The past two weeks have gone by pretty fast as we have kept busy baking cookies and taking them around to members of the branch. We had some pretty amazing experiences as a couple of the people we had selected to visit really needed us when we arrived. Most of the cookies turned out really bad as the sugar is not as sweet and I hadn't yet learned what shortening was and the oven is very small and runs hot so my baking efforts have not been great. Plus, it is not pleasant to run the oven when it is in the 90's.
We are having a good Christmas, there was a neighborhood party Friday night that we attended and were able to meet many nice people that live around us, last night we went to a BBQ at some members house and later today we have two invites, one for nibbles at 4 and a dinner at 6, so we will not lack for food.
We were able to see two nativity's on FaceTime today put on by Craig's family and Jeff's family and then watched Jackie's family open their Christmams eve presents and will talk with Chris's family tomorrow as they were driving home from a family get together when we called them tonight. We talked with Andy and Brekka yesterday, we are so grateful for the technology that allows us to keep in touch from so far away. We can enjoy Christmas with everyone with no cooking or dishes involved!
I got exactly what I wanted for Christmas as both of my front teeth had broken since we arrived here and I was able to find a dentist that did a great job of fixing them - so I got my two front teeth for Christmas so I don' t look like a jack-o-lantern anymore nor whistle when I talk. I had never realized how two little chips can affect your speech until I had to speak in church and had a hard time trying to annunciate correctly.
We also attended a big nativity that is put on by all the Christan churches (except us) down by the ocean. It was a great effort as they put up tents and reenacted the whole city of Jerusalem with many activities going on. We hope to find some involvement next year.
We hope all of you will have a wonderful Christmams! May you feel the true spirit of Christmas this day and in the coming year!
Monday, December 24, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Trip to Sydney
We had a wonderful time last week as we spent it in Sydney. We flew down on Monday with a group from the Branch to attend the temple. They go to Sydney because the church owns accommodations there and so it makes the trip cheaper than going to Brisbane and having to have cars and hotel rooms, although it was about a mile walk from accommodation to the temple.
The people here are really into family history and had many names to take.
We took one afternoon and caught a ferry and went to downtown Sydney. We had a delightful day walking the streets of Sydney which is a very large ritzy city, we then went to the Botanical Gardens and walked there. They go by the Opera House and are very beautiful. We enjoyed it very much, we took the ferry back and Enoch got a lot of sun on his face. It was a perfect day in every way. Temperature was great for sightseeing.
We had another small world experience - we met the wife of the new couple that had just arrived to be the family history couple in Sydney. We asked her where they were from and she said Idaho and we said "oh, we're from there too" and asked "what town." She said, just a small town in Southeastern Idaho. We pressed her further and found she was from Hamer - finally got her name, Jan Williams and realized I had actually gone to education week with her in 1987 - maybe have seen her once since then till last week!
We had a lot of fun getting to know those on the trip better and will probably go again next year! We flew home Saturday morning - the young missionaries had driven us to the airport Monday so we called them for a ride home only to find out they wrecked their car while we were gone - luckily we were able to hitch a ride with another couple. The funny thing was that the cop that responded to the accident is a less active member.
I am going to make an attempt at sending some photos - hope it works,
Enoch and LaRue
The people here are really into family history and had many names to take.
We took one afternoon and caught a ferry and went to downtown Sydney. We had a delightful day walking the streets of Sydney which is a very large ritzy city, we then went to the Botanical Gardens and walked there. They go by the Opera House and are very beautiful. We enjoyed it very much, we took the ferry back and Enoch got a lot of sun on his face. It was a perfect day in every way. Temperature was great for sightseeing.
We had another small world experience - we met the wife of the new couple that had just arrived to be the family history couple in Sydney. We asked her where they were from and she said Idaho and we said "oh, we're from there too" and asked "what town." She said, just a small town in Southeastern Idaho. We pressed her further and found she was from Hamer - finally got her name, Jan Williams and realized I had actually gone to education week with her in 1987 - maybe have seen her once since then till last week!
We had a lot of fun getting to know those on the trip better and will probably go again next year! We flew home Saturday morning - the young missionaries had driven us to the airport Monday so we called them for a ride home only to find out they wrecked their car while we were gone - luckily we were able to hitch a ride with another couple. The funny thing was that the cop that responded to the accident is a less active member.
I am going to make an attempt at sending some photos - hope it works,
Enoch and LaRue
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Where did the time go
I can't believe that it has been so many days since we last posted on the blog, so I will try and bring it up to date a bit. After we got to Brisbane we were met by President and Sister Langeland and taken to the mission office to take care of signing our "blue card" application and a few other details. When we finished, President returned in our car and had Enoch drive back to the mission home and he must have passed the driving test because that was the extent of our driving lessons on the left hand side of the road. That night we had dinner at the mission home with the Langleland's and a friend, who when he learned we were from Idaho Falls, asked if that was near Roberts. How did someone in Brisbane know Roberts? He and his family were baptized by a missionary from Roberts in the 1960's. How's that for a small world! (Also met someone at church baptized by a missionary from Shelley) We were able to attend a baptism that evening for a wonderful man who spoke at his own baptism, he had been introduced to the gospel by a co-worker and after 7 months of studying was being baptized. The chapel was 3/4 filled and the service lasted 1 1/2 hours!
