19 - 25 January

Howsitgoin mates!  It has been a week of gray skies and heaps of rain at times and other days have been bright and beautiful.  On Saturday we ventured out to the local Office Works (Australia's version of Office Max/Depot) and found it over-run with school kids and parents buying all the necessary supplies for school to start on the 27th.   There were lists posted for various schools in the area.  Our office responsibilities keep us on our toes and no day is ever the same, as least so far.  At Sacrament Meeting today, it was announced that the ward was now going to hear the testimonies of the new elders and the senior couple.  It looked like the first speaker didn't show up!  It is always a wonderful opportunity for us to share our feelings about what we are doing and our testimonies of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In a previous blog, we posted a picture of the Story Bridge.  Driving across one day this past week, we noticed that there were people standing on the top of the bridge looking out over the city.  Upon doing some research, we found that for $99 you can book a spot with the Story Bridge Adventure Climb.  The advertising says anyone can do it, even if you are afraid of heights - the top is 80 meters above sea level.  Sandy decided that even though this is one of only three bridge climbs in the world, she wouldn't be enjoying the views. The participants have to take a breath-alcohol test before beginning, because the advertising says "you can't drink and climb!"

Friday evening, we were invited to a special showing of "Meet The Mormons" at Kangaroo Point Chapel.  This movie has not been released to the general public here, but things are in the works to book several movie venues in March to show it.  Priesthood leaders and other stake leaders of the 10 stakes in the Brisbane area are being invited to four different evenings where the movie is shown in the Cultural Centre.  We were impressed with and highly recommend the film - loved the stories shared, especially the family sending their son off to the South Africa Durban Mission and seeing a few familiar local spots.  All the stories are filmed on location.  There is a "meet and mingle" time before hand and the mission has provided the refreshments.  Sister Hansen, who in her former life was the head of BYU Catering, has put together beautiful tables with fantastic food. Sandy and the two office senior sisters (the sister serving from the punch bowl is Sister Parsons) have been helping with the food prep and these little burgers were Sandy's assignment - just thought they were so cute plus being very tasty.  The slider burgers along with the infamous cream puffs all came from Costco.

This apartment building is our new home.  The driveway on the left leads to our underground parking.

These are views of the living area of our flat.  The Montagues, the missionary couple that lived here before us, have done a wonderful job of making it very comfortable and pleasant.

Our flat is located just off of Racecourse Road, which is a beautiful tree lined street.  The street runs from the local racecourse down to the Brisbane River (about five blocks or so long).  There is a sign posted on the sidewalk, which details the shops and such on the street and it lists 28 cafes, restaurants and catering sites. There is also a Coles grocery store directly across the street from our flat. Refrigerators in missionary flats are not large, but we were told that we shouldn't worry because the other refrigerator is right out the front door!  This should be our last move until we return to the United States, and never in our married live have we made so many moves in such a short period of time!

This is the building where the mission office is located and it occupies half of the second floor.  It is a short two block walk from our flat.

Our work stations Monday through Friday and sometimes on Saturday and Sunday - the chairs are getting to know our backsides really well!  Part of Arlo's responsibilities have to do with the cars and we have learned a new term used when a driver breaks the law while driving.  The transgressing driver is given an infringement (ticket) and the fines are really healthy.  For instance, driving 7 km (about 4 mph) over the speed limit ran one elder $150 and the missionaries pay all of their own fines.  

Take care and have a fantastic week.  

5 - 18 January

Summer is really, really here, plus it has been raining hard, on a regular basis.  So we are constantly walking around feeling like we are in a sauna!  Parts of the country have received so much that their drought conditions have been greatly reduced.  The streets seem to have even more tourists than around Christmas, probably because the schools are still on holiday until February 2nd.  The last two weeks have seemed like a blur as we have been getting on-the-job training non-stop.  Arlo is the Finance Secretary and Sandy is the Mission Secretary.  This mission is blessed to have two senior sisters who help with housing, referrals, baptism records and a multitude of odds and ends.  The office deals with 103 cars, 117 flats and 150 mobile phones along with the everyday care of 280 missionaries.

