29 December 2014 - 4 January 2015

G'Day Mates (friends, in case you didn't know)

Each day we become a little more familiar with the goings on of the mission office.  This has been another busy week as we try to learn our new responsibilities which involves scores of complex and unique processes.  This past week never found us leaving the office until early evening, then had to make dinner upon reaching the flat.  More weekend cooking/freezing has to be added in order to eat at a decent time each night, instead of just before going to bed!  It will all come, we keep telling ourselves!

The mission had a goal for 700 baptisms this year and we could sense the disappointment of the assistants, office elders and president, when December 29th came and it was determined to be 2 or 3 short.  Many hours were spent poring over baptism records in the office the last few days of the year, and talking with the baptismal record department in Salt Lake, trying to find any mistake that could possibly make up the difference but to no avail.  President Henderson held a mission wide conference call on the 31st, telling all the missionaries of the great work that had been done throughout the year and not to be down.  We were reminded to rejoice over the 697 that did enter the waters of baptism throughout 2014 by Elder Montague (half of the couple that we are replacing)!  

New Year's Eve was spent with two other couples having dinner and watching a rented copy of Maleficent.  What we missed were several displays of fireworks going on around the city.  New Year's Day was pretty much a regular office day for us, as it was a working day for the mission.

The suburb where we are currently living is called Kangaroo Point, a small peninsula created by the Brisbane River as it snakes through the metropolitan area, which is directly across the river from the city's major downtown area.  We are a 15 to 40 minute drive from the mission office depending on traffic.  When we move in a couple of weeks we will be about two blocks from the office.  The following photos depict some features of the area we live in.  

The Brisbane temple can be seen looking up our street and is less than a ten minute walk (2 minute drive) away.  

The stake center and meeting house where we go to church is located adjacent to the temple on the same lot.  This is the walk between them with the stake center on the right and the temple on the left.

This is the south side of the stake center as seen from the street.

We are told that the Temple President's residence is on the top floor of this apartment building which is across the street from the temple.

Parking for the complex is an underground garage located beneath the two buildings.

Across the street to the west is a cliff which runs along the river.  There are a couple of places where stairs take you from the street above to the bottom of the cliff where there are separate bike and walk paths along with many other park features.  Arlo walks to the temple, takes the stairs down and walks along the river for his morning walk each day.

The view of the downtown area across the river makes for an enjoyable walk.

Self serve bike rentals are found throughout the city.  This one is on the river walk at Kangaroo Point.

Passenger boats operate along the river with scheduled stops.  The red boat is called the CityHopper and is free, the blue catamaran is called the CityCat and costs to ride.   

About three streets to the south of our flat is a 40 thousand seat stadium which is home to the Brisbane Heat (a professional cricket team) and the Brisbane Lions (a professional soccer team). When our windows are open, we experience the roar of the crowd.

With 2014 come and gone, we are looking forward to what 2015 will hold for us all.  Our hopes are for everything great!!