Ceff Mission Blog

Did Margot get a new car for her birthday?   Tuesday 18th October 2022 Margot's birthday today. We celebrated with the Cashmores at the Pagoda Chinese Restaurant in Atherton. While there, one of the staff, a Pilipino lady, noticed Margot's nametag and told us that she is not a member of the Church, but she has a niece who is currently serving as a missionary in the Philippines. We had a brief chat with her, but she was very busy. And then we left without even getting a phone number from her! We're not the most efficient missionaries out there, are we? Leila came with us back to Cairns, to stay the night with her niece, before she catches a flight to Ethiopia, via Sydney, and Dubai, tomorrow morning. She is going for two months, so we will keep in touch with David while she is going. He's 83 years old and his health is not fantastic - it's been a downhill slide since he had a heart attack some years back. He's not about die or anything (I hope), but we might just...

President Jared Arvidson with his wife, Rachael, and youngest daughter. He looks even more handsome without the dreadies now that he is Branch President! Monday 10th October 2022 A trip to Atherton today to see the Cashmores. We had a good talk with them about the Gospel and the need for the Restoration. Neither of them is really overly interested, which is partly due to age and partly due to misinformation that David has read over the years. But they are very good people, and we love talking with them and perhaps we can help them prepare for the spirit world? Tuesday 11th October 2022 One of our favourite older sisters in 2nd Branch is Sister Skewes and she's just had a knee reconstruction. We were able to help her out today by taking her to her physio appointment. She's doing well and making progress in her recovery and she was very grateful that we were able to help her out.  Wednesday 12th October 2022 We have become very close to a wonderful Japanese sister in 2nd Branch b...

I'm tempted to say, that if you are thinking about becoming a doctor, perhaps specializing in emergency medicine, think again. My good friend Iamin has just finished a six-month contract at one of the nearby hospitals and it has just about killed him. The hours are so tough, and the pressure is so high, that it's a wonder that anyone can survive it. Why do we have to push our doctors so hard? Push them to the point of almost giving up? It just does not seem right.  Monday 3rd October I was meant to be taking Iamin for a kite surf lesson this afternoon, but he is still recovering from his last week of work at the hospital.  He literally cannot get off the couch, he is just so exhausted. Maybe tomorrow. So, I went kite foiling by myself. Tuesday 4th October Sounds like a familiar date? On this day in 1957, I popped out into the world and into my mother's arms. We celebrated today by going to Noa, a restaurant down in Edge Hill, for a beautiful lunch with "Sue" (who ...

Our good friend from Geelong, came to stay in Cairns this last week, arriving on Wednesday. It's been fantastic having her here and we've taken her to a couple of places and manged to both spend time with her and still get our work done. Her (let's call her Sue) husband of 57 years, died around 18 months ago I think, after a very long illness. He had pancreatic cancer, a form of cancer that you just don't want to get. He had major surgery, called the Whipple Procedure, a few years back, which probably extended his life by at least a couple of years, but it was a couple of hard years. Having observed what he went through after the surgery, I don't know if I would be willing to do the same thing if I was in the same situation. Sue, being a retired nurse, did most of the caring for her husband, except when he was in the last and very difficult stages, when he spent some time in hospital and in a nursing home. After his death, we would visit Sue regularly and assist her...