Alice Springs

Two great Sister missionaries-Sister Craig and Sister Fanene on the Welcome 

sign coming into Alice Springs.  An adventure on p-day!

At Simpson Gap enjoying this beautiful country of Australia!  Can you believe

all of these wonderful missionaries from all corners of the world serving in

Alice Springs together. What a great privilege this is!

Elder Tennis bravely rescuing the ball for Rugby! And in his University of

Utah hat no less!!  Elder and Sister Tennis are incredible.  We love you

forever!

What a beautiful photo. Serving a mission blesses your life eternally and it

is a new adventure every day. We love these valiant missionaries and are 

happy they get to learn more about this wonderful place they are serving.

January Senior Birthdays.

Back in Adelaide we celebrated 4 senior missionaries birthdays!  Elder and 

Sister St. John and Elder and Sister Larkin. Heavenly Father has sent us the very 

best in this mission.  We joyfully serve together and will be friends for eternity.

Next we began Specialty Training with the wonderful Modbury Zone.  This 

training is all about "change!"  One of the things we talked about was being

more aware of what we put in to our bodies.  And on that note,  the senior

couples in the office prepared a wonderfully healthy lunch for all of us.  Thank you

to all of you. 

The Elders had no problem with these wonderful, huge barbecue chicken salads.

Thank you Sister Howes for the great recipe!  

President Parker is in heaven. Anything with barbecue sauce on is a hit with him.

Thank you to Elder and Sister Larkin who are the biggest reason we are able

to feed so many missionaries wonderful meals. It is a huge job. Costco has

become a big friend!  Our senior missionaries have a wide variety of 

responsibilities and it is a group effort in all we do.  Thank you to each of you.

Darwin

Friday morning we were blessed to watch the Worldwide Missionary Training 

Broadcast.  It was the first one they have held in 10 years.  Wonderful uplifting

guidance and counsel given us by members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

as well as other church leaders. And, we were able to watch it in the comfort

of Elder and Sister Farrers flat. I'm so thankful for a Prophet of God who we can

look to , and know exactly what we must do to be happy, and safe and on the

path back to our HEavenly Fathers presence.

With Elder Seru who will be leaving us next transfer to return to his home in Fiji. 

This is a great missionary and we love you so much Elder Seru.

Sister Reola and Sister Rooarii enjoying a bite of breakfast at Elder and Sister 

Farrers.  These sisters are incredible.  Always happy , and working hard to

invite others to come unto Christ.  We love you sisters.

Thank you to all in Darwin who made the District Conference so wonderful.  

We love all of you so much. It was a blessing being with Elder O'Riordan, 

President Dunn and President Bond and all who serve in this great branch

in Darwin. We were privileged to meet Elder O'Riordans daughter,Bryony 

 who has been called to serve in the Manchester, England Mission.  What a 

lucky mission president will greet her in Manchester!  

Darwin

It's always a blessing to be with our missionaries in Darwin. After a great morning

of training together, we went to Elder and Sister Farrers for a delicious healthy 

lunch. I think a few of our missionaries tried a few vegetables they've never

eaten before.  Way to go!!Elder Farrer, Elder Koch, Elder Fitzpatrick, Elder Deitze,

Elder Seru, Elder Duabe, Elder Makai, Elder Toi, Elder Costales, President

Parker, Sister Reola, Sister Rooarii and Sister Farrer.

Elder and Sister Farrer made each of us a Darwin palm tree for dessert out of a

banana, some kiwi, mandarin oranges and blueberries.  They were delicious.  

President Parker even tried his very first kiwi and loved it!

Later that evening after more training, we enjoyed dinner together.  Great things are

happening in the Darwin Zone. These missionaries work hard, even in the heat

and the rain. They are consecrated missionaries and are bringing many to know

JEsus Christ.

President Parker and the great missionary Elder Toi.  Elder Toi has been serving

out bush in Alice Springs for many months and now is transferred to serve in 

Darwin as the northern Territory Assistant to the President.  He is hard working,

courageious and completely obedient and a great leader. Thank you for your

great example Elder Toi and for all you do. We love you.

New sister companions in Darwin- Sister Reola joins Sister Rooarii as the 

sisters in the Darwin Zone. These are two of the best, happiest, hard working

sisters you'll ever meet. We love you sisters. 

Alice Springs

The next morning we began Specialty Training with the Alice Springs Zone.  

Elder and Sister Tennis, Sister Fanene, Sister Ma, Elder Hale, Elder Hefa,

Elder MCClutchie, Elder Johnson, Elder Lee, Elder T. Johnson, Elder Heindel and 

Elder Callahan.

Part of the training today was on living the Word of Wisdom. Getting enough rest

eating right and getting 30 minutes of exercise a day is very important as 

missionaries.  Here the missionaries enjoy a very healthy lunch provided by

Elder and Sister Tennis.  

Thank you to all who worked hard to make this a great training day.  We love you

sisters and Elder and Sister Tennis.

Look at this wonderful dessert we enjoyed.  I think Elder Lee and Elder Heindel

are happy about this. 

Love these great missionaries and loved being taught together this day.The Lord

knows each of these missionaries by name and we know angels watch over

them in this sacred work.

Had to run an errand today for President and was happy to find this store-even 

in Alice Springs, Northern Territory in Australia.This is a great country!!

Here are our two Bush Elders of the mission- Elder Callahan and Elder Heindel

with their Ute that they take out bush. These are fantastic missionaries who love

serving .  They are with another fantastic missionary Elder Lee who serves in Tenant 

Creek.  Elder Lee was climbing out of the Ute and was sliced by a tool and had a 

few stitches in his leg. He is on crutches for a few days but we're praying he'll

be back good as new soon.  Love these Elders!

Before we left, the missionaries sang as a thank you to Elder and Sister Tennis

for the lovely meal.  There is not much I'd rather do than to hear these missionaries

sing!  There is phenominal talent in this mission. I'm sure they will all be part of

the heavenly choirs one day. 

Alice Springs

Next we drove to another community called Mulga Bore.  As you can see,

they are magpie fans.  Go Magpies!

These structures sticking up all over are termite hills.  they are as hard as bricks.  

They stick up all over the place and you do not want to run into one of them. 

Sometimes they are right in the middle of the road.

Other visitors in the middle of the road.

Beautiful horses roam the country out here.

On the way back, we stopped at Gemtree, a quaint beautifully landscaped

area where you can stop and stay for a few days or longer.  There is a little shop 

  where you can buy gems and treats. This was a great day never to be forgotten.

We love these missionaries and the people they are teaching.

Alice Springs

Leaving Engawala to head to Oongala where the Bush Elders live.

Elder Callahan and Elder Heindel in front of their Bush flat. This is home

sweet home.  They often sleep outdoors because of the heat. 

Baptismal Font of Oongala. Elder Callahan says it takes about 20 hours to fill

this. 

Covering off the side of their flat where church is held often. 

Always something to fix out here:)Elder HEindel is exiting the building.