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I have been keeping my eye out for the perfect Postie moment. I have been trying to get pictures of the “Posties”, the men and women…Postie Mail Officers…dressed in neon yellow gear that zip around on three wheeled motorized vehicles delivering mail.

Often, by the time I see a postie, grab my phone and take a picture, they have zipped away, or the picture turns out really blurry. I’m sure they must have posties that walk their route, but so far, we have only seen them riding their three-wheelers.

When we first arrived in Australia, we didn’t know for sure what the yellow garbed, three wheeled people when we would see them from a distance. Finally, one time when we saw one zipping along, we were close enough, Elder Nelson was the first to figure out they must be postal workers delivering mail.

On September 25th, we needed to go to the Bank of Queensland across the street from the mission office. Little did I know that my postie luck was about to change! As we parked and were getting out of the car, Elder Nelson pointed and said, “Look.” I did a small gasp as I hopped out…sitting right there at the end of our car, was a postie three-wheeler!

At that same moment, the postie delivery officer came out of the bank and before she could get on her three wheeler, I yelled “HI” as I hurried up to her with a big smile and told her how I have been trying to snap pictures of posties on their three wheelers to send to my grandchildren…and then went on to explain…because our mail deliverer’s back in the states don’t wear anything as fancy as neon and are often riding in a small jeep-like vehicle. And I added, my grandkiddos would find posties interesting.

I asked if I could take her picture. The very first thing she said in her delightful Auzzie accent, with a big smile, was, “Oh Love, my hair looks’ awful!…but sure, why not!” I told her she looked so cute! While giving her a hug, and laughing together, Elder Nelson snapped our picture. I thanked her, we wished each other a G’day as she hopped on her three-wheeler and off she went waving to us and giving us a thumbs up sign!

What a really fun quick, perfect Postie moment for both of us! In my excitement, I totally forgot to ask her name, darn! But she was utterly sweet, spunky and lovely…especially with her pony-tailed, wind-blown hair…and it was so much fun to laugh and be with her for just a few minutes!

Love, LOVE the wonderful people we are so blessed to meet and briefly touch lives with here in beautiful Australia!

I am beyond grateful for this missionary experience we are having and all the little fun things that come with it!

Elder Nelson and I were excited to go to another event for the Brisbane Festival. This one was called “Afterglow”…an amazing light journey. The Brisbane Festival goes on for the entire month of September and offers all kinds of fun things to do with families or friends.

On September 24th, Elder Nelson and I decided to drive into Brisbane, about 35 minutes away, grab some dinner downtown and then we walked over to the entrance of the Brisbane Botanic Park, to start our fun light journey of Afterglow. Here is what the Internet says about Afterglow…they can say it much better than I can.

Before posting what the Internet has to say about Afterglow, I just want to say we really loved taking our time walking through the beautiful Botanical Gardens and experiencing all the different light and flames journey. It was mesmerizing, very creative and very relaxing. Yes, indeed, we are so happy we got to experience Afterglow! There is just something about dancing flames and lights after dark that is hypnotic and very appealing to everyone. Loved it!  

Internet description:     

Let the fire guide you this September, as the City Botanic Gardens come alive with Afterglow – a breathtaking new after-dark experience that invites you to follow the flame into a world of wonder.

Journey through a glowing dreamscape of fire sculptures, candlelit installation live performances and illumination. Beneath tree canopies and across shimmering waters, the gardens will transform into a living artwork of flame and shadow as night falls and time slows.

Follow the trail through stories whispered in smoke, where every step draws you deeper into a world where light bends through branches, fire pulses in rhythm, and embers flicker.

With ambient soundscapes curated to stir the soul and design-led installations crafted by world-renowned fire artists and local creatives, Afterglow is a slow-burn multisensory journey designed to spark wonder, reflection, and awe.

Whether you’re bringing the family, planning a date night, or seeking a quiet escape, Afterglow is for everyone.

Come for the magic. Stay for the stillness. Leave glowing long after the night ends.

Let the fire guide you this Brisbane Festival as City Botanic Gardens come alive with Afterglow – a breathtaking new after-dark experience that invites you to follow the flame into a world of wonder.

Among the many delights Brisbane Festival is offering, Afterglow should be on your list of must-do experiences. This fire trail in the City Botanic Gardens offers patrons a special multi-sensory experience in which not only fire but striking light installations combine with ambient soundscapes.

The first installation you come to, Ba-nguru Milpa (Spiritual Awakening) is thousands of LEDs and fiery candles that snake along the ground, accompanied by a narration about how fire, smoke, oil and water have always been an intrinsic part of the Indigenous culture. Clapsticks and didgeridoo sounds evoke mystical elements. It’s worth taking your time to relish the sight and inhale the aroma of the fire pits.

Meteor Walk by Steve Holmes, from Filament Creative Studios, leads you along a wooden walkway into an enchanting stroll under dangling pendulums of flashing lights, which evoke other-worldly stalactites.

“Meditative” is definitely an apt description of the whole experience, which feels like a visit to a living outdoor art gallery.

After that you come to Ros-O by TILT – a French artistic studio that focuses on the exploration of light and its interplay with art, architecture and space. This installation has the appearance of clusters of reeds, some up to seven metres high, which pulsate with moving lights, accompanied by soaring sounds and staccato banging, evoking the feeling of watching low-key fireworks (without the high volume). It’s worth sitting on the bench and soaking up the mesmerising beauty and ambience, which complements the surrounding trees of the gardens.

A lantern trail with a difference sees 30 selected Brisbane creators of all ages having their work displayed in the Fire & Flourish Lantern Project. The theme is of the powerful duality of fire, with it being able to destroy but also renew, especially in relation to the cultural and spiritual significance to First Nationals people. Brisbane visual artist Sam Harrison, along with Brisbane Festival, selected the entries that explore subject matter relating to nature, such as the land and the creatures that depend on it for survival. It’s a joy to see such a diverse range of interpretations in this colourful display. At this point in the 1.4km trail you might be tempted to indulge in some marshmallow toasting over fire pits.

From here, you can enjoy the view of an avenue of spectacularly illuminated bamboo creating a natural arch over the next part of the trail.

Towards the end of the enchanting trail is Fire Performance by Flux, a duo who twirl and dance with large flame-lit frames. Performed at 15-minute intervals, the short but impressive piece is set to hypnotic, pulsating music.

September 18, 2025.

On Wednesday, September 17, we got a call asking if there was any way we could pick up a young elder missionary at the Brisbane Airport at 9:30 a.m. Elder Acosta, whose home is Sydney, Australia, is a Visa waiter, who has actually been called to serve in the Tokyo Japan South Mission, but has been sent to Brisbane to wait for his Japanese Visa. Elder Acosta got a message on the 17^th asking if he would please be at the Japanese Consulate the next day at 2:30 p.m. Elder Acosta is serving in an area about 1000 miles north of Brisbane in a small town called Bowen. The Travel Department hurried and got his flights arranged for today. He flew in this morning and then he flew back to Bowen on the 7:30 p.m. flight.      

