Ceff Mission Blog

Monday 11th to Thursday 14th More boring at home isolation. I'm so glad I didn't get Covid 12 months or more ago when you had to do two weeks of isolation. Would have driven me crazy! Something to keep me on track though was knowing that I would be teaching a Sunday School class for our young Singles on Sunday morning in 2nd Branch  and speaking in Sacrament meeting in 1st Branch in the afternoon. Friday 15th July 2022 Freedom at last! Trouble is I still don't have the energy to do much. I really want to go for a kitesurf, but just the thought of getting in the car to drive out to Yorkey's is exhausting! We went shopping - that was enough exercise. Good to get out of the house though! Saturday 16th July Up early this morning to get the house ready for another real estate sales inspection. I'll sort of be glad when they finally find a buyer, but the trouble is that will almost certainly mean having to find another place to rent, and in the current real estate rental ...

  My very weak second line on Friday 8th July It's a Covid week! On Monday we went online to view the funeral service for Craig Richardson from Melton Ward. We were both very sad to hear of his passing. Margot has been friends with his wife Ros since Young Single Adult days probably 40 years ago. I must admit that I had never had the chance to spend much time with Craig, but I really did enjoy each moment that I spent with him. Top bloke! Tuesday morning (July 5th) all six of us missionaries went to the Kimi'ia's home for breakfast as always it was an absolute feast. Later that day we drove to Atherton, to visit a friend of Elders Dollery and Pollock, a lady our age called Gypsy. Not her real name but that's the name she likes, and it suits her. Margot was not feeling too well and we probably should not have gone, but we had a good chat with her, filling in some gaps that the young Elders had perhaps not got across all that well. But by the time we got home that night, ...

I heard an acronym that some Church people are using to describe themselves these days. PIMO = Physically In, Mentally Out. Apparently these are people who on the outside appear to be fully active in the Church, but have mentally or spiritually disengaged, for whatever reason. Perhaps they are just putting up appearances to keep their spouse or family happy. Maybe Church has become like a social club for them. I worry that unless they have some sort of spiritual rebirth they will probably find that they will stop attending altogether at some stage, thus becoming MOPO's. (Mentally Out, Physically Out) Another group that concerns me are the MIPO group.  These are people who are Mentally/spiritually in, but Physically Out. These are people who are still fully engaged spiritually but are physically unable to attend Church, perhaps because of a disability, maybe lack of transport, maybe living a long distance from a meeting house. My concern here is that they may, due to lack of fellow-...

A Green Tree Frog. Cute little guy (or girl) hey!   Monday 20th June 2022 Seniors Zone Council this morning. Our last one with President and Sister Ence before they go home.  Tuesday 21st  - Wednesday 22nd June 2022 Mostly running around getting the new flat organised for Elders Dollery and Pollock. Tuesday night was our last Temple Preparation class with Tammuz Fa'Aoso. As with all our students, it has been a pleasure teaching Tammuz. He hopes to have his missionary recommendation completed soon, so could be called to serve anywhere in the world before the end of the year.  We have been storing a spare fridge outside at our our unit, waiting for the time when we need to use it in a new flat. Margot was cleaning it out today and found this beautiful green tree frog sheltering in there. With a brush and shovel I very gently nudged it out of there and found a nicer home in our garden (see pic above).     Thursday 23rd June 2022 Tonight we attended our fi...

 Monday 13th June 2022 This afternoon we visited Sister Adidi Wigness, who was a convert to the Church about 4 years ago. Sister Wigness, like many of the Church members here, is a Torres Strait Islander. The locals seem to think there are more TSI people living in Cairns now than in the Islands. Cairns is "their city". There is also a TSI community up at the Cape York towns of Sesia and Bamaga, from what I've been told. Lto R Dollery, Pollock, me, Margot, Tuave and Pemberton. We had the four young Elders over at our place for dinner tonight. Elders Pollock and Tuave arrived at Townsville from Brisbane at at 8.30am today and then drove up to Cairns. Thursday 16th June 2022 Oops! I just skipped a couple of days. With a new pair of missionaries (Dollery and Pollock) moving in to a new flat in Manoora (in Cairns 1st Branch) we have been doing a fair bit of preparation to get all that they need in the flat. Mainly just working out what we need to buy and where we need to buy ...

 Monday 6th June 2022 Visited Sister Cassie Bell and her mother today. Both long time members of the Church, but the mum is unable to come to Church now because of the air-conditioning, which makes it too cold for her, in her delicate state of health. Some of the brethren in 2nd Branch often administer the sacrament at home for her. Had a Single Adult activity at our place tonight. Tuesday 7th June At 7.00am another big brekky with the Kimiia's. Good old Sister Kimiia, puts on a spread for breakfast to rival the best hotels! No need for another meal till very late in the day! 10.00am Zone council, which Pres Ence asked me to conduct. Visited Nimai and Marcella and Emmanuel      7.00pm Temple prep class Wednesday 8th June Yet another real estate inspection with a prospective buyer. We've never lived in rented accommodation, while it is up for sale. It's a bit of a pain in the neck to be honest, but the landlord has the right to sell, of course, so you really just have...

A few weeks ago, we were invited to dinner with a friend of Miriam's, Latrelle Balmes, and his wife Lael. They cooked a beautiful dinner for us and I'm pretty sure I forgot to mention it. Here's a picture of us all. In contrast to last week, when we had Miriam and Taylor staying with us, this weeks report will probably have no pictures and definitely no kitesurfing. It's probably been our busiest week doing real missionary work so far. And I think the busier we are like this, the less I will be able to write. Monday 30th May 2022 We had the pleasure of visiting our District President's mother, Sister Delilah Fa'Aoso and her mum, Mary Harris, today. It happened to be Sister Harris's 90th birthday, so it was a good day to visit. Unfortunately, because of Sister Harris's health condition, neither are able to attend Church, but they were both very pleased to receive a visit. Tuesday 31 May 2022 One of our favourite members in Cairns, Brett Marr, was able to ...