June 21, 2014

We traveled this past weekend to do training in some areas far north of Sydney. We had meetings set up with a Branch President on Friday night in Port Macquarie, Saturday night in Coff's Harbor with the District President, and also had an assignment to speak in a small branch on Sunday. We left Friday morning and headed first to Port Macquarie. It is a six hour drive from Sydney. It is located on the coast, so of course, the drive is absolutely beautiful! Port Macquarie was originally founded in 1821 as a 'second offender' penal settlement for convicts who had been sent to Australia from Britain and then had continued to break the law in Australia while they were there serving out their prison time; in other words, the hardened criminals. Port Macquarie was the ideal place to send these prisoners because of the thick bush and tough terrain as well as the local aborigines who were rewarded with tobacco and blankets for returning escaped prisoners.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the bush here is so dense it's impossible to walk through.

Macquarie Harbor area was almost impossible to escape from, most attempts ended with the convicts either drowning or dying of starvation in the bush. By the 1830s the convict settlement was moved farther north and the area was opened to settlers. We pulled off the highway in several spots to visit lighthouses.  The whales are migrating from Antarctica up to the Great Barrier Reef to have their babies right now, so we got to mingle with lots of 'whale watchers' at the various lighthouses.  I will write more about that next week in my grandkids section.

   

We made several stops along the way to deliver mail to the missionaries serving in the more remote areas in the north. They were all so excited to get their mail, it was really cute. We would call and set up a meeting place and give them an approximate time we'd be in their town to meet them. Almost without exception they would call several times during the day to make sure we were on schedule; they didn't want to miss us! I never realized until I became a missionary, how important and exciting it is to get mail. Email is great, but real mail is the best thing ever! I felt so sorry for one of the Elders from Tonga though. We stopped in the town this companionship was serving in and the one Elder from the US got six letters, but the Elder from Tonga didn't get anything at all. I wanted to cry for him, he looked so sad. It's very common for missionaries from the islands to never get an email, a letter, or even a Christmas package from anyone the whole time they are on their missions. Apparently, keeping in contact with a missionary is not important to parents or family members in most families, so many of the island missionaries never get a letter the whole time they're gone. If anyone reading this wants to do something kind for someone, you could 'adopt' an island missionary serving over here. Mail day has to be a pretty tough day for them. Had I realized the situation we would encounter, I would have either written a letter to the ones who didn't get one this time, or made them some sort of treat so that they at least got something. Next time I'll know.

Saturday morning we got up and headed north again to Coff's Harbor. Supposedly, Coffs Harbor has the most livable climate in Australia. It is between a high mountain area and the coast. It was beautiful. The District President invited us over to dinner at his house. He and his wife were wonderful hosts and his counselor and wife were also interesting to talk to. Both couples have been to the states multiple times. I'm always amazed how so many of the Australians we meet are so well traveled. Many of them have been to almost as many places in the US as I have!

One of the many lighthouses along the coast

Coff's Harbor 

We spoke in church today in an inland town called Armindale. We left Coff's Harbor at 6 am and drove three hours to Armindale. There is just a little branch of the church located there. They have a building, but like all the buildings we were in this weekend, it's very small. I counted the members in attendance today, there were 15 adults and 9 kids (plus two young missionaries and one senior missionary couple). Very small congregation! We spoke in church and then had to head out; we drove 8 hours to get home. It was a long drive, but the scenery was pretty. It reminded us of the Palouse area of northern Idaho. There were many sheep and cattle stations along the way which we enjoyed very much. It reminded us of home; just with different trees!

Grandkids: 

I thought I would tell you about sea turtles today because I promised you last week that I would share Sister Tarie's story about diving for turtles with her dad.

Sea turtles are one of the Earth's most ancient creatures. The seven species that can be found today have been around for 110 million years, since the time of the dinosaurs. The sea turtle's shell is streamlined for swimming through the water. Unlike other turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their legs and head into their shells. Their color varies between yellow, greenish and black depending on the species. What sea turtles eat depends on the kind of turtle they are, but some common things they eat include jellyfish, seaweed, crabs, shrimp, sponges, snails, algae and mollusks.

Here is a little video where you can learn about sea turtles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIffdbFZMPQ

Do you think your dad could fit into a turtle shell?

This is a video of Sister Tarie talking about going out into the ocean with her dad to catch (and eat!) a sea turtle. You will have to watch it on a computer in order to see it, it won't work on an iPad.

Do you think you would like to eat turtle meat? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it!

On our trip up the coast this weekend we found a bunch of kangaroos just hanging out in the grass at one of the beaches we stopped at.  

There were about 30 kangaroos here just hanging out together, taking naps and playing around

I took a video of the two kangaroos in the picture above, I think they might be brothers, watch this video and see if you can guess why I think they might be brothers.  Some of you might have done this very same thing with your brother! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F05WPekw90M&feature=youtu.be

Have a great week.  Grandpa and I miss you all very much.  We love you!!