We said we would be happy to go pick Elder Acosta up from the airport.    

It just happened that our Zone Conference was held on September 18^th, so we did feel really sad to miss that…Zone Conferences are always so wonderful! But! On the flip side, we had a really fun time spending our day with Elder Acosta…he is an awesome young man!

It was easy to find Elder Acosta at the airport since he was the only missionary standing at the Quantas Airlines area. He only had a small shoulder bag, because he flew back to Bowen later tonight.

We decided that it would be fun to ride the City Cat along the river and get off at the Riverside stop, which is a short walk to the skyscraper where the Japanese Consulate is. We took Elder Acosta to lunch downtown to one of his favorite places…”Nandos” and had a great time talking with him.

Elder Acosta told us all about his family and how years ago his family moved to Australia from Argentina. Elder Acosta is smiley, easy to talk with, and very sweet! Something else really fun and amazing that we found out about Elder Acosta while eating lunch is that he LOVES to sing and can play several instruments! It turns out he is a very good singer and has actually made an album of his songs! How cool is that?! Also at lunch, I told Elder Acosta the only Japanese phrase that I know…haha…something I learned at least 45 years ago. It is “Etsu kekkon Sudonu.” I was told many years ago that it means something like, When are we going to have joy in marriage?” or something like that. Laughing, I told Elder Acosta that when we got to the Japanese consulate that maybe I could impress them with my phrase! He laughed really hard and said, “or maybe not!” He was really fun to talk to!

After lunch, we had about an hour until we had to be at the Japanese consulate, so we walked over to nearby mall, went inside and purchased some chocolate lollies (candy) and then Elder Nelson and Elder Acosta hung out at a soft seating area while I went into a clothing store across the aisle and purchased a T-shirt with a strawberry image on the front.

We walked over to the skyscraper and rode the elevator up to the 17^th floor to where the Japanese Consulate was and arrived at 2:00 p.m. They had high security outside of their consulate offices and we showed them our passports/IDs and went through the body scan. Once we were inside the consulate, we sat and waited. Elder Nelson and I had never been in a consulate before. This was a first. About 20 minutes later a very nice lady called Elder Acosta to come to the window. He had to sign some papers and answer some questions and then leave his passport with her. She told him that hopefully he should get his Visa in a week or two. (I did not say my phrase.)

We rode the City Cat back to where we had parked our car, and then listened to Elder Acosta’s music on Spotify as we drove along. We had about two hours before we needed to take Elder Acosta back to the airport, so we went to Elder and Sister Hill’s flat, which is very close to the airport. We had already called the Hills this morning and asked if it was O.K. if we hung out at their flat for a couple of hours and they said yes, of course. Elder Hill got to listen to several of Elder Acosta’s songs and we were all impressed! We told Elder Acosta that he has a lot of talent and he should do music for a career. He said he would love to have a music career after his mission.

(Go to Spotify and listen to Micah Acosta songs! His music is fun, uplifting, upbeat Christian music.)

It was getting dark when we got back to the airport. Elder Acosta, you are so darling! What an honor to get to know you! We really had such a fun time with you today and think you are great, Elder Acosta! We wish you all the very best experiences in Tokyo and hope you will be able to share your music with many others…love you!          

(A long post…probably will be boring to most everyone…haha)

On Sunday, July 13, 2025 we flew to Melbourne. That morning we went to church at 9:00 am to our Forest Lake Ward and got to sit by Elder and Sister Sansom, whom we really love and enjoy! They are serving their mission here in Brisbane as the welfare and self-reliance Senior missionaries. Their home is in the Salt Lake City area. They get to visit different wards in our mission and chose to come to ours that day. Elder Sansom served as a young missionary in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission, just like Duane did! I love when they are together and sit and tell stories of their mission experiences! It was sooo fun to see them that morning at church! We love them!

After Sacrament meeting, Duane and I were all packed and ready to go to the airport. We drove back to the house, loaded up our suitcases and then drove to Elder and Sister Hill’s home, which is near the airport. Elder and Sister Hill said they would be happy to drop us and the Keil’s off at the airport. We loaded all of our luggage into the Hill’s van and off we went to the airport. We thanked them profusely for taking us to the airport! We were standing in the line, making our way to the check in counter, when I discovered I had left my purse in the Hill’s van…in the very back seat. Dang! I hurried and called Sister Hill and told her about my purse in their van…and told her I was so sorry! She said don’t you worry and she would have Elder Hill bring it quickly back to me! We were almost to the check in counter when I called the Hill’s. We all checked our luggage into the Virgin Australia counter and then waited about 12 to 15 minutes for Elder Hill to return with my purse. Elder Hill is such a great guy! I thanked him profusely when we saw him hurrying toward us from the parking area of the Brisbane Airport. I even gave him my coveted package of double coat chocolate “Tim Tam’s”…the only thing I had with me…my way of trying to say thank-you to him!

Our flight to Melbourne was almost three hours and we landed at about 5:45 pm. It was already dark when we landed…and it was very chilly, which we had expected, since they are colder than Brisbane in the wintertime…which July is winter for them.

Elder and Sister Keil rented a car and so did we. As we drove to our hotel, a section of their motorway had really cool, curved blue and purple lights over the lanes of traffic.

Peter Howell, who is the director of Family Services for Victoria and South Australia, had made our hotel reservations at the Novotel Glen Waverly Hotel…a very nice hotel…which was close to the Melbourne Mission office and Melbourne Temple. Thank you so much Peter! We love Peter…he is such a great guy…so very kind, patient and genuine!

I was excited for Monday, the 14th, because we got to see President and Sister Anderson again! They are the brand new mission leaders for Melbourne and are from St. George, Utah. Elder Nelson and I got to meet the Anderson’s while they were still in St. George, back in March when our son Logan moved to St. George. The Anderson’s are awesome and we love them!

We had a very good meeting with them Monday at 9:00 am. Sister Keil was able to spend about an hour telling / training them about the new Emotional Literacy program that Sydney and Perth are already doing in their missions.

Monday afternoon, we left at 2:00 p.m. so that we drove with the Keil’s one hour and forty minutes to Philip Island, which is a gorgeous little, resort island. Peter Howell had purchased tickets for all of us to go to the penguin parade that night once the sun went down. We were all excited to go watch the penguins surf in from the ocean! Peter told us that once we get on the island to first go to the most southern part of the island, to a place called “The Nobbies.”

