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!
You have been to so many interesting places and met so many neat people . What a great experience for you and all the people you serve ❤️
ReplyDelete