August 2 – 9
Monday –
Regular Monday – called kids, planned and prepared for the week. For District Council – all our districts met at our church building so the Doane’s and the AP’s could visit each DC. We were fortunate to have one of the awesome AP’s, Elder Ordina, attend our DC and provide some great training! Afterwards we filled out our Australia Census with the other missionaries.
Tuesday –
Ocean Baptism Day! Today was a BUSY, AWESOME day! First we trained the Helamen zone for the mental health lesson, which is about 45 minutes away. One of our FIRST missionary friends, Sister Piper Moncrief is in that zone and is completing her mission in a couple weeks so we planned to take her and her companion(s) out to lunch after the training so we could catch up and say goodbye before she leaves! I actually met Sister Moncrief (and her companion at the time, Sister Hansen) on my FIRST day here in Australia! Right after the Howell’s picked us up from the airport, they drove us straight to Zone Conference! Here we were – tired, dishelved, in a new country, after a 15 hour flight, and had to walk into zone conference to be introduced and meet the other missionaries. My first stop in the church building was the RESTROOM! I took in my toothbrush, make-up, brush and hairspray to “freshen up!” Inside the bathroom I met Sister Moncrief and Sister Hansen, who were soooo sweet to me – welcomed me to the mission, told me I looked “great,” and gave me BIG hugs! They were like my little Aussie Angels at that moment! 🩷Amazingly enough, it turned out that we served with them in the same zone (and our “sister” district). We spent our first Christmas away from family with them and they became part of our Aussie family! They were the only sister missionaries in our area and were so sweet to invite Eric and I to join them in teaching their friends (so, we affectionately call them our mission “trainers”). We became dear friends and were able to serve together until Sister Hansen completed her mission and Sister Moncrief was transferred to another zone. Thankfully we still get to see Sister Moncrief at zone conferences and mental health trainings, which is always a joy! What a blessing it was to have lunch today with her and her two sweet companions! Even though we will miss her when she goes home, we know we will get to see her again after our mission…which we greatly look forward to! ♥️
After training and lunch, we went home to get ready for Anssi’s ocean baptism! Unlike a regular baptism, at a church building, in a font, there’s a little bit more planning for an ocean baptism, in the middle of the winter – ha ha! Once we were sure we had everything we needed (we were also going straight from the beach to the church for a service and dinner – which we had food/supplies for!), we headed out to pick up Ansii and his friend. From there we drove to Milk beach, which is where Ansii had selected to be baptized – checking it out ahead of time to make sure it would work. It was a BEAUTIFUL spot – a hidden gem along the coastal walk from Watson to Rose Bay. Many of Anssi’s friends from the sailing world were in attendance, as well as many members of our church congregation. President and Sister Doane were even able to attend – on their way to another event across town! Anssi seemed SO happy! Not only was it his baptism day, but it was also his 41st birthday. He had wanted to be baptized on an all around special day. The two elders who had last taught Anssi, Elder Fisher and Elder Palma, had arranged for all the former missionaries who taught him (Sister Thompson – who was home in Utah, Elder Sorenson – who was home in Utah, and Sister Leslie – who is still in the ASM, in another zone), as well as his mom, grandma and sister from Finland, to join in on zoom so they could participate electronically in the baptism service. It was a POWERFUL, BEAUTIFUL baptism. Eric and Anssi walked as two brothers out into the ocean, far enough so they were waist deep and could successfully immerse Ansii. His two other missionaries also went into the water to stand as witnesses for the baptism. After Eric performed the baptism by immersion, the two men hugged and it was such a tender sight! In the background of this sacred event, the sun began to set on the beautiful Sydney skyline. The same ocean he was baptized in connected his homeland and family in Finland, and his missionary friends in the United States. I was expecting that Eric and Anssi would be “freezing” and would want to hurry to change and get in the car. Instead, photos, hugs, and congratulations were given – with Ansii smiling from ear to ear!