The Nobbies is known for its huge rock formations and breathtaking coastal views of Bass Strait. There is a wooden boardwalk that winds along for about 30 minutes, providing amazing views of the waves crashing, the seals sunning and of the mesmerizing Blow Hole, a sea cave that pumps dramatic, powerful waves in and then pounds the water back out of the cave! We stood transfixed at the Blow Hole watching the crashing waves being sucked in and out. We were just glued to the spot and enjoyed watching the power of the moment in front of us! We felt so blessed to be there walking along the boardwalk and seeing all the spectacular beauty around us! Duane and I kept saying, “we can’t believe we are here!”
We walked the boardwalk with the Keil’s back to our car and then drove over to the Philip Island Nature Park where we got to be part of the Penguin Parade!

Elder Nelson, the Keil’s and I met Peter Howell and Elder and Sister May at the Penguin Center. The Mays are from Twin Falls, Idaho and Elder May is serving as the Melbourne Mission Health Adviser. We love the Mays and were so happy to be with them for the parade and for some of the rest of the week. Such great people we are getting to know!

Oh! My! Word! What a magical experience…we LOVED it! Every night at sunset, the smallest penguins in the world, Fairy Penguins, come surfing onto shore and waddle quickly inland to their burrows, where their babies are waiting to be fed. This is such a magical, fun, cute experience and we again feel so very blessed to have had this experience!! Once the sun sets, the nature park does not allow any photography AT ALL! They are very strict about this and ask that all cell phones be completely put away. Even when a few people tried to be sneaky and sneak their phones and try to snap a picture, the rangers were right there to enforce no photography. They did say that there are pictures inside the Penguin Center that were free and we could use the QR code inside the center and scan the photo’s for free, which we did. I also looked online to see any pictures that others may have posted and there are a few plus several fun video’s on YouTube.

We sat on the cement bleachers as it got darker, listening to the waves hitting the beach. Such a calm, peaceful moment! Soon the sun was down…about 6:31. The dark orange lights behind the bleachers came on and soon the Fairy Penguins started surfing in. The park rangers told us ahead of time to sit very quietly and not make any noise so we didn’t scare the penguins. Everyone sat there just soaking in the magical moment, watching the little penguins with full belly’s waddle towards us! I loved how everyone had a smile on their face as they sat and watched. I wish Pres. And Sister Anderson had been there with us. They wanted to be but couldn’t tonight. Such a wonderful experience! I really loved it! I couldn’t thank Peter enough for purchasing the tickets for us! We walked along the wooden, dimly lit boardwalk back up to the center. As we walked, we could hear the penguin babies making their noises. We said our goodbyes to the Mays and to Peter, ate dinner with the Keil’s at the Penguin center…loved my unique can of water I ordered for dinner. After dinner, Duane drove us the long way back to our hotel.

Tuesday, July 15th, we were up early, ate breakfast at a fun café near the hotel and then drove to the mission office where a chapel is…about ten minutes from our hotel. We went to a Zone conference, to be with some of their missionaries and to hear the Anderson’s teach. They did a great job teaching their Zone. I wish I had had my notebook with me so I could have taken notes. So mental note…try to bring my notebook with me each time!

We got to meet Elder Wi Repa, whose parents are serving as mission leaders in Perth right now. It was so much fun to meet him! The Anderson’s left right after Zone Conference and flew to Tasmania to have a Zone Conference down there. We saw them again when they flew back.

After Zone Conference, Duane and I had an appointment at the Apple store in the Chadstone Mall to get my phone looked at. My phone, which I got brand new at Christmas, has been getting quite hot whenever I barely use it and the battery drains rapidly. We were in the Apple Store for over an hour as they tried to figure out what is going on. The Chadstone Mall is HUGE! I mean really HUGE and seems like a very upscale mall. I could have walked around for hours and just let myself get lost for awhile, but didn’t.

Wednesday, July 16th, was wide open to do what we wanted. Elder Nelson and I drove into downtown Melbourne to ride the city tour bus we had reservations for. As we drove, we both noticed an exit for “Batman Avenue.”

We had a VERY funny thing happen to us. Duane had made reservations and had prepaid for the two of us to take a hop on hop off sight-seeing bus around downtown Melbourne. We got up, grabbed some breakfast and then drove to downtown Melbourne and parked in their downtown parking garage.

As we came out of the parking garage, we saw our Hop on hop off bus just pulling up at the stop a few feet away. We quickly walked up to the bus and the nice driver flung open the doors and asked if we were the Nelson’s? We said yes. We noticed the bus was completely empty. He then explained that the bus company was a brand new start up that was not yet officially licensed to operate. He said that their website was not supposed to take reservations but had somehow taken ours. Their company decided not to disappoint us, so they sent our driver, Brian, with one of their brand-new buses and he arrived at the bus stop we had indicated we would be at, just as we walked up, so he could give us our very own private tour! We were both really surprised and started laughing! Our driver said that he usually only does the driving, not the commentary. He got on his phone to try to get someone to come join us to give a commentary as we drove along, but he couldn’t find anyone available. Brian, laughing and smiling really big, told us, “Well, I guess you’re stuck with me.” He then said to go ahead and sit up top in the front, which we did. Off we went for the next two hours on a private tour and enjoyed the most hilarious commentary we have EVER heard!

Brian drove us around and we LOVED listening to him speak in his wonderful Australian tongue! We loved being about to sit back, relax and enjoy the beautiful city of Melbourne! We loved seeing their parks, buildings, China Town, the neighborhoods and so many other things! What a delight!

Brian drove us past the Anglican Cathedral and told us that there had recently been a scandal with some skateboarders. He drove us through a very rich, posh neighborhood, where the homes start at almost 2 million and said if you have money you can live here, but if you’re like the majority of us poor blokes, you’ll never get near these homes. Sometimes Brian would totally forget what he was saying and would tell us, “I’m having a brain fade.”
Brian drove us by the Museum of Contemporary Art and told us how boring the outside of the building was. Brian told us about their parks and as we passed by one park, we passed some joggers. He then said how they have joggers…if you are not normal like the rest of us and are into that sort of thing.

Brian drove us past the old Young and Jackson Hotel heritage listed landmark and said, “This hotel here is where every young bloke that turns 18 goes for a rite of passage…to see Chloe! He then asked, who is Chloe you may be askin, well she is the pretty young thing that was painted nude on the wall in 1909. Every young bloke comes to see her…and you may be wondering did I? oh, yes I did make my way to see Chloe!”

