bring it into the chapel for church. They park it at the end of the bench they are sitting on. If a kid needs to go out, sometimes the mom puts him in the pram and wheels him out. It really surprised me when we first came.
This afternoon while tracting we met Hasnat, a man from Pakistan who is Muslim. He was willing to talk about the differences between Mormonism and Islam. He invited us in and we spent an hour telling him about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. We threw in comparisons to Islam every now and again. At one point we asked if it was true that if a Musmlim changes religion that he can be killed, and he said it was true. We asked him, “Where is the righteousness in that?” He sat and thought for a minute and then said, “That is a very important question.” At the end, he said we had raised some very important questions he needs to find out about and that he would read the Book of Mormon. We will check back on him in 3 weeks and see what he thinks. He has a wife and two kids and has been in Australia 2 years working on a PhD in Economics.
Tonight we attended another of the Mortley holiday parties. This one is for ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corp) Day. It’s like our Veteran’s Day, but it seems like more people pay attention to it here than in the states. These folks are very proud of the contributions they made to overcoming evil to maintain the freedoms that the majority of the people want to have. Dinner was at Paul Mortley’s. He cooked an incredible roast and then had roasted potatoes and all the trimmings. We took a veggie plate. There was also a family there, the Cushmans, who used to live in the ward and are visiting from Darwin. They have 15 year old triplet boys and 13 ½ year old twin boys. And the mother is still sane! I even got to cuddle 3 week old Emma Mortley who had a tiny, tiny nose and mouth just like our little Erin had when she was born.
EASTER DAY
April 24, 2011 Sunday
It was a beautiful day. It was cloudy and rained some of the time, and the people were grateful for it because of the 10 year drought that is going on. What made the day beautiful were the two programs we attended. Sacrament meeting was simple, but powerful. A member from Hong Kong spoke about going back to Hong Kong two months ago for the funeral of his father-in-law. He told about having the opportunity to place the temple robes on this good man and preparing him for the day of resurrection. The second speaker told the story of “The Parable of the Bicycle” that is in the book, Believing Christ, and related it to his and our lives. Then Brother and Sister Tomlinson and Brother Rogalski sang, “Were You There?” The final speaker gave a beautiful summary of the final events of Christ’s life and the resurrection. The spirit in the meeting was sweet and powerful at the same time.
Tonight we attended the Stake Easter Fireside, and it, too, was just incredible. There were 10 musical numbers done in solos, duets, etc. Interspersed between them was dialogue presented by 5 brethren and a sister sitting on opposite sides of the stand dressed as at the time of the Savior. Every number was so well done. As the dialogue was presented, there was very appropriate, yet quiet, piano music in the background. At the end, President Pemberton gave a thoughtful 15 minute talk about our responsibility that comes as a result of the Atonement.
We couldn’t have asked for a nicer day. (And we didn’t even eat one chocolate bunny or egg!)
It was a beautiful day. It was cloudy and rained some of the time, and the people were grateful for it because of the 10 year drought that is going on. What made the day beautiful were the two programs we attended. Sacrament meeting was simple, but powerful. A member from Hong Kong spoke about going back to Hong Kong two months ago for the funeral of his father-in-law. He told about having the opportunity to place the temple robes on this good man and preparing him for the day of resurrection. The second speaker told the story of “The Parable of the Bicycle” that is in the book, Believing Christ, and related it to his and our lives. Then Brother and Sister Tomlinson and Brother Rogalski sang, “Were You There?” The final speaker gave a beautiful summary of the final events of Christ’s life and the resurrection. The spirit in the meeting was sweet and powerful at the same time.
Tonight we attended the Stake Easter Fireside, and it, too, was just incredible. There were 10 musical numbers done in solos, duets, etc. Interspersed between them was dialogue presented by 5 brethren and a sister sitting on opposite sides of the stand dressed as at the time of the Savior. Every number was so well done. As the dialogue was presented, there was very appropriate, yet quiet, piano music in the background. At the end, President Pemberton gave a thoughtful 15 minute talk about our responsibility that comes as a result of the Atonement.
We couldn’t have asked for a nicer day. (And we didn’t even eat one chocolate bunny or egg!)
MORMON HELPING HANDS
Mormon RSL and a "Helping Hand"
Sister ?, Sister Wolfgram from Tonga, Sister Pecu from New Zealand via Melbourne
Sister Zhong from China (!) in the middle
This morning all the missionaries in the Perth area met at the mission office where we were given “Mormon Helping Hands” t-shirts to wear for the morning. We then drove to King’s Park, the largest park in the city. It’s beautiful, set up on the hill high above the Swan River and covers many, many acres of land filled with walking trails, biking trails, playgrounds, a visitors’ centre, and more. It’s officially called a botanical garden. Along some of the roadways are gum trees that have been planted as a memorial for each of the Australian veterans who have given their lives in war since the First World War. There are over a thousand of them. At the base of each tree is a plaque with a veteran’s name, his birth and death dates, his military unit, where he died and how old he was killed. There is one tree that has 3 plaques of 3 brothers who died. There were some with 2 that were brothers or a father and son. The 70 year old trees are huge and beautiful, but the plaques get dirty. So we cleaned them. They had a short welcome for us by the head of the Perth Royal Servicemen’s League (similar to our VFW). They were quite impressed that all of us were from other Australian states and foreign countries and that we would do this for their servicemen. Monday is ANZAC day which is like our Veterans’ Day. It was a good project. (We had to turn in the t-shirts.)
