Hello

Dear family

Sorry I was not available when you called. DD and I had gone to lunch. We leave for lunch simply to get out and walk around. We almost always go over to Knox. It is a shopping center and the only place around to go. We have been going there for 6 months. We have about 8-10 places we go eat. I think another year and we will really hate the place. But at least it is some place to go.

The weather has been unseasonably cold . We have only had several hot days so far. They keep saying , just wait,it will get hot. We are still turning on the heat in the am and then when we get home at night.

Last night we had a ward missionary meeting. The goal is to baptize 50 people this year. There are a lot of inactives in this ward,but everyone here seems to have the missionary spirit. There is always someone new at our Sunday School class.

Andy, it sounds like you had a great birthday. Next year ,I'll be there.
Erin, did you talk to Kali about my license?
You asked about the storage unit. I would love to have you go check it out. I can not remember how to get into the storage area. The lock itself I think is nest( Jimmy was the one who thought of it). The contract would be in one of the containers at your house,Erin. The one that had paper work.

It is Friday afternoon and really quiet. It is overcast and looks like it might rain. Not my favorite weather.
I love you all and miss you.
I love to see the pictures on pinterist
Love, mom
Sent from my iPad

Australian Open

In the city the Westin Hotel does fun decorating of the trees.  

The trees had crochet blankets wrapped around them.  Fun and unique

 This hundred year old building is an H&M store. Beautiful and spacious.

 City Town Hall

 We are at the Rod Laver stadium for the Australian Open

 Serena Williams

 Tongan Family performing to men in black.  

It was so clever and fun to watch.

They are all dancers and entertainers.

 The Tongans love to dance and don't need a partner.

Dear dear Family,

Well, another week has come and gone.

Contrary to popular opinions we are kept very busy Monday through Friday at the office.

President Maxwell feels it is very important for senior couples and senior sisters to experience what Melbourne has to offer.  There are lots of things to do and see.

Saturday is the day we go experiencing.

Monday at FHE we saw the dvd Meet the Mormons.  We loved it.  Hopefully, all of you have had the opportunity to see it.  The church does everything so well.  President 

Maxwell got a copy and the office missionaries could borrow it.

Tuesday was visiting teaching night.  We send a note to the two in active sisters.  We probably will never meet them or be invited to their home.  Our older couple, Rosemary and John are delightful and we so enjoy our time together.  He isn't active but always lets us give a message and a prayer.  We are always looking for opportunities

to introduce the gospel to someone.  Hope that you are all praying for us to have the chance before we come home.  Adrienne did talk to the girl that does her hair.  The girl asked questions and Adrienne was able to answer them. 

We went to the temple on Thursday night.  It is always a good experience.

Friday was hair night so our gray is not showing.  Afterwards we went to another Tongan party.  It was a welcome home for a returning sister missionary.  She served in the Salt Lake Temple Square mission.  That would be a very fun place to serve.  Back to the party.  Everyone we meet kisses us on our cheeks.  I have never been kissed so much.  But they are loving affectionate people.  They love to dance and they are very good.  They don't need partners.  They just get up and dance and they have great rhythm.  The family of the returned missionary did a rock, jazz, soul dance for everyone.  There are 11 children in the family and 8 of them performed.  The returned missionary had a hard time because she felt uncomfortable dancing.  She just got home Friday morning.

Now for our newest and most fun experience; we went to the Australia Tennis Open 2015.  We had fantastic seats.  We watched 3 matches.  The second match was with Serena Williams.  She lost the first set to an up and coming young Polish girl.  Serena's age and experience helped her win the last two sets. We had a great time.  The weather was perfect.  A GREAT NEW EXPERIENCE.

We went to see the movie The Water Diviner.  It is an Australian movie starring Russell Crowe, who is Australian.  We loved the movie but the book was even better.  It is a good read!!

In church today, we stood and sang the Australian National Anthem, Advance Australia Fair.  Today is Australia Day, similar to July 4th.  We will be in the office til about 3:00pm.  Adrienne and I plus two couples are going to take the train to the city to see fireworks and the other festivities.  It is cold and rainy right now so hopefully it will get sunny and warmer. 

We think of you very often and pray for you always,

Love,

The Moms, Adrienne and Dee Dee and The Grandmas

President Pearson and The Mohring's

President Pearson

 Dinner with Abraham and Frith Mohring.