Brian told us the long story of how in 1932 the Australians were furious at the Americans! He went on to tell us why. The famous big red Australian racehorse, the mighty “Phar Lap” the world’s greatest racehorse at that time, a gorgeous beast, perfectly healthy and strong, who was predicted to be the greatest money maker of all time, was shipped to America, to California, to race against our best horses…and somehow mysteriously died. When word of Phar Lap’s sudden death reached Australia, it spread like wildfire and Australians were furious at Americans and accused the Chicago mob of having a part in Phar’s death! Many believed Phar Lap had been deliberately poisoned. Brian told us they shipped Phar Lap back home to Australia, still furious at Americans, and eventually pulled out a tail hair from Phar Lap’s tail. After some testing and further investigating, Brian said it looks like the stable boy unintentionally gave Phar Lap a large dose tonic or feed made up of arsenic, cocaine and strychnine. Duane and I had never heard of Phar Lap, but now we know so much more about him.

Another thing Brian told us was, as we passed by the beautiful old, Catholic Church, he said, “Here is the oldest Catholic Church in Victoria. I don’t know if you are Catholic or not, but my sister is and I went to my nephew’s confirmation. A Catholic’s hell must be sitting on those hard benches for more than two hours. I could hardly get up afterwards.” Then Brian had a good laugh at his bench memory.

Brian had us gut laughing up top in our “private seats!” We could hear him but he couldn’t hear us laughing. So funny! For two hours he had us laughing and I know he wasn’t trying to, he was just talking like he would with a bunch of his best blokes! I wish we had recorded him for the entire two hours, but we didn’t. As we drove along, people would wave to us as they saw we were the only ones on the bus! We LOVED every minute of it! At the end of two hours, we thanked Brian for giving us a WONDERFUL tour and we slipped him a nice tip…even though tipping isn’t done down here in Australia. We really loved our private bus tour with Brian! We drove over to the famous Lygon Street and ate a delicious pizza place.

Thursday, the 17th, we grabbed a quick breakfast at McDonalds and then drove about 40 minutes southwest to a chapel in Werribee, so we could attend a second Zone Conference, which was just as amazing as the first one two days earlier. We had to leave the Zone Conference for about an hour to be a part of a Zoom Meeting. We were able to rejoin their Zone Conference right before lunch. We got to visit more with Pres. And Sister Anderson and again, they are wonderful! We also got to visit more missionaries, who are so fun to be with. After lunch, Elder Nelson and I helped clean up, take down tables and sweep the floor and help in the kitchen.

We drove back toward our hotel in Glen Waverly. Elder Nelson needed to go visit a few hospitals and clinics, which he enjoyed. Elder Nelson had a lot of calls and Zoom meetings with the Dones from the Sydney Mission with some things needing attention there. Elder Nelson also got a phone call needing to help the new mission leader on the Marshal Islands. Later that night we went to the Melbourne Temple and loved it. On the inside, it looks almost exactly like the Brisbane Temple.

Friday the 18th, we had enough time this morning to go to the hotel swimming pool and get some exercise in. I took my Ipad to the pool and did my morning routine exercise “30 minute power walking / marching / kicking / sliding routine” in the water. We both usually do this exercise routine in the hotel room or back home in the living room, Haha.

Elder Nelson had more Zoom meetings and more phone calls that kept him busy for about two hours. Afterwards, we drove into downtown Melbourne with our friends, Elder and Sister Keil and had a really fun time with them. Sister Keil and Elder Nelson had another Zoom meeting with the Sydney mission leader about something going on in the Sydney Mission, so Elder Keil and I just sat on a nearby bench and waited for them to finish.

Around 1:00 pm, we drove over to the Melbourne “Queen Victoria Market” and had fun walking around looking at what seemed endless booths stretching in every direction. There were dozens and dozens of food choices and we each grabbed lunch. After eating, we were just starting to do a little shopping, when we saw many people taking down their booths. We didn’t realize that the market closed at 3:00 p.m. Darn! I wanted to look for some little souvenirs for my grandkiddos. Elder and Sister Keil purchased a couple of things, which was fun.

We left Victoria’s Market and Duane drove us around downtown some more and then back to our hotel so that we could grab some dinner from one of the many choices around where we were staying. Elder Nelson and I ate dinner at a very crowded Thai place around the corner from the Novotel Glen Waverly Hotel.

We received some good news! Pres. And Sister Young Yen, the new mission leaders for the Lae Mission, FINALLY received their Visa’s and were able to arrive just after midnight to the Lae Mission! Pres. And Sister Hosea finished serving three, actually I think four weeks earlier, toward the end of June, which left the missionaries without a mission leader until today.

Saturday, July 19th, we had paid for a 13-hour Greyhound bus tour to drive us to see “The Twelve Apostles” (about 120 miles from Melbourne) and to drive along the Great Ocean Road. Elder and Sister Keil decided to join us on this tour. We had to meet our bus at 6:30 am in downtown Melbourne. We were there about 20 minutes early. Soon our bus arrived and we got to meet David, our driver and tour guide. It was a long drive to get out to see “The Apostles” but I really enjoyed the drive and being able to see the beautiful countryside of Melbourne. We made several stops along our drive so we could get out and explore for a few minutes.

At one stop, we walked along a cement pathway at Loch Ard Gorge and saw stunning shear limestone cliffs and turquoise blue water coves. It was gorgeous! The Twelve Apostles are part of Port Campbell National Park.
We LOVED the drive through gorgeous, green Victoria countryside…lots of rolling hills and, trees, kangaroos and sheep. We pulled off the road at one point and walked down a dirt road with trees and meadows. David wanted to show us three Koala’s that were up in the trees. We loved the “The Twelve Apostle.” After walking down to the amazing lookout area to see the Twelve Apostles, and coastline, which we LOVED, we then drove to a resort town, Apollo Bay, for lunch. We all had fish and chips, except for Elder Keil who was having a really difficult time getting sick from driving so much. Poor guy! Not a fun time for him.

After lunch, we drove along the Great Ocean Road and couldn’t believe the stunning coastal views, sheer cliffs and turquoise water! At one point it started raining slightly, and rainbows followed us along the coastal highway. It was so pretty! Our last stop was to hike up to Split Point Lighthouse, set in a beautiful setting against the cliffs and ocean below.
It was a long day, but oh so worth it! We arrived back in downtown Melbourne around 8:15 pm and then drove to Glen Waverly. Glad we got to do this adventure with the Keil’s and make a fun memory together.

Sunday, July 20th, we were up early, packed our suitcases, checked out of the Novotel Glen Waverly and grabbed some McDonalds for breakfast. Elder Nelson and I had the morning free before we needed to fly back to Brisbane. We chose to go to the 9:00a. sacrament meeting at the chapel in the mission office area. We didn’t realize it, but it was Pres. And Sister Anderson’s ward. We got to see them briefly and visit for about 15 minutes. They said they would love to have us come back to Melbourne, maybe in January, so we can go to Tasmania. We told them we would love to come back and will look forward to it! We love the Anderson’s!