Tonight Yingping came over for dinner. We gave her the quad that we had ordered for her baptism. She was so impressed that we would spend that kind of money on her and wants to help us out when she gets a job. We had hamburgers and campfire fried potatoes. She brought over a cake she’d made. We talked about temples, family history and a few other things. She’s also had a friend asking her why she joined the church. Her friend has asked her questions about the church that she can’t answer. So we answered those for her. We told her we’d be happy to talk to her friend ;o)
Sister ?, Sister Wolfgram from Tonga, Sister Pecu from New Zealand via Melbourne
Sister Zhong from China (!) in the middle
This morning all the missionaries in the Perth area met at the mission office where we were given “Mormon Helping Hands” t-shirts to wear for the morning. We then drove to King’s Park, the largest park in the city. It’s beautiful, set up on the hill high above the Swan River and covers many, many acres of land filled with walking trails, biking trails, playgrounds, a visitors’ centre, and more. It’s officially called a botanical garden. Along some of the roadways are gum trees that have been planted as a memorial for each of the Australian veterans who have given their lives in war since the First World War. There are over a thousand of them. At the base of each tree is a plaque with a veteran’s name, his birth and death dates, his military unit, where he died and how old he was killed. There is one tree that has 3 plaques of 3 brothers who died. There were some with 2 that were brothers or a father and son. The 70 year old trees are huge and beautiful, but the plaques get dirty. So we cleaned them. They had a short welcome for us by the head of the Perth Royal Servicemen’s League (similar to our VFW). They were quite impressed that all of us were from other Australian states and foreign countries and that we would do this for their servicemen. Monday is ANZAC day which is like our Veterans’ Day. It was a good project. (We had to turn in the t-shirts.)
Tonight Yingping came over for dinner. We gave her the quad that we had ordered for her baptism. She was so impressed that we would spend that kind of money on her and wants to help us out when she gets a job. We had hamburgers and campfire fried potatoes. She brought over a cake she’d made. We talked about temples, family history and a few other things. She’s also had a friend asking her why she joined the church. Her friend has asked her questions about the church that she can’t answer. So we answered those for her. We told her we’d be happy to talk to her friend ;o)
CHESS, ANYONE?
April 22, 2011 Friday
We spent most of yesterday tracting: Orson on the doorsteps, me in the car following along and then going in with him if someone invited us in. We were able to talk to an interesting fellow from India. He really didn’t know much about any religion but was willing to listen to us and said he would visit with his wife to see if we can come back. This afternoon we were invited in to the home of a family from Burma. They had spent 20 years in a refugee camp in Thailand. The girl whom we talked to first (about 17) said she had grown up there. It’s such a shame what is happening in Burma (or Myamar). The people have been the victims of terrible government and fighting for 60 years.
Last night we visited the Osgoods. They are a couple about 10 years older than us and are temple workers. They are so great. He is from England and she is from Ireland. He was in the merchant marine for 40 years. They are just delightful to visit with. They are the kind of people you’d just like to bring home and have as neighbors.
We went to district meeting this morning. As one of the “teaching principles,” Elder Baxter had set up a chess game in the gym with chairs marked as the pieces. We each chose a piece we wanted to be and moved the chair out of the way. Then we played the game (some of us offered fewer suggestions than others). It was fun. Baxter’s application was that we should always be at least one move ahead of the investigators as we are working with them. (I think he just wanted to play a game, and using it as a teaching principle made it legal.)
We spent most of yesterday tracting: Orson on the doorsteps, me in the car following along and then going in with him if someone invited us in. We were able to talk to an interesting fellow from India. He really didn’t know much about any religion but was willing to listen to us and said he would visit with his wife to see if we can come back. This afternoon we were invited in to the home of a family from Burma. They had spent 20 years in a refugee camp in Thailand. The girl whom we talked to first (about 17) said she had grown up there. It’s such a shame what is happening in Burma (or Myamar). The people have been the victims of terrible government and fighting for 60 years.
Last night we visited the Osgoods. They are a couple about 10 years older than us and are temple workers. They are so great. He is from England and she is from Ireland. He was in the merchant marine for 40 years. They are just delightful to visit with. They are the kind of people you’d just like to bring home and have as neighbors.