We are currently assigned to attend the Brisbane Ward and the building is located next to the temple. Our bishop is from the United States and is here with his wife and youngest son for 3 years.  His employer is ConocoPhillips.  As new members of his ward, we were invited to dinner of grilled lamb and enjoyed the view of the Brisbane River and the Story Bridge as seen above from the Bishop's 10the floor apartment balcony.   Before we moved, each day we would cross the Story Bridge, which is a steel cantilever bridge spanning the Brisbane River that carries vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the northern and the southern suburbs of Brisbane.  It is the longest cantilever bridge in Australia.  As evening comes, the bridge is outlined in red, green or purple lights, which are rotated by days.  All during the Christmas season the lights were a mixture of colors.  As of Thursday (15th), we moved into a lovely new flat, putting us within walking distance of the Mission Office, so we will not be crossing this bridge on a daily basis, just when we come back over to attend church or the temple.

With the move into the mission office, our lives now revolve around the six week transfer cycle of missionary comings and goings.  This is the workspace of our office elders and we are blessed to have three. The elder in the rear left is one of our computer gurus, but as you learn about him, one wonders how he does what he does.  His mother contracted chicken pox during the first trimester of her pregnancy.  The doctors were concerned he would be born brain damaged, he was not, but had scarring on the back of his eyes and open wounds on his body.  They knew he was blind and the wounds were sewn up so the skin would grow over them.  When he was 14,  it was discovered that a tumor was growing on his spine, causing him to lose feeling in his arms.  After surgery to remove the tumor, he awoke paralyzed.  In a priesthood blessing, he was promised that he would heal.  He is legally blind and walks with a lilt, but he walks.  The blessing he received as a newborn, indicated that despite his physical impairments, someday he would serve a mission and now he is!  A more grateful person would be hard to find and we are thankful for Elder Campbell's gentle spirit and big heart and willingness to use his remarkable computer skills helping us with our computer glitches.  He is able to work with the computer by greatly enlarging the image on the screen and working with his nose almost touching the monitor.   He is from Brisbane, but lives with his companions and is a great missionary. These three elders were in the office when we arrived, but transfers took the Elder in the front from us and sent him out into the field.  Elder Gustafsson (standing) is from Iceland and his favorite Christmas package from his family was whale blubber!  

Our first set of incoming missionaries - 19 in total and we only sent home 11.  This picture is in the mission office, where Elder Mickelsen is part of the orienting group and is making sure that they understand about cars, health insurance and the very important support card.  We had to split into two groups using the conference room and tables set up in the office area   Our mission has missionaries from over 30 countries, who speak 23 different languages as their native tongue.  This particular group has elders and sisters from the United States, Philippines, China, Samoa, New Zealand, Japan, Cambodia and Tahiti.   It is hard for us to see these very tired missionaries come off the plane and many not very comfortable at all with English.  Brings to mind our sons who served in foreign missions going out after some weeks in the MTC or our oldest going to the Philippines with no language training because that country at the time was considered English speaking!

Elder and Sister Montague from Bountiful, Utah tried their best to teach us everything we would need to know to take over their responsibilities in the office.  They have four months left on their mission and are off to Townsville to have a different missionary experience working with a branch.  The local couples have had a dinner or two to help send them on their way.  

Australia has beautiful paper money, much like we had in South Africa. The shapes in the bottom corners are cutouts with a plastic insert and none are the same size. Each side has a different person, famous in the country.  The $50 shows A.B. "Banjo" Paterson, the author of "The Man From Snowy River" and "Waltzing Matilda", the subject of another blog entry.  

The coins from left to right are 5,10, 20 and 50 cents then one dollar and two dollars.  Note the two dollar piece is almost the same size as the five cent piece, just a different color and much thicker and heavier.  The one cent piece was withdrawn from circulation in 1992 making in necessary to round all transactions to the nearest five cents.

This past two weeks have brought emails telling us of the deaths of two sweet sisters in our ward in St. George, and they will be missed so much because of their kind and loving spirits toward everyone.  One thing is certain in this life that we don't know how long we will be allowed to spend on the earth and we need to take advantage of every moment.  Our family means the world to us and we are thankful for their support as we serve this mission, even though it is hard not to be together. The opportunity to feel of the spirits and enthusiasm of these young elders and sisters as they share their testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ, strengthens our own testimonies daily and we feel so blessed to be a part of this great work!

