Bla Bla Bla Blog !   November 15, 2012

October has come and gone, and it is past time for me to share my rambling thoughts about this “Mission Down Under” another time.  It is very interesting to look back to the day of our arrival and the first few days that we were here and to move forward as we have done each of the following weeks. It makes me think of the quote that says something about the nature of the task actually does not get any easier but those of us working at the task discover, develop, or create ways to do the task more efficiently.

Maybe we are becoming more efficient in our efforts. We seem to have completed most of the tasks that would be required if you were all of a sudden Robinson Crusoe on a deserted island. We were in fact dumped here and given our agency to sink or swim. We treaded water a few times, we drank some nasty salt water more than a few times, and now we are quite familiar with our mission, able to go about the activities, and put forth the effort to complete each day, and even feel most of the days like we have accomplished a little bit of good.

Spring is in full swing in Melbourne. We have enjoyed watching the flowers and plants and trees as they have followed the natural path of buds, blossoms, and leaves.  We had over 1.25 inches of rain at our flat in both September and October. We were hardly ever impacted by it in our travels back and forth. (I wrote this a couple of days ago and sure enough, yesterday it rained a lot and we were out in it numerous times. We stood at a tram stop after we got off of a train for about 12 minutes, and it was raining. We came home cold and wet and sorry that I had mentioned how well we had fared so far in the blog.) Unfortunately I am saddened by the demise of my rain gauge that we brought from home. It was blown off its’ perch by the wind one night; we found all of the parts,  but after we got them all put back together in the proper Humpty Dumpty fashion it does not work anymore.  Oh well Christmas is coming and perhaps we can find something similar in this civilized country/continent of Australia.

We were joined last week by another Senior Couple who live in the “flat” just above us. They are the Lacys from Centerville, Utah. We were glad to be at the Branch on the day that the President brought them there after having delivered them and their stuff to the flat. Although we were expecting them all for district meetings and Introductions about 10:00 AM, they arrived around 1:00 PM. It seems that the keys President Lifferth had for their flat were wrong and they had to drive back to the Mission Office to secure the correct ones.  As we have previously stated.  Everything, and we mean almost everything here is hard, and it takes more time and more effort than one can imagine. 

We are thankful however for a good bed and the ability to sleep quite well most nights, good water to drink right out of the tap, fresh produce that we buy at a farmer’s market every Saturday morning that sets up in a street only about three blocks away, and plenty of Diet Coke. ( We bought some yesterday 30 cans for $10. It is usually about twice that amount so we actually bought two of them and of course then had to carry them through the streets of Melbourne. The Zone Leaders however brought them from the branch to our flat for us in their car, and we did not have to carry them on the tram.) We are also thankful for the financial resources that allow us to be here, and most of all we are thankful for each other, our family, friends and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.