1 - 7 June

It really is winter in Brisbane!  We tried to not turn the heater on, but finally the house was becoming too, too chilly to be comfortable after returning home from our office work.  Arlo wears a light jacket while on his walk each morning.  It is interesting to see how different the people are in what they wear, while all experiencing the same degree of cold.  The air is crisp and the skies bright blue for the most part and it is hard to realize that our grandchildren are nearly all out of school for the summer and enjoying everything it brings.

It was Family Home Evening at our home, and unfortunately our senior zone leader and his wife left before we had a chance to get a picture of the group.  Two couples, who normally are part of the Brisbane seniors, were unable to join us.  Every fortnight, we meet together for either refreshments or a light buffet dinner and a gospel discussion.  The host chooses the topic and puts together notes which are emailed out to the couples not able to attend serving up in the northern area of the mission.  Our discussion centered on the principle of agency.

Three fine elders came through our mission doors this week.  At first, it appeared that they were all coming the same day, but it ended up differently.  Wednesday brought to the mission a new permanent elder from the island of Vanuatu, which was ravaged by the cyclone back in April.  He was to have left for the New Zealand MTC the day it hit and so his arrival in the mission field had to be pushed forward.  Thursday brought an elder returning to his home in Townsville which meant that President Henderson needed to release him from one of the Philippine missions. Then on Friday morning, the above elder arrived from Provo MTC to serve as a temporary missionary here while waiting for a visa into Taiwan.  Interesting for us to discover that he is from the Gold Coast area here in Brisbane.  His Mandarin language training will continue to grow stronger as he serves with our Chinese missionaries.

Our week of arrivals, also had one departure.  Elder Namok from Brisbane Ward has been serving for a month with our mission as he waited for his visa into Portugal.  Since President and Sister Henderson were in Townsville for a District Conference, we had the privilege of sending him off to the United States to learn Portuguese.  He joined the church 18 months ago and is the only member in his family.  Upon reaching Salt Lake, he was met by the elder who baptized him here in Brisbane and and his family.  They will keep him until time to drop him at the MTC Tuesday next.  It was a tender moment as hugs were shared and some tears shed by this humble elder and his companion (center). Elder Namok was met at the Brisbane Airport by his mother, sisters and a cousin and we left them having a little family reunion.  Since it is officially winter, the weather has turned cool enough that many of the missionaries are coming into the office with jumpers (sweaters) on.

Saturday after sending our elder off, we gathered the two senior sisters and headed out for a road trip to Warwick, about a two hour drive inland southwest of Brisbane.  Much of the scenery was crop lands, some of which still had produce growing and some which had just been cultivated.  A really interesting field was the one in which carrots were growing - the frilly green tops were beautiful. Cattle, sheep and horses were in great abundance.  There wasn't time to explore too much, but we were told there were many wineries around.  The picture above was the center point of town and there were center medians filled with rose bushes. Just loved everything about Warwick!

Warwick is far enough inland that they feel the effects of winter.  Everywhere trees were all void of their leaves.  This hotel was restored in 1917, but has a history dating back to 1867.  The gingerbread ornamentation is so intriguing and found all over Queensland.  The building is famous for the pressed metal ceilings, which must have been very popular at the time.  Now it has been placed on the Heritage List. 

The Belle Vue Cafe came highly recommended by the owner of a neighbouring shop, so we decided to give it a try and weren't disappointed.  In addition to a beautifully presented lunch, served on a plank of wood, the building, furniture, pressed metal ceilings, and chalk painted murals on the walls, gave us lots to take in.  It felt like we stepped back in time when we walked through the front door.

Our cute waitress volunteered to take a group photo of these senior missionaries enjoying our time out.

One small piece of trivia to close with - Johnny Depp has been in the Brisbane area filming a new Pirates of The Caribbean movie on the Gold Coast, which we learned about from the local television news broadcasts.  Evidently he has been very kind and responsive to the crowds of people watching the comings and goings of the filming.  It is being billed as the biggest movie ever filmed in Australia and Queensland is very proud!     

Alyssa Joy Mickelsen on her special baptism day with some of her Mickelsen family!