Dear Family,
Tuesday evening we went with Elder and Sister Jose to see Hugh Jackman. It was at the Rod Laver Arena. It was packed with 10,000 fans.
It was fantastic and wonderful. He sang, danced, and talked about his life. He loves Australia and Melbourne is his home. The singer Peter Allen wrote a song called, I Still Call Australia Home. It was such a beautiful song. He even had some Aboriginals come and perform using their instrument called a didgeridoo. He was on stage for two hours just entertaining the fans. Did I mention he is very good looking.
We were invited to a Thanksgiving feast on Friday night. It was hosted by Leslie and Rick Cameron. They had turkey, ham, yams, potatoes, lots of veggies (Adrienne was in heaven), rolls and lots of desserts. It was a very nice evening. Before dessert, Leslie asked all the adults to say one thing they were thankful for this year. We were the only Americans. The others were New Zealanders and Australians. They were all related. Great people.
Saturday, Rob and Theone Snow drove us to the lowest point in Australia, except for Tasmania. It is called Wilson's Promontory National Park.
We stopped at Squeaky Beach to walk in the white sand. It is a very fine sand and it squeaks when you walk. The colors of the ocean were dark purple on the horizon, then bright green, bright blue and a pale blue as it washed up on the shore. GORGEOUS.
We drove further south to Tidal Wave and a camping spot. You have to have a reservation for camping a year in advance. Rob, Adrienne and I decided to walk up to Mount Oberon. It is 1800 feet high. The shuttle bus took us to the car park where we started the climb. It is 2 miles up and 2 miles down. A very steep climb. Adrienne went about 3/4 the way up. She started having heart concerns so she sat on a bench while Rob and I went to the top. We were both breathing hard but neither one of us was willing to quit. Now, as you all know I hate heights but I was determined to get to the top of the rock. The view was spectacular. (Pics On Blog don't do it justice.) My legs were like jelly on the way back. I stopped on the way and did my yoga exercises which fixed the problem.
Sunday we went to the Bishop's home for Thanksgiving dinner. He got his MBA from Utah State University. 2 of his children were born in Logan. The Auger family are from Spanish Fork, Sister Simons is from the USA and 2 of her children were born in the US. We are from the US and the Bignell family are all Australians. They have become family to us, an international family. We love all these people.
We have been reading and studying LUKE this week.
THE GOSPEL OF LUKE
Luke’s gospel is the one with the beautiful Christmas story, told from a woman’s perspective. (Matthew tells it from a man’s perspective). Luke was a Gentile convert, likely converted through the labors of Paul. (BD, pg 726), writing to Gentiles and to minorities, and to those looked down upon by the Jews; women, lepers, Samaritans, sinners (prostitutes). Luke was a physician, and therefore had close contact with and compassion for all types both genders of people, a unique position. Most male professions in that day involved dealing with other men only, but a physician dealt with all, even the unclean.
As a missionary, Luke ministered to the Gentiles with Paul. Like Matthew, Luke gives a genealogy of Christ, but it differs from Matthew’s. Matthew introduced Christ as “the Son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt.1:1). This is what was important to the Jews: that Christ was one of the chosen people, and was in the kingly and priestly line. It was the first thing Matthew said in his testimony. Luke, on the other hand, gives a genealogy of Christ that identifies him as “the son of Joseph” (Luke 3:23) (even though, Luke testifies of the divinity of Christ) and takes Christ’s ancestry all the way back to Adam (Luke 3:38), making everyone, Jew and Gentile, a relative of Christ. (C. Fronk, Chair of Ancient Scripture Study, BYU)
Luke had a special understanding of women as a result of his medical ministry among them. He was the only one who wrote of the annunciation of Mary, and of her visit to Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother. He knew that “Mary kept all things, and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). He knew of Simeon’s personal prophecy to Mary that, “a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also” (Luke 2:35). How did he know these things? Very likely he was a close personal acquaintance of Mary’s in the Church, and he heard these stories from her own mouth. Luke gives what little information we have about the childhood of Christ. He was the one who told of Mary’s terror when she realized her 12-year-old was not with the caravan (Luke 2:51).
Where is the parable of the Good Samaritan? Only in Luke. What about Christ’s visit to Mary and Martha? Only in Luke. Many of the most treasured parables are found only in Luke: The woman with the lost coin, the shepherd with the lost sheep, the Prodigal Son, the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. The cleansing of the ten lepers is recorded only in Luke. Luke wrote to the underdog, to tell him and her that Christ was come for them as well as for anyone.
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
Isaiah 54:8
Our love to all of you,
The moms, The grandmas, The Sister sister
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