Before we took off for the airport, we stopped and got pictures in front of the Melbourne Temple.

We made our way to the airport and then flew back to our home base, Brisbane leaving around 3:30 pm. The Keil’s flew home early this morning. Elder and Sister Hill were kind enough to come pick us up at the airport. We love them!

We LOVED Melbourne and feel incredibly blessed to have the service opportunity that we do…to serve our Savior, to help where-ever we can and to be meeting so many wonderful, delightful people…like the Andersons, Peter Howell, the Mays and the Keils. What a blessing! And of course, I am grateful for our pizza waiter that we met that day on Lygon Street who stood and visited with us, made us laugh several times and then took us on a private tour of the very old section of the building where their pizza joint was located…it felt like stepping back in time. He was so fun! And I am so very grateful for Brian who was utterly delightful and brought us joy on our bus tour! What a great memory to take home with us!

I can’t seem to find all the words I want to use in order to express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father and our Savior for all the blessings and tender mercies they give to us daily to enrich our lives and to help, lift, comfort and guide us. I am so deeply grateful to them for bringing all the amazing people that have come into our lives over the years and for the friendships we have made…and are still continuing to make…especially here in Australia and Papua New Guinea!

We feel so grateful for this wonderful world we get to live in and all of it’s unique, stunning beauty, majesty and charm!

Many of you have asked what the house is like that we are living in. We live in a nice area called Forest Lake, a suburb 35 to 45 minutes (depending on traffic) southwest from downtown Brisbane. About two or three minutes from our house is the beautiful Forest Lake, which has a shaded covered concrete courtyard, benches, bridges, lookout areas, a dragon fountain and tons of beautiful trees, shrubs and flowers.

The lake attracts lots of families…has a play ground for children…also attracts friendly people…many from all over the world and many of them walking their dogs. As we walk around the lake, Elder Nelson and I have talked with quite a few people. They are so fun to talk to! We love to hear their accents and talk with them about their cute dogs. We have met “Oliver” an adorable little brown dog with a fan tail and “Winston” a fluffy white dog, who was enjoying his afternoon in a doggie stroller, covered in a soft blanket.

We love to walk around Forest Lake several times a week to get some exercise and soak up the sun. It is a relaxing walk and as we walk, we can watch the pelicans and black swans swimming around and also enjoy lots of different variety of birds that are often noisy.

Side Note: So many of the Brisbane suburbs are so pretty! We love driving around and exploring! Some of the suburbs have really fun names like “Indooroopilly,” “Sinnamon Park,” “Kangaroo Point” (where the Brisbane Temple is located) or “Woolloongabba,’ which are remembering and honoring their Indigenous ! Oh! I want to mention, that not far from Forest Lake, maybe ten or fifteen minutes, is the Mount Gravatt Lookout that has a breathtaking view of Brisbane!

Our Forest Lake house is located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac on Stanford Place. We are not sure when the house was built, my guess would possibly be the mid 1970’s or so. The high school football rugby / field is right next to the curve of the cul-de-sac. Like I said, it is quiet and not a lot of traffic. Actually, I should mention, we do have noise…we enjoy very noisy, loud birds that love to sing, chirp and whistle…all day long!

The house has a nice front and back yard with several tropical palm trees out front. It also has a two-car garage with a curved driveway.

We have tried to make the house more homey by purchasing a small white Christus, two Ikea chairs that bounce, a futon couch, two posters, a new picture of our Savior smiling and we now have a large family picture displayed. We also purchased new duvet bedding and sheets for the master bedroom and new duvet bedding and sheets for the other bedroom that has a queen size bed in it. It is feeling much more like home and we feel so, so very grateful to be here!

When we first moved in the house on June 6th, the kitchen ceiling had a large mold spot, but Elder Nelson was able to get it cleaned up.

After three months of being here, the owner was kind enough to replace the old stovetop that was leaking gas, plus some of the back burners would turn on when the front burner was used and then wouldn’t turn off when the front burner was turned off. So last week, we got the new stovetop installed and it is so nice to have! The extra bathroom “smelly” issue coming from the drain in the floor has now been taken care of by a plumber, so YES, it is now feeling more homey…and again, we are grateful to live in a nice, beautiful suburb of Brisbane!

The furnished house has four bedrooms…a Master bedroom, a second bedroom with twin beds, a back bedroom with a Queen bed and a very small bedroom that has no beds and is only used for storage. The master bedroom has windows covering one wall that allows a view of the front yard. Each window has a hand crank system that lowers or raises a metal blind on the outside of the house for privacy. The house also has a family room (with a flat screen TV) off the kitchen, an office area and a covered patio. There is a second bath with a mini tub plus a shower…and the toilet is on the other side of the wall next to the laundry room.

We have a washer inside the house and the dryer is outside the house on the patio. We have a dishwasher but instead of using it, we hand wash our dishes. We also have two refrigerators, which we love and they come in handy all the time.

We are fully stocked with kitchen towels, bath towels, pots, pans, bakeware, silverware, knives, mixing bowls, plates, cereal bowls, large drink glasses and small juice glasses, tons of small appliances like an air fryer, rice cooker, toaster, hand mixer and we purchased a new blender.

We absolutely LOVE Brisbane…it is a stunning city! And we also absolutely LOVE Australia! Such a beautiful country with gorgeous beaches, cities and countryside! We feel so incredibly blessed to be here! We express our gratitude every day to our Heavenly Father and our Savior that we are here serving, working hard and enjoying this beautiful part of the world!

The Brisbane mission has Transfers every six…and on occasion, around Christmas, seven weeks, always on a Monday morning. A Transfer is when missionaries receive notice on Saturday night that they may possibly be moving to a new flat, a new city, the same city but a new District and possibly be given a new companion to work with.

Transfers are often exciting, nerve racking and a lot of work for those missionaries who are moving. Transfers are a time to gather, to see lots of friends, hugs, excitement and meet new people. And yes, it’s common to be nervous around Transfer time. Our Transfers take place in the underground parking lot underneath the Brisbane Temple located at Kangaroo Point.

In fact, we had a Transfer this morning, August 31, 2025. Elder Nelson and I were up early to help with picking up missionaries and helping transport their suitcases. Out of our District of twelve missionaries, half of them were transferred. It was very hard to see so many of our wonderful District move on to another area. Elder Nelson and I just LOVE them and we have grown with them and have shared so many wonderful, fun experiences together. They will most certainly be missed! But the amazing thing that happens, as soon as we meet our six new missionaries, we love them also!

This morning, at 7:45, we picked up Elder Brady (from Georgia) and Elder West (from Utah) and drove to another flat, picked up more luggage plus a guitar, and then drove 45 minutes to the Brisbane Temple. We had our little white car loaded down, haha.

