9/13/26
I really need to stay on top of these weekly updates because the longer I wait, the more I forget what we actually did! 😂 I used to be SO good about taking pictures, which always helped me remember the events and little details…but I’ve even slacked off on that lately! I’m committing to do better—just as soon as I get caught up! Ha ha!
Monday 9/7 –
A pretty typical Monday for us—calling our family back home, planning and preparing for the week ahead, and attending District Council. Mondays have definitely settled into a familiar mission rhythm!
Tuesday 9/8 –
Today we drove about an hour to Smithfield to teach a THRIVE training for the Helaman Zone. Thrive is the new name for our emotional literacy tranings—learning to recognize, understand, and appropriately manage our emotions.
Of course, we arrived extra early so Eric could make his now-famous PANCAKES! The missionaries are always SO appreciative of a plate piled high with pancakes before training begins! Eric has pretty much provided “all-you-can-eat” pancakes for every zone we’ve trained this transfer. I’m a little afraid we may have started something and they’ll be expecting pancakes from now on! Ha ha! 😂
One of the things we LOVE most about traveling around to the different zones is getting to see missionaries we’ve served with throughout our mission. Every time we walk into a new zone, there are familiar faces, and it feels like a sweet little family reunion! Elder Leifson was part of our OG zone when we first arrived in Sydney (see picture!), so it was especially fun to see him again. We also got to see Sister Larkin, who is from our home stake in Goodyear, Arizona! We’ve known her family for more than 30 years, so it’s pretty special that we get to serve in the same mission on the other side of the world! ❤️
That evening, we joined the missionaries for a lesson with our friend Ruth and her friend Daniel. Ruth has been returning to activity in the Church and has set a wonderful goal to attend the temple and receive her endowment. It has been such a blessing to watch her progress and support her along the way.
After the lesson, we attended our weekly Book of Mormon class. I always LOVE these classes! There is something so powerful about sitting together, studying the Book of Mormon, and hearing everyone share their personal insights, experiences, and testimonies. I always leave feeling spiritually fed and grateful for the wonderful people we are blessed to serve alongside. ❤️
Wednesday 9/9 –
Today was District Temple Day! Our Hyde Park District and our “sister” district, South Harbour, were able to attend the temple together. It is always such a treat to be in that sacred space with our dear missionary friends. I love these missionaries SO much, and being together in the temple is a beautiful reminder that the love and friendships we are developing here don’t have to be temporary—they can last forever!
Going to the temple also helps put everything we are doing here in Sydney back into perspective. Ultimately, this work is about inviting others to come unto Jesus Christ and helping them receive the blessings that come from making and keeping covenants with Him.
I love this description of temples from the Church:
“Temples are literally houses of the Lord. They are holy places of worship where we make sacred covenants with God…. In addition to being a place where sacred priesthood ordinances are performed, the temple is a place of peace and revelation…. Those who do temple work will be blessed in all aspects of their lives. Their labors in the temple will strengthen them and refine them spiritually.”
I truly feel that peace, spiritual renewal, and eternal perspective every time I attend the temple. ❤️
After our temple session, we all walked across the street to the mall for lunch. Eric and the junior missionaries often order this Asian homemade noodle soup, so I finally decided to try it. It was DELICIOUS! When you order a bowl, they even give you a second bowl of noodles and broth for free—no meat or veggies in the free bowl, but still a LOT of food!
While we were eating, I noticed two of our missionaries were only having an ice cream cone from “Maccas” (McDonald’s) for lunch. I felt a prompting that I should offer to buy them something more substantial to eat. Later, we learned that those elders had run out of money for the month and were really hungry that day. I don’t know all the circumstances behind why they were out of money, but I was so grateful I listened to that little prompting and was able to help provide for them when they needed it.
Sometimes the Spirit speaks through the simplest thoughts: Buy those missionaries some lunch. ❤️
#TenderMercies
Thursday 9/10 –
We were up VERY early this morning for the two-hour drive to Newcastle to train the Nephi Zone on THRIVE. I’m not sure if it’s because getting there requires a little more effort and travel, but I always feel SOOO blessed after spending time with the Nephi Zone!
Since they’re our “out-of-town” missionaries, seeing them every six weeks feels a little like having a reunion with relatives you don’t get to see very often. 😂 They always seem genuinely happy and appreciative to see us, and we feel exactly the same about seeing them!
Teaching THRIVE throughout the mission has DEFINITELY become one of our favorite parts of our mission. We love spending time with the missionaries, hearing their experiences, and hopefully giving them some tools that will help them not only as missionaries but throughout their lives.
Since we had already driven all the way to Newcastle, we decided to make a day of it. After training, we headed to the closest beach, spread out our training tablecloth, and relaxed for a little while. 😂 Who needs a beach blanket when you have a perfectly good THRIVE tablecloth?!
