4 - 17 May

Greetings from the land of the Southern Cross, which is now directly overhead and can be seen clearly at night.  After our Family Home Evening two weeks ago, nine missionaries could be seen standing in the street gazing up into the skies, searching through the stars and it was really fun when we were all able to pick out the constellation.  Autumn is really here and we are enjoying some spectacular weather with temperatures in the 70's.  When the sun goes down, the temperatures are much cooler and we have had to add a blanket to our bed.

Monday, May 4th was our usual Office Staff Meeting, but it also turned into a little birthday celebration for Sister Henderson, since this was her actual birthday.  Her sweet daughter made her a special breakfast, so she came into the meeting a few minutes late, while we were singing our opening hymn.  As she opened the office door, President immediately changed mid sentence over to "Happy Birthday" from "Do What Is Right!"  He was so excited to honor her special day with all of us in the office!  The hymn that was sung this past Monday was "Carry On", but our clever President's wife, sang it as Carrie Lon, Carrie Lon, Carrie Lon - their first names!

Since February, the mission has been waiting for a visa to be granted to the Richins but with no success.  These wonderful seniors asked for a temporary mission at the Family History Center until their visa did arrive, since they could live at home in the Salt Lake City area. They served a mission in Namibia and it was extremely difficult to obtain the necessary police clearance for the Australia visa, but with time and patience it finally came through and they arrived on May 6th.  They will be staying in the Brisbane area, assigned to support two or three stakes and will be replacing the Shute's when they leave the 2nd of July.

Mother's Day is celebrated on the same Sunday as the United States, so there was a special program for Sacrament Meeting. As we entered the chapel, the sisters were given a beautiful single rose corsage to pin on and a small fabric bag containing a golden chain necklace.  Our little group of Primary children (about a dozen-reminds us of the 8th Ward) sang a song that was new to us.  They even invited the counselor from the bishopric over Primary to sing with them, for moral support he told us later. Arlo had been asked to speak about Honoring Motherhood during the Sacrament Meeting.  It was interesting to us that later in the evening, he received a text from the bishopric thanking him for his remarks that day - maybe something that could be started in other wards!

Due to the time difference all of the American missionaries called their mothers on Monday.  Here is Elder Pinegar (one of our assistants) Skyping his family.  The office was noisy with several other Americans trying to speak with their mums, so he went out into the hallway to make his call!  It was fun to be in the office with them all and feel the excitement they were having with their families. This brought back all of the warm memories we had with our missionary sons during the Mother's Day calls from Texas, Brasil and the Philippines.  Like the other American missionaries, we spoke with our children on Monday, a unique experience since most of them were all together in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on holiday!

These four great elders are the current Assistants to President.  Elders Pinegar and Robison (the two left of center) will be leaving this next week to return to their homes.  Sandy took this picture of these wonderful young men in front of the transfer board, which holds all the changes for the coming transfer.  Usually there is a blind that comes down over it to keep information secure, but she caught them just before the blind was put into place.  On Friday morning, after a week of deliberations, the assistants, President and Sister Henderson attend a temple session together and meet for some time afterwards in the Celestial Room to confirm that everyone still feels the choices are correct.  Later that afternoon, the office elders were given permission to look at all of the changes.  They were just pacing around the office and making some predictions.  The three office elders were as excited for the unveiling, as they might have been in their younger years for Christmas morning to come! 

Since we are into the autumn season,  it has been recommended that all of the missionaries get a flu shot. The Mickelsen's decided to wait an extra two weeks and get a four-strain variety, versus the three-strain variety.  Sandy was intrigued with the signage at the doctors office.  Lucky for us, the only reaction was a small amount of tenderness in our upper arm.

It was a mutual decision for Arlo and Sandy that a real preparation day was needed, so we decided to make the hour drive up the coast to the Steve Erwin Australia Zoo.  Due to forgetfulness, we missed the photo shot of the Zoo Welcome sign, so chose to use the illustration on the gift bag, which we were very impressed with!

Koalas were in abundance and a delight to observe.  In one area you could walk through their habitat and zoo handlers would allow you to interact with them.  They are so fun to watch because the usual position is to be nestled in the tree branches, sleeping.  Sometimes as we watched an arm or leg would stretch out and then pull right back in.  Usually they are not as awake as the little one above.  We love how they are so sweet and gentle looking.  If they are not sleeping, they are eating at a fairly rapid rate, the eucalyptus leaves from branches brought into the koala compound.

The Crocoseum was our stop for the Wildlife Warriors show.  Lots of colorful birds were sent flying through the stadium and one even had been trained to land on the outstretched arm of a visitor.  Their person's hand was holding a $5 bank note, which had been folded into a compact rectangle.  The bird would take the bank note and fly back to the trainer, then shortly flew back to return the money! 

The star of the show was of course a crocodile.  Crocodiles are found in many of the waters of northern Queensland and the reason to stay out of bodies of water where they could be found and at least 15 feet back from the shore line.   Using their powerful tails to propel them, they can attack with lightening speed in the water and at the waters edge.  The trainers were very cautious and stayed way clear when the croc was in the water, but when he was on land they were more brave as they could out run him with his stubby legs.

Heading into "Roo Heaven",  Sandy is having a conversation with her new "golden contact."  The zoo had several acres where one could wander around and interact with the kangaroo population which had become very tame and use to human company.

Roo Heaven is home to several varieties of kangaroos, including the wallaby.  The Zoo is so well planned and laid out and a beautiful place to spend an day. There are many more sections, that we didn't take the time to visit during our time there.  When some American company arrives in November/December, this will be on the list of places to visit.

Although the office has kept us busier than we ever imagined, we have found time to interact with the other senior missionaries in the area.  We are enjoying getting to know the St. George senior missionaries assigned to the Brisbane Mission and will have many new friends when we return home. The local couples are meeting together every two weeks for Family Home Evening, taking turns hosting the evening and presenting the lesson.  Several of us got together for a pot luck dinner last Sunday evening on Mother's day to say goodbye to the Montague's who are returning home to Salt Lake.  We replaced them in the office and they have been serving the last four months in the northern zone in Townsville.  

It is a great privilege to serve together in the office, helping our president and his wife with the everyday needs of the missionaries.  We love to speak with them on the phone and shake hands with them as they come into the office.  They are amazing young people so happy to be serving as missionaries in the Australia Brisbane Mission and so are we!