Nov. 2nd. ADELAIDE and Difficult Good Byes

October has been the longest month, and taken us totally by surprise. It was just a difficult one, we still can’t totally figure out why.  Just some hard adjustments all over again. We are glad to say hello to November!

We are a little blue, the Fiels (the office couple) left last Thursday.  They will be traveling for a month all across Australia, then New Zealand, and then to an island that we can’t remember the name of.  They will be in Utah the 1^st of December.  Oh, how we will miss them. They lived right next door to us and they were fun people.  Ray used to trip in front of the mission office very often for her as we walked to work.  One day she came out the door to say hello, and purposefully fell into the hedge for us. It was so like her. And so funny.  The neighborhood is sadly quiet without them.

The Fiels and the Allens

The Roberts 

The Roberts from Family History leave next week.  They are traveling a bit on their way home as well.  They are a special couple and we love them too.  It's interesting, on a mission, that you bond very quickly with the other couples, because they become your support system.  We are amazed how hard it is to see them both go.  No one replaces the Roberts, as they were just here for the Million Names thing that the article was about. The Roberts live in West Layton and are the proverbial farmers.  We will miss them as well. So much!

The Roberts and the lady who collected one million names

We spent 4 days of this week in Adelaide, training a new Public Affairs Council there. It was such a good time to get away, and the people there were all so nice and so eager and enthusiastic about their callings.  

We love these signs

After the council meeting, we met with 2 Stake Presidency members and that was nice.  Just to talk about Public Affairs, and their goals.  The next night we went to dinner with the director of PA for Adelaide and her husband.

The MacIlwaines and Allens

The MacIlwaine's, their children and grand children

 It was fun to hear their story and talk about their family, and then hear some of her concerns about her calling.  It was a good evening. later we'll put in a picture of their family.

The next night we met with a Stake President and his PA person for their Stake.  A little bit farther away, but worth the trip.  The best part, aside from the council meeting, was probably the opportunity to go to the Adelaide temple.  Who would have thought!!?? 

Adelaide Temple

We had a fun coincidence there.  We met the temple President and Matron, such nice people.  We had just put an article on newsroom about him being presented with an Australian flag from a Parliament member. This really nice couple were spending their next to last day as Temple President/Matron.  How lucky we felt to meet them, and have them talk about the article.  We had just put it up a few days before kind of as a fluke and were so grateful for the timing of it all. Before they were released.  We saw it as a tender mercy!!

Adelaide is a very pretty city.

Building in Adelaide

 We really enjoyed it.  Quaint, and yet large.  Maybe a bit of the feel of New Orleans (because of the design of many of the buildings) but very calm and quiet.  They have great parks with walking paths and we did some serious walking, which is always good.

We went to the ocean one afternoon, just to see it, and walked out on a very, very long pier. The locals tell us it isn't the ocean, but the Gulf. Whatever it was, it was beautiful! We only had 2 hours but we enjoyed it. Didn't even walk on the sand, but we loved it, and are grateful.

A couple on the Gulf pier

The Gulf

 We came into the office on Saturday and did some catch up, and we're here tonight, Sunday evening, and we thought it would be a great time to write on the blog before the Australian National Public Affairs council monthly teleconference.  Which means. . . we are in our jeans and very happy about it!!

The Moores are in their office across the hall, preparing as well, and they are so excited.  Two of their married kids are on the plane to Australia as we speak.  They have been here 13 months, so they are extremely pumped to see them.

November is going to be a busy month.  We go to speak in Narooma on the 9th.  It is 7 hours away, so we are leaving Friday night, the 7th.  Then, on Monday the 10th, Stephanie Allen Egbert (our niece) comes in with a collegue for the day, before they fly to New Zealand, Fiji and other places un-known on Church business.  We're going to show them around a bit, so we are looking forward to the day.

Then on the 14th, we leave for Brisbane and the Gold Coast for a Pacific Area Public Affairs Conference.  We just have a small part on it, so we will mostly just enjoy. The Gold Coast is the Las Vegas of Australia, so it's an interesting choice, but they are very good at accommodating conferences, so we are happy to attend.  The day that it ends, the G-20 conference begins.  We will not get back to Sydney until Tuesday evening of the 18th. 

On Saturday the 21st our daughter and her husband and 3 kids come to Sydney for 10 days.  We will have a chance to spend some time with them between work and have tried to clear our calendars a bit. 

On Thanksgiving Day (the 27th) they're going to help us and the other senior missionaries put on a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for the Service Center (all Australians).  So it will be fun to share turkey and dressing and the like with them.  About 50 people in all, so we don't think any of us will have much time to miss home that day, thank goodness! What a blessing that is this year! Before we know it, November will be over!

We are happy, we are well, we enjoy our time together and we love the work.  Articles are coming in like crazy.  we are busy, busy and BUSY, and on a mission, that is a great blessing!!  SO great! We are blessed and we are grateful. 

It is quickly getting to be summer here, and then we have a day here and there with a bit of a chill, and we are happy for both. The flowers are getting beautiful, and many of the trees have these gorgeous flowers on them.  It's the first we've seen of all of these as we came in the fall here, and it is AMAZING!  In Adelaide we snapped a picture of the most beautiful purple tree.  We'll try to include it on the blog.

Down Town Adelaide 

We went to our ward today and saw 6 babies blessed with three rows of non-members attending for that.  The missionaries were nearly bursting with pride.  It was fun to be there.  

We send our love and thanks for ALL your support.  We love hearing from all of you, it keeps us sane and gets us over any rough spots.  We do still pine for home fairly often. Mostly people. Everything else is just stuff and replaceable. We are so blessed, all the time, and we love Newsroom and all the good news that comes our way via the internet.  What a great time to live and be a member of the Church.   We have to say that Public Affairs is a great mission.  If you're looking at a mission, give it some consideration.

I must say in closing that I still yearn to drive on the proper side of the road, in the appropriate side on the car.   Even now, it seems so very strange. But the beauties all around us more than make up for that. We love you all, and you are in our prayers, every day!!!  Be safe.