The ward's mission leader.

Cuckoo resaturant in Dandenong Mountains.

Dear Family,

Well, it is Sunday evening and we just got back from a regional YSA meeting.  President Pearson, the Pacific Area President spoke.

Monday was FHE at our flat.  We watched the video, Special Witnesses of Jesus Christ.  It is an older video with President Hinckley and the apostles.  They each bore witness of Jesus Christ.  It was very good.

Tuesday was another wet and rainy day.  Everyone tells us it is summer and that it get REALLY hot.  We have not seen or felt that yet.

Wednesday was temple night for us.  It is always a highlight.  There were about 16 people in our session.  That is huge.  I remember many sessions in Albuquerque when we only got 16 patrons and we were always happy. A lot of people live a distance from this temple but there are alot close by but attendance is very slow.

Thursday we were able to attend the zone conference all day.  Speakers were President and Sister Maxwell, President and Sister Pearson.  President Pearson spoke for at least 4 hours and every bit of it was wonderful.  He was David and Sally's bishop.  He graduated from the U of U and got his MBA at Harvard.  He was a missionary in Finland, President of Washington State mission and called to the 1st Quorum of 70 in 2008.  He now lives in New Zealand.  He is a very powerful, very entertaining, very spiritual man.The young missionaries were glued to every word he said.  All the missionaries had to prepare a 3-5 minute talk, "What am I doing to become a more devoted disciple of Jesus Christ."  They had to come with two copies.  He selected 6 missionaries to speak.  They kept a copy to read and gave him the other copy to follow. He had one of the missionaries time them.  Adrienne and I would have been very scared to do that.  The elders and sisters did great.

These are some thoughts that meant something to us.

   

    1. We all had testimonies long before coming to earth.  We were taught directly from our Father in Heaven.

    2. We all came to earth with the determination to keep the commandments and follow our Savior.

    3. The Holy Ghost's purpose is to teach and remind us.  He is the consummate teacher.  He knows everything about us and WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW.  He can read our minds and knows our hearts PERFECTLY>

    4. The Lord does not tell us to TRY but the Lord tells us to DO IT.  Be resolute, covenants must be kept.  Stop trying and JUST DO IT.

    5. We were exceedingly faithful in the pre-mortal and more powerful and capable than we think. 

President Monson's favorite missionary scripture;  D&C 84:88

    "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face.  I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

Elder Holland's favorite missionary scripture;   D&C 31:4-7

    "You shall declare the things which have been revealed to  my servant, Joseph Smith, Jun.  You shall begin to preach from this time forth, yea to reap in the field which is white and already to be burned.   Therefore, thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your back, for the laborer is worthy of his hire.  Wherefore, you family  shall live.   Behold, verily I say unto you, go from them only for a little time, and declare my word, and I will prepare a place for them.  Yea, I will open the hearts of the people, and they will receive you.  And I will establish a church by your hand.

WE KNOW WE ARE WHERE WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.

Friday we went on a nice long walk, which always makes us feel better.

Saturday morning went on a longer walk and felt GREAT.

Went to see the movie UNBROKEN,  A wonderful and very emotional movie. 

Saturday night we went with Abraham and Frith Mohring, our ward mission leader to dinner at the Cuckoo restaurant.  It is in the Dandenong Mountains.  A beautiful spot.  The restaurant has been there 50 years.  The food was excellent, big smorgabord.  They have a program with the patrons participating.  One of the entertainers yodels.  His name is Andre.  He came to the table grabbed my hand and I was soon yodeling, ha ha ha, with 4 other patrons. We had to introduce ourselves and he read my badge to everyone.  He is a Mormon.  I told them I was from Utah serving a mission with my sister Adrienne and pointed to her.  It was really entertaining.  The decorations are very European and German.

In closing, we had a very spiritual week, grateful to be missionaries and HAPPY TO WEAR OUR BADGES and tell everyone who we are and who we represent.

Love,

Adrienne and Dee Dee    The Moms      The Sister Sisters

Hello

Dear family,

This week has gone fast as usual. It was a great week. We as always stayed busy,but it was so great to have President Pearson and his wife. They are wonderful. I could have listened to him for days. He is such a wonderful speaker but has the ability to really get into what being a missionary means and what we need to be doing. It was a great conference. We took pages of notes. It was wonderful!

