Mission Report No. 2

Saturday 26th March

Drove to Tully Seventh Day Adventist church to meet Glen Ceff. Glen is a cousin who I keep in contact with regularly. With him being SDA and me being LDS, we have some interesting discussions, always respectful, never boring! Neither Margot or I had ever attended an SDA meeting, so we were very curious to learn what we could about the SDA Church and to spend some time with Glen.

It was very enjoyable, and the people were very friendly. They even asked us to introduce ourselves at the start of the meeting, so Margot nudged me to get up a say hi to everyone and tell them where we were from. The meeting was a little less formal than our meetings, but it was a little country church, and Glen says that if we attended a bigger city church it would probably be a little more formal.

Part of the meeting was aimed at what we LDS would call Primary Children. A lovely lady sat down up the front and invited the kids to come and sit up close to her while she read a story about "Sam". It was closely based on the parable of the Good Samaritan (Sam) and was a story book with illustrations. Both Margot and I thought it was very good.

The husband of the lady who read the book to the kids then gave the sermon. He was not a professional pastor, but his talk was good, and he referred extensively to the New Testament, inviting the congregation to follow along as he read the verses. He also referred some writings by Ellen G White, who was a co-founder of the SDA Church. 

One of these references was when Sister White wrote about the Good Samaritan as a type of the Saviour. I had not thought about this parable in this way before, but its actually pretty obvious once it has been suggested to you. The "certain man" represents "fallen man" who is suffering under the weight of other people’s actions (the robbers) as well as his own sins. The Samaritan comes along and dresses his wounds, saving his life, and taking him to an Inn, where he pays the price to the Inn Keepers assistance and offers to pay even more if necessary. The Inn Keeper could be a type of Heavenly Father, who accepts the wounded man because the Saviour has brought him in to His house.

After the meeting we chatted with Glen, Paul and Sharita, and the brother who gave the sermon and his wife (who was the one who read the story to the kids). WE loved how we were made to feel so welcome. We would hope that our own Church people make visitors feel so welcome. We then had to rush to Cairns in time for the leadership meeting that is part of the District Conference meetings.

We arrived in Cairns about 10 minutes prior to the start of the meeting. We were able to meet President and Sister Ence, who had flown up here for the weekend, and a lot of the local leaders.

Sunday 27th 

10.00am conference 

District  President James Fa'Asoso

Kory Johnston and Mark Luki counsellors 

Monday 28th March 

Walked to the Tobruk Memorial Pool in the morning. By the time I got there I was so thirsty and tired that I didn't have a swim, I just turned around and walked home, after having a chat with the staff there to find out the entrance charges. I decided to go the next morning and do laps.

 After I arrived home, exhasted and dehydrated, Margot and I went shopping. Did some Googling first, trying to work out the best place in Cairns to buy fresh fruit and vegies. We first went to the local IGA supermarket on Pease St. They had a great ranged of fresh produce, but we decided to drive to Jonnsons Farm Market out past the airport. Looked to be a good place online at least.

 Before we got to Jonnsons, we found a roadside banana vending trailer. A trailer with an awning over it, full of fresh bananas, with a scale to weigh how many bananas you want to take and a sign saying $2.00 per kilogram. There was a steal pipe with a slot in the top to drop in your money. That's right, a banana vending honour system - weigh your own, and pay for it yourself! A great system, which must work as it wouldn't be there if it didn't, and it’s very popular. Later that day we found another one out be the young Elder's flat.

Before we even got in the door at Jonnson's we had a long chat with a guy called Paul. He told us he was from PNG but he was obviously mixed race, and has a Japanese wife. Margot saw him at roadside fruit stall, then he got to Jonnsons Farm Market at same time as us. We talked for maybe twenty minutes, then I switched conversation to religion by asking the simple question, "What church do you go to?" He said that he was brought up a Christian but was unsure about God. We asked if he had heard about The Book of Mormon, and he hadn't so I told him about the purpose of The Book of Mormon and how it was really written for the purpose of convincing people that God does exist. Margot told him that it answers life questions and can bring great blessings into your life. We finished by giving him our phone number, told him where the Church meeting-house is and inviting him to come. He was non-committal but still very friendly. We walked on to the shop and did our shopping and he showed us around inside the shop a bit. It will be a miracle if he calls, but miracles do happen.

Analysing our meeting him later on, we realised that definitely need to have a supply of Book of Mormon in our car, and cards in our wallets to be able to give people our phone number and address for Sunday meetings.

We drove across town to visit Elder Dollery and Fata, who are in isolation with COVID. We couldn't go in, but they came out to the front gate, and we spoke to them from a distance and left them a box of fruit so that they had something to keep them going for the week.

From Tuesday through to Thursday, we spent a lot of time and effort in cleaning out and de-cluttering our garage. I really wanted to be about to park our own car in there out of the sun and off the street. It was a big effort (especially in 30 degree heat) but by the end of Thursday, when the last of the excess furniture was gone, we were finally able to get the Suby in the garage. It's a tight fit and takes a bit of backwards toing and froing to get it in, but it's in. It felt like a major accomplishment!

Early Tuesday morning I was able to go and do laps at the Tobruk Memorial Pool. First swim in two weeks, which felt really good. Had definitely lost of bit of fitness but not too much. I was able to do my usual slow one kilometre. 

Friday 1st April

We did some research to find out what we need to do to apply for a Blue Card in Queensland. A Blue Card is required for any "working with children" situation in Queensland, so as missionaries, we really need to have one, just so we can be used to teach classes for children or youth if required.

Before we walked out the front door, we prayed that we might find someone to invite to Church. We walked into the Department of Transport and Main Roads office, grabbed a ticket and then chose to sit down beside a guy who we immediately struck up a conversation with. His name is Paul and again after conversing for a while, I said "Which Church do you attend?" I invited him to attend Church with us on Sunday and he accepted. 

Saturday 2nd April

Early swim at the pool again. On the mornings that I don't go for a swim, I go for a walk around the neighbourhood with Margot. It's a beautiful area to walk around. We usually only walk about 3 klm which is a lot shorter distance than we walk in Lara, but it's hilly here, and hot, so it makes a big difference.    

Called Paul by about lunchtime to confirm that he would come to Church and he asked me to send him the address via SMS. He again confirmed he would come.

Sunday 3rd April

Just before 9.00 this morning Paul sent a message saying he slept in, and some family members had arrived. At least he sent a message. A lot of people wouldn't even bother doing that. We arranged to meet on Tuesday, so all is not lost. Hopefully we get to meet again.

We had our first dinner date as missionaries with the Gardner family. An amazing family who have five biological kids and have since fostered another five kids, all who have some behavioural difficulties. I have nothing but admiration for a family like that.