Australia Sunday June 29, 2014
Dear Family & Friends;
Another week, almost another month! It has been a busy week with adding one extra
hour each day. We did get a lot done so
it will be worth it. We finished one box
in 3 ½ days, about 14,000 cards. If we
can do that for about a month we will be able to cut back on the extra
hours. We will have to go get 6 more
boxes this week, and that will leave 11 on the pallet. We are really enjoying the Smylie’s, they are
a lot of fun. It is a lot noisier than
we are used too, they talk on the phone, and we are talking so it gets a little
crazy, but we are making it work. We
miss talking to all of you on our big computer, but that is ok too. They had a new grandson born on Wednesday
night there in Salt Lake area. He was
born at home and weighed 9 lb 8 oz. I
said I can’t imagine having one that big, I quit when Vaun was 7 lb 5 oz.
saying they were getting too big. He is
really cute. We also found out this week
that the piano teacher Canyon and Lydia had in Colorado Springs, Mary Ann
McConkie, her daughter is married to the Smylie’s son and they live in Guatemala. The McConkie’s are over there now and told
Sister Smylie she really enjoyed those two.
Small World! Elder Meyer is in
the office now and he is also fairly quiet but really nice. The 3 young ones seem to enjoy working
together. Elder Meyer is Mark’s nephew,
Malinda’s sister’s son. He comes in
Mon-Wed, Elder Cummings comes in Mon-Thurs, and Kailee is there all week. They are doing some projects for Mark, they
are all being trained to be Family History Support, and are helping the
Smylie’s with anything they need. One
interesting card I pulled out this week is Henry Wilkie, died 13 Jan 1879, age
41 years. Wife- M. R. Wilkie. Accidentally killed firing a salute at the
opening of Parliment 1879.
I apologize for bragging about the weather last week with it
being the middle of winter and so warm and beautiful. I think I cursed the weather because Monday
it turned cold and windy, it barely got up to 50 until Thursday and the wind
was really cold. There was snow in the
Blue Mountains and the Snowy Mountains and the ski resort opened up. They are supposed to get more snow this week,
and we could get rain and hail. We
really need the rain, everything is so dry again. Thursday and Friday and yesterday it got in
the 60’s and was sunny.
Friday we put a chicken dinner in the crockpot before going
to the office and it made a lot so we invited the Smylie’s to come down and
share. I put a green salad together,
and we cleaned off the table. We really
had a good time getting to know each other.
They were raised in Adelaide, Australia, and have lived in the US for the
past 30 years, most recently in Florida.
They have 2 children in Florida, 2 in the Salt Lake area, and 2 in Guatemala. They have 23 grandchildren all under the age
of 8.
Yesterday we cleaned the flat and then went to Rydlemere to
catch the rivercat to the Quays. We then
walked to the Queen’s Royal Botanical Garden that is by the Opera House. We then got on a little train that goes all
around the garden and is a hop on, hop off.
We got off at the first stop which is Mrs. Macquarie’s point so Dad
could get a really cool picture of the opera house under the bridge. They said it is one of the most photographed
places in Australia. We then hopped back
on the next train and went to the top of the garden. It was fun being on it because the driver
told about all the plants, trees, and ponds as we drove by them, and the
history of the garden. We got off and
walked out of the garden and found a little restaurant where we ate fish and
chips outside on the patio. We then
walked to the Hyde Park Barracks Museum which was built between 1817-1819 to
provide secure night lodging for government assigned male convicts. The central building served as a dormitory
for an average of 600 men sleeping in hammocks in 12 rooms. The rooms are set up just as they were in that
time. During the day the inmates would
go out to various work places in Sydney, returning for their meals and at night
for sleep. In 1848, after the abolition
of convict transportation to New South Wales in 1840, the remaining inmates of
the Barracks were relocated to Cockatoo Island.
