The Helland's Down Under

12/14/25 – 12/21/25

This week was a little tricky – traveling from Blacktown to Haymarket each day (anywhere from a 30 min to 1 hour commute). Traveling on “PT” (public transportation) felt a little more relaxed than fighting the crowds, narrow streets AND driving on the wrong side of the road, until we got on the wrong train and ended up in the middle of nowhere! Eric is really doing a FABULOUS job of driving on the left side of the road on the right side of the car. Instead of turning on the blinkers, the windshield wipers are going constantly, ha ha! I’ve been trying to take my turn driving so I get comfortable driving here too, especially if I want to take the car and go out myself! At the MTC they told us, “the passenger in the car can’t be the Passenger Princess but must help the driver navigate” which is TOTALLY true – especially reminding each other to hug the left line and to turn right or left into the proper lane. PLUS, Sydney is FULL of underground tunnels on the “motorway” (freeway – but not really free because there are a TON of tolls!). If you get in the wrong lane, you could be stuck in the wrong tunnel going the wrong direction for almost 10 miles, which we did. We have no idea where ended up – except is was OUT of Sydney – ha ha!

Some of the sights in downtown Sydney

Monday was our district council mtg with all the missionaries in our district. We have 6 junior missionaries (plus us) in our district. This is usually for sharing experiences from the week and coordinating/planning for the week. At this meeting, we discovered that 4 of the 6 missionaries were being transferred to another area. They all shared their testimonies. They also shared what they had learned through the past “transfer” (a “transfer” is 6 weeks).

Tuesday was supposed to be a Book of Mormon study class at the church building but the missionaries went to the temple that night instead.

Wednesday was English class at the church, where people from the community come to learn to speak English. We had two junior sister missionaries and two junior elder missionaries teaching the class – with people from France and China. As teachers, it was interesting to watch the English curriculum in action! Earlier in the day we went to visit a woman – R – in the ward who had been at Bondi beach during the terrible murder/terrorist scene. R was pretty shaken up so we visited with her and Eric gave her a blessing of comfort.

We were also able to experience a miracle on this day. Driving to this R’s flat (apartment) downtown, it was hard to find parking. We ended up parking a couple blocks away and walking the rest of the way to her flat. I had hastily put together a Christmas gift for her before we left the car. Once at her flat I realized I didn’t have my cell phone. When we finally left and found our way back to the car, I clicked on my watch to make sure the phone was IN the car so I could find it later (we had to rush back to the church for a zoom meeting then the English class). My watch indicated the phone was nearby. After a few hours at the church, we finally returned to the car to head home. I looked around for my phone but to no avail. I pushed the “find my phone” button on my watch but it said there were no Apple products connected. I had been praying to find my phone, looked some more but decided that the phone was either somewhere in the car OR I had lost it. As we followed the GPS to find our way back to Blacktown, I got the distinct impression that we should go back and look where we parked at the woman’s flat. Well, we weren’t sure WHERE we parked and if we should even back track and look for it. If I dropped it, surely it was gone (or had been run over by a car!). We decided to follow the prompting and with the help of GPS were taken right to where we had parked previously. I got out and started clicking the button on my watch to locate my phone (making it “beep” so I could find it). My phone started beeping! I looked under the parked cars but finally headed to a sewer drain, next to a gutter. The beeping was loud by the sewer grate! I wondered if Eric could fish it out – or if I even wanted to retrieve it if it was in the sewer. Eric ended up finding the phone stuck in a lip deep in the gutter, covered in leaves and only inches away from the sewer grate. Finding that phone was nothing short of a miracle. Only God could help us find it!

Thursday – We had training to become Preventative Mental Health teachers for the junior missionaries. There are 8 lessons in the curriculum and we’ll be teaching one to multiple zones every 6 weeks. I’m super excited to participate in this training – first because I am a huge advocate of proactive mental health care (which we learned first hand during and after Covid) and second, because I’m excited to learn some skills to use in my personal life, in my marriage, and here on a mission!

