1-25 January 2016

Another last for this mission was Fast Sunday - January 3, 2016.  The Area authority sent a letter to all the congregations in Australia asking for a special fast.  Quoting from the letter,"86% of the country is in drought conditions and children are not getting adequate nourishment.  Hay is having to be trucked in for animals."  The opening prayer in our Sacrament Meeting touched our hearts when the sister asked Heavenly Father "to give to those who toil the soil,  the blessings of rain so they can raise the crops we need to sustain our families."  Brisbane received a good amount of rain, which was so appreciated.  

There is a restaurant chain called "Hog's Breath Cafe" and we have wanted to try out a place with that intriguing of a name!  Elder and Sister Johnson, the mission Self-Reliance couple, treated us to dinner there the first part of January.  They have accomplished so much with this program and will be returning home to Utah in May.

The evening of the18th January was our last FHE with the local seniors.  Sister Slemboski fixed a wonderful meal and we played a game like musical chairs having to do with missionary work. The young returned missionary sister who led the game, commented at how impressed she was with the great real-play situations by the senior missionaries. as if we couldn't do it!

All day long of our last Monday in the office, Sandy kept finding pieces of what she thought was mud.  After questioning our missionaries as to who would bring in the mud, she discovered that Arlo’s shoe was coming apart, leaving most of the upper sole in tiny little pieces everywhere. These shoes have filled two missions and now can be found in the rubbish bin!

Our last walk down the stairs which lead to the Mission Office.

Our last Wednesday in the office was hard because there was still so much the new office sisters needed to learn and two and a half weeks just wasn't long enough, but we couldn't change the timing. Shared dinner and quiet conversation with Henderson's at their home and she thought she had prepared the exact same meal the day we arrived 17 months ago - chicken, roasted potatoes, vegetables (sweet potatoes, asparagus, red pepper, onions) pavlova, cream, fresh berries & sliced kiwi.  After leaving the Mission Home, it was back to our flat to finish packing and some last minute cleaning, when to our surprise there was a loud knock on the sliding doors.  As we peaked out the blinds, there on the patio were the assistants and office elders singing all the verses of “God Be With You Till We Meet Again."  They came in for one last picture and a call to President for permission to give Sandy a hug before leaving - he agreed if we kept it quiet!!  We will always remember our last Wednesday evening when six amazing missionaries showed up at our door and favored us with a song, a tie, lollies, a wonderful note, and a group photo for our blog.  Their thoughtfulness will forever be etched in our hearts and memories!

Thursday morning found us up early to get the suitcases closed and out on the porch. Sister Arseneau arrived just before we left to leave her food from the other flat, because our new mission doctor will move into her flat today and she will take over ours until she leaves the end of February.  At the airport, it was almost like a ghost town and other than our carry-ons were 2 kg over, calling for a little re-arranging, everything went easily up the conveyor belt to the plane, ready to make the long trip home!

Smiles, but tears came as we bid good-bye to our loving and caring President and his wife.  It will be wonderful to see them in St. George when they return home in July.  If it was at all possible, these two always retrieved and sent off every missionary who was a part of the Australia Brisbane Mission at the airport, making for lots of early morning, mid day and late night visits. Our missionaries, both seniors and juniors, always knew they were loved by the Henderson's!

FAREWELL ELDER & SISTER MICKELSEN 

This wonderful Senior Couple gave their heart and soul (and everyday in the office) to the Australia Brisbane Mission.  We are so grateful for their exceptional service laboring in the mission office handling so many things.  It is a labor of love....and WE LOVE ELDER & SISTER MICKELSEN!   

We will miss you!

The missionaries will miss you! 

The office will miss you! 

Brisbane will miss you! 

(From Sister Henderson's Mission Blog and the words express our feelings right back to all of the above mentioned)

Much to our surprise look who was at the Los Angeles airport waiting for us at 6 am.  The plane was not even half full, so it was a comfortable flight and and we arrived 30 minutes early, causing our kids to scramble to be there with their smiles, hugs and a neat sign!  We checked into our hotel and stayed alert until evening, but then Sandy hit the pillow at 9 and didn't wake up until 9 the next morning! Friday evening, the two families of tomorrow's bride and groom (Hunter and Mickelsen) officially met each other at a Fun Center, where there was something for everyone to do. The kids had a great time jumping on different trampolines, riding a bucking bull, jumping into pits full of foam chunks and balls, plus ate lots of snacks and pizza.

The 23rd of January was beautiful and most of our jet lag was gone and we felt very blessed for that! Jared and Ali were married and sealed in the gorgeous Newport Beach Temple with lots of family in attendance.  Some years ago, we attended the Open House for this temple, and now we were glad to be part of a wedding there.  Ali's family is from that area, the reason for the choice of temple.

Proud dad and mum!

The newlyweds had wanted a taco bar for their wedding luncheon/reception and they found a really fun restaurant fairly close to the temple.  The owners sectioned off half of the restaurant for us to use for two hours.  The buffet was fantastic, some family friends of Ali's paid for a mariachi band to entertain and it set the stage for some line dancing around the room and adding a flair to the afternoon!

A wonderful surprise visitor to the wedding - Brad Rowland.  

The remainder of the weekend was spent with family at Jonathan and Kristi's home and Monday (25th), we flew from San Diego to Salt Lake and then on to St. George, where Stephanie's family had just arrived at our house to stay until they left to return to Lehi the next morning.  President Astle released us that night, after having a nice visit with him about our missionary experience.  Then came the final hard part of our mission, when he asked us to take off our name badges!

This is the group we were planning to "return home" with on 27 January, but a change in wedding dates sent us home early.   Many of these more than fantastic missionaries hold a special place in our hearts - mission doctor, assistant, office elders, strong sister trainers!

So, another mission for the Mickelsen's has come to a close.  We are so thankful for the opportunity to serve with and learn from so many great missionaries.  Our family and friends have supported us over the months with letters, messages and phone calls.  Sandy came upon this quote and decided it was most appropriate to be used as our sign off :  

Don't cry because it's over, but smile because IT happened!