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!!

22 - 28 December

The rainy season has started in Brisbane this past week and has cooled the temperatures down for us, at least temporarily.  The country has drought stricken areas, just like the United States, and prayers today at church were for a continuance of the rain to bring much needed help.

Our temporary "camp-site" until the middle of January, when we will move closer to the mission office.  Our balconies are the third and fourth ones back on the second level - one is off the living room and the other off the bedroom. 

Directly across the street from the apartment is a well-used park, both by humans and dogs.

What a wonderful sight we see (the Brisbane Temple in the background) as we start up our street each morning to head out for the office.

This past week, leading up to Christmas has been nonstop in preparations for Christmas Zone Conference and making sure all the missionaries were taken care of by way of a Christmas gift.  All packages coming into the office were recorded on a list, so we would know who hadn't received something.  When we arrived for this new assignment, the list had 91 missionaries on it, out of the 240 in the Brisbane area. Day by day, we were able to check off names, but the list was still very long on the Friday before Christmas.  So the senior couples, along with some Brisbane families, were called into action and we divided up names and went on a shopping spree to fill gift bags for those elders and sisters. The 23rd was the conference and it took a utility trailer (instead of Santa's sleigh) to bring all the packages to the Karawatha Chapel.  Different classrooms were designated by zone names to hold the Christmas surprises in order to avoid mass chaos when picking up the gifts.

Imagine trying to get 240+ missionaries (including seniors) all ready to have a group photo taken. Not included are about 40 missionaries serving in the northern zone who are too far away to travel for conferences in Brisbane.  The senior couples up north planned special activities on the 23rd for these missionaries.

One of three rows of mission cars being checked out at the conference by Arlo and 2 other senior elders.

The Cultural Hall was filled from front to back with beautifully decorated tables and after receiving a hug/handshake, depending on whether you were an elder or sister, from President and Sister Henderson, the missionaries hurried in to find a place to eat.  The luncheon was prepared by a local family and it was truly a labor of love for them to give so much time when Christmas was only a day away.

During lunch time, the Henderson's shared their family tradition of doing a nativity.  Their daughter and her family were visiting for the holidays, so were perfect for Mary, Joseph and a darling angel! Senior missionaries get to wear many hats (literally) at different times, and this was one of them!

Christmas Eve dinner with other senior missionaries serving in the area at The Purple Olive, an Italian restaurant with the kindest French waitress who asked if she could be of help in taking a group picture.  We enjoyed a dinner, which was beautifully plated, plus lots of sharing of what usually would go on in each of our homes at Christmas.  

Burleigh Heads Beach on the Gold Coast, an hours drive south of Brisbane, was our destination after having brunch together at the Madsen's Christmas morning.  Note the high rise apartment buildings in the background.  The beach is a popular destination for Australians on Christmas and was packed taking 30 minutes to find places to park all our cars.  The water was warm and a stunning turquoise color.  The sisters all ventured into the water up to our knees and a little farther depending on the tide.  It was really great fun and we even got a little silly!

 

Have you ever seen such a group of white legs before?  Missionary name tags can be most helpful at times.  A LDS family who was vacationing at the beach and noticed this group and their black tags, volunteered to take a group picture.  Self-Reliance, mission doctor and office support senior missionaries make up this group.  There are two more local couples not with us because they had prior Christmas appointments.

Boxing Day (26th), we received an invitation for lunch at the Shelton's, who we had met at Maraboon Lake in October as they traveled through Emerald on holiday.  Martine and Peter (from Emerald Branch) were there to celebrate with her parents, along with some friends of Peter's.  Around the lunch table were also Martine's grandmother, aunt and brother.

Irene's parents had asked Peter if he would ask a missionary to give their little one a blessing and so Elder Mickelsen was given that wonderful opportunity.  She certainly was not happy for all these men to be holding her and cried and sobbed throughout the entire blessing.  They are a sweet family living in Sydney (originally from South Korea) and are very close with "Uncle" Peter and "Aunty" Martine, even though there is no blood relationship. 

