July 6 – 12
Upon getting ready to leave the mission, after a successful two years as an INCREDIBLE missionary, Elder Nephi Sorenson, our district leader, shared an incredible story with us, titled “A Time to Dance.”
Sometimes it’s hard to say goodbye to a good thing. At the close of a wedding reception recently, my young niece and I danced and twirled in the mostly empty room as the reception came to a close. All too soon it was time to go. Pouting for a few seconds, my seven-year-old niece put her shoes back on and we twirled one last time. I don’t remember who suggested it, but whether she came up with the idea or simply agreed to it, her eyes brightened as she said, “Let’s dance our way out.” And so we did.
I kept thinking of this moment, realizing what struck me about it. She trusted that this wasn’t the last night in her life that she would ever dance. She trusted that there were other good things to come, and she could leave this one evening behind. And though a fun night of dancing doesn’t compare to much larger endings, I realized that perhaps I have something to learn from her. Perhaps I could try to adapt that motto when I have to say goodbye to something I love, when I feel prompted to put on my shoes and move on. Can I say with her, “Let’s dance our way out,” and trust that I too have someone walking by my side when He wants me to move on?
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained, “Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the ‘high priest of good things to come’ (Hebrews 9:11).”1 Like my niece, I can trust that even as one beloved season in my life comes to an end, other good seasons will follow in time—for that is the nature of life:
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. …
“A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
“… A time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 6–7).
And yes, I would say to my niece, even Ecclesiastes agrees that one of these times is “a time to dance” (verse 4). https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2020/06/a-time-to-dance?lang=eng
Elder Sorenson said he wanted to dance his way through the last day of his mission and out! He prayed to be in an area with people who would share his desire to continue the hard work all the way through! He shared how blessed he felt to be in the Hyde Park district, with his fellow missionaries and the amazing group members, who helped him dance all the way through the end of his mission. What a blessing this district has been – the 3 sisters and 4 elders have been true disciples of Christ – loving, kind, caring, compassionate, hardworking and ALL IN!!! It was a pleasure and an honor to serve with ALL of them and to be part of Elder Sorenson and Sister Gehring’s last “dance” in the Australia Sydney Mission.
Monday –
Besides our “normal” Monday activities- calling our kids and planning the week, we also had to make food for a special “leavers” dinner Lyle wanted to put on for the missionaries in our zone who would be going home. Many of them had served in Hyde Park district and had a special place in all our hearts. While facetiming our grandkids, we received a call from Sister Doane (our mission leader) who let us know that a sister missionary’s father had recently passed away and asked us if we could please pick her up today, have her spend the night with us, then drive her to the airport early in the morning so she could fly home to Tonga for her dad’s funeral. We connected with the STL’s (Sister Training Leaders – like the Zone leader priesthood counterparts) on a time to pick up Sister Ekuasi in Campbell town, which turned out to be an hour away. We picked her up after district council and didn’t get home until about 10:30 PM. Both Eric and I had been wondering/praying for guidance on what to say/how to help Sister Ekuasi, a 20 something year old who had not only just lost her father, but her mother had passed away not even a year before she left on her mission. Sweet Sister Ekuasi was now an orphan! Little did we need to worry because Sister Ekuasi had the testimony of a giant, sharing her love and gratitude for the Savior on the drive home – telling us how grateful she was for the plan of salvation, temple covenants, and knowing that she would see her parents again! She was the one comforting and uplifting us as we drove home and heard her humble and powerful testimony!
Tuesday –
We all had to wake up early today so we could drive Sister Ekuasi to the airport at 6:00 AM. Eric dropped us both off at the departure area and I went in to help her check in, check her luggage, and get to the security gate. After, Eric picked me up and we drove on to Newcastle to train the Nephi zone. Normally, we hang out in Newcastle for the day – going to their Costco, visiting their mall, seeing sights, etc, but both of us were so tired we just got lunch and headed home!
Wednesday –
This morning I woke up with a terrible migraine so I was pretty much out of commission for the day – even after taking a couple doses of prescription migraine meds! Eric went to a lesson with the elders and Anssi but we ended up missing our scheduled time to work at the temple due to my headache.
Thursday –
Thank goodness my headache was gone this morning so we were able to pick up Sister Gehring and drive her to the mission office. All the missionaries leaving (they call them “leavers”) meet at the mission office a day before they fly home for a leaver’s seminar, staying at the temple housing accommodations at night, and having some special time with our mission leaders – President and Sister Doane. After saying good-bye to all the “leavers” we knew, Eric and I headed out for lunch. On our way home we stopped at two different missionary apartments for their 6 week “flat check.” We have a form we have to fill out for each apartment to make sure everything in each missionary apartment is in working order, identify anything that needs to be fixed/replaced and make sure the missionaries are taking good care of the apartment (keeping it clean, etc.). That evening we had our YW activity at our apartment, hoping to plan an upcoming Pioneer Day Celebration that they YW were in charge of planning/hosting for the group. Only Ella and Manda showed up. We looked up possible games and activities but realized most were more suited for outside or for young children (we only have 4 young children in our group). We ended up watching the pioneer movie, “17 Miracles” to see if that would be appropriate to use for the Pioneer Day celebration.
