Dear Family,
We have been busy in the office this week but our nights have been slow so we have been watching Christmas movies which we love and never tire of watching them. Friday the sun came out and everyone in the office just came alive. Haven't seen the sun for soooooooooooo long.
Saturday was one of the best days we have had in months. The sun came out to stay all day and it was glorious. We went to the city with Elder and Sister Hullinger. It was our last hurrah with them. They leave in two weeks and we hate to see them leave. They have become such good friends. They have driven us to so many places in the Melbourne area. We have done over-nighters, day trips, quick trips to clean flats, and the theatre.
We went to the National Gallery of Victoria for the Hermitage Art Exhibit. It is on loan from Russia. Catherine the Great who became queen after her husband Peter died owned all of the art that is shown. She amassed a great art collection of the masters. She also loved and collected cameos, and jewelry especially Oriental. She had a special china made so she could feed a group of 60. It consisted of 800 pieces of china. Today it is worth 7-8 million dollars. (PICTURE ON BLOG)
We saw art work by Rueben, Rembrandt, Van Dyck and Murillo just to name a few. Murillo painted the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. She was the most beautiful, young looking Mary we have ever seen. I took a picture but it can not do justice. (PIC On Blog). We went on a guided tour and the tour guide was very knowledgeable. She made it so interesting. Catherine the Great led a very unusual life.
We went to lunch at a restaurant that looked out on the Yarra River. Adrienne ordered flounder fish. It was very strange looking on the plate. (PIC on BLOG).
We then ventured up the street to the Victoria State Library to see an art exhibit by S. T. Gill. He was a very popular artist in the 1840-1860's. He did water color, pen and pencil. Most of his work was done in Ballarat during the gold rush. We are hoping to find a print to bring home. The saddest thing is he died a pauper. We saw his headstone in the Victoria cemetary a month ago. The lawn in front of the of the library building was covered with people. The sun was shining and all the city was out soaking it up.
Went to St. Patrick's Cathedral to look around. It is enormous. They have a wonderful gift store with different kinds of nativities. We want to get one to bring home as another reminder of wonderful wonderful Melbourne.
The Hullingers have a mission van and are in charge of the 119 flats the mission rents. This van has 180,000 miles. We were driving home from the city and the transmission started to act up. We quickly got off the freeway and parked the card. It died. The other office couple came to the rescue.
Sunday we were able to go out for a walk. It felt grand. We have hope that spring is coming but in Melbourne you never know.
Our weekly thought,
"Here was Jesus- a member of the Godhead, the Firstborn of the Father, the Creator, Jehovah of the Old Testament- now leaving His divine and holy station; divesting Himself of all that glory and majesty and entering the body of a tiny infant; helpless, completely dependent on His Mother and earthly Father. That He should not come to the finest of earthly palaces and be...showered with jewels but should come to a lowly stable is astonishing. Little wonder that the angel should say to Nephi, 'Behold the condescension of God!' "
Elder Gerald N. Lund
Love to all of you,
The Moms, The Grandmas, The Sister Sisters
PS Mick Jagger starred in a Australian movie called Ned Kelly the bandit. We have written about Ned Kelly before. We laughed at the poster and the album cover. A man told us it was a very popular film when it came out in the 70's. Anyway just thought you might like seeing these pictures. (On blog) He was a bad person but has become a semi-hero in today's world.
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