The office training is coming along and will get better as we work into a normal routine, not complicated by Christmas or New Year's.  It will be an amazing experience to serve, support and do whatever is needed for these missionaries from 32 countries throughout the world.  280 missionaries is a huge responsibility and we marvel at President and Sister Henderson and their abilities as they lead the Brisbane Mission into 2015!

15 - 21 December

Monday afternoon, we made our way to Gladstone (4 hour drive) and spent the night with Elder and Sister Miller.  About an hour before we were to arrive, the Miller's called and told us that they had to transport a sick elder to meet the mission doctor about halfway to Brisbane and the front door was unlocked and we know where our bedroom is.  They didn't get back home until about 1 am, so our visiting came at breakfast.  Tuesday, we made the 7 hour drive to Brisbane and moved into our temporary housing for the next month.  The rest of the week was spent starting to learn the ropes of being an office couple, which we are finding includes very long days and much to learn! 

Our last weekend we were able to get more photos of some of the stalwart families, but not all, in Emerald Branch who were so kind to us and we have come to love and appreciate!  

Ray and Jean, New Zealanders and he lives for his All-Blacks rugby team.  One Fast Sunday, Ray prefaced his testimony with the fact that he was "mourning," due to the fact that the All-Blacks had lost their game the previous day.  Ray is a building contractor and repaired some damage in the missionary flat we closed down when we first came to Emerald.

Jared and Cassie and their cute little family - Jared is one of 11 children of Ray and Jean .

This lovely family shared their last Sunday in Emerald with us.  Angie is the Relief Society president and Daniel is the Sunday School president/adult SS teacher and will leave a big hole in the branch. With the coal mine reductions, several of the members have lost their employment and Dan was one of them. He has found a new job (accounting) in Mt. Isa and they will be a big boost to that branch.

This Tongan family shared the 5 kg of grapes with us last week before leaving.  He is the Melchizedek Priesthood Group Leader, she teaches Primary and the twins are the mainstay of the Young Men's group.  

Coal mining bucket outside of the Blackwater Coal Museum, which we never did make the tour, but decided that we had better get this picture on our way through to Brisbane.

If traveling the highways in the outback you will encounter numerous road trains - oversized long trucks. We saw this one about a hour from Emerald on our way to Brisbane.

These two homes are typical of what are called Queensland homes which are built up on stilts.  The top one is only a couple of feet off the ground while the bottom one is about seven feet leaving lots of room for storage and to park cars.  The main reason for the stilts is to protect the home during floods, which are very common, especially in the outback.

The Christmas party with the Brisbane area couples (including one live-at-home missionary couple) and President and Sister Henderson.  It was a poolside bar-b-que, where one couple and two senior single sister missionaries live.  Part of the evening was spent taking pictures to be combined with the Australian version of Jingle Bells (below) for the Mission Christmas Zone Conference, as the couples contribution.

Dashing through the bush, in a rusty Holden Ute, Kicking up the dust, esky in the boot, Kelpie by my side, singing Christmas songs, Its summer time and I am in my singlet, shorts and thongs (flip flops), Oh! Engine's getting hot, we dodge the Kangaroos, The swaggie climbs aboard, he is welcome too. All the family is there, sitting by the pool, Christmas day the Aussie way, by the Bar-b-que, Oh! Come the afternoon grandpa has a doze, The kids and Uncle Bruce, are swimming in their clothes The time comes round to go, we take the family snap, Then pack the car and all shoot through, Before the washing up, Oh! Chorus: Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, Christmas in Australia on a scorching summer's day Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden ute. "Holden' is an Australian GM make, "Ute" is a utility truck, "esky" is a portable cooler, "boot" is the back of the vehicle, "singlet" is a sleeveless vest, "Kelpie" is an Australian sheep dog, "swaggie" is an Australian term for hobo. The newest addition to Sandy's nativity collection, which is made from different Australian timber. This quote was in our new calendar that we received at church today and it seemed very appropriate to close our thoughts this week and look forward to Christmas day.  "As we seek Christ, as we find Him, as we follow Him we shall have the Christmas spirit, not for one fleeting day each year, but as a companion always."  President Thomas S. Monson