We went to district meeting this morning. As one of the “teaching principles,” Elder Baxter had set up a chess game in the gym with chairs marked as the pieces. We each chose a piece we wanted to be and moved the chair out of the way. Then we played the game (some of us offered fewer suggestions than others). It was fun. Baxter’s application was that we should always be at least one move ahead of the investigators as we are working with them. (I think he just wanted to play a game, and using it as a teaching principle made it legal.)
THIS ‘N THAT
April 20, 2011 Wednesday
Monday night at the senior missionary FHE at the mission home, we met the new senior missionary couple that arrived in Perth on Saturday: Elder and Sister Curtis from the Cottonwood Heights area of Salt Lake. This is their 2nd mission. They did their first 5 years ago, a humanitarian mission to Thailand. They spent the first third of their mission on the eastern border of Thailand, the second third in Bangkok, and the third third in Myanmar (Burma). They were assigned here as an office couple, but right now we don’t need anymore in the office. It will be interesting to see what President Cahoon does with them. Crawfords were called on a proselyting mission but have spent the last year working as office missionaries. They only have 2 ½ months before the end of their mission.
Last night we dropped by to visit Brother Read. He’s about our age and does the ward bulletin each week. He does a great job with it. He’s been divorced twice and now lives alone. He’s lost touch with his kids from his first marriage and has none from his 2nd marriage. But he’s just making the best of his situation. He loves to travel and he loves the church. He became involved with the church when he offered a couple of rooms for rent in his home 20 years ago. The mission rented a room from him for the missionaries. It was 6 months before they told him anything about the church. He said it was what he’d been looking for all his life. He even let us download the written conference talks on his computer. What a nice guy!
This morning we dropped by to see Lori Manners. It was the 4th time we’d been there recently and she had been asleep in the middle of the morning or the afternoon. The nurse who told us Lori’s awake a lot in the night woke her up, and I went in to talk to her. Lori let me know that she wasn’t really sleepy but she’s in so much pain it’s just easier to lie there in bed than it is to be up and about. I asked her what we could do for her and she asked us to pray that she can die. I offered to pray with her right then, and I said a prayer I never thought I would offer with someone. She was so grateful. Bless her heart—I just ache for her. I hope she does go quickly.
Tonight we had dinner with Colin and Verian Tomlinson. Stan and Stephanie Rogalski were also there. It was a beautiful evening. After we ate, Stephanie played the piano while Colin and Stan practiced, “Were You There” for sacrament meeting Sunday and then Stan practiced “Gethsemane” for the special stake Easter program Sunday night at the stake center. We then just sat around and talked about gospel principles for an hour or so. Heaven certainly has to include people like that.
Monday night at the senior missionary FHE at the mission home, we met the new senior missionary couple that arrived in Perth on Saturday: Elder and Sister Curtis from the Cottonwood Heights area of Salt Lake. This is their 2nd mission. They did their first 5 years ago, a humanitarian mission to Thailand. They spent the first third of their mission on the eastern border of Thailand, the second third in Bangkok, and the third third in Myanmar (Burma). They were assigned here as an office couple, but right now we don’t need anymore in the office. It will be interesting to see what President Cahoon does with them. Crawfords were called on a proselyting mission but have spent the last year working as office missionaries. They only have 2 ½ months before the end of their mission.
Last night we dropped by to visit Brother Read. He’s about our age and does the ward bulletin each week. He does a great job with it. He’s been divorced twice and now lives alone. He’s lost touch with his kids from his first marriage and has none from his 2nd marriage. But he’s just making the best of his situation. He loves to travel and he loves the church. He became involved with the church when he offered a couple of rooms for rent in his home 20 years ago. The mission rented a room from him for the missionaries. It was 6 months before they told him anything about the church. He said it was what he’d been looking for all his life. He even let us download the written conference talks on his computer. What a nice guy!
This morning we dropped by to see Lori Manners. It was the 4th time we’d been there recently and she had been asleep in the middle of the morning or the afternoon. The nurse who told us Lori’s awake a lot in the night woke her up, and I went in to talk to her. Lori let me know that she wasn’t really sleepy but she’s in so much pain it’s just easier to lie there in bed than it is to be up and about. I asked her what we could do for her and she asked us to pray that she can die. I offered to pray with her right then, and I said a prayer I never thought I would offer with someone. She was so grateful. Bless her heart—I just ache for her. I hope she does go quickly.
Tonight we had dinner with Colin and Verian Tomlinson. Stan and Stephanie Rogalski were also there. It was a beautiful evening. After we ate, Stephanie played the piano while Colin and Stan practiced, “Were You There” for sacrament meeting Sunday and then Stan practiced “Gethsemane” for the special stake Easter program Sunday night at the stake center. We then just sat around and talked about gospel principles for an hour or so. Heaven certainly has to include people like that.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
SORRY
I was so excited to get to the library and put 2 weeks worth of blogs on here that I raced off and left the CD at home that had the photos and blogs. Just FYI--we've been doing a lot of tracting and have had some good times too. Hope you all have a good week and that my brain works better next Monday!
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