Australia Sunday July 20, 2014
Dear Family,
The weather has not improved, still no rain, but cloudy and
cold and windy. The forecast this week
was for rain but we didn’t have any.
Yesterday and today it stayed 53 and down in the 40’s at night. They announced last Monday that winter was
half over. We don’t know if that means
the weather will get warmer or not. Glad
we have heat in our flat, although we still have sweat shirts on and I have a
blanket around my legs when I am sitting down.
At the office I have a space heater by my chair, and Sister Smylie has
one, and Kailee has one.
Monday was Sister Smylie’s birthday and she thought no one
knew about it. I found a banner and some
balloons at Parklea last week so I got them and we decorated her desk. We also bought her a plant for her patio because
she told us she loves plants. She was
really excited when she got to the office.
Then at devotional they announced her birthday and she looked at me, and
I told her we hadn’t told anyone. Mark
asked us to get her a cake for afternoon tea, so we went over to the mall for
lunch, and Kailee, Elder Cummings and Elder Myers came also. After we all ate we got a marble cake. It was really good. Mark had invited Lynne Thacker over as they
had some business to discuss after tea.
Monday night we had Family Home Evening at the Feil’s and
she had a couple of chicken casseroles, rolls and some soda and water. Malcom and Helen were invited to come as they
have been so good to the Sr missionaries, having them to their home for
dinners, and they will be moving the 1st of next month. It was also Helen’s birthday so we sang to
the both of them. Elder Archibald gave
the lesson on communication in marriage.
It was really good. Sister
Archibald had made a chocolate and a coconut cake and had ice cream. They were both really good and Helen had
brought a box of chocolates. Another
great night. The Moore’s were the only
ones missing as they were in Melbourne for a conference.
Tuesday morning the fire alarm went off, and we decided if
Mark left we would. He came and told us
to get out so we went. Martin from HR
was walking over and told us to get in the middle of the lawn in front of our
building, and he went to Family Services and got them all out. Pretty soon a fire truck went passed going
the wrong way and we all waved to them, and in a minute they had turned around
and came back with another truck. After
they went through all the buildings they gave the all clear to go back in. In the afternoon we got an email from Glenn
that said the painters in Family Services had not isolated the fire alarm so
the fumes had set it off. He also said
if it goes off again everyone is to evacuate the buildings immediately. I guess no one took it seriously, like us.
Tuesday night when we came out of the Temple it had rained
just enough to get the cars really dirty because the wind was blowing pretty
hard. Dad is going to have to take the
car over to the warehouse and use the pressure washer on it if it doesn’t rain
before we go to Narooma next weekend.
The Smith’s moved their office over to the Family Services
Building so they are no longer in Buckland House. We walked over Wednesday to visit and see
their offices. Our key won’t work in
their building so we have to ring the door bell to get in. They have a really nice office and a
conference room. They were just in a
hall at Buckland, but it was really convenient to get to their office
there. It is closer to their home
though. They said it was freezing cold
in there Monday so Elder Killebrew took them a big space heater and they were
loving it.
Wednesday we started on a really good box of cards, all the
same size, no clippings glued on them, and a lot of them with information on
both sides. Thursday we hit a new record
6500 in 6 hours. That is 3250 clicks,
590 clicks per hour, and 9 clicks per minute.
Mark wanted Dad to figure that out when we told him the new record
Friday morning. For you computer guys,
that is 123 GB in one day. We also hit a
new record when we unhooked the hard drive on Friday, 20,178 images in 5
days. That surprised us because we were
doing really hard cards Monday and Tuesday.
Mark is having Paul announce it in meeting tomorrow morning so we are
taking some cards over to show everyone.
We just wish they wouldn’t do that, we just want to get them done. We are at the office 9 hours a day so we
still got our walks in and we take about an hour for lunch. We were pretty excited.
Yesterday with the weather so unsettled everyone decided to
stay close, and it is pretty miserable to be out in the wind and cold for
long. The Archibald’s were speaking at
Port Macquarie today instead of next week so they went up there. We went to a mall in Auburn and I got some
new gym shoes, Danna you would have loved this store. It is the biggest shoe store we have ever
been in, all name brands, and all buy one and get one free. No dress shoes, just athletic shoes and
clothes. The Moore’s had been there and
told us about it. There was one baby
store and the rest 3 levels were furniture stores. We went in one and Dad talked to a guy about
the wood tables they had. He said they
were all built from local wood in Sydney and none had a stain on it, they were
all natural Australian wood, and they were beautiful.
We were feeling a little homesick I guess because Dad wanted
to find a Sizzler. We found one about 20
minutes away and went there. It was the
best steak we have had since we came here.
We just relaxed and ate and visited.
We got back home around 5 and I was doing laundry when Dad asked if I
wanted to go to the office so he could print a couple of pictures. I am always ready to go where we have
wifi. We stopped in at the Moore’s
before we left and visited for a while.
As we were walking into Church today one of the sisters was
just getting out of her car and asked if we like oranges. We said we love oranges and she said she just
picked her tree yesterday so she gave us a bag of them. They are really big and look very good. We haven’t tried them yet.
Today the Sacrament meeting was all about Family History. The first speaker was a 16 year old girl who
was called last month to teach the Family History class in Sunday School. She said she didn’t know much about it so she
went to the Stake Family History Center to get some training and found her
great grandmother, her mother’s grandmother that needed her work done, and she
said she was so excited she started crying.
When she brought it home and showed her mother they both cried. She said she is really enjoying the job and
is learning so much. She is so
cute. Her mother teaches Relief Society
and is a single mom of 3. The next
speaker was a missionary that just returned from the Pennsylvania Philadelphia
mission, and he told a couple of great stories from his mission. Next was the High Councilman who also told
some stories about his family. He just
started doing Family History last month after the Stake President issued a
challenge for everyone to find their ancestors.
He knew his family came from England, so he assumed they came over to
the United States in the 1850’s when the majority of new Saints started
immigrating, but he couldn’t find them.
He continued looking and checking ship records, and found that the first
one of his great grandfathers came on the Mayflower with his son on the first
voyage to America. He was a Puritan and
this group was at odds with the Church of England and the Catholic Church. It was very interesting and he said he is now
hooked on doing Family History, and finding about his ancestors. After the meeting a young sister came up and
asked me to watch for her baby to wake up that was in a stroller. He slept most of Sunday School and then woke
up so I got him out and he just sat on my lap.
He is about 14 months old and was so calm. It was fun to hold a baby again. She was getting things ready for Relief Society,
she is a counselor. I told her I really
enjoyed it.
We saw where a Vinny’s has opened a new store just up the
street from Bunnings. We haven’t been
there yet but we will. They close at 4
every day and 2:30 on Sat so we decided we will probably walk up for lunch some
day.
We wish you all a Happy Pioneer Day this week. Remember your ancestors who came before you
and how they sacrificed so you could enjoy the life you do today. We are a very blessed people!
“Take and inventory of your life and look specifically for
the blessings, large and small, you have received.” Thomas S Monson
We Love you all and pray for you daily.
Mum and Dad
No comments:
Post a Comment