Old People Down Unda'

Kooba Staion Bush

2010-05-11T05:03:00.000-07:00

We drove througth thousands of grasshoppers, poor little Camry needs a bath.
Elder and Sister McGrath. Elder McGrath is modeling his fly repellant idea. It seems to work. The rest of us were doing the Aussie wave and none of the flies were bothering him.

Sister Nielsen at the Murrambugee River, it is really low this time of the year.

Elder Nielsen out in the bush near Kooba Station.

Kooba Station Service Project

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The museum is now spic and span. We had fun cleaning the museum for our service project.
Sister Solomon and Sister Nielsen clean up the museum.

Elder and Sister Racine working in the porch at the museum.

Dinner at the beautiful Kooba Station.

Senior Couples Conference

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We visited the Hermit's cave in Griffith again. It is such a beautiful spot. We are constantly amazed that someone could live in a cave for thirty years.
Dinner in Echuca at Antonio's Italian Restaurant. Good company and good food, and a great evening.

Elder and Sister Nielsen on the EmmyLou on the Murray River

Paddle steamers at the Port of Echuca. The first boat and the EmmyLou were featured in the TV series, All the Rivers Run. We watched the movie and it was fun to see places we had just been that day.

Senior Couples Conference Camel Ride and River Boat

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The Senior Couples getting ready to ride the paddle steamer, EmmyLou. Elder McGrath's left arm, Elder Nielsen, Sister Solomon, Sister Nielsen, Sister and Elder Racine.

Reji and Roman cooling down after their practice race. They are racing Camels. Reji has won 46 or her 49 races, Roman is just beginning his career.

The Senior Couples on our camels at the Cosgrove Camel Farm

The Racines, McGraths, Solomons and Nielsens
Shepparton, VIC

President and Sister Nielsen riding "Colorado."

We had a great time riding this beautiful "ship of the desert."

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The Albury Chapel
We found this wonderful little Bookstore...Books on Dean

Terrie Klepiak was baptized on April 10, 2010.

We are so happy for her and her family.

Golden Horseshoe Days in Beechworth, VIC

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April 3, 2010 Golden Horseshoe Days Parade in Beechworth. It was a beautiful and delightful event.
Ned Kelly himself showed up to ride on the Beechworth Bakery Truck

Beautiful butterflies in the parade.

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Elder and Sister Nielsen in our Aussie Bush Hats! Beechworth Golden Horseshoe Days Parade. April 3, 2010
The missionaries and the members from Wangaratta and Benalla march in the Parade with a float about Family History.

Elders DeMann and Cook carry the banner for the float.

Filipino Night

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Mar. 28, 2010 was our Filipino Night. We learned about the customs, dress and dances of the Filipino People. We had a wonderful time and the event was attended by over 90 people, many of whom were not members of the Church. We all had a great time!
Several of us made a Filipino Dish called, Adobo. The assignment was to find out what it was and prepare it. Then it would be judged by our Filipino guests. Here are the judges. Our dish did not win, but it was an interesting experience.

We were entertained by several beautiful dancers. Zandra Williams performed both the Hawaiian and Tahitian Hulas. She is amazing. Zandra is the daughter of Helen Williams who was recently baptized.

Cope Hut - A ski refuge on the high plains

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Bushwalkers and cross-country skiers enjoy visiting this place, and others like it across the Victorian Alps. It is great to rest near a hut and enjoy the tranquility of the Alps.Brian and Erin Peacock and Elder Nielsen check out the inside of the hut. It would be welcome shelter in the cold winter. With evidence of possoms and other critters, it could be an exciting place to stay.

The Cope Hut was built in 1929, was the first purpose-built tourist structure on the high plains. It was a new kind of hut for the Victorian Alps, with hot and cold water as well as two bunk rooms designed to sleep eight.

Wallace Hut Falls Creek, VIC

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Mar 22, 2010 Brian, Glenyse and Erin Peacock took us up the mountain to Falls Creek to see the Huts. This is Wallace Hut, which was built in 1889, was used in the summer time when the Wallace family drove their cattle to the Bogong High Plains.

The hut provided welcome shelter after a long day in the saddle.Elder Nielsen at Wallace Hut and the beautiful Snow Gum tree.

Wallace Hut, built in 1889. In 1993 a bush fire swept through the area. Miraculously, the hut was not destroyed!

Relief Society Birthday and our wonderful Elders

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Mar. 17, 2010. Our Relief Society Birthday Party. We had fun and dressed as pioneers. It was a challenge to find Pioneer clothes in Australia!
Elder Okamura and Elder Stone at the Murray River near Wahgunyah, VIC-Corowa, NSW

Elder Okamura and Elder Stone visit with "Cookie" at oz.e.wildlife.

Mar. 15, 2010. Cookies likes to talk and ask, "What's your name?"

Dedication to Missionary Work and Relief Society Retreat

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March 12-13, 2010 The Wangaratta District held a Relief Society Retreat at the Homestead in Ovens, VIC. It is a beautiful place and we had a marvelous time.
March 11, 2010 The Missionaries of the Albury Branch Rededicated the Albury Area for Missionary Work.

Baptisms and beautiful places

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February 27, 2010 was a wonderful day in the Albury Branch. Sister Helen Williams was baptized! She is a good friend of Rose Velilla who was baptized last month. We are so blessed to know her. She was baptized by Brother Naldo-Rei Casanova, who just recently returned from his mission to the Philippines. He has been a terrific help to these wonderful Filipino Sisters in teaching them the Gospel. L-R Elders Justet and Nielsen, Bro Casanova, Helen Williams