Once back at the chapel, we had the rest of the baptism program – with Sister Westover giving the talk on the baptism, I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, Nae (the 3 year old daughter of our Group leaders the Elisara’s) sang “Gethsemane” in the sweetest, most angelic 3 year old voice. Nae has a special love for her “uncle” Anssi – hugging him, hanging on him, and telling him she’s going to “miss him so much” when she sees him. Anssi’s friend shared a powerful talk about friendship, then Lyle Elisara shared a very moving message, welcoming Anssi, and connecting the gospel to Anssi’s love of the ocean and sailing! Finally, Anssi shared a beautiful, tender testimony about his spiritual journey. Neither Eric nor I realized the struggles Anssi had previously experienced, which made his decision to be baptized even more sweet and wonderful – knowing he now would have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost to comfort, guide, and bless him in all aspects of his life! The Spirit bathed us all in the love of the Savior as we participated in this amazing baptismal service! What an honor and blessing to be part of it!
After the service, we had a dinner of pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, fruit, chips and birthday cake! We did, of course, also sing Happy Birthday to our dear friend for eternity, Anssi!
Wednesday –
Eric woke up sick this morning. Many people in our church congregation had some nasty cold/cough the past couple weeks so I think Eric got it from someone. He woke up with a fever, congestion and a cough so he mostly stayed in bed today.
Thursday –
Today we got up early to drive to Newcastle for our mental health training with the Nephi zone. We love all the zones but Nephi seems to have an extra place in our hearts – maybe because we have to drive a couple hours to get there or maybe because the missionaries there are always so kind, loving and grateful to have us? Either way, it’s always a treat to spend a day in Newcastle. Unfortunately, today we couldn’t hang out after as we had to get back home for a zoom MLC meeting as part of our Mission Tour with two visiting general authorities (Elder Taniela Wakolo and his wife Anita and Elder Matthew Eyring and his wife, Amy). After a quick lunch, we drove home and I took a nap hoping to get rid of a migraine. Once at home we discovered our internet was out but were able to connect to the hot spot on our phone to join the Zoom meeting. Once the zoom meeting was over, we were supposed to go to the church for our stake skit practice but we were both exhausted and I still had a migraine! Instead, we went to bed early! Right before we went to bed, President Doane called at about 9:10pm. He had shared with Elder Wakolo, about Anssi’s baptism. Elder Wakolo wanted Anssi to speak at zone conference the next day. Eric stayed up trying to call and message Anssi to see if he could swing it the next morning.
Friday –
Anssi’s phone had died and did not see the message until early this morning. He was excited to do it even on very short notice.
Today was day 1 of 3 zone conferences we will be attending. Today was the day our zone (along with 3 other zones) was designated to attend a special zone conference with our visiting general authorities. We will attend the other two as senior zone leaders – helping and checking in with the other super-star senior missionaries! Anssi arrived during lunch and talked with Elder Wakolo, who told him when he would speak in the afternoon. Anssi did such a nice job; everyone felt the spirit. He even answered questions afterwards.
After the conference was over we drove Anssi and two of the missionaries home. Anssi invited us in to see his home, he lives in a really cool flat near the Kings Cross area.
Saturday –
Although we previously had “big” plans for P-day (whale watching tour? Zoo?), we were both a bit tired from the week and decided to sleep in, clean up/organize our apartment, grocery shop and prepare to give talks in another ward on Sunday. I hadn’t been to Costco with Eric in a few weeks so it was fun to go together! On our way we decided to treat ourselves to a “true” Australian (NOT!) meal at Outback Steakhouse (yes, they have 3 of them here in Sydney but I don’t think any respectable Aussie would eat there! Ha ha!). On our drive there, we found ourselves on an extra wide street with…a median in the middle! It even had foliage growing in the median! I felt like we were driving somewhere in the United States with the super wide street, with medians AND marked shoulders! The roads here in Sydney are mostly VERY narrow, with NO median lane, so you’re always driving right next to head on traffic. Also, there are no shoulders. People use the furthest lane to PARK in! This can be disastrous on some roads, making it almost impossible for ONE car to pass through the middle. I am NOT exaggerating!
