27 2020 September A weekend road trip

Zone Conferences for the young missionaries were held last week and were finished on Tuesday of this week.  Since they are held once a month we get an opportunity to hear the mission president and his wife along with the assistants and tech missionaries give directions to the young missionaries.  The training sisters also help with instruction.  I am so amazed and impressed by the skills these young adults have and are willing to share while volunteering to serve wherever they are assigned.  Due to the covid virus, some have been in three different locations around the world.  I told one young man as he prepared to return to his home that I will think of him like the apostle Paul, traveling all over to share his message. He had first been in Melbourne, then went to the Philippines, and then was reassigned here.  Some have been in Africa and only this week found that those from Samoa will go home at the end of the week.  Some broke down in tears; they've served much longer than their original call in some cases over two-and-a-half years. We joked that we should start putting stickers on their name tags for each month past their release date!  Some of us also help Karen Scott with the lunches which she is a master at planning, preparing, and serving.  Her skills are to be admired and we all ask for her recipes each month.  

Sister Arouma Mata'utia had a birthday so we surprised her  with a few treats following our General Conference talk review.  Here we are: Nina Anderson, Elise Christensen, me, Theresa Thomas, Ann Parton, and Arouma.  Mata'utias are originally from Samoa but have lived in New Zealand and Brisbane Australia for many years.  She and her husband are working as Self-Reliance missionaries.  Ann and her husband John are Family History missionary specialists.  One day we discovered that we are something like 8th cousins twice removed.  Today I met a woman who wanted to see if we were related as she was born in the US.  Yes, again the distance is substantial but it always indicates how the human family is really more connected than most realize!

This weekend we had an assignment that took us on a 3 1/2 hour road trip to Mudgee.  We drove up through the Blue Mountains again driving through Blackheath (shout out to my friend Debbie and husband Stuart!) and on to Lithgow.  Then we continued through beautiful countryside that reminded us a lot of the rolling Palouse hills and northern Idaho.  We had trouble making reservations for a hotel in Mudgee as every place we had called were totally booked for the weekend.  Since the area is known for its numerous wineries and vineyards in addition for colonial heritage, we had to go about 20km further to find a place in Gulgong.  

When we got to the place Don has reserved, I said, "I thought you said it was a four-star." He replied that he said it was a 4.3 on a satisfaction survey.  I was wondering who filled out the survey for TripAdvisor.  Well, this was our greeting at the door.  It was clean though the sheets didn't match and nor did some of the towels. But they were very fluffy!  It was sufficient for one night, but I think it will be my turn to make reservations for next month when we have another weekend assignment. 

              

Gulgong is an old gold mining town.  It was fun to walk around and look at this historic town. The Ten Dollar and Prince of Wales hotels, rusty tin roofs on the old buildings. the charming shops and museums made me feel like we were in the old West.  The wrought iron "Australian Lace" is unique to lots of homes, fences, and balconies.  

We spent most of our time back in Mudgee for the afternoon.  The area is surrounded by rows and rows of vineyards.  There was even a roadside map showing the locations of at least 35 wineries to visit and tour in the region.   

Mudgee is just a charming example of old colonial Australia.  We loved seeing homes and shops with the more "Australian Lace" wrought iron just as in Gulgong.  The historic buildings 

      

                   

                     Here is the old railway station built in 1884 and the Post and Telegraph office.  

                                                     

This is the Solicitors office with the shingle out front and the Mudgee Library next door.  We found it delightful that everyone parks by backing in and with diagonal parking whether the lines are painted on the street or not.  

         

St. Mary's Catholic Church originally built in 1857 with several additions added in 1876.  The spire was added after the turn of the century in 1911.  The Memorial Clock Tower was also built around the same time of the church.  

We had been asked by the mission presidency if we would visit this small branch (congregation) of the church and speak on Sunday morning.  The meetinghouse is a former house that has been converted into the church building.  A VERY small branch with only 6 attending in addition to Don and I.  But what a great experience to just get to share some thoughts.  Everyone was so warm and welcoming.  We would love to be assigned to return.

We decided to return a different way in order to see more of the mountains.  The road was extremely winding and narrow but the landscape was gorgeous.  We drove through areas that were severely affected by the drought for the past few years and then burned a year ago.  We kept wondering how some of the homes and businesses survived the raging fires.  It is somewhat inspiring to see the regeneration taking place so quickly.  From a distant, the trees look a little fuzzy.  Up close however, the new growth spurts out of the burned bark. I found it a wonderful metaphor for our lives!

