M&M Haley Mission

Sunday, 11 March 2018

Monday, 5 Mar - Seminary is the first thing to get our attention this morning. My 0500 comes quickly and quite early in the day. After Seminary this morning Sister Haley went decluttering. Elder Haley stayed home to make sure all was ship-shape for the "lookers" that will come this afternoon to see the house, since it is now on the market. Also, Elder Haley did not cut the grass low enough for the declutter sister, so he has to lay low for a bit. This afternoon the real estate agent brought 2 different "lookers" to the house. Tonight I received a phone call from the elders in Coffs Harbour. They told me that the vinly flooring in their kitchen had been repaired. This repair has taken me from mid-December 2017 until 5 March 2018 to get fixed - no big deal. There had been a rip in the vinyl and a piece missing, so it was fixed by a local flooring company. They flooring company had to move the fridge to get a piece of the vinyl to fill in the hole in the middle of the floor, but was not able to move the fridge back in place until after the glue had dried, so they asked the elders to do that for them later in the day. When the elders moved the fridge back into place, they tore the vinyl in a new place 😭😬😵

Tuesday, 6 March - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYAN (our oldest child). Seminary this morning. Elder Haley worked on cleaning up the storage room during seminary. I called the flooring company today and told them my sad story about the vinyl being torn again - they could not believe it, but said they would organise a repair party. I asked them to lock the elders in the bathroom until the work was done and the fridge was back in place. Then when we got home, Margaret took a nap and Mike ran errands in town. Getting ready for the Primary activity. The leader sent a text message that it is raining out in the country and the creeks are flooding so she will not be able to make it in today. Scott came over for dinner and we had pulled pork sandwiches, roasted pumpkin with maple syrup & brown sugar - comfort food, if there ever was such a thing. We received a call that the house we are living in has been sold to a person who wants to live in it. We now have to see what can be done to negotiate with him to allow us to stay until August when we head back to the USA.

Wed, 7 Mar - Seminary - nice and early (well, early anyway). Mike talked with his mum via Skype - the technology and permission of the Church to use the technology for senior missionaries is wonderful. Visits and taxi driving. Took out the rubbish for the sister in the hospital in Newcastle. We held DTM tonight and had just the Grafton Elders over for dinner - hamburgers, etc.

Thur, 8 Mar - A day off from seminary, so Mike took his early morning walk & weights. Family History Centre (FHC) from 10-12. Margaret worked in the FHC and Mike did clean up and other things in the meetinghouse. We had a late Birthday lunch for Mike at the Village Green Hotel - Chicken schnitzel for Mike and salmon for Margaret. Well worth the visit and we will have to go back once we get enough room in our bellies for additional food. Branch Presidency meeting and FHC for us in the evening. Sister Jones should be posting the FHC notices up around town, so hopefully we will start to get some more business in the FHC.

Fri, 9 Mar - Mike helped clean the meetinghouse. We had building inspectors come by at 10 am to check out the house for the new buyer. Margaret baked cupcakes for the RS bday activity/baby shower to be held on Saturday. Mike check with the locksmith about some keys for the FHC and found out how to take some of the locks off that we did not have keys for - and did not need to lock up the files anyway.

Sat, 10 Mar - Mike mowed the yard while Margaret went into town to do some shopping for the baby shower. The baby shower was in the afternoon and went quite well. Margaret then worked some more on the table runner for Sister Cox and was able to get the last 2 pieces of fabric sown on. Pictures of the not yet finished table runner are below.

Sun, 11 Mar - We had President and Sister Alfred in for speakers in Sacrament meeting today. It is always nice to have them in Grafton. The branch held a potluck luncheon after the meetings. Lots of food. We had a new family, Paewai from NZ, move in, or start to move in today. They will actually move into their home, south of Grafton, next weekend. Immediately after the luncheon, we went with Clive Best to administer blessings to one of our members in South Grafton and to administer a blessing to the husband of one of our members. Later, we (Margaret & Mike) visited with one of our neighbor families, the Howards, and borrowed a sleeping bag from them for the branch campout next weekend. We learned that Judy Howard has walked parts of the Camino de Santiago trail in Spain. She has walked over 1,000 km of it.