Tea, Hospital Visit and New Training (wk ending 21 Dec 2014).

Sister Hannan gave the Monday morning senior devotional on Hope from the Institute manual. Grays, Smiths, Whites, Hannans, Sheffields, and Sister Baker were in attendance. I left right after to go home and write my homecoming talk. During the day, I walked back to the office to book bus travel for missionaries going from Darwin back to Katherine and to meet missionaries making a delivery.

Lee started training Elder Smith and Sister Hannan started training Sister Smith. During the course of the day Sister Hannan mentioned that she is okay to stay doing what she is doing now rather than take over my position. Especially since Sister Smith is just coming to the office so both jobs are new to her and that way, it would only require one person being trained. (Except we have been training for 3 weeks already but I don't say a word!)

Lee and Elder Smith met the Carters at the airport at 4:35 and Lee told them of the office concerns and President gave the approval for me to start training Sister Smith Tuesday. We are pressured to get the training done in the next three weeks with transfers, and the holiday in the midst of training time but it will all work out.

We put our Christmas gift to the Carters in their house to find when they arrived as previously mentioned and they called a short few minutes after Lee dropped them off in tears to thank us. They said how much they loved it and would hang it in their home for the rest of their lives! We felt happy that they were so pleased and thank Shelby for designing from our list of words a subway art poster size picture, printing, and shipping it for us. 

We were invited to the Whites for tea Monday night. They served chicken schnitzel and white or sweet potato rounds and steamed vegetables with fruit and cherry tart for dessert. It was a nice treat and fun to be with them, although neither of us usually socialize much because we are beat by the end of the day!

Tuesday we trained and the phone rang every other minute it seemed. Poor Sister Smith's brain felt boggled. She will have no problem doing the job...it's knowing 'when to do what' that is the tricky part. She takes notes and that will help once I'm no longer available.

Wednesday was more of the same training wise. Lee and Elders Smith and Hannan took a Costco run and picked up some of the non perishables needed for the next two weeks which not only include Christmas and Boxing Day but transfers and arrivers and leavers dinners as well.

This week Australia has been in the news! Monday a gunman took 16 hostages in a chocolate/coffee shop in downtown Sydney, which is in another state, 15 hours away. Sadly, the manager in his early 30s and a 38 year old lawyer/mother of 3 were killed and the gunman was shot by police. He is reported to be a mentally unstable renegade Muslim living in a country that does not allow gun ownership, yet he had a gun.

Wednesday night I had just turned out the light and Lee was already asleep when the phone rang. It was President Carter saying a sister missionary was in the emergency room 40 minutes from our flat with possible appendicitis and could we check it out? We arrived to the hospital at 10:30 and sent the zone leaders home and spent the next 4 hours waiting with a sister who had blood and other lab work done to help diagnose what was causing extreme stomach pain ongoing for the past 5 days. They ruled out several things but recommended that she have further tests through her GP office. We left the hospital and took the two sisters home to their flat and arrived back to our flat at 2:30. That's AM! I'm too old for such late hours and we woke up at regular time the next morning. Uggggghhhhhhh!

Thursday we had a senior missionary lunch at the office to sample the Costco lasagna to determine if we wanted to serve it for the arrivers dinner 31 December. Sister Smith made a salad, and we served it with French bread. The Carters joined us too before arriver's training at 12:30 and most all voted yes on the lasagna. It cost 19.99 for a 9x13 foil pan, which I think is terribly expensive but we surely can't make it for that, and it's less work for the kitchen/office crew.

Lee and I called the Stabler's to drop off a cheese ball for them and couldn't leave without a short visit. They invited us for Christmas Eve with their family for tea and a program and sent us off with gifts.

Friday was hectic. Lots of training, taking notes, etc. I had scheduled my last hair appointment during lunch which wasn't the best timing but necessary. We are completing and assembling for Sister Carter the bundle for each missionary consisting of a new Book of Mormon (Sister Carter has a project for them) the Christmas DVD, the Mormon Messages DVD, the Bible videos DVD, a red stocking filled with candy, highlighter, ZAAM ink pen, and it's all tied together with beautiful ribbon, and a laminated poem tag on each one.

Santa's elves should be working on the bundle making but at the same time we are trying to get through training. Lee and Elder Smith are in and out as usual and the Whites are working with the Grays, and next week President and the assistants will be in the office transfer planning. It's going to be tight to get everything completed on time!

We went to the temple after work. Got home at 7:30.

Friday night I got a text at 9:30 PM from Sammie asking if we were home and awake and could she call us for help. She explained that she had googled and booked 3 days in a vacation home on the Great Ocean Road that she THOUGHT was in Australia, but after reading her contract, we realized it was near Portland Maine. She was hoping that our family (I once mentioned we were from near Portland Oregon) could call the home owner to rectify the situation since he didn't reply to her frantic email.

Sammie noticed that the bank withdrawal to pay the deposit was in USD not AUD which then
caused her to examine the contract more closely. I explained the story and sent her contract to Logan, asking him to call the owner and resolve the sad situation before we even were up the next AM. Remember by the time we arise Friday morning it would already be Thurs afternoon in Utah. I told Sammie the plan and to try not to worry overnight.

Logan called the guy to explain that Sammie, though brilliant, is naive and inexperienced, and deals with the language barrier as well. The owner didn't respond to her email because it was the middle of the night to our evening here in Australia.

Logan said he was pretty nice and even sympathetic to a point. He has a daughter that recently studied abroad and with that in mind, the owner tried to imagine how to best handle the situation and agreed to refund all of the money but a 100.00 cancellation fee IF he could rent it out, but if he couldn't rent it out 24-27 Dec, he would keep the 1/2 she has paid, but wouldn't make her pay the balance, which he could require by contract. Neither got the total they hoped for but it was a good compromise in my mind. Thank you Logan.

Saturday we talked to the family, ran errands, and afterward came home to deep clean the kitchen. I also went to the office long enough to book the ferry for the Kangaroo Island missionaries to travel to Adelaide Monday. Didn't get to clean the fridge or stove but will get to it sometime soon. Lee washed the van in the office car park. I made tacos for dinner and Lee brought ice cream cones from the little place nearby late in the evening. Yum!

Sunday was hot outside! With the air conditioner on in the church building, it gets really chilly, but it's too hot with it off. So it is turned off and on as needed. Talks and lessons were all about the reason for the season, as you would expect.

Brother Clark taught a beautiful gospel essentials lesson, citing scriptures from Luke 2 illustrating examples of family traditions with discussion on how to implement them in our own families....such as focusing on the family, making it simple, spreading the good news, creating miracles for others, taking time to stop and remember, seeking Christ with excitement as the wise men did, and learning to GIVE gifts rather than focusing on receiving gifts. Excellent lesson!

We delivered gifts to Christina and Danny Sunday evening, and happened to find Taylor there as well, so we left their gift too. They were making dumplings for a Chinese group dinner and scripture study class that evening. We are so thankful they have each other for support!