Let the Zone Conference’s Begin!
Week of January 5 – 11, 2026
What a packed week! Lots to do and lots of blessings!
Monday – I’m not sure if we’ve shared this but our thermostat doesn’t work. Thankfully it’s set on cold (I definitely prefer cold than hot!) but sometimes is gets really cold so we have to wear warm clothes in our flat or bundle up in blankets. The apartment complex is supposed to send someone out to fix it…
Each Monday we have our 6 missionaries from our district over for dinner then we have our district council meeting here at our flat. The elders found out last week how cold our flat could be so they all showed up this night wearing sweaters or jackets (it’s SUMMER here!).
Sweaters, jackets and whatever keeps you warm!
Tuesday – Tuesday morning we went to the temple with our whole Zone (the mission is divided up into 12 zones, and each zone is divided up into districts). Somehow there was a miscommunication and we arrived at the temple too late for the last morning session. The temple workers were so kind to stay an extra couple hours. We were also set apart that day to be temple workers in the Sydney temple. We will be working the Wednesday afternoon/evening shift. The temple president member who set us apart gave us beautiful blessings in the prayer!
That evening we had a “senior missionary Family Home Evening” on Zoom. It was fun to see some of the friends we’ve met who are scattered around New South Wales.
After FHE, Eric and I decided to walk to K-mart (the only home store similar to Walmart or Target), which was much further than we thought. And, we bought more than we planned so we had to carry all those heavy bags home – not smart! Eric was “Superman” and carried home the heaviest bags! On our walk, we met a guy from London who stopped to talk to us (people see our badges and if they know anything about the church or want to know, they usually stop us to talk). This guy said he used to attend the church and even attended Especially for Youth (EFY) back when he was a teenager (he flew from London to Provo, Utah to attend!). We figured it out and he attended EFY the same summer our own kids attended. I wonder if our daughter noticed a cute guy there with an awesome English accent???? We got his number and contacted him the next day to share some events he was interested in.
Wednesday – We attended a lesson for a friend two of our sister missionaries are teaching. We met at a park and had a beautiful lesson. We were SO grateful that Sis. Moncrief and Sister Hansen have invited us to some of their lessons. We love being part of them, getting to know whoever they are teaching and sharing our own testimonies of the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ
Later that day we went to work for our first time in the temple. It’s about a 30 to 40 minute drive. We work from 4:00 to 9:00. I’m so grateful for the AWESOME training I had back in AZ when I worked at the Phoenix temple, because it all came back to me and I was able to work throughout the temple on the first day. Eric had a great trainer and is excited to learn more!
Once we got home that night (about 10:00 PM) we planned to finish our Preventative Mental Health planning so we could lead a training to two different zones – one on Thursday and one on Friday. It took us a while to go through the curriculum and understand it well enough to teach it. However, when we got home we quickly found out that ALL the outlets in the flat weren’t working – even the refrigerator was out (not sure how long because we left the house at 3:00 pm!). Eric tried everything he could think of! The internet was out (it’s just a plug in hot spot), we wouldn’t have electricity to charge our phones to use the alarm to wake up, fix my hair, etc. Eric even went down to ask the concierge but he was not helpful. Eric and I had a prayer and asked for help so we could finish our preparations AND be able to be ready and on time for the training the next morning. After the prayer, we talked about how a handy man had come to fix our dishwasher that day (it didn’t work) and wondered if he may have done something. Sure enough, Eric unplugged the dishwasher and all the outlets went back on. Apparently the dishwasher had popped the breaker and couldn’t be reset until he unplugged the dishwasher. WEIRD – but at least it worked! Thank you, Heavenly Father, for answering our prayer!
Thursday – We gave our first training to our own zone, which was nice to have people we already knew and loved to be our “guinea pigs.” It’s a fabulous curriculum – including some mindfulness training (how to get back to “the here and now,“ regulate their emotions and make wise decisions), training on a specific emotion-this one was on “fear,” then a skill lesson – this was on “Difficult Conversations.” I LOVED this lesson! It is such a good life skill (one that I learned a lot from!). We let the young missionaries know that, not only will the skill help them with their companions on their mission and the people they teach, but will also be beneficial in their future jobs/professions, with their future spouse, kids, friends, etc.
After our training, we attended the rest of the zone conference (since it was our zone) which included great training by some of the missionary leaders and President and Sister Doane.
I was supposed to have our first Young Women’s activity this evening but one of the girls was sick. Only having two girls right now, we decided to postpone. This worked out well because I had stayed up so late the night before prepping for our lesson that I just went to bed EARLY!
