Mission Report No 50
I've done my third mission video report, so you should be able to click the link and see it.
Getting way less views on my new reports than I did with my old written reports. Is that because people just don't like taking 10-20 minutes to watch a video, but can scan through a written report in 5 minutes? This weeks video report is only 10 minutes!
Monday, March 13
Monday was Emma’s birthday—she’s a member here in Cairns Second Branch. We dropped by with a small pack of homemade chocolate chip cookies. I say “we,” but really my wife made them.
Other than that, it was a fairly quiet day. I think I might have gone kiting, but I’d have to check the calendar to be sure. I’ve been getting better with the hydrofoiling—able to stay upwind consistently now. Still working on transitions though. At the moment, it’s more like stopping, turning the board around, and heading off again—but it works!
Tuesday, March 14
On Tuesday, we flew down to Brisbane for a senior missionaries’ conference.
We stayed with Elder and Sister Bennett, which was great of them. That evening, some local Church members hosted a dinner at their home—and not just a small gathering. They had about 50 people there for a sit-down meal, all cooked at home. It was pretty impressive.
Wednesday, March 15
Wednesday morning, we had a meeting at the Kangaroo Point chapel. Margo and I gave a short presentation there.
Then later in the afternoon, around 5:00 pm, we went to the Brisbane Temple. That was really special—we hadn’t been to the temple for about 12 months.
When we were back home in Lara, we could attend the Melbourne Temple regularly, sometimes once or twice a week. So being able to go again after that long was something we really appreciated.
I also briefly saw CeCe there—someone I’d interviewed on my podcast a few weeks earlier—which was a nice little connection.
Thursday, March 16
Thursday morning’s session was held at the Cleveland Stake Centre.
There were some excellent presentations from a number of people. One that stood out was from Bob Cowan—he’s the brother of my friend Greg Cowan—and he and his wife both gave really thoughtful presentations.
That evening, we went back to the temple again with the Bennetts, who were serving there that night. It was pretty special being able to attend two days in a row.
At some point during our stay—everything blurs together a bit—we also went out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant with the Bennetts. Great food.
Friday, March 17
Friday morning, we headed to the airport to fly back to Cairns.
President and Sister Vongsawad were on the same flight, so we travelled back together.
That afternoon, while they were busy at the chapel, I headed out for a foil session. The wind was light but good enough to get out.
I did have a bit of drama getting there, though. The car wouldn’t start, so I used a portable jump starter to get going—but it wasn’t fully charged. I drove out to Yorkey’s Knob hoping the battery would top up on the way.
After my session, I came back… and the car wouldn’t start again. The jump pack was flat, and the battery hadn’t charged enough. Everything that could go wrong, did.
Fortunately, one of the other guys had a fully charged battery pack and got me going again.
That night, we all went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant called In2Thai—highly recommend it if you’re ever in Cairns. President Vongsawad kindly shouted dinner for the branch presidents, district presidency, and the two of us.
A funny moment—President Vongsawad started chatting with some of the staff, and it turns out they were either related to him or knew his family back in Thailand. Small world.
Even more interesting, they were Christians, not Buddhist as you might expect. He invited them to church for district conference on Sunday—and they actually came.
Saturday, March 18
On Saturday, we picked up President and Sister Turner from the airport. He’s in the Brisbane Temple presidency.
We took them to their hotel, and then in the afternoon attended district conference meetings. There were some really strong speakers and a great spirit throughout.
Sunday, March 19
Sunday was the main session of district conference.
Before that, we had a training meeting with President and Sister Vongsawad and all the full-time missionaries, including us. There was some role-playing involved, which was actually quite enjoyable and helpful.
The conference itself was excellent—really uplifting and well put together.
President and Sister Vongsawad stayed with us for the weekend—three nights in total. Our flat is only about 160 metres from the chapel, so it makes sense for them to stay here when they’re up from Brisbane. It’s always nice to spend that extra time with them.
Overall, it was a really good week—starting with the conference in Brisbane and finishing with a strong district conference weekend here in Cairns.
Comments
Post a Comment