It was pretty windy, so we didn’t stay long, but there is just something about sitting near the ocean and listening to the waves that is instantly relaxing and rejuvenating. We live only about 15 minutes from the beach in Sydney, yet somehow we don’t get there nearly often enough!
Next, we headed to one of our favorite malls—the Westfield in Newcastle. It isn’t the biggest mall we’ve visited since arriving in Australia (remember, malls are a THING here!), but it’s beautiful, clean, and has a fabulous rooftop dining area.
We decided to try a new Italian restaurant, Criniti’s, and it did NOT disappoint! It may have been the best Italian food I’ve had since arriving in Australia! The portions were huge too—I took half of my meal home to enjoy later. Definitely a successful find!
Friday 11 –
Today I had an appointment to get my hair colored and trimmed. This was my second visit to a salon a friend recommended, and I really like it! I loved the color and cut last time, AND it takes about HALF the time my old salon did. Win-win!
There is, however, one BIG problem: PARKING!
There is very little parking near the salon, so you have to search the surrounding streets—and it’s almost ALL parallel parking. I thought I had finally found a spot, but when I got out of the car and was trying to decipher the very confusing parking signs, a police officer kindly informed me that the spaces were for POLICE CARS ONLY. 😂 Good thing I asked!
Back into the car I went.
Unfortunately, that meant venturing onto one of the TERRIBLE little side streets near the salon. The streets are SUPER narrow, with cars parked on BOTH sides, leaving barely enough room for ONE car to squeeze through—even though they are two-way streets! If another car comes from the opposite direction, somebody has to reverse until one of you can get out.
I had previously promised myself I would NEVER drive down one of those streets again…but desperate times called for desperate measures! 😂 I crept along at about 5 mph and STILL almost clipped mirrors with a parked car. Then, when I was already halfway down the street, another car turned in from the opposite direction. There was NO WAY I was reversing all the way back, so thankfully, the other driver eventually backed up. PHEW!
I finally escaped that horrible street and found what I THOUGHT was a legal parking spot. The sign said something about “small cars,” and since our car is about the size of a little Toyota, I figured I qualified. Apparently…I did NOT interpret the sign correctly. 😂
I made it to my appointment only about 15 minutes late, but when I returned to the car afterward, I had a PARKING TICKET waiting for me. UGH!
Lesson learned: I think Eric will be dropping me off at my next hair appointment! 😂
While I was navigating my hair-and-parking adventure, Eric was busy helping two of the single sisters in our group move apartments. They were moving in together, so he spent part of the day helping with the move.
Later, I picked up our Young Women, Ella and Leslie, and drove them to the Mortdale Stake Centre for a Trek activity. They found out which “family” they would be part of for Trek and then competed in some family-versus-family activities.
The girls definitely enjoyed the pizza and chocolate fountain…but were NOT nearly as enthusiastic about staying for the dance afterward. Ha ha! 😂
Saturday 9/12 –
For P-Day, I’ve been wanting to take Eric to the Ramsgate Beach Club for brunch. Unfortunately, we arrived a little too late and had to order from the lunch menu instead. It was still yummy, but I had REALLY been craving their ultimate avocado toast!
Thankfully, we were still able to order their toasted banana bread. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but banana bread is definitely a THING here! They sell it everywhere! It doesn’t taste quite like the banana bread I’m used to back home—it has more spices in it—but it’s really yummy, especially toasted!
After brunch, we walked along the shore for a couple of miles and then decided to relax on the beach for a while. We hadn’t brought towels or anything to sit on, but it was such a beautiful day and the cool sand felt so nice that we just leaned back and enjoyed it.
Eric found some great seashells and also discovered a strange “blob” on the beach. We later looked it up and discovered it was a sea snail egg sac. Of course, then we HAD to look up pictures of the actual sea snail.
Let’s just say…NOT CUTE! 😂
Sunday 9/13 –
I LOVE the Sabbath—attending church, partaking of the sacrament and renewing our covenants with the Lord, worshipping together, and teaching our classes.
But Sundays can also be BUSY at our house! Each week we prepare dinner for around 12–15 people, and I keep thinking that if we were just a little more organized on Saturday, we wouldn’t have to work quite so hard getting everything ready on Sunday. 😂
Every once in a while, I think, “Maybe we should move missionary dinner to another night of the week.”
And then one of the missionaries will say how much they look forward to Sundays because they get to come to our house for a “family dinner” at the end of their Sabbath day.
And that pretty much settles it. ❤️
I think Sunday evenings feel a little like home to them. Monday is their P-Day, so they can relax a bit more on Sunday night, they don’t have other evening meetings to rush off to, and they can stay at our house a little longer to eat, visit, laugh, and enjoy being together.
When you’re thousands of miles away from your own family, maybe sitting around a table eating a home-cooked meal with people who love you matters more than we sometimes realize.
So…I guess we’ll keep our big Sunday missionary dinners—for now! 🙂 And I’ll just keep working on that whole “being better prepared on Saturday” thing! 😂❤️
