The beaches are spectacular! We take a little
ride out to them as often as we can.......just to
see some of the different beaches. The sand
between your toes and the water coming in
to soak the sand is amazing. I think Carl is
enjoying the surfers!
A view from the other side
of Sydney
One of our favourite young men, Joshua, recently got baptised. He was baptised by his good friend, Gabriel, who
has only been a member since last October. Elder Harper got the privilege of ordaining him an Elder. Cool experience!
Botany Bay......one of the most amazing beaches we have seen. What a view!
We went to our very first FHE in Hurstville and what an occasion. It was a "Break Fast" after Fast Sunday. You can see by the food on the table that it was a FEAST! It was held at Sister Lam's home, an amazingly talented woman. She is from Hong Kong. Carl and I both went to her home this week for massages. She does acupuncture. She "beat" us up quite badly. We are still feeling the affects of the treatment. I guess that should be expected since we haven't been treated in 7 months!
This picture was taken at a Zone conference where President Simmons had all of the ones having birthdays in March and April come up to the front. There was quite a few....including Elder Harper on the left end.
The first baptism we attended in Hurstville was for Barbara Allison. She is in her 70's.....a very nice little lady. Elder Harper and I continue to teach her now, as she is very new to the gospel. Elder Hokopa, Elder Shim (who baptised her), Barbara, Elder Matu, and Elder Gao.
The cute little gal on the left is just leaving for a mission to Uraguay. I attended a going-away party for her. We had great fun. She is a darling girl and will do good things on her mission. The other gal is her friend here in Hurstville.
One of our closest Chinese friends left Australia on March 13th. Her visa expired on the 15th. She has gone to Canada, where she is dating one of the missionaries who left his mission in December. She has been a member since last October. She got baptised the same day as Gabriel (pictured above). She has been a strong fellow-shipper with investigators and has a very strong testimony. We wish her the best as she embarks on a new and exciting part of her life. Her parents live in China where her father is a Cardiologist. She has already received her Master's degree.
President Simmons saying goodbye to Emma at the airport
This was the Relief Society birthday party on March 17th. We walked in and thought we were at a wedding!
Our English class fell on Elder Harper's birthday so I brought a cake to share with them. They are such sweet Chinese people and we really enjoy teaching them English. We have been working with them about a month now........and they get so excited when we walk in. It's really fun!
The Friday after Elder Harper's birthday, we decided to have a party for him after Zone meeting, so all of the Elders came to our house for tacos. They are such fun missionaries and working so hard to share the gospel. The mission field is awesome! I had a BIG chocolate cake with 7 candles, since he turned 70. It was fun.....because they were the kind of candles that wouldn't blow out. What a hoot!
Brother and Sister Brooks are in the Greenwich ward (where we were transferred from). They just have a new baby. Their little girl is only 18 months old. Brother Brooks is in the Bishopric and is from New Zealand. What a nice family. They have both served missions. Dior, his wife, is from France. This was a night when we went to their home for dinner.
Elisabeth and John Wild are also in the Greenwich ward. They have only been active for a couple of years and have gone to the temple and been sealed. We love going to see them. We always take them some goodies and they appreciate it so much. One of those couples who barely make ends meet! We try to stop in and see them when we go over to serve in the temple on Tuesday nights.
We drove over to the Lane Cove National Park, which was blocks from our home. Looked like Logan canyon to us. Couldn't believe we didn't know it was there until we were ready to move!
We have finally got settled in our little Villa over in Penshurst. It is only a mile from the church. Being in a little home feels so much better to us. High rise apartments just aren't fun to live in! We commuted for a month before we were finally able to get relocated. Because there hadn't been any Sr. couples in this new area, we had to bring all of the furniture with us. There are Fleet Elders assigned to do maintenance in the mission, and they are the ones that moved us. We had to make 2 trips with them and the furniture after we brought all of the boxes over. Quite the little job. But it's done......we're settled.......and loving it over here. Our mission finally feels like it's OUR mission. Probably the most difficult thing is getting to know the people in a new ward.
BUT that will happen quickly since Elder Harper got a new assignment last Sunday. He is now the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric. A little nervous about that, but I know he will do a great job. We were sent here because leadership is weak; there is only 20% attendance in this ward. It is the largest ward in the Stake. A new High Priest group leader has been assigned, and they already have a strong Elder's Quorum president. So things should start to look up.
There are 2 baptisms in the next 2 weeks. A 13-year-old Tongan boy and a 9-year old girl. She and her mom live in Hurstville. We are taking her mom to the temple on Tuesday. She hasn't been back to the temple for over 10 years.
The work is already getting very exciting over here and we are so happy to be here to be of support to the Leadership. Mission work can be so rewarding and exciting, once you get adjusted to what you're here for. We love the Lord with all of our hearts, and are happy to be activating and helping others come back to the Church. There is no greater happiness!
We miss all of our family very much! We have 2 great granddaughters coming in the next 3 weeks, and a grandson getting married in May. It's very difficult to be away from the family and not sharing these special moments. BUT we know we are in the right place.....doing the right thing at this time. We love all of you....miss all of you and ask for your prayers in our behalf.
Lots of love,
Elder and Sister Harper
