Monday - The Lems were gracious enough to take us out to our old stomping grounds in the Castle Hill area. We were able to visit our old home and the kids' schools. We also went to Cherrybrook shopping centre to see where we used to buy groceries, etc. The clothes shops were having an Easter sale and (of course) Margaret was able to find something to buy - a nice white jacket.
Wednesday - I had my driving certified by the Mission home this morning. Now I can drive a Mission car - if I ever get one for a day or two. We had lunch at Carlingford Court. Then we went out finding in the Cheltanham, Beecroft, Epping area. The area is pretty and lots of nice houses. We were able to visit a few of the members or the families they are living with.
Friday - We attended a special missionary conference where Elder Snow, Church Historian, presided and talked with us. He & Bro Nielson took questions from the young missionaries and it was quite interesting. The final part of the meeting was the mission singing the mission song - Hymn 295 with a surprise twist at the end. The Snows and Nielsons had complete shock on their faces and you could tell that they were SUPER impressed and moved. I could feel tingly feelings run all up & down my spine and the song brought tears to m;y eyes, as well as many others.
The BIG news was that Cristina Maria Garcia de Godos GOT ALL 7s(or more) on her IELTS. This is a major milestone for her (and an;y person trying to stay in Australia for a prolonged period of time).
Saturday - we took one of the members out to Roseville to meet an LDS family that they might be renting a room from. Then the 3 of us (the member, Margaret & me) had lunch at one of the local cafes in Roseville. Roseville is a quiet little suburb and it was really nice to visit. It runs up to Lane Cove reserve and sometimes kangaroos & other wildlife can be seen in the yards of the homes butting up to the reserve. Then back to Sydney and meeting with one of the members to review their IELTS practice writings and then set up for the webcast of the fireside with Elder Snow at Villawood. We are lucky that we can have a webcast link from the Hyde Park meetinghouse, so we do not have to travel out to Villawood. Elder Snow & Brother Nielson talked about Church History and answered questions asked by the congregation.
Sunday - We had Elder Hamilton, Area 70, visit today. The talks in Sacrament were good. Elder Hamilton pointed out that Repentance has its roots in Hebrew and Greek, meaning "to towards God" or "to turn from wrong ways", so it has a positive, uplifting meaning.
Today was a sad day as Giulia Milani is leaving us. She is headed back to Italy and then on to BYU.
Mike & Margaret - 6 Westminster, Castle Hill, NSW Our old "home" from 1990s
T-shirt from Mongolia with old Mongolian, not the Cyrillic
Beecroft - one of the stops as we were out finding lost sheep
A sign posted in the fabric shop at Pennant Hills
Pennant Hills - The train station where Margaret used to drop me off to catch the train to head into work when we lived here before
The last stop in the area where we were looking for lost sheep
A view of the Parramatta river as we were walking in the Ryde area in our search for a lost sheep
The pattern of one of the fabrics that Margaret bought when we stopped at the fabric store in Pennant Hills.
Elder Haley and Cristina. A congratulations hug for passing IELTS
Elder Tito, Elder & Sister Haley
Elder & Sister Haley, Sister Money
Elder Haley, Giulia Milani, Sister Haley
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