We gather at the temple parking lot at 9:00 am for about two hours. It is just as fun for us Senior missionaries to see many of the young missionaries, who were once in our District and to visit with them for a few minutes. It is so fun to watch the young missionaries interact with each during these two hours…the Elders ran up to each other and hug, laugh, take pictures and get caught up with friends…the young Sisters do the same hug, laugh, take pictures and get caught up! It is such a fun, joyful experience to watch!

**Trigger Warning**

Unsettling photos ahead!

Proceed with caution!

Elder Nelson fell down some steep stairs on June 28, 2025! It was a Saturday morning and we had five flat inspections to do for our young missionaries. We were out early to visit the first flat of Sister Tauiliili and Sister Connelly. They are our awesome STL’s and their flat was perfect.

We had a nice quick visit with them, had said our goodbyes and as we were leaving, Elder Nelson was walking down the rounded steep stairs and his foot slipped off a stair and he pitched forward, falling into the wall in front of him, hitting his head really hard and bending his neck at an weird awkward angle. He then kept falling down the curve of the stairs, hitting his head a 2nd time on the next wall.

In the process of falling down the stairs headfirst, he bent his left pinkie finger out to an awkward 90-degree angle. When he finally stopped falling, his head was pointing downward and his feet up in the air. Elder Nelson immediately saw that his pinkie was bent outward/sideways and grabbed it. He tried to move / push his pinkie back into place…and moved it by about on inch…but stopped because he suddenly had the thought, “what if I have broken it? By trying to move it on my own, I could end up causing a lot of problems.”

I made my way down the stairs to try to help Elder Nelson sit up. The stairs were narrow and so it was quite the process to get his head up, his legs turned going back down and him sitting up! Our sweet young sister missionaries wanted to help in any way they could, but because the stairs were narrow, there wasn’t enough room for them on the stairs.

We all stared at Elder Nelson’s awkwardly bent pinkie and he said he needed to have it seen. Once we were in our car, we called Sister Hancock, our Mission Health Adviser, to ask if she knew of a nearby clinic open on a Saturday. Sister Hancock said there were no clinic’s open on Saturday and to just go the nearest ER.

The nearest hospital was in Ipswich and so off we went. I felt really bad because I can’t drive in Australia yet, so Elder Nelson had to drive himself. At one point while driving, he bumped his bent pinkie and clenched his teeth in pain. (My first thought was, “oh please don’t pass out!”)

The first hospital we went to was Ipswich General Hospital. I think it is a government run hospital. While Duane was checking in at the window of the very crowded waiting room, he handed the attendant his Aetna Insurance card. As soon as the clerk saw his private insurance card, he leaned forward and in a very nice, encouraging way said, “With your insurance, you would be better off and would wait a lot less time if you went to the private hospital two blocks away from us.” We thanked him and off we walked the two blocks to St. Andrews Private Hospital.

St. Andrews waiting room was basically empty. We were welcomed right in, and they were awesome with us! All the staff…those that checked us in plus the nurses and doctors, treated us with wonderful care! They loved talking with us just so they could listen to our “accent”, haha.

After X-rays and a head CT, we found that Elder Nelson’s pinkie was not broken, just dislocated. Other than bruising and being really sore and tender, his neck and head were fine as well! Yay!

After some laughing gas, the doctor popped Elder Nelson’s pinkie back into place and then taped the pinkie to his ring finger for support. (Elder Nelson actually kept his pinkie taped to his ring finger for the next five to six weeks.) We thanked everyone for all their great care and kindness to us, and we walked back to our car, still parked at the other hospital.

What was the first thing Elder Nelson wanted to do as we got back to our car? He wanted to finish the four flat inspections, which we hadn’t gotten to yet. As we drove to the closest flat, our brand-new mission president, President Gomez, called. He had heard that Elder Nelson had fallen down some stairs and had gone to the hospital. Pres. Gomez just wanted to call and see if he was O.K. and if there was anything he could do to help. Isn’t that thoughtful and sweet? President Gomez is amazing! So is Sister Gomez!

Elder Nelson has since mentioned that this fall down the stairs was all part of an intentional plan to get a “first hand” patient’s perspective of the Australian emergency medical system, all part of doing his job and not at all related to being clumsy! He also mentioned he would never have fallen if the young sisters hadn’t polished their wood stairs so well! Haha!

My birthday was sooo very fun and will be one that I will always fondly remember! Duane’s birthday treat to me was to take me to swim / snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef!

Elder Nelson made all the arrangements, booked a resort to stay at about four and a half hours north of Brisbane in a darling resort town called Bargara, on the edge of a town called Bundaberg. Bundaberg is home to a bottler of ginger beer and other soft drinks. Elder Nelson chose to take me to that area because right off the coast is the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef! We spent Saturday, Sunday, and Monday having a great time. Our resort was right on the beach and our room had an ocean view. Sooo cool!

We arrived around 3:00 pm on Saturday, checked in and once we were settled, we decided to walk along the beach and watched the sunset.

As we walked along, we noticed hundreds of intricate, unique patterns in the sand, which we thought had to be made from crabs. Elder Nelson actually googled it and found that these very cool patterns were made by crabs called “Sand Bubbler Crabs.” (It said these crabs create intricate, radiating patterns on the beach by feeding on microscopic organisms in the sand. They sift through the sand, eat the nutrients and then discard the waste sand in the form of tiny balls, arranging them in distinctive patterns around their burrows. These patterns are a testament to the crab’s feeding activity and can be quite fascinating to observe.) And yes, it was very intriguing to walk along and see hundreds of these sand ball designs everywhere covering the beach! I don’t recall ever seeing anything like these sand ball designs before our walk that night. On Sunday afternoon, when we spent the afternoon on the beach in lounge chairs, we saw more sand ball designs. No two designs are ever the same! These designs are amazing to walk along the beach and look at!

As we walked along, we also came upon these words that someone had spelled in the sand, “Jesus Loves You.”

Sunday, we went to church, and I got to meet a wonderful lady named Sister Greville. She has a granddaughter the same age as my granddaughter Elouise, and as we talked with each other, we started thinking of how much fun it would be for our two granddaughters to be pen pals! We exchanged pictures, addresses and information about our granddaughters and we are now hoping these two cute girls will have a fun time receiving letters from each other!

On Monday, July 28th, we had to be up early and out the door by 6:00 a.m. so we could be at the marina at 6:30 a.m. to catch our 7:00 a.m. chartered boat tour to “Lady Musgrave Island.” The boat tour also included snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. That morning, right as we left our room, the sun was rising and it was very beautiful, full of red, orange, pink and purple colors. The sun rise followed us along the coastal highway that we were on, lit our car up with colors and oh, my, it took our breath away! As we drove along, Duane and I kept commenting on how gorgeous the sunrise was and what amazing things the Lord has given us to thrill us and bring us joy…especially when we take the time to notice, appreciate and accept His gift of daily miraculous creation and joy!

