September 28 – October 4
This was a week of DRIVING! Except for Monday and Sunday, we made the trek to Carlingford, where the Sydney Temple and mission office are located, EVERY single day! Itâs about a 45-minute drive each way (depending on traffic, of course!). Thankfully, weâve been listening to an audiobook, so weâve actually enjoyed having a little extra time together in the car!
Seeking the ONE â One by One! â¤ď¸
One of the important areas Eric and I (along with the other MLS missionaries) focus on is helping our new converts continue progressing along the covenant path. Throughout 2026, weâve planned several temple trips for our entire congregation, but weâve found that, for various reasons, many of our new members are unable to attend when the day arrives.
Recently, we felt the Spirit gently reminding us of the Saviorâs example of seeking out the ONE and loving and serving ONE BY ONE! Rather than continuing to plan trips and hoping everyone could come, we decided to reach out individually to our new member friends, find out when THEY could attend the temple, and then make special arrangements to go with them. We could provide transportation, attend with them, and help make their temple experiences meaningful and personal.
This week, we were blessed to accompany two of our dear sisters, Ruth and Shasha, to the temple! What a JOY it was to share those sacred experiences with them! Our prayer is that they will feel the peace, love, and Spirit of the temple so deeply that they will have a desire to return again and again!
I especially LOVED that the very FIRST talk of General Conference this weekend was about the TEMPLE, given by Elder Gong! The temple truly IS a sacred place. It IS the House of the Lord!
I often think about how President Nelson repeatedly encouraged us to increase the time we spend in the temple and promised incredible blessings, including greater access to God’s power to withstand temptation and the fiery darts of the adversary.
I BELIEVE President Nelsonâs words! Each time I leave the temple, I feel spiritually strengthened, empowered, and better prepared to face the world as a more devoted disciple of Jesus Christ.
And while temple work brings eternal blessings to our deceased family members as we perform sacred ordinances on their behalfâincluding baptisms, endowments, and sealingsâit also brings IMMEDIATE blessings into our own lives and the lives of our families!
What an incredible gift it is to have the temple in our lives! â¤ď¸
Hereâs what our week looked like:
Monday â P-Day and District Council đ
Our regular P-Day! We attempted to call our family (without much success!), planned for the upcoming week, wrote and sent our weekly senior missionary update, and took care of the usual odds and ends. We finished the day by attending District Council in the evening. A good start to another busy week!
Tuesday â MLC and Missionary Work!
We headed out early this morning for MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) at the mission office. Our meeting lasted from 10:00 a.m. until 4:15 p.m., and it was a FABULOUS day of learning through the Spirit, counseling together, and discussing the needs of our mission!
After arriving home, we quickly turned around and headed to the church building, where I taught Ruth in our Mission Prep class. Meanwhile, Eric joined the missionaries for a lesson and attended Book of Mormon class.
Another full and wonderful day!
Wednesday â Transfers and New Assignments!
Up early AGAIN for another drive to Carlingford! This morning we attended a transfer meeting at the mission office.
As more of our wonderful senior missionaries complete their missions and return home, those of us remaining are finding ourselves helping in additional waysâincluding airport runs! Weâre more than happy to pitch in wherever we’re needed. Thatâs part of the adventure of missionary service! â¤ď¸
After our meeting, we took advantage of being on that side of Sydney and ran a few errands before heading home.
Thursday â Flat Checks, Fire Trucks, and Pioneer Trek!
Well, apparently Iâve been living a week behind on the calendar! For the past TWO editions of the Sydney Senior Scoop, Iâve been reminding everyone that junior missionary flat checks were due October 3. Somehow, it didnât register in my brain that October 3 was THIS WEEK!
Oops!!!
So, last night we scrambled to create and send out a flat-check schedule for our entire zone, giving our poor junior missionaries practically NO notice. SORRY, missionaries!
Thankfully, most were incredibly accommodating! We had to organize our visits geographically since we were traveling more than an hour north and south of our flat to inspect 10 missionary apartments.
Early this morning, we had the bittersweet opportunity to drive Elder Khatshwa to the Mission Office as he prepared to fly home to South Africa tomorrow, having completed his two-year mission! Oh, how we ADORE Elder Khatshwa, and how greatly we will MISS him! He is truly a humble, spiritual GIANT! â¤ď¸
His native language is Xhosa, a fascinating language that includes 18 distinct click sounds! Yet, he worked incredibly hard to become proficient in English and even began taking BYUâPathway Worldwide courses online toward the end of his mission! He is such an inspiring example of dedication, perseverance, sacrifice, and unwavering devotion to Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ!
We have been SO blessed to know and love this remarkable young man! He has touched our hearts in ways he may never fully realize, and we know the Lord has wonderful things in store for him as he begins this next chapter of his life.
God be with you till we meet again, our dear mission son! You will ALWAYS have a special place in our hearts! We LOVE you, Elder Khatshwa! âĽď¸
We spent the rest of the day driving from flat to flat, checking apartments, and visiting briefly with our missionaries.
One stop turned out to be a little more EXCITING than we anticipated!
As we pulled up to one apartment building, we noticed our missionaries walking outside. We were surprised because we hadn’t even texted or called to let them know we had arrived!
They quickly explained that the buildingâs fire alarm had gone off.
Before we knew it, FIRE ENGINES started arriving! đđđ
Apparently, someone in the building had left an air fryer on, causing a small kitchen fire! By the time we left, fire trucks were continuing to arrive, with more than TEN eventually responding!
