Australia Sunday May 25, 2014
Dear Family & Friends:
What a full week and it really went by fast. We are settled in our new office, we got set
up on Monday morning and even worked in there in the afternoon. The sunlight is a little different so we have
had to put paper up on the blinds in a couple of places so the sun doesn’t come
in on our table. It is working really
good. We left work at 3:30 to get ready
for the rugby game because they all wanted to leave at 4 to beat the
traffic. The Allen’s, Archibald’s,
Killebrew’s and Elder Feil went in the mission van, and we went with the
Smith’s. It did take us about an hour to
get there, and climbed the stairs up to the box. We had our own little waiter to get us
anything we needed. They had a chicken
dish over rice, green salad, rolls, potato chips, chips and dip, and soft
drinks and water. Then at half time they
brought little meat pies and sausage rolls with catsup (they call it tomato
sauce). It was so fun to watch the game
from there. Lyn’s husband had sent us an
email with the rules and how they play that we all read before we went so we
could understand the game a little better.
The Manly Sea Eagles played the Newcastle Knights. The knights were ahead 14-0 at halftime, and
with 5 minutes to play the game the eagles scored, and scored, and scored again
and had it tied, then with 3 seconds manly kicked a field goal and they won by
1 point 15-14. It was so exciting, the
whole stadium was yelling including us.
After the game when the players had left, some people held up a banner
that said “kids play.” Dale and Lyn told
us that after every game they let the kids go out on the field and play for
about a half hour, and they run through the banner to get there. What memories for those kids. It was such great fun!!
Tuesday afternoon Robin came over and moved our work
computers to our new office. I have a
long table against one wall for my computer, and it is also where we can put
the boxes to put the cards away. Dad has
another smaller table on the other wall for his computer. We will take pictures so you can see.
Wednesday we copied a 1,000 cards and left for the airport
to get Kailee, the intern that will be working in our office for 4 months. We have never driven to the city before so
Dad was a little nervous, but we made it and parked and waited about 15 minutes
for her to come out. Mark told us to pay
for parking and get her some groceries to last her about a week and he would
make out a voucher to get us paid back.
We got a little lost leaving the airport, Tilley doesn’t work well in
the city, or any gps with all the tall buildings. We finally got on the road home and went
right to the mall. We had lunch and got
her some groceries then took her to Temple Housing where she will be
staying. It is about ¾ of a mile
there. The rooms are really nice, she
has a queen bed and a twin bed, bathroom and a small kitchen. The main kitchen on each floor is where you
can cook, etc. We left her there and
told her to get some rest and we would pick her up at 7:45 Thursday
morning. I showed her around the office
until Mark came and trained her for the day.
Robin came over in the afternoon and got her computer up and
running. She got her key for the
buildings and had a couple of training sessions via Skype. We didn’t pay attention to what she is doing,
we were working. Mark asked us if we
would pick her up and take her home if it is raining, otherwise she is
walking. As soon as we got to the office
Thursday, Dad called Salt Lake to have them take some data off our
computer. While he was talking to the
dcam support guy he said he had just got word that our 4 missing shuttles had just
arrived. Two of them were lost for 4
weeks and two for 2 weeks. No one knows
where they have been, we were just glad they arrived. They said they would have some of the audits
done by Friday. That was such good
news. Now we can put away about 37,000
cards. Friday we had 3 audits so we are
missing 2, hopefully they will be there tomorrow. We did put the cards away we had the audits
for.
Saturday we cleaned the flat and left for Mudgee, about a 3 1/2
-4 hour trip. We stopped in Lithgow to
walk around, and then got to Mudgee around 2.
We found a place to have lunch called the “Butcher Shop” and had
hamburgers and chips. We asked several
people at the service center what there is to see in Mudgee and they said it is
a beautiful drive, and a beautiful little town with lots of wineries, then they
would laugh. There definitely were lots
of wineries all giving out samples so their signs said. After lunch we found our motel and checked
in, took our bags in and then left to find the Church. It was about 5 minutes away on Putta Bucca
Road. As we were driving we found the
sign for Putta Bucca Road and it went 2 directions, straight or turn. We turned and there was the Church, a darling
little house on 5 acres of grass and trees.
It was beautiful. We then went
for a ride and found farms with lots of alfalfa, some grain and irrigated with
circles and pumps. Of course there were
grapes everywhere. It is winter so the
grapes are all brown and cut back. We
went back to our room to freshen up before going to dinner at the branch
president’s home. He lives about 2
blocks from where we were staying. He is
Tongan and she is Greek. They have 2
boys at home, a 16 and an 11 year old, and their daughter is 18 and in Sydney
living with her grandma, working and will be going to Uni. They were so much fun and it was great to get
to know them.
Church this morning was at 9:30, we got there about 9 and
the full time missionaries were there, an Elder from Canada and one from
Layton, an Elder Taylor. He lives above
highway 89. Mudgee is in the South
Mission. There were about 15 people
there including us and the 2 elders.
They were great people and a lot of fun.
The Branch President taught Sunday School, and the Relief Society
President taught the combined Relief Society and Priesthood. Lots of good discussion. We took some pictures after and left for
home, not stopping until we got here about 5:30.
After sitting for so long I decided to make some cupcakes I
have been wanting to make and had fresh lemons for, lemon poppy seed with
mousse topping. They turned out great so
we took them around to the Moore’s, Archibald’s, and Killebrew’s. We will take them to the office tomorrow for
the Feil’s, Smith’s and Allen’s and Kailee.
We want to share the calories.
A little about the weather, this month is going down as the
warmest in history for this time of year, averaging 6 above normal every
day. We are not complaining.
Here it is 10 and another day is gone so I will close for
now.
A Happy Birthday to Sarah tomorrow, Will on Thursday and
Kelvin on Saturday. We wish all you a very happy day.
In closing I want to leave you with one of our favorite
hymns and one you should all know, even the Children.
1- I am a child of
God,
And he has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.
2- I am a child of
God,
And so my needs are great;
Help me to understand his words
Before it grows too late.
3- I am a child of
God.
Rich blessings are in store;
If I but learn to do his will,
I’ll live with him once more.
4- I am a child of
God.
His promises are sure;
Celestial glory shall be mine
If I but can endure.
Chorus:
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.
Love you!!
Mum and Dad
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