Even in Week 6 of lockdown we still celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary last Friday and Don's birthday today. Hearing from our family and even a singing voice call from New Zealand reminds us how blessed we are to be together and serving here in Australia. Since most restaurants we like are outside of our permitted travel area, our anniversary celebration consisted of pizza, ordered in of course, and I made mint brownies as a treat for both occasions. A game of canasta, watching the Olympics, reading on our Kindles, and a daily walk still makes for good days together.
Since we are not allowed to travel anywhere outside of our Local Government Area (LGA) and must even keep exercise to a 5K radius from our home, it is on my morning walk watching the sunrise that I still find beauty in being here. Don and I are still able to go into the office daily since we are often the only ones in the Service Centre. I am starting to transition out of my responsibilities in the mission office by helping Jaiyden Reid, President Reid's daughter, take over the responsibilities with the phones and data usage. In my capacity with the Office of General Counsel to review Humanitarian projects, I have also started including my replacement, Elder Michael Curley, in the process of learning about Australian Public Benevolent Institutions expectations so he can soon handle all the projects independently. He and his wife who are also serving with the Office of General Counsel must work remotely from their home in Salt Lake as Australian and now New Zealand borders are closed to overseas travel. Only about three more weeks and then we will spend the last days of August cleaning our flat and packing our bags so we can return home. The time has gone fast in many ways, but the pandemic has played havoc on so many lives. We are thankful to be healthy at this time and hope to stay the same as we return to the states.
We are hopeful that we may still get one more beach walk in before we leave. But if not, we will still have the memories of those beaches and cliff walks we were able to visit. The memories of living in this wonderful country will also stay with us forever. We found another walk through the neighborhood which took us further along the Pioneer Track that we had found a while back. This time we spied turkeys scavenging and Don even tried out a swing over the ravine that a neighbor must have erected for a child. The YMCA family centre always has people on the turfs, practicing soccer/football, rugby, field hockey, cricket, and more. This day, the crowds were limited as they are supposed to be and everyone in masks as directives require.
So with our days rather routine encompassing an early morning walk, getting to the office which is basically next door and a return home in the afternoon, we still count our blessings as a couple. Grateful for our children and grandchildren, our siblings and their families, other relatives, our many friends at home and the new friends we've made - all having offered great support and encouragement for our time here. We are grateful for all the experiences we have had together these many years and in particularly, our mission here these last 18 months.