Anyway, I don’t know why being on that wide, “medianed” road made me happy, but it did! THEN, when we ordered drinks at Outback, the server let us know that there were…(wait for it)…FREE refills on the soda!!! I must say that this was our THIRD time eating at Outback since we’ve been in Australia and no one has previously told us this great news, but that didn’t hinder my delight! Free refills are NOT a thing here! If you order soda, you either get a can, a can with a glass or a small juice size glass of soda (you have to ask for ice). However, we got two large glasses of soda, with ice and sliced lemons! Since we’ve been here, IF we do order a soda (which are quite expensive), we try to save it to drink it with our dinner so we drink water while we’re waiting for the dinner to arrive. This time we were able to suck down that soda WHILE eating our awesome blossom appetizer! What a blessed day! I must say that we were barely able to finish our sodas and ask for a refill but we were bound and determined to make it happen! 😂
It was good that I started my visit to Costco on that “median, free refill” high, because disaster struck while shopping! We have some items we buy regularly at Coscto and today FOUR of the items were not only NOT in stock but are no longer being carried by the Aussie Costco’s. WTHeck?!?! My chocolate premier protein drink (which I pretty much drink daily), the ONLY US bacon-ish you can buy in Sydney (Coscto bacon bits), Kodiak pancake mix (for the HUGE waffle iron we purchased as soon as we arrived in AU), and the only butter cubes we have found that include tablespoons and come in a ½ cup size (the other ones come in huge blocks, making it very hard to measure!). FOUR in one day!?!?! The glow of the median and the free refills slowly vanished as I came to realize some of my staples would be no longer available until I return back to the United States. They better not stop selling Costco bottled water or rotisserie chicken, that’s all I have to say about that!!!! Grrrrr!
Sunday –
Today Eric and I spoke in the Bankstown 1st ward, which is a ward in our stake about 40 minutes away. We were excited to attend an actual ward today but it turned out that their ward wasn’t all that much bigger than our group when church started. However, just like our group, people continued to join as the meeting went on, almost filling up the chapel. It was fun to see some familiar faces from stake events as well as three of our awesome missionaries from our zone, who were surprised to see us!
Our plan was to have scrambled eggs with BACON BITS and cheese for dinner, as well as pancakes made from KODIAK pancake mix (I forgot to mention that we recently purchased TWO electric skillets so we could QUICKLY cook pancakes for large amounts of people…which was BEFORE we knew we could no longer buy Kodiak pancake mix…!). Instead, we had super flat pancakes from another “instant” pancake mix we bought with bacon-less scrambled eggs. We WERE finally able to find the hash brown patties at Costco so those were included in the meal. The missionaries still seemed to enjoy the meal and ate every last bit of food!
Sometimes Sundays can be crazy rather than relaxing – especially if we run out of time to prepare on Saturday! It’s amazing how much better – more peaceful and sacred – Sunday can be when we pick up the house ahead of time and have prepared as much as possible for dinner! Today was one of those days so our time with the missionaries was even more relaxing and enjoyable! I especially love after dinner when we’re just chatting, catching up, relaxing, then someone shares a spiritual thought then a closing prayer. We all connect as friends, disciples, “family.” The missionaries from the Summer Hill ward have to leave a bit earlier since they take public transportation home (about a 30 minute trip) and, like all missionaries, have to be back to their apartments by a certain time each night. Our own district missionaries have a 5 minute walk so they can stay a few minutes after. That short time we have with just our little district feels like a “family home evening” or “family council” time – just talking with our sweet Aussie family and basking in being at “home,” together. It’s a special – almost sacred few minutes.
The Helland's Down Under 