Through that day on our boat and on the Great Barrier Reef, both Duane and I were just amazed we were actually there having that experience! Everything about that day was awesome and so very pleasant! The chartered boat was huge and very comfortable! The seats were soft and reclining. The tour provided lunch and several snacks for us. They told us that during the summer months, their boat takes around 200 people out to Lady Musgrave Island to snorkel. On our tour we had about 30 people.

The day out to Lady Musgrave Island was sunny, clear blue skies and just perfect! It was a two-hour boat ride to get to the island. The ocean was calm. The people who worked on the boat mentioned several times that it was a great day to snorkel and look at coral, fish, and turtles. On our way out to the island, we saw whales breaching…sooo amazing… and dolphins leaping in the air. So very cool!

When we got to the island, we secured our tour boat to a pontoon boat. Once we were on the pontoon boat, they then loaded all of us onto a glass bottom boat and we sailed around the small coral island looking at turtles, coral and fish. It was so much fun!

The glass bottom boat anchored off Lady Musgrave Island and we waded in the ocean to walk onto the island. Our island guide was Bella, a Marine Biologist, who was very nice. She took us on a 45 minute walk around the entire island, telling us all kinds of fun facts like how the huge tree roots have grown down and hooked themselves onto the coral below and over thousands of years, created this little island we were on! Wow! The island was beautiful but the color of the ocean water was a spectacular light turquoise blue! I kept saying to Duane that I couldn’t believe that we were there having a great time on the Great Barrier Reef!

After our walk around the island, we got back in the glass bottom boat and went back to the pontoon boat. We got in our swimsuits, got on our snorkel gear and flippers, for it was now time to snorkel! The water was very cold, but Elder Nelson didn’t seem to mind it as much. I had my flippers, mask, and snorkel tube on and stepped on the first step down in the water and stopped. To me, it was freezing, since it was July, which is wintertime for this time of year. Duane kept signalling me to get all the way in the water, but I kept shaking my head no. I stood in the water up to my knees and was shivering. I finally took another step down onto the next step and stood there. Again, he waved me to come in. With my snorkel in my mouth, I shook my head no again. I went to step down on the next step down, and somehow in the process, my flipper somewhat slipped and suddenly I was all the way in! Yes! Oh yes, it was freezing, but after a few shocking moments of swimming around, it felt a tad bit warmer to me. It was amazing and peaceful swimming and snorkelling around and just enjoying the moment. It was very fun and relaxing. Both Duane and I loved it! So beautiful out there!

They gave us two hours to swim and snorkel, which was awesome! The two hours passed quickly and soon it was 3:00 pm and was time to leave, get back on our tour boat and make our way the two hours back to the Bargara shore. It was sad to have this beautiful, perfect day end! If the water had been about 15 or maybe 20 degrees warmer, that would have made it truly a perfect day! Duane and I purchased T-shirts on our tour boat to remind us of this great experience!

Tuesday, we got up, packed, and drove the four and half hours back home to Brisbane. As we drove we passed a hill that had about 13 kangaroo’s sitting on the hill. How fun to take these incredible memories home with us!

Thank you so very much Duane for an amazing birthday gift!

I REALLY LOVED MY WEEKEND SO MUCH!

WEDNESDAY…

Wednesday was my actual birthday.

I received so many birthday wishes from my children, grandchildren and other family members. It was so sweet for me to read their kind expressions of love! My mom called and that was so fun to visit with her!

When Amy Facetimed, she had Olive and Elsie show me the birthday cards they made for me…absolutely adorable! Love how they made my cards special just for me! Elsie’s card made me cry my heart out! I will post it here…so very tender and from her heart!

I am so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful, amazing family! So grateful that they are mine forever! LOVE my children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, Duane’s wonderful family, and all our extended family! I also received a lot of texts and Facebook posts from dear friends and our sweet, wonderful missionaries! How did I ever get to be so blessed and so loved?!

Right after I Facetimed with Amy and her kiddos, President and Sister Gomez called me and sang the “Birthday Song” to me over the phone and then spent several minutes wishing me a wonderful day! I thanked them several times and told them how much that meant to me! It really did mean so much to me that they would take the time to call me…let alone even remember that today was my birthday! They are so very awesome and Duane and I LOVE them so very much! How very grateful we are that we get to serve with them for the next sixteen months! I know without a doubt that we are supposed to have our mission journey together with them! Love, Love the Gomez’s!!

Duane and I had a flat inspection of the house we are living in. The lady came at 10:15 am and was very nice. We talked about the gas stove top that needs to be replaced. She said the owners were aware that the stove / burners is not working. We always keep the gas turned off until we want to use the stove, then Duane reaches down under it and turns the gas back on. After we are finished cooking, he turns that gas back off. We also showed her the bathroom in the hallway and how it has a really bad smell in it. We told her how Duane had purchased a drain / pipe cleaner from Bunnings, and it helped for about four days and then the stink returned. When she opened the door, she grimaced and quickly closed the door and said they would try to get someone out to help us with that smell problem. We had a nice visit and then she left.

Elder Nelson had some emails to return and paperwork to complete and also phone calls to make. He finished all his work around 2:00 p.m. and then surprised me with more birthday surprises. He said he wanted to take me out to dinner for my birthday and had made reservations at a water front French restaurant called “La Vue” which is in downtown Brisbane, right on the Brisbane River. The restaurant has an amazing view of the Brisbane River, the Story Bridge and of pedestrians walking along the riverside sidewalk. I was so excited to go to dinner downtown along the Brisbane river! We changed our clothes and then drove over to the Guyatt Park station where we caught the City Cat. As I have mentioned before, it is only .50 cents for each person to ride the City Cat in one direction and then another .50 cents to ride it back. It was so much fun floating down the river and taking in the beautiful downtown Brisbane scene once again!

We got off the City Cat at the Riverside stop and walked the short distance to the “La Vue” restaurant. They opened their doors at 5:00 pm, so we sat on a park bench and waited for about ten minutes. Our reservation was for 5:00 p.m. Anything later was already reserved for that night.

The restaurant was wonderful! They seated us at a large window location with a view of the Story Bridge right in front of us with nothing blocking our view! On our table was a card wishing me a happy birthday!

Not long after we were seated, the sun set and it was stunning to sit and watch the sun go down and watch the gorgeous lights of the city come on in bright whites and colors, bringing the city to life! The Story Bridge was so very pretty! We held hands…so romantic…as we sat and watched cars drive across the Story Bridge and families and pedestrians walk on the sidewalk in front of us.