Friday –
This morning we checked three more apartments, ending at the apartment up the street from Coogee Beach. Since we were so close to this beautiful beach we decided to sit by the beach and read our scriptures for an hour. It was beautiful…but next time I need my beach chair! 🙂
Once we got home we ate lunch then I drove the sister missionaries to the hospital to visit Ruiyi and teach her a lesson. Ruiyi let us know that the doctors told her she would be discharged soon. We began celebrating but she quickly stopped us saying she wasn’t ready to be discharged. She was still wheelchair bound and didn’t know where she’d live or if she could even live on her own. We had a prayer with her that she would be able to know what to do next. Hopefully one of her parents can fly out from China to help her out…!
That afternoon Eric made Texas Sheet Cakes to take to game night, where Sister Kennedy Thompson was bringing her family, who had flown in for her to be “released” as a missionary, to meet everyone. When SIster Kennedy showed up with her dad only, she let us know that her mom and siblings’ flight was canceled from LA so they had to fly to Japan and wouldn’t arrive in Sydney until the next day. Thankfully, her dad had been in London and was still able to make it to pick her up! Thank the Lord for small miracles!
Saturday –
Today we attended a special baptism at Mortdale stake for Sahan Silva. His story is definitely one we won’t forget. About a month or so ago, Eric had to take our car in to get serviced at the Toyota dealership. Since it’s a fleet car (through the church), it has to be taken in after so many miles for regular service. Eric had the fleet information and was just told to take it to any Toyota dealership. He looked it up and found out we had a few dealerships about the same distance from us so he chose one, called and made an appointment. Upon arriving at the dealership to drop the car off, the attendant at the counter kept looking at his missionary badge. Eric told him that the car was a fleet car and would be paid for through that. The attendant asked him which fleet it was and Eric just said, “I don’t know but it’s through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.” Eric finally got the correct fleet information from the car and the attendant, again looked at his badge and asked, “Are you guys on-line?” to which Eric replied that we are. The attendant then told him, “I’m interested! What do I need to do to find out about your church?” Eric told him to write down his contact information and he would have someone reach out to him. The attendant’s boss came up so the “church” conversation ended. When Eric went back to pick up the car, the attendant, Sahan Silva, had written down his contact information for Eric on the back of a business card and slyly slid it to him. He then asked Eric if he needed any more information. Eric asked when the best time to call him was so Sahan took the card back and quickly wrote down, “After 7:00 PM.” Sahan thanked Eric for taking his information!
As soon as Eric got home that day, he gave the business card to the young missionaries and asked them to contact Sahan. Our elders reached out but found out that Sahan actually lived in the Mortdale area so passed his information on to missionaries that serve in his area. Two sisters began teaching Sahan. He told them that the night before he met Eric, he had seen something about the church on line and felt a strong desire to know more. He was about to click on the button to have representatives contact him but chickened out. He told the sisters that all night he kept thinking about it and wishing he could find that link again and click on it. The next day he met Eric and saw his badge, which had the same name of the church he had been interested in finding out more about. He was delighted that he was given another chance to ask to find out more. Well, a month later, we were able to not only attend Sahan’s baptism, but Eric had the honor and privilege of baptizing him. Sahan seemed SO happy and full of light – sharing his testimony that he knew the Lord was aware of him, guided him to the church and has been greatly blessed to learn about the gospel and now get baptized! It was a beautiful baptismal service and a testimony building for ALL of us that God IS aware of us, He is involved in the details of our lives as we turn to Him!
After the baptism, Eric and I drove across town to see if we could find a store who supposedly sold our favorite green chili enchilada sauce (Las Palmas). Unfortunately, they didn’t have any in stock – boo! Lesson learned – if you’re going to drive across town to purchase an item, call first to make sure they HAVE the product first! Ha ha!
That evening we met our friends, Bob and Kathleen Woolf, senior missionaries from Washington state, down at Circular Quay for dinner at an Italian restaurant then TRIED to walk around the Christmas in July area at The Rocks. There were a MILLION people there so it was hard to even walk around! At least we were able to buy a delicious cobbler in a cup with custard AND ice cream on top! YUM!
Sunday-
Today we drove back to the Mortdale building for Sahan’s confirmation. Eric was again privileged to confirm him a member of the church and give him the gift of the Holy Ghost. Such a special sacrament meeting! We were planning on staying for the second hour of church and attending with our Mortdale missionary friends but we remembered we had a box of sacrament cups in the back of our car. We texted our own Hyde Park elders to ask if they had enough sacrament cups to get them through one more Sunday to which they replied, “NO!” so we had to leave the Mortdale building right after sacrament meeting and drive back to our building (another 40 minutes!) just in time to bring the sacrament cups. It was nice to be able to attend both Sacrament meeting and Relief Society with our group as well!
After church we headed to the Summer Hill building to help set up for another baptism for Medo. We only had to bring treats for this one – ha ha! It was a beautiful service with the missionaries from the South Harbor zone singing, “I am a Child of God” as a musical number. After the baptism we hurried home to start making dinner for the missionaries. They all arrived before we were even close to being done so they had to visit, eat chips and salsa, and wait another 45 minutes for dinner to be ready! It was a BUSY but AMAZING weekend!
Things I learned/was reminded of this week:
Miracles come regularly and in all shapes and sizes. Our job is to pray to see the hand of God in our lives each day and express gratitude for His sweet, tender and personalized messages of love to us! I KNOW that we are ALL children of God – He knows us by name, He knows what is happening in our lives – what we’re struggling with – and He WILL be there for us as we turn to Him!
Doctrine in Covenants 88:63-64
“Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you…”
The Helland's Down Under 