Monday was another very rainy, wintery cold day in Mount Gambier. It's so
easy to be fooled here...one moment it's sunny with only a slight
biting breeze and the next moment it's pouring rain in sheets. We are so
thankful to have good raincoats when needed and thankful for the few
sun breaks when they occur.
We are trying to walk regularly, but we don't go when it's raining. So with the weather described above, we haven't been very often. Winter will soon give way to spring and hopefully we can increase how often and how far we walk.
Our daily schedule goes like this, with minor adjustments when necessary. We wake, walk, Skype to keep in touch with our beautiful family, eat breakfast, get showered and dressed, read scriptures, study from Preach My Gospel Book or the Blue Missionary Book, plan for the day, and go and find. We come home for lunch and have dinner here too in between everything else. We meet with the other missionary companionships when invited to their appointments teaching investigators. Several families have asked us to "tea" which is dinner.
We enjoy meeting all kinds of people from all kinds of circumstances and never get tired of hearing their personal stories. Most people so far are native South Australians but we have met New Zealanders, Italians, Dutch, and some are from other Australian states, like Queensland and Victoria.
Everything seems expensive in Australia. Unleaded fuel is 1.56 per liter (or 5.96 per gallon) and the minimum wage is over 18.00 per hour. The exchange rate on the Australian dollar is about the same as the American dollar at this time. We miscalculated and misspoke when discussing the cost of mince or hamburger by the pound...so here is the correct info: 1 pound = .45 kilograms so the 5.00 per kilogram price for hamburger we discussed would be 2.2 pounds of meat for 5.00 which is comparable to the price at home. The meat looks leaner here FYI .
Our first 'food' story happened yesterday. We were served lamb cakes...it was muffin shaped with a sweet firm base of....I have no idea what.....topped with stringy cooked lamb meat. Lee is much less adventuresome food-wise than I am, but I must admit that his horror was totally justified in this instance. It was beyond gross and after one bite, I didn't know what to do with the remaining portion. Thankfully (another beautiful tender mercy) the host's attention was distracted by a repairman at the door so we were able to put the dishes by the sink and the uneaten portions wouldn't be noticed until we were long gone. Thankfully I knew enough to request only a small portion so as not to be wasteful.
Weekly, we have district or zone meetings at the church, where we have training, study, and practice by role playing. Last week district meeting was held at our church building and Kangaroo Island missionaries attended by phone. This week we were on the phone and they held the meeting there.
After zone meeting yesterday, Elder Dos Santos from Queensland and Elder Reese from Morgan, Utah and Lee and I went to meet and teach members in outlying areas. There are various sized villages miles apart with nothing but pastureland, sheep, or cattle in between an occasional house. We drove almost 300k there and back and I was praying the whole way home in the dark that we wouldn't hit a kangaroo. We never saw even one live kangaroo, thankfully.
Another tender mercy for sure as it is common at dusk in the forest for kangaroos to jump onto the highway just as deer do at home.
We grabbed Mackers, which is McDonald's, for dinner when we got back to Mount Gambier, and then rushed to a weekly scripture study class, before falling into bed by 8:45. After the stress and tension of the dark drive home and the long day's schedule, I was asleep before amen to our prayers :-)
When we got home today, I made 'dad's casserole' for dinner and Lee said it was the best meal we've had since we left for the MTC July 8! Even though we enjoy eating with ward members here, the menu cannot be compared to comfort food from home. In case you are wondering...it's pre-boiled potato, carrot, onion, and celery chunks with cooked hamburger ( they call it mince in Australia ) in cream of mushroom soup sauce, baked after assembly. It really hit the spot, hot and flavorful! When young, our kids never cared for the dish, but Lee loved it, so they named it dad's casserole.
We are trying to walk regularly, but we don't go when it's raining. So with the weather described above, we haven't been very often. Winter will soon give way to spring and hopefully we can increase how often and how far we walk.
Our daily schedule goes like this, with minor adjustments when necessary. We wake, walk, Skype to keep in touch with our beautiful family, eat breakfast, get showered and dressed, read scriptures, study from Preach My Gospel Book or the Blue Missionary Book, plan for the day, and go and find. We come home for lunch and have dinner here too in between everything else. We meet with the other missionary companionships when invited to their appointments teaching investigators. Several families have asked us to "tea" which is dinner.
We enjoy meeting all kinds of people from all kinds of circumstances and never get tired of hearing their personal stories. Most people so far are native South Australians but we have met New Zealanders, Italians, Dutch, and some are from other Australian states, like Queensland and Victoria.
Everything seems expensive in Australia. Unleaded fuel is 1.56 per liter (or 5.96 per gallon) and the minimum wage is over 18.00 per hour. The exchange rate on the Australian dollar is about the same as the American dollar at this time. We miscalculated and misspoke when discussing the cost of mince or hamburger by the pound...so here is the correct info: 1 pound = .45 kilograms so the 5.00 per kilogram price for hamburger we discussed would be 2.2 pounds of meat for 5.00 which is comparable to the price at home. The meat looks leaner here FYI .
Our first 'food' story happened yesterday. We were served lamb cakes...it was muffin shaped with a sweet firm base of....I have no idea what.....topped with stringy cooked lamb meat. Lee is much less adventuresome food-wise than I am, but I must admit that his horror was totally justified in this instance. It was beyond gross and after one bite, I didn't know what to do with the remaining portion. Thankfully (another beautiful tender mercy) the host's attention was distracted by a repairman at the door so we were able to put the dishes by the sink and the uneaten portions wouldn't be noticed until we were long gone. Thankfully I knew enough to request only a small portion so as not to be wasteful.
Weekly, we have district or zone meetings at the church, where we have training, study, and practice by role playing. Last week district meeting was held at our church building and Kangaroo Island missionaries attended by phone. This week we were on the phone and they held the meeting there.
After zone meeting yesterday, Elder Dos Santos from Queensland and Elder Reese from Morgan, Utah and Lee and I went to meet and teach members in outlying areas. There are various sized villages miles apart with nothing but pastureland, sheep, or cattle in between an occasional house. We drove almost 300k there and back and I was praying the whole way home in the dark that we wouldn't hit a kangaroo. We never saw even one live kangaroo, thankfully.
Another tender mercy for sure as it is common at dusk in the forest for kangaroos to jump onto the highway just as deer do at home.
We grabbed Mackers, which is McDonald's, for dinner when we got back to Mount Gambier, and then rushed to a weekly scripture study class, before falling into bed by 8:45. After the stress and tension of the dark drive home and the long day's schedule, I was asleep before amen to our prayers :-)
When we got home today, I made 'dad's casserole' for dinner and Lee said it was the best meal we've had since we left for the MTC July 8! Even though we enjoy eating with ward members here, the menu cannot be compared to comfort food from home. In case you are wondering...it's pre-boiled potato, carrot, onion, and celery chunks with cooked hamburger ( they call it mince in Australia ) in cream of mushroom soup sauce, baked after assembly. It really hit the spot, hot and flavorful! When young, our kids never cared for the dish, but Lee loved it, so they named it dad's casserole.
What's funny is some of the kids now serve it
to their own families.
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