YIKES!
We were SO grateful that our missionariesâand all the other residentsâwere safe! Definitely not your typical flat-check experience!
We didnât have Young Women tonight because the stake youth were away on Pioneer Trek! I am SO proud of both of our Young Women, Ella and Leslie, for choosing to participate! They were both pretty apprehensive about going, but they went anyway!
Sometimes the greatest growth comes when we step outside our comfort zones. Weâve all been praying that they will have a SAFE, WONDERFUL, and spiritually uplifting Trek experience!
Friday â Coogee Beach and Temple Blessings!
Today we finished our remaining junior missionary flat checks!
We may or may not have strategically arranged our schedule so that our LAST flat check would be at the Coogee apartment! đ
After finishing, we walked down to beautiful Coogee Beach and spent a few glorious minutes soaking up the sunshine, listening to the waves, and enjoying the beauty of God’s creations.
A friend had recommended a cafĂŠ near the beach, so we treated ourselves to lunch there before heading home.
After getting cleaned up, we picked up our dear friend Ruth and headed BACK to Carlingford! We first stopped at the FamilySearch Center and then went to the temple to participate in baptisms for the dead.
What a SPECIAL evening!
Eric was able to baptize Ruth, and Ruth participated in proxy baptisms for FOUR of my own ancestors from my momâs side of the family! These relatives lived in the Santa Fe area during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
There is something incredibly tender about watching a dear friend participate in sacred temple ordinances for your own family members. Two people you love, connected through the blessings of the temple! â¤ď¸
We ended our wonderful evening with a stop at Maccaâs for dessert on the way home. A sweet ending to an even sweeter day!
Saturday â Another First Temple Visit and a Costco Adventure!
This morning we had the wonderful opportunity to accompany our dear friend Shasha to the temple for her very FIRST experience with baptisms and confirmations for the dead!
Shasha wanted to observe the baptisms this first time, which was absolutely fine! We wanted her to feel comfortable and enjoy the experience at her own pace.
Eric and Anssi were able to baptize each other, and we all participated in confirmations.
It was another beautiful reminder that helping someone progress along the covenant path doesn’t have to happen all at once. Sometimes it begins with simply being there, feeling the Spirit, and taking that next small step!
Afterward, we enjoyed lunch together with the Elisaras, Anssi, Shasha, and Olivia. We LOVE these dear friends!
Now, Eric and I keep telling ourselves that we are NOT going to Costco on Saturdays anymore. Seriously. NEVER AGAIN!
But somehow, there we were AGAIN! đ
We needed supplies for our missionary dinner on Sunday, and Anssi was excited to come along because he had NEVER been to Costco before!
Anyone who has visited the Lidcombe Costco on a Saturday knows exactly why I dread it. It is CRAZY BUSY!
So, while Eric and Anssi braved the Costco crowds, I happily escaped across the street to Spotlight to find a birthday gift for one of the little ones in our group.
Spotlight is my Sydney craft-store substitute, but let me tell you, it doesn’t even begin to hold a candle to Hobby Lobby! Oh, how I miss Hobby Lobby! đ
At least we got our errands done AND introduced Anssi to the wonderful (and slightly chaotic) world of Costco!
Sunday â General Conference, Young Women, and Missionary Goodbyes â¤ď¸
This morning we were able to watch part of Saturdayâs General Conference sessions before heading to church.
Our youth had returned from Pioneer Trek yesterday, and we were excited to hear about their experiences during Sunday School. Unfortunately, only one of our Young Women was able to attend church today, so weâll have to wait a little longer to hear all the stories!
During Young Women, we worked on planning an upcoming sacrament meeting that the girls will be in charge of.
Weâre even planning a musical number! Now, considering we have TWO young women and THREE adult leaders (one of whom speaks VERY softly!), it will be interesting to see how our little choir sounds! đ But weâll give it our best effort, and I know it will be wonderful because it will come from the heart!
As usual, we ended our Sunday with our STELLAR missionaries coming over for dinner!
Sadly, this was our last Sunday dinner with Elder Shephard and Elder Marsh, as both are being transferred out of our district/zone.
Oh, how we LOVE these missionaries!
Itâs hard enough when our missionaries get transferred to other areas, but itâs even HARDER when they finish their missions and return home!
We become SO attached to these incredible young elders and sisters. They truly begin to feel like part of our family. We share meals, lessons, laughter, spiritual experiences, challenges, and miracles together. They become woven into our everyday lives, and when they leave, we really FEEL their absence!
There is a noticeable difference in the mission when certain elders and sisters are no longer here.
The GOOD news is that both Elder Shephard and Elder Marsh have been called to serve as zone leaders, so we’ll still get to see them at MLC meetings and Zone Conferences!
We’re so proud of them and excited for the wonderful experiences ahead!
Godspeed, Elders! We love you and are cheering you on! â¤ď¸
As I reflect on this week, I’m reminded that missionary service comes in so many different forms. Sometimes it’s teaching a lesson or sharing the gospel. Sometimes it’s sitting beside a friend in the temple, checking missionary flats, making an airport run, preparing Sunday dinner, or simply spending time loving the people the Lord has placed in our path.
And sometimes, it means spending HOURS and HOURS in Sydney traffic! đ
But through it all, we’re learning that the Lord’s work is truly about PEOPLEâloving them, serving them, and helping them come closer to Jesus Christ, ONE BY ONE.
What a blessing it is to be part of His work here in Sydney! â¤ď¸đŚđş
