2 - 10 October

G'Day Mates!

The Australia Brisbane Mission Seniors Conference has just passed and we will try to share the highlights with you all.

Our garage does not have two cars any longer!  This car was sorely needed by young missionaries on the coast, so on Sunday (3rd) we drove it along with the extra bikes, down to Gladstone as the first leg on our way to Brisbane.  Elder and Sister Miller were our gracious hosts again that evening and then on Monday, together we drove to the mission home in their car.

Here we are with the Miller's filling our plates with cedar plank salmon, ribs, a variety of salads, and pavlova (a type of meringue dessert) with fresh mango puree.  Pavlova is a popular dish, since we ate it twice this week and is mostly eaten in the summer time.

 All of the senior couples in the mission outside of the Brisbane Temple grounds, which was closed for cleaning, so we could not participate in an endowment session.  Another couple arrived from the MTC and St. George on Wednesday, bringing the senior roll up to 14 couples.

Our training on Tuesday was held at the Kangaroo Point chapel, which is adjacent to the Temple.  It was a day full of inspirational guidance from our president, his wife, the assistants to the president and our fellow missionaries.  One of our couples participated in some real play as investigators being taught by the assistants.  Both Elder and Sister Madsen felt the spirit so much that tears flowed freely as they were challenged to be accept what they were taught.

Our musical item (not number as we know it) for the day was this superb group of Samoan elders. Only wish we could share the beautiful harmonies they shared with us - just amazing.  All of us sitting in our seats being filled with lots of thoughts, ideas and challenges.

Wayne and Rhea Shute (from our Sunset Stake) hosted us at their home in Forest Lake and made us feel so welcome.  This is the 7th mission for Elder Shute and he has much experience in different missions with the Samoan people and this is their particular assignment in Brisbane.  Below is the Shute's very nice and comfortable house. 

One morning Arlo and the Shutes walked around Forest Lake in their neighborhood and snapped a photo of these two black swans.  At one point they were hunted to extinction, but have made a comeback.  They encountered many varieties of birds.  The Shute's are putting together a book and have found 31 varieties in their community.

Tuesday evening our group attended a dinner/show at the Australian Outback Spectacular, titled the "Spirit of the Horse."  As we entered through the main door, these wide-brimmed hats were plopped on our heads. The place had an indoor rodeo type grandstand and grounds with a giant movie wall that covered the one end of the arena.  We were served dinner during the program.  The focus was on the history of the horse in Australia, including its history in development of ranching in the outback.  Poetry from The Man From Snowy River was heard and we learned the history of their famous race horse, Phar Lap, who is to the Australian's as Seabiscuit, is to the United States.  Phar Lap's many wins raised the spirits of a down hearted Australia during the Great Depression.

This ride was at the conclusion of the performance and made our hearts race as we saw the country flag and thought of our own American flag in similar events at home. As a result of our missions, we have come to love three flags, American, South African and Australian!

Wednesday afternoon, we made our way to Tamborine Mountain, a resort community and the home of Laurel and Les Orth (our car fleet and bike specialist missionary).  These great people are the parents of our branch president here in Emerald. Their home backs up to a avocado orchard and all of us were treated to bags of avos (this is what they are called-the name is not spelled out fully) to take back to our respective areas with us.  It is a real treat because a single avo can cost upwards of $2-3.

Wednesday afternoon many of us went on a hike to Curtis Falls, which was basically a walk through a rain forest.  It is amazing how tall the trees were and that during the entire walk, we were out of the sunshine because of the foliage.

Always on the lookout for animals, on the walk to Curtis Falls Arlo came across this guy, a Echidna (a spiny anteater).  As we were traveling to Gladstone, Sandy spied her first three kangaroos, plus four camels.

This is our group at sunset at a spectacular viewpoint looking over the great dividing range.  The wind was blowing and the temperatures were lots cooler than most of us were prepared for!  Shortly, we made our way down to Georges Paragon Restaurant for dinner and more getting to know each other.  The concluding session was held Thursday morning at the mission home, where we quickly went through all the points of our training, heard testimonies from several couples who will go home before our next senior conference, and had lots of hugs and good-byes.  Some interesting statistics were shared as we all were thanked for our selfless service to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  Between the couples and 2 single sisters, we have left 97 children, 270 grandchildren and 24 great grands to come and share our talents and testimonies. 

Since we left our "chariot" in Gladstone, we were "required" to fly back to Emerald.  Comparing       1 hour 20 minutes on a plane to 11 hours in a car and being as tired as we were from our fantastic week of learning and socializing with the other couples,  our plane ride was most welcome.

Logan's baptism and family members from both sides (Mickelsen and King)

We send our love and appreciation for each of you and for the support you give to us in so many different ways.