Mission Report No 49
Monday, March 6, 2023
This week we had the real estate agent come and do an inspection of our unit. I think they’re supposed to happen quarterly, but this is the first one we’ve had in about a year.
When we first moved up here, the place was actually up for sale, so the real estate salesman—Nikolai, who’s the son of the lady who manages the rentals—was here almost every week running open houses. It was a bit of a pain at the time, but he’s a really nice guy, and the whole family that runs the agency is lovely.
Apparently, he’d already told his mum, Kathy, that she didn’t need to worry because we keep the place spotless. Even so, we spent the whole day cleaning—probably went a bit overboard, to be honest.
Kathy arrived later in the afternoon, around 4:30. She had a quick wander through, but honestly, she barely inspected anything. It wasn’t even as thorough as what I’d do with our young missionaries! I was half expecting her to be hunting down every speck of dust, but she hardly looked. Bit disappointing, really, after all that effort.
Anyway, that was our day—cleaning from start to finish. Had to be done.
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
On Tuesday, we drove
down to Innisfail, which is about an hour and fifteen minutes south
of here. It’s an old sugar town—more of a farming community,
really. It’s not far from the coast, maybe 15 minutes inland, but
it’s definitely not a tourist town.
To be honest, the whole place looks like it could use a fresh coat of paint. Up here, if buildings aren’t maintained properly, mould grows pretty quickly on painted surfaces, and Innisfail just has that slightly run-down feel.
We went down to look for a flat for a new senior missionary couple. We’d actually been there the week before, but then on Monday we got a call saying, “Come back—we’ve got a place that hasn’t been listed yet, and we want to know if you’re interested.”
We spoke to President Vongsawad, and he asked us to go and check it out. So we headed down on Tuesday, had a look, and it was quite nice—smaller than our place, not as spacious, but still in good condition and fairly new.
After that, we reported back, and by Wednesday we let him know we were happy to take it. So it looks like there’ll be a new senior missionary couple in Innisfail, which the local Saints will really appreciate.
Other than that, the day was mostly taken up with driving—about three hours all up.
That night, I had a district council meeting. It’s similar to a stake high council, and it ties in with my newer responsibility as the Seminaries and Institutes supervisor. That role brings a lot of emails—especially from our Brisbane coordinator, Brother Rea.
Interestingly, he’s the younger brother of a sister missionary who served in Geelong Ward when I was ward mission leader—back in 1986, I think! I mentioned it to him, and she actually remembered me, which was nice.
Another coordinator is Reuben Kwong, who I taught in Primary in Blackburn when he was about 11 years old. He’s now a CES coordinator and a qualified school teacher. At one point, I was actually working under him in the Temple, where he was the shift coordinator, which is a bit surreal when you think about it.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
On Wednesday
afternoon, we had a zone conference from 1:00 to 4:00 pm over Zoom.
It was a fantastic meeting—though we really wished we could have
been there in person.
It included all the northern zones: Townsville, Mount Isa, Cairns, Rockhampton, and Mackay. All six of the Cairns missionaries joined, and the Atherton elders connected via Zoom as well.
It was a really uplifting and worthwhile meeting—definitely the highlight of the day.
Thursday, March 9, 2023
On Thursday afternoon,
we attended a funeral for a sister here named Daphne Elliott.
We’d only met Daphne once. Our friend Yoriko took us to visit her in the nursing home where she was staying. It had been a while since anyone from the Church had visited her, I think.
As soon as she saw me—she didn’t know me at all, but she knew who I represented—she simply said, “Blessing.” That’s all she wanted. We tried to talk with her for a bit, but she was completely deaf, so it was very difficult to communicate.
I gave her a blessing, and afterwards it hit me that she probably didn’t hear a word I said. But still, it was a special experience. She was a beautiful old lady—just lovely. She was born in 1928, the same year as my mum and dad.
The funeral was held at the Cairns Crematorium and Funeral Services, which is actually owned and run by members of the Church—mainly the Luki family here in Cairns. It was our first time there, and it was a really nice, respectful service.
She’ll be greatly missed by her family—her son and grandson who live here in Cairns, along with her wider family. Just a wonderful sister.
Friday, March 10, 2023
Friday morning, we had
one of our semi-regular breakfasts with the Kimi'ia family. They’re a
wonderful Cook Islander family here in Cairns, and they have us over
every so often—at least once a transfer, maybe even twice.
When we go, it’s usually us and the two sets of elders serving in Cairns Second Branch. And the food… it’s incredible. Honestly, I don’t think I needed to eat again for the rest of the day.
In the afternoon, we went to visit a woman named Michelle, whom we met at a funeral the week before—that was for Leon McCallum. We hadn’t known Leon, but the funeral was just down the road at our chapel, so we attended and met Michelle there.
Michelle is a member of the Church but hasn’t been for a long time, so we arranged to visit her and her husband, Noel.
When we arrived, Noel was out the front working on his truck and caravan. He’s a retired electrician, and he’s set up his caravan to be completely self-sufficient—solar, power systems, the lot. He spent about an hour showing me everything. It was pretty impressive—he’s the kind of guy who can build or fix just about anything.
They’ve got a big caravan setup and do a lot of what they call “free camping,” where you stay outside of paid campgrounds. That’s pretty common up here in Queensland.
Meanwhile, my wife was inside talking with Michelle the whole time. I eventually joined them for the last 10 minutes or so before we left. It was a really nice visit—great to get to know them both.
Later that afternoon, the wind picked up—and in the right direction—so I met up with Craig and Paul out at Yorkey’s Knob for a kite surfing session. Paul rides a wing foil, while Craig and I use kites, but we’re all on hydrofoils.
I’ve been learning hydrofoiling for about six to eight months now, and I’m finally starting to get the hang of it. I can stay upwind consistently now, which means less of the “walk of shame” back up the beach.
I’m still working on transitions—changing direction—but it’s coming along. It was a good session overall. Not quite windy enough for Craig—he’s a bit bigger than Paul and me—but still a great afternoon out on the water.
Funny side note—Craig’s wife actually trained a new member here named Jaden, who now works at the R.M. Williams store in Cairns Central. Small world.
Saturday, March 11, 2023
Saturday was a bit
quieter. I think we did a few things around home, and Margot went
out to do some shopping.
It was also Neals (yep, correct spelling there!) Biehler’s birthday—he’s the fellow who had the heart attack recently and was without a heartbeat for about an hour. He’s still in hospital, as far as I know.
In the evening, around 5:30, we went over to Tara’s place. Tara is just an incredible member missionary—honestly, one of the best. She has this gift for bringing people together.
She’d invited what felt like about 30 people into her very small apartment for dinner. Families, friends—everyone just gathered, shared food, and had a great time together. It was a really special night.
Comments
Post a Comment