Zone Conferences

One of the best parts of this mission has been Zone Confernces. It's always wonderful to see President and Sister Quinn, but more than that, their talks and presentations are always masterful and inspirational. They give us the spiritual lift and the instruction we need when we need it. Another thing that never ceases to amaze us is the talks the other missionaries give. The Elders share wisdom and leadership well beyond their years. The spirit is strong and the talks are inspired.

 

We are looking forward to seeing them again this weekend. Elder Baxter, the area president, will be here as well and we will be privileged to hear from him.

Flies

 

I never paid attention in science class when I was younger, or I would be able to more fully appraise you of the differences in various species of flies. However, because of experiences in both America and Australia with flies I can share a little information on them.
American flies are generally smarter, or at least, have a different level of intelligence when it comes to their desire to survive the hatred of mankind. Whenever I swat at a fly in America it will tend to buzz away for a few minutes and plan a different mode of attack. However, in Australia, whenever a member of the the fly population discovers a human being he immediately goes after recruits that will perform suicide attacks until their foe has either gone completely mad or escaped into a fly proof building or automobile. They don’t bite. They seem to be perfectly harmless, except that they will continue their attack until they are killed or manage to enter your various bodily openings, such as nose, ear, mouth, etc. They sacrifice themselves by the thousands with just one goal in mind...the insanity of the entire human race within the Continent of Australia, one person at a time. They are slightly faster than the American fly, and according to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution may be a completely different species, because they are only 93.7 percent the size of their American counterpart, and do not breed, but definitely reproduce by spontaneous generation.

 

It is probable that nothing is entirely bad, and so it is with Australian flies. They have made me, and others, much friendlier. You see, they have created a reflex in most Australians and visitors to the Continent wherein they are constantly waving as they walk or drive down the street. Although it may be assumed that we are merely swatting at flies, if someone waves as they are passing you by, even if you are enclosed within the safety of your car, it is a normal reflex to wave back. It is amazing how many friends Sister Shumway and I have made just because someone thought we were giving them a friendly greeting. I guess it doesn’t hurt to let others think that the grimace on your face is really a friendly smile, rather than a valiant attempt to keep from inhaling those abhorrent creatures and choking to death, and the wave of the hand is a futile effort to make them fly a few extra feet before they return to crawl up your nose.
Some of our good friends who spend most of their day sitting out in the sunshine dreaming of eating another kangaroo have developed the ability of completely ignoring the little monsters. I don’t know how they do it, but I certainly envy them.
When we first came to Australia we were warned to “beware the poisonous spiders and snakes.” We have been here for 15 months and have yet to see a poisonous snake, and the few spiders we have seen were far less ugly than the good old American Black Widow. But no one warned us to “beware the flies.” I will miss the many friends I have waved at, but never spoken too when we leave this beautiful country. I will not miss being able to breath without inhaling the little creatures that surely must be the devil's angels.

Literacy Bags Get a Home

 

Sandover Schools serves thirteen out bush schools. They are working on a program to teach parents how to share books with their children so that they all can learn about the joys of reading. They will be using our literacy bags. A hired Aboriginal Literacy Aid will visit the homes in the communities on a weekly basis.
Eric Frater, from the Sydney area, organized a project for collecting materials that will be used for the activities in the literacy bags. He delivered four boxes to Elder Warby in Sydney who sent them down to Blanding. From there, they were delivered to Sandover Schools. Thanks so much to all that were involved.

Project Moving Forward

 

We are moving ahead with the literacy project most of you are aware of. We have a powerful opportunity with Cheri Forbes, Sport and Recreation Director for the Central Desert Shire. She has helped us set up a pilot in Ti Tree (an outbush community) that is a ground up approach, using some of her staff, existing facilities, and volunteers .We spent three days there, (building in lower right hand corner) met with the Shire Council and CEO, and trained some staff (remaining pictures). Once successful, she wants to bring in other agencies, schools, funding bodies, and eventually offer the model to other shires throughout the NT. She has made contact with a funding body that has expressed willingness to fund reproduction of our materials, staff, facilities, training, etc. for other Central Desert Shire communities when we are ready to move ahead on a larger scale. They are planning to build family learning centers in many communities and think our materials would be a great addition to these centers. Cherie’s husband is also very supportive. He is working for a large funding body for Aboriginal affairs. They will prove to be wonderful champions for the project
Ann Roberts, former principal of Alcoota, is now working with 70 out bush schools. She is very supportive as a volunteer for voicing the Power Points and is eager to promote the project to the areas where she has influence.
We feel that we have produced materials that could be of lasting benefit to the Aboriginal community and possibly many others. With help from Sisters Lovegrove and Woods, we have completed writing and voicing Alphabet, Phonics 1, Early Reading, and English Conversation DVDs. We are just completing the voicing on Phonics 2 and still need to voice Basic English am about half way through with writing the phonetic explicit teaching approach to Ye Shall Have My Words. It also will need to be voiced. We have written and produced a comprehensive tutor training DVD with a tutor packet that includes assessment, tracking, instruction guides and teaching aids, as well as an introduction to the program DVD. Our literacy bags are being used by the missionaries out bush and we are planning to introduce them to the Ti Tree pilot project.
We are working out the kinks, and feel we will have a professional, user-friendly product when finished. At that point we hope to be able to mass produce them and make them widely available to participants in the project. There is a new senior couple here, the Bogadahls, who will be able to help carry on with the project when we are gone, though they will not be involved in the production. Please keep us in your prayers there is a lot to get done in the nine weeks we have left.

The Tragic Fires of Victoria AU

 

Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of this devastating rampage of fires and the country of Australia. Though it is more than a thousand miles away, we strongly feel the loss and sadness of this tragedy.

Let's Catch Up!

December flew by as we busily worked on the project, taught English classes, had zone baptisms and celebrated Christmas.


The Branch put on a most inspirational program, A Tribute to Christ. Elder Shumway sang once with Elder Harding and once with Brother Taumololo. They did a great job. Several of our English students and a recent convert came.


The Branch threw quite a Christmas Party: lots of friends, fun, and food. The weather was beautiful (not too hot!)


We were invited to the Alcoota School Christmas Program/awards ceremony/barbeque. We had a great time and the kids put on quite a program.


In late November Pahou, from New Zealand was baptized. It was great to watch his transformation. Five members of the Neal family were baptized a few days later. They were excited to learn about and join the Church.

The Holidays

Our Zone Conference was inspirational and Zone Christmas dinner delicious. We always look forward to President and Sister Quinn's visits.Thanks for all your work, Sister Marriott.


Christmas Day:
Christmas morning the Elders and Sisters got together at our flat. We exchanged gifts and the Elders opened their packages from home. We had a great time and lots of laughs. Our neighbors, Al and Jan came over for a visit and brought us coaters from Sydney.


Then we went to the McCreary’s for our Christmas Day Water Fight. I saw that they had filled large regular balloons and got hit with one. I knew right then the fight wasn’t for me. The rest of them all survived and Sister Wood, Alison, baby, and I enjoyed the entertainment.



The New Zealanders in our Branch had a large Christmas Party at the Church. All the missionaries were invited. We all had lots of good food, good company, and good memories.



We are very blessed. We also got to share our family's Christmas through phone calls and blogs.