The weather has been cold and rainy  but tomorrow will probably be different. We are going to dinner tonight with the ward mission leader and his wife. It is a new place we found and I am sure they do not go out very often. They are a young couple who look like they don't have very much. It will be fun.

It is Saturday morning and we are just trying to think of something to go do. We have cleaned and gone walking and the shopping areas close by are ,as the missionaries say, "tracked out".

I love you all and miss you. Watch out for each other and help each other. The Gospel is true and we need to help each other.
Love Mom

Australian Slang

Dear Family,

Well, the weathers has been the highlight and low light of our week.  We never know what clothes to wear each day.  This weeks weather has been winter and summer hot in one day for several days.  Wednesday we had such a big storm that the electricity was knocked out at the office and the temple.  We closed the office early and the temple didn't open for the night session.  We drove home and the rain was so fierce that trees and bushes were everywhere.  The trees were large trees.  They were on sidewalks, in the road, laying across the neighbors yards.  We didn't have street lights on the way home.  The police were at all the big roads directing traffic.  The electricity at our flat didn't come back on til 10:00pm,  It rained and we saw sun on and off the rest of the week.  This week it is supposed to rain for 5 days.  Everyone we talk to says that this is even unusual for Melbourne.  It is supposed to be dry and very hot in January.

Went to the temple on Thursday.  It is a busier day than Wednesday.  Every night they have baptisms with lots of youth.  It is always nice to see it busy.

Daddy (Grandpa Doc) loved working in the baptistry with all the young people.  For those who don't know he worked at the Jordan River Temple.  It was always a good day for him.

Went and got our monthly pedicure and manicure.  Saw the movie, rated PG, Into the Woods and really enjoyed it. 

This week will be very very busy.  The area President, President Pearson is coming for 4 days of meetings.  We will close the office on Thursday so we can attend the all-day zone conferences.  President Maxwell says we need to come to the meeting.  We are so excited to go.  The missionaries have all been told to bring paper and pen to take notes. President Maxwell says he is a great speaker and that we will learn so much listening to him.

This past week we have been given more assignments in the office.  So our days are getting busier so our evenings we try and do something for fun.  Yes, senior missionaries are allowed to do FUN.  Our computer skills keep improving.

We don't have as many Americans coming to our mission because it is so difficult to get a visa to Australia.  We are getting lots of Islanders and missionaries from the Phillipines.

Things we learned this week;   They don't embalm bodies after they die.  They put them in a freezer til burial.  Not many viewings.

                                                  We don't need to worry about 2 inch brown spiders but we do need to worry about 2 inch black spiders, they kill.

Also, I have attached an item titled, AUSSIE SLANG

Thought you would love this and it is all true.

Sara Cox pinned on Pinterest a quote from President Monson     

       It is in the HOME that we form our attitudes

       Our deeply held beliefs.

       It is in the home that HOPE is fostered or destroyed.

       Our HOMES are to be more than sanctuaries.  They should be places where GOD's spirit can dwell

       Where the storm stops at the door where LOVE reigns and PEACE dwells.     PRESIDENT MONSON

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid, the the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.

Sing unto the Lord for he hath done excellent things; this is is known in all the earth.  2 NE 22:11 and ISAIAH 12

We love all of you,

The MOMS

Hello

Dear family,

Another week has already come and gone. This week started out very hot,100, and today it is very cool. They say this is typical for Australia. The weather changes very quickly,four seasons in one day. Wednesday started out hot and then a rain and wind storm came in. We lost all electricity and finally left around 3:00. We came back around 5:00 to see if the temple session was going to happen. The electricity was still off. We felt very bad because there were 2 people taking out their own endowments. We drove 2 sister missionaries home and was amazed at the damage that was all around. Trees were all over the yards and roads. Our electricity ever came on till 10:00 pm. There was a tree over the lines!

We have been having interviews this week. The office has stayed busy with missionaries all over the place. I love having them around.

Next week Elder Pehrson from the area Presidency will be in our mission. We are so excited. We have been told he is a wonderful speaker. We will have the opportunity to listen to him all day Thursday.  We are excited.

I love the emails and to talk to you on face book. I am so proud of all of you and love you all.
Kiss each other for me. 
Love, Mom

Dear Family,

This week we had transfers and 15 new missionaries.  There were 70 companionship changes.  That means new phone numbers, new areas were opened and cars traded.  It has been difficult getting everyone situated in the right place.  Some areas are 7 hours away in the bush.  Traveling is difficult. 