We were supposed to leave Brisbane the next afternoon after attending zone council but the President woke twice in the night with the impression that we needed to get on the road sooner to enable us to reach a town called Gladstone where we have a senior couple serving and we could spend the night with them. We were able to get a brief view of the Brisbane temple, and then were on the road by 9:00. The road is a two way road with quite a drab landscape, reminded us of going to Casper beyond Dubois with a few more trees, with lots of stopping due to construction, all in all very tedious driving on the left hand side of the road!
When we arrived at Gladstone, we were greeted by the Hales from Huntington, UT who are serving their 4th mission, plus they have made 10 trips to Mali where he did cataract surgery on people. We were awed by them and enjoyed having pizza with them for thanksgiving! We bid them farwell that night as we knew our body clocks had not reset and we would rise early. We were on the road again shortly after 6 and decided to spend Friday night in a resort area called Aerlie Beach. We had some trouble finding a room as the schoolies had just graduated and were there to celebrate, they were joined by the "toolies" (those who graduated the year before and show up to cause trouble for the schoolies). It was a town filled to the brim with noise and celebration, however we were able to find a nice accomodation and rest for the final day of driving.
We made it to Townsville in the early afternoon, so we were able to get somewhat settled and get a few groceries before Sunday. We have a quite nice 4 bedroom house with everything we needed except that 3 of the bedrooms were furnished with queen beds only. We gave that a try Saturday night and that lasted about 2 hours until I moved to another room - then we got creative- and moved two queens into the master beroom and now have a hotel like room which is working well.
We then attended our first Sunday at the Branch and were amazed at the size and quality of the branch and kind of wondered why we were here - then we got the list of those who are not currently attending church- which is a list of about 400 names and learned that we are here to "reach and rescue" so we have our work cut out for us finding and inviting them to come back to church.
We attended meetings and activities almost every night last week culminating with the Branch Christmas party last night. We had a potluck meal in the courtyard at the church, followed by a nativity activity for the children and then a visit from Santa. Santa thought he may have lost a few kilos in the hot suit in the 90 degree temperature.
So here we are again at Sunday - attended church and then taught a temple prep class to a man preparing to attend the temple on the 21st. We will spend next week on a Branch temple trip, we are going to the Sydney Temple instead of Brisbane because they have housing at Sydney and so it is cheaper to attend there, we will catch a plane in the morning and return Saturday.
The only kangaroo sightings have been 4 dead ones along the roadside - so no kangaroo tales!
Til next time!
Enoch and LaRue
We were supposed to leave Brisbane the next afternoon after attending zone council but the President woke twice in the night with the impression that we needed to get on the road sooner to enable us to reach a town called Gladstone where we have a senior couple serving and we could spend the night with them. We were able to get a brief view of the Brisbane temple, and then were on the road by 9:00. The road is a two way road with quite a drab landscape, reminded us of going to Casper beyond Dubois with a few more trees, with lots of stopping due to construction, all in all very tedious driving on the left hand side of the road!
When we arrived at Gladstone, we were greeted by the Hales from Huntington, UT who are serving their 4th mission, plus they have made 10 trips to Mali where he did cataract surgery on people. We were awed by them and enjoyed having pizza with them for thanksgiving! We bid them farwell that night as we knew our body clocks had not reset and we would rise early. We were on the road again shortly after 6 and decided to spend Friday night in a resort area called Aerlie Beach. We had some trouble finding a room as the schoolies had just graduated and were there to celebrate, they were joined by the "toolies" (those who graduated the year before and show up to cause trouble for the schoolies). It was a town filled to the brim with noise and celebration, however we were able to find a nice accomodation and rest for the final day of driving.
We made it to Townsville in the early afternoon, so we were able to get somewhat settled and get a few groceries before Sunday. We have a quite nice 4 bedroom house with everything we needed except that 3 of the bedrooms were furnished with queen beds only. We gave that a try Saturday night and that lasted about 2 hours until I moved to another room - then we got creative- and moved two queens into the master beroom and now have a hotel like room which is working well.
We then attended our first Sunday at the Branch and were amazed at the size and quality of the branch and kind of wondered why we were here - then we got the list of those who are not currently attending church- which is a list of about 400 names and learned that we are here to "reach and rescue" so we have our work cut out for us finding and inviting them to come back to church.
We attended meetings and activities almost every night last week culminating with the Branch Christmas party last night. We had a potluck meal in the courtyard at the church, followed by a nativity activity for the children and then a visit from Santa. Santa thought he may have lost a few kilos in the hot suit in the 90 degree temperature.
So here we are again at Sunday - attended church and then taught a temple prep class to a man preparing to attend the temple on the 21st. We will spend next week on a Branch temple trip, we are going to the Sydney Temple instead of Brisbane because they have housing at Sydney and so it is cheaper to attend there, we will catch a plane in the morning and return Saturday.
The only kangaroo sightings have been 4 dead ones along the roadside - so no kangaroo tales!
Til next time!
Enoch and LaRue
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)