Friday – We went to our second zone conference for training – it was kinda fun to drive somewhere in town we hadn’t been to yet! We felt much more prepared for this second training and found it very enjoyable to meet new junior missionaries and share this relevant and timely lesson!
Once we got home we had to prepare talks to give at church and lessons to teach on Sunday. Eric was asked to teach the Elder’s Quorum (the men in our congregation) and I am now teaching the Young Women (girls ages 11 – 18). Additionally we had to make food for a baptism on Saturday (Eric made two delicious Texas Sheet Cakes – we’ve finally figured out our oven!), food for a “linger longer” after church on Sunday (we have this twice a month for all who attend church to stay after for eating and visiting) and a rescheduled Young Women’s activity for Sunday afternoon. Thankfully the kitchen is just big enough for Eric and I to both be in there so we could work together! 🙂
We walked to the Opera House Wharf and ate dinner in The Rocks area at a Danish Restaurant. Very yummy!
Saturday – We met our district missionaries (and other missionaries from our zone joined us) to deep clean the church building. Eric and I stopped to get donuts and fruit for the district so we were a bit late. However, the super star missionaries were already working hard at the cleaning. We had to take down the Christmas trees and organize the closets, library, and the kitchen. We vacuumed the two floors of the building, cleaned windows, mopped the tile, wiped down walls and pews, fixed a couple of broken items and spruced up the decor. The missionaries were AWESOME and worked hard until it was complete!
We attempted to finish all our preparations for Sunday but had to head to a baptism at the Summer Hill chapel (this is the ward our “group” is tied to). A sweet sister, Shasha, was baptized and it was a beautiful service. Unfortunately, it was a hot/humid day (106 degrees) and the A/C was NOT working in the chapel. Everybody was fanning themselves with whatever they could find. Thankfully, the rest of the building was not as hot!
That evening we went to Bishop and Sister Scott’s flat for dinner. Bishop Scott is the bishop of the Summer Hill ward. They have an adorable little 2 year old who we were able to play with. The Scott’s invited the other senior couple who help out in our Hyde Park group – Elder and Sister Westover. They actually work in the mission office and are VERY busy with the cars for the mission and many other responsibilities. They are sooo kind to come down to Hyde Park each week to help/support the group! They lead the primary program (kids from ages 18 months to 11), Elder Westover is in the group leadership, and they bring food to every event as well! We have loved getting to know them! It was also so fun to get to know the Scott’s – who are our kids’ ages. Sister Scott has a nephew serving a mission in Tucson! Small world!
Sunday – We were met outside the church building by a man neither Eric nor I had met. He came in with us and said he wanted to come early and just sit in the pew. We talked to him a bit as we set up our classrooms and got ready for the church meetings. Once church started, he headed straight for the rostrum with his bible, wanting to “preach.” Instead, Eric and I gave our talks. During my talk he raised his hand a couple times. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to call on him to speak but I just continued on with my talk. Later in Elder’s Quorum he shared that he was recently released from a mental hospital where he had been for 12 years. We were glad that he found his way to church.
Today we held the first Young Women class ever in the Hyde Park group! Sister Le is my assistant and we have two sweet, amazing girls in our class.
After church, we had “linger longer,” group council meeting then we were supposed to have the Young Women and their mom’s over (for a modified “New Beginnings”) but our meeting went too long and everyone had already left the church. The Relief Society (the organization for all the women in the congregation) Leader and her daughter came over and we chatted for a few hours. It was fun to get to know them (AND have someone to actually eat the dessert I had made for the YW activity – ha ha!)
Some things we learned (or were reminded of) this week:
- There are people all around us who are looking for God, meaning, and/or help in their lives. Smile, say hello, talk to people – don’t judge anyone! As we are prayerful and ask for God to guide us to those who need us, He WILL lead us where we need to be. Every person on earth IS one of God’s beloved children and if we seek to be His hands, He will guide us to help answer prayers, love, listen to, and serve His children.
- Miracles do NOT cease! Big or small, when we humbly seek the Lord, He WILL help us! We just need to have faith that He can and will help us then ask!
- Plan ahead – do NOT procrastinate! We thought we were pacing the week out but ended up having a lot to do at the last minute! From now on, we need to look ahead and start preparing/planning the week (or more!) before! As soon as we finish this series of zone conferences, we will immediately begin to study the next lesson!
- Be humble – ask for help when needed and know what your limits are!
- Take the shopping cart (yes, we bought one from Costco) when we go to any store. It’s better to look a little silly pushing it down the sidewalk than to carry home heavy bags! (OR wait til you have the car to purchase heavy things?!?)
The Helland's Down Under 