In 1848-1886 Hyde Park Barracks became the Immigration Depot
for single females. The central
dormitory building was altered and iron beds replaced convict hammocks. The beds were really hard. They also had wooden trunks like the ones the
females arrived with and opening them they had a list of what was in them, and
also a history of the female. A lot of
these females came from Ireland during the great famine. They all came on their own and most had been
orphaned. A lot of them were placed as
household servants and other places. The
histories of some of them were very interesting.
In 1862-1886 a new Government Asylum for aged, infirm and
destitute women was established on level 3 and later on level 2 of the central
building. An exterior rear stairway
added in 1864, allowed these women access to the courtyard laundries, kitchen
and bathhouse. A matron and able-bodied
inmates ministered to 300 or so infirm, destitute women upstairs. They were always treated very well. This tour was so interesting, we were there a
little over 2 hours.
We then walked across the street to St Mary’s Catholic
Church. It was build in the 1800’s and
is still in use today. It is very ornate
and reminded us of the Church’s we toured in Europe. There was a man playing the organ. A lot of people were in there. We really enjoyed it. We then walked back to the Quay’s, we got
there about 3:30 and the last ferry for the day leaves at 4. We got some mango yogurt with fresh
strawberries and ate it while we waited.
The wind had started blowing pretty hard by the time we got to the
Quays. Not long after we got on the
ferry it started to rain really hard and it was really a choppy ride with all
the wind. It had stopped raining by the
time we got to our stop but the wind was still blowing very hard and did all
night.
Today we went to Church in Blacktown and the wind wasn’t too
bad, and still no rain here. It was 52
when we went to Church, sunny but cold.
The Relief Society President was one of the speakers, and she told her
conversion story. She was raised Church
of England, and although her parents did not go to Church, they always sent her
and her 2 brothers to the Church just up the street from them. As a little girl she remembers the
missionaries coming to the house and her Mum inviting them in. They came several times but quit when her
parents said they were not interested.
They did however leave a Book of Mormon and a Family Home Evening
Manual. They just went in the bookcase. When she was too old to go to Sunday School
they made her a teacher for the little kids.
Because she had no material to get lessons from she found the Family
Home Evening Manual in the bookcase and taught from it. She said it had fun activities. The lady in charge of the Sunday School had a
daughter in her class and told her she was doing a good job teaching. As a teenager she began to go to our Church
that was close to her house also and said she always felt really good when she
was there. After several weeks of going
the Sister Missionaries started teaching her in their flat, because her parents
didn’t want them in their home, and they really didn’t want her taking the
lessons. Her parents wouldn’t give her
permission to be baptized so she just continued going to Church all alone. After the missionaries got transferred she
continued to go because she knew it was the true Church. A couple of years later a set of Elders found
out she wasn’t baptized and asked her if she wanted to. About this time she was dating a guy that
they had been talking about marriage. He
did not want her to be baptized but said if she really wanted to she could, so
she did, again all alone except for the Ward members. As they were planning their wedding they
couldn’t decide where to get married and he said how about her Church so they
were married in the Parametta building.
After marriage she continued to go to Church, at first only Sacrament
Meeting, but gradually all the meetings, and began to take on callings and now
she is the Relief Society President and doing a great job. Her oldest daughter was married in the
Temple, and they have a daughter on a mission in Texas, and a teenage daughter
at home. Although he has never joined
the Church they have made their marriage work.
We thought this was a great story.
For dinner, I made corn chowder and had cheese and
crackers. I decided that is a winter
meal. I cleaned up the dishes while Dad
chopped onions and browned the hamburger and onions, and then we put together 3
batches of taco soup for Family Home Evening tomorrow. We probably made too much but we want to
freeze some for lunches. We don’t have
any meals in the freezer at the moment.
I need to cook more I guess. I
also made 3 batches of Ambrosia Salad.
We will take everything to Buckland House in the morning and then plug
the crockpot’s in about noon. It should
be an easy meal to put on, and we are all into easy.
Happy Birthday to Kaylee and Megan on the 1st and
a Happy 4th of July this week also.
Here you will have 2 holidays this month and we will have none.
Our prayers and love go to all of you!
Mum and Dad
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