Our new arrivals came; 1 sister from France which is unusual, 1 Chinese elder who was born and raised in Germany, 4 very cute and very petite Phillipino sisters, 2 Americans, 7 islanders and 1 elder from Moldova.  They all seemed very sharp and most spoke English.  They are all on English speaking missions.  

One of our new elders, last transfer, came from Vanuatu.  This is an island off Tonga.  He never learned to read or write.  He has the most kind, thoughtful, great missionary as his companion.  He is willing to help him learn to read and write.  We have made educational packets for him with flash cards and we are ordering the Book of Mormon on cd so he can listen in the car.

We had New Year's day off. We took a nice long walk, put away all the Christmas decorations, pruned trees and cleaned up the yard.  We went and bought a new house plant because our other died.  Went out to dinner at Salsa's.  They have the BEST tacos ever.  We  had an hour to kill til the movie Annie started.  We watched people, sitting outside at the shopping center.  It is a great area for eating and watching.  The Annie movie is not a children's movie.  It was somewhat funny but not cute and childlike.  Just so you know we also saw Night at the Museum 3.  Yes, we can see movies but PG.  They rate their movies differently than we do in the United States.  

Yesterday, Saturday we drove to St. Kilda beach about 45 minutes from our flat.  We DID NOT SWIM.  We did walk around in 100 degree weather with huge, strong winds pushing as we walked.  The waves were roaring and choppy. The boats were anchored. Finally found a fun restaurant where we had fish and chips.  We ate inside so we could cool down.  When we eat fish and chips we never know what kind of fish we are eating but it is always good.  Maybe it is better not to know.

We realize we have complained because we have been sooo cold. Well, now we will start complaining about 100 degrees with humidity. The weather changes hourly.  Today it  was raining about 60-70 degrees.  It is hard to choose an outfit to wear each day.

Friday we had to rescue two sisters from the heat.  They had locked their keys in the flat.

Tonight we had our President's monthly fireside. The missionaries are often late but the groupies waiting for the elders are always early.

We have a new senior couple, Brother and Sister Linder who arrived on Monday from the states.  They will be working in the office with us.  The Kings are going home and we will miss them especially Elder King.  He has such a great sense of humor.  Back to the Linders.  They came to the fireside and she got sick and I took her to the emergency room.  Thank goodness we are starting to know our way around the city.  

We went to bed early on New Year's Eve.

We love seeing Instagram pictures.

We try to take pictures when we can.  But office pictures are boring. We will try to be better but all week we are in the office.  Weekends are the exploring day.

The Gospels.

    Matthew  was written to persuade the Jews that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

    Mark appeals to a gentile audience and is fast moving emphasizing the doings more than the sayings of the Lord

    Luke offers his readers a polished literary account of the ministry of Jesus. Favorable to the gentiles.

    John was writing to the members who had basic information about the Lord.

   

      Our love to you always

       The Moms

The Office staff.

Hello

Dear family

It is hard to believe that it is now 2015. In a couple of weeks will have been gone for 6 months.  Time does go by fast,but there are days that seem very long. We had an uneventful New Years Day. We cleaned our flat,and then went and bought a plant because our other one died. We then came home and read till we knew we needed to do something. So we went and saw the new Annie movie. It was cute but not a show for small children. Please send pictures of the sleigh riding. That is such a fun tradition.  Hope every one had a good day.

Today has been a slow day at the office. We have a new couple who have come from Magna to help in the office. Thank goodness they have worked in an office before. They were in the Salt Lake  mission. The goal had been 3,500 baptisms per year. They missed the goal and only had 3,400 baptism in the year. Can you believe it! We only had about 450 baptism last year. The church is growing! 

Did you all have a chance to read the 4 gospels during the Christmas  season. They were wonderful to read. Now we can start the B of M again. I am going to write in my journal every day a short thought about what I read. I wish that will all my reading I was a little more knowledgable  about where to find certain scriptures. Maybe some day...

I miss you all but love being here. I love this young missionaries. I have learned so much about real trials and how faith in the Lord can help you to grow. I know the strength that these faithful young elders and sisters have  to be here. And......the sisters that are here are strong and faithful!!!!!.  I love them all.

I love you and miss you. I pray for you every day. Thank you for your emails. Give all the children a kiss from me.

Love Mom and Grandma.