   

13 September 2020 Springtime, Father's Day, and Three Sisters

The first day of Spring in Australia was 1 September and Father's Day is celebrated here on the first Sunday of the month.  I saw some places refer to it as Fathering Day.  I liked the sound of that.  Speaking with our children and grandchildren is really the best Father's (or Mother's) Day gift we want.  We are certainly happy that technology has allowed us to both see and hear from them often.  

It became so warm so fast the first week of September that I asked my Aussie friends if they really have springtime.  Just as fast, it cooled a bit so we headed up to the Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters at Echo Point, a well-known and beautiful landmark by the city of Katoomba.  Lots of walking trails and waterfalls can be seen.  We took our time enjoying the overlook into the Jamison Valley and the "blue" haze that stretches to Mount Solitary.

This area by Katoomba is referred to as the Three Sisters Aboriginal Place and is also a revered and sacred cultural area to aboriginal people.  The legend goes that three giant sisters of the Gundungurra people lived in the Jamison Valley.  Three brothers from the nearby Durag people wanted to marry them but the marriages were forbidden by tribal law.  So the warrior brothers decided they would just kidnap the sisters. 

But during the ensuring tribal war, the Kuradjuri, or clever man, decided to turn the sisters to stone planning to restore them after the hostile conflict ceased.  Yet, he was killed in the battles before he could undo the spell.  So to this day, no one has been unable to return the sisters to their human forms.  I love hearing the stories of the area.  Each of the the sisters stands 922m (3,024 ft), 918m (3,011 ft), and 906m (2,972 ft) respectively.

We followed the steep, uneven stairs down to the first sister and across "Honeymoon Bridge" for another view of the valley.  There is even another Great Stairway all the way down to the valley floor. 

Going down might have been fine, but the climb back up would have been a killer.  So we saved that  and other hikes for another day.  

                                          

Lots of varied views of the canyon and sandstone cliffs.  

Below you  can see the Southern Highlands.  Mount Gibraltar is the highest point looking across the valley.  Mount Solitary was known as Mummie or Korowal to the Gundungurra people.

We walked around Katoomba and ate at the Gingerbread House, a lovely little bistro housed in an old church.  After shopping for a few gifts and surprises, we enjoyed the drive back to our home. 

We have only been able to return to church attendance in the last few weeks.  Don and I have chosen to attend the Young Single Adult ward that meets in the city since the local wards are still pretty restricted in numbers.  For the last three Sundays we have taken the express bus into Sydney and then walk a few blocks to the high-rise building where the meetings are held.  It's lovely to walk through Hyde Park and past the ANZAC Memorial each week and also get to enjoy the enthusiasm of these young adults. 

We were asked two weeks ago if we would speak today, so we spent our extra time this week preparing remarks.  The mission presidency has also asked the senior missionary couples to visit and speak in the small outlying branches to offer support.  It looks like we will be getting over the mountains again the last week of the coming months and exploring a little more of the surrounding areas.  We are actually looking forward to it.  

Don has meetings in the city with our local counsels this week. He continues to enjoy having the opportunity to use his knowledge and skills to serve.  I am  reviewing the Humanitarian projects which only further my desire to do more as I see such need throughout the world.  More displaced people, refugees, and suffering that I am happy to be a very small part of alleviating some needs.   I continue to enjoy helping in the mission office with the phones too.  I am amazed that I have these delightful young men and women calling me-the old lady-to see if I can help with whatever problem they are having be it cracked screens, water damage, missing buttons, software issues, locked phones and the list goes on. I have over 100 SIM cards I try to keep track of in addition to Factory re-setting some of the loaner phones  missionaries use as needed.  Some days my best advice is just turn it off for a few days!  I laugh to think I am listed as the Technolgy Specialist for the mission!!  But  with all my new-found knowledge maybe I can get hired at a local smartphone store when we return home!!  

With the warmer weather we are seeing our friendly neighborhood pets lounging in the sun.  We nearly tripped over two blue-tongue lizards walking home from the office Friday and tonight as it was dark, Don nearly passed out when he was surprised by a large, possum-type-looking animal on the top of the fence as he reached up to open the latch.  He couldn't see it well enough to accurately identify it but you can bet we will be looking everywhere we walk in the future.