I ordered Beef Filet and Duane ordered Pork Medallions. Both entrees were excellent. When they brought my dessert out to me, it had a lit sparkler, which brought a LOT of smiles and joy to me! So very sweet of them! There was also a rectangle piece of chocolate with gold lettering on the chocolate that said “Happy Birthday!” I looked at Duane and told him how much I love him…and how much tonight and the past weekend meant to me! He is such a gift to me! LOVE my handsome guy!

Wow! Oh wow!

We walked back to the City Cat holding hands and continued to hold hands as we floated down the river.

We had only been home about ten minutes when four of our wonderful young Elders came to our house with a birthday cake and “Double Coat Chocolate Tim Tam’s”…my favorite!

I LOVE those Elders! They are awesome! So fun and thoughtful of them to come by!

Thank you so much to everyone who made my birthday incredible! I will never forget it…ever!

Such. a. wonderful. night!

Such. a. wonderful. day!

Such. a. wonderful. weekend!

Several have asked what our typical week is like. In short, we don’t have a “typical week”! Every day and every week is so very different and we have learned we need to be very “fluid” because things suddenly come up and change…constantly! Elder Nelson laughs and has mentioned about a saying he learned while serving in the US Navy…”Be fluid…flexible is too rigid!” But we can honestly say, we LOVE, LOVE all the amazing things that keep us busy each day!

What has been fun is that we get to serve others in lots of different ways and almost every day we seem to stay busy with lots of different things!

One consistent part of Elder Nelson’s primary responsibilities is to review missionary applications from prospective missionaries from Australia and Papua New Guinea, young men and young women who are wanting to serve either full-time missions or service missions. Elder Nelson reviews their medical history, summarizes it, and then types up his recommendations. I get to help him with this process, and I enjoy it! It takes about 45 minutes to an hour for each missionary application, and he receives anywhere from one to five (or more) applications per day.

Starting on Monday, August 11th, we are going to be trained in an eight-lesson mental health/emotional literacy course over the next eight weeks. Once we are trained, we will then teach this course to our missionaries in two nearby zones in a group setting in their weekly District Council Meetings. I’m sure that will keep us very busy, but it is so needed!

Elder Nelson stays very busy working with the seven missions of Australia and Papua New Guinea, advising and helping the mission leaders with all the various medical situations that occur in their missions.

Part of our assignment is to tour different hospitals and dental offices to see their facilities, as well as meet with doctors and other providers to establish good relationships and ensure quality medical and dental care for our missionaries. As part of this responsibility, we are privileged to be able to travel throughout Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Two weeks after we had arrived in Brisbane, our home base, we flew to Papua New Guinea on June 12th, and Elder Nelson and I were able to meet Elder and Sister Colledge. They are currently serving in PNG as Mission Health Adviser and assistant, and were our hosts for a week. Together, we worked for hours performing physicals on Saturday June 14th. Over 400 young men and young women in Papua New Guinea are hoping to serve missions and one of the limiting factors is getting a physical examination.

Healthcare in PNG is very primitive by our standards and is very difficult to obtain. I was tasked with using the blood pressure cuff. It was a lot of fun for me to measure their blood pressure and their pulse.

After I had finished, I looked over and noticed that several little children were gathering around me, hoping they could also have this “cool gadget” put on their wrist for a few seconds. I had a great time with the blood pressure cuff and about ten little children having a fun time getting to use the cuff for the first time.

In July, we were able to travel to Melbourne with the Area Mental Health Adviser, Sister Keil and her husband. Sister Keil presented some training to the new mission leaders, The Andersons, on the eight-week program that helps with mental health management. This is the same eight-week mental health/emotional literacy course that we will be trained in. While in Melbourne, we attended two Zone Conferences which were wonderful and also were able to see a “Penguin Parade,” which was magical to watch! We’ll post further about that. While in Melbourne, Elder Nelson was kept very busy helping medically on several Zoom calls with situations in the other missions.

On August 15th, we will travel to Adelaide, probably Perth in October and in November we travel to Sydney. We are excited about these upcoming trips.

To give you an example of how Elder Nelson helps medically, a young Elder missionary tripped and broke off his two front teeth and needed to be seen right away by a dentist. Elder Nelson had to make all the arrangements for that missionary to be seen. This is just one example of many dozens that we have helped with.

We actually spend quite a bit of time in various Zoom meetings and calls. We have occasional meetings with the Area Presidency, with Mission Leaders, Mission Health Advisors, LDS Family Services, Mental Health Advisors, missionaries, occasionally parents of missionaries, insurance people, public health officials, other doctors and providers, and even with people at church headquarters in Salt Lake.

There are also lots and lots of emails, phone calls, and weekly reports to prepare. Never a dull moment!
We also help with Zone Conference lunches, missionary flat (apartment) inspections, flat repairs…lots of repairs and restocking flat items that are broken or missing. We kind of function as property managers for several flats and end up doing a lot of handyman tasks and repairs.

Last week Elder Nelson replaced a broken kitchen faucet with a new one and we also spent about three hours trying to find a replacement garage door opener that had fallen out of a missionary’s shirt pocket. We finally found the remote and actually had a tender mercy that instead of paying the $71 dollars to replace it with a new manufacturer opener, the lady said she just happened to have an after-market opener for that garage door, and it was only $20 dollars! Yay! We help advise and oversee a district of about twelve missionaries and attend their weekly District Council Meetings on Tuesdays.

We have also been asked to help teach some of the missionaries English, which will be a great benefit for them. We have missionaries from all over the world, and for many of them, English is a second language.

Between all of this, we try to exercise several times a week by either walking around Forest Lake, which is a beautiful lake about a mile from our home. Or we work out at home to a YouTube video where we march, kick, slide and pop up for a two mile workout. Haha. We also find moments to relax and have fun. One of our very favorite things to do is to ride Brisbane’s river “City Cat,” an inexpensive water catamaran taxi system that only costs .50 cents to ride down the hour long river cruise and then .50 cents to ride the hour back. We especially love riding the City Cat at night! The lit up view of Brisbane’s skyscrapers and her nine bridges that the City Cat goes under…especially the 85 year old Story Bridge and the Kangaroo Point Bridge, that are also lit up, it is just a gorgeous, breath taking scene! We could ride the City Cat a thousand times up and down the Brisbane River and it would never disappoint or grow old!

We also enjoy the Lone Pine Koala sanctuary and “Eat Street”, which is a huge collection of food “trucks” made out of old shipping containers. Every kind of food you can imagine, live music, and a really fun vibe!
We LOVE Brisbane, we LOVE the people here and love our mission, and feel so very blessed to be here serving our Savior, Jesus Christ!