Friday – We attended a lesson for J – a woman from China. The sister missionaries gave the lesson in Mandarin Chinese. Eric and I tried to keep up using a translating program. I think we needed the gift of tongues to know what was going on – but we were able to get the gist of the lesson and the J’s questions. This sweet sister asked to be baptized so we set a date for her. Thankfully smiles and hugs are part of an international language! That night was “game night” at the church building. Members of the congregation and other friends attended – with ping pong, card and board games and treats! We met some new people and thoroughly enjoyed the company.

Saturday – We got up early and “packed” (shoved and stuffed!) everything back into our suitcases and met the Putnams (housing coordinators) and the junior missionaries at our “new” flat at 9:30 AM. Another senior couple, the Harrison’s, showed up to help. It took 5 hours for 12 of us to set up all the new IKEA furniture! Ha ha! We also enjoyed the lunch feast that Sister Putnam had made for the group. She went all out and the food was DELICIOUS!

The junior elders assembling our furniture.

After everyone finally left, Eric and I got ready to go back to Blacktown to make a second trip of our suitcases, etc. Before we were able to leave, we got locked out of our flat (the door locks automatically when it closes) with all our keys locked inside. The only key we had was to the car, but we didn’t have the clicker to open the garage gate (speaking of the parking garage, our parking space is on the 6th basement floor – the catacombs of the city! It’s deep down!). We went down to the front desk to see if they might have a way to get into our flat. As no one was at the front desk, we had to sit and wait an hour for someone to come back to the front desk. When he arrived he looked up our flat to see if they had a back up to get into the flat, but they didn’t. We told him we could contact our Housing Coordinators to see if they had an extra key but we needed his help to get out of the garage. Once we spoke with the Putnams, we drove back to Carlingford (about 45 minutes away) to get the extra set of keys then drove back to Haymarket, downtown. Since we didn’t have the clicker to get inside our garage, when we saw the gate opened we quickly drove in. Once in, with the gate closed again, we realized that we had pulled into the wrong parking garage. We waited about 45 minutes, hoping someone would come in or out so we could get out. No one came. We tried various phone numbers, trying to find someone in the building. I was thinking we were either going to have to call 911 (actually 000 here in Australia) or sleep in the car in the garage for the night. Eric got out and started exploring the garage trying to find someone who could help us. He was able to locate a person who opened the gate for us! Phew! We then had to drive to the correct building. Eric ran in and got all our keys, passcards, etc. We then headed back to Blacktown to pick up another load so we had the supplies we needed to get ready for church the next morning! We didn’t end up getting home until after 10:00 PM! It felt like a “Mr. Magoo” day – Ha ha! Needless to say, no unpacking happened!

Sunday was the Christmas program – put on by the primary group (the children’s group – ages 3 to 11). Only 2 of the primary children were in attendance that day. They were a 6 and an 11-year-old girl. They both sang songs and narrated the program. You might think that 2 little girls couldn’t pull off a whole church service but they did and it was BEAUTIFUL!!! The junior missionaries sang a Christmas hymn. The congregation leader, Lyle Elisara, gave tender and sweet closing remarks. What a beautiful sabbath! After the service, we had “linger longer.” This happens on 2 of the 4 Sundays. The leaders of the ward bring potluck items to share with all who attend. 

Some things we learned this week:

• Miracles do NOT cease – finding my phone was nothing less incredible than the parting of the Red Sea! God also has a sense of humor (see the events of Saturday – ha ha!)
• We LOVE visiting with people at their homes, on the sidewalks, the trains and at various events. People are very curious about the badges we wear so we get a lot of stares and questions. Everyone has been kind and respectful and it’s been a treat to meet so many people here in Sydney!
• When the Spirit prompts – with a thought or a feeling – act on it!
• When things get hard – stop, pray and even laugh about the humor in the situation!
• I’m so grateful to have the BEST missionary companion EVER! The junior missionaries can get “transferred” every 6 weeks, working in a new place with a new “companion.” As senior missionaries, we often stay in the same place for our entire mission. We also have the same companion throughout. What a blessing to already know and love my companion! We’re working in a new capacity together and it’s fun to have a new challenge after 38 years of marriage. On a side note – I’m very glad we had those 5 months to get used to being together 24/7. We had already worked out the kinks and were very comfortable being together ALL THE TIME!