A Slow Week at the ASNM corrall

 It's a quiet week in the office - so quiet that we even had time to set up the tripod, put the camera on and take some great photos when the missionaries came to the temple.  Since the Killebrews arrived, the work load has truly been cut in half.  That left us plenty of time to work on our talks for the Mt. Druitt sacrament meeting.  The sisters above are Chinese speaking  and Training Leader Sisters.  They work in the city. We are getting close to 1/2 sisters in the mission.  That is definitely a change.  The next two Elders we met in the MTC on our last week there.  We found out that we were all going to be in this mission and after waiting for their visas, we are all here and busy.  They claim to be related because we knew them first!  It seems funny, but the friends you make in the MTC stay with you the whole mission.  

This is a mixed bag - missionaries from the city, from Baulkham Hills, Korean speaking, Chinese speaking, Samoan speaking, and plain old English.  The missionaries in the city have a unique job of walking the streets of Sydney, talking to people and inviting them to come to the teaching center to learn English, or to learn about the Church.  The missionaries in the rest of the mission work with wards, ward leaders, and families.  That is a much slower process and requires more time.  As missionares move from area to area, they learn different skills and develop new talents.  The growth process is amazing and we love watching the process.  We hope they think we are changing too.

 Elder Tall Man is giving Sister Feil a hard time - you can't get a picture of me.....

 HA, got it!

And these are most of the city Elders, along with Sister Killebrew and the Feils.  We never imagined the great love we would feel for each of the missionaries.  We know their names, we know a little about them, we watch them struggle and grow, and then we have to say goodbye when they leave.  We understand why we can only stay here for 18 months.  We are already attached to 200.  We are not sure our hearts are big enough for 400 missionaries. :)

These are the Harbour Suburbs Elders.  The are from Tonga,  the US, the Philippines, and French Polynesia.  They are hard working, strong, cheerful and devoted to the Savior.  That is the best combination of any.  We run to keep up.

More of Harbour Suburbs.  What is an ironing board doing in this photo?  We are not sure either, except they needed one and were taking this back to their flat, so it had to be in the picture because they wouldn't put it down and forget it.  The tripod was a brilliant idea and we are learning to use the timer.  This week we even learned to hook up our computer to our TV screen and view a movie.  Yes, as senior couples, we are allowed to do that.  We just try and make sure it is uplifting and without too many bad words. 

 It is difficult to get the whole zone together, but with several pictures, we were able to do it.  Below are the new sisters from Tonga who completed the ESL program.  They are doing so well with English that they almost understand Sister Killebrew's Texan!  Their trainers are helping though, and with English study every morning, in a few months they will be speaking like Aussies, English, or NZ.  Or maybe a combination of all three.  Not to worry, Elder Feil and I still speak American.

On Saturday, we had driver's training course.  We certify the drivers who have a license.  We have them watch about an hour of videos, go over the rules here, give them a written test, and finally put them on the road for a driving test.  While Elder Killebrew and Feil ran herd on all of that, Sisters Killebrew and Feil went to a craft and stitchery show.  We fed these sisters breakfast and then put together a "meal on wheels" for some other Elders.  We finished strong by talking in Church today, and Sister played the piano/organ.  We love and miss our family but we love being of service to the Lord.  We have missionaries here that struggle with health issues, but we know that God will bless them.  We know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ.  We know that Joseph Smith restored the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth and translated the Book of Mormon.  We know that God is mindful of the smallest details of our lives and each day we continue to be grateful for the miracle of life and health.  Kiss all the grandchildren for us and tell them we love them.  Have a great week and enjoy the world around you.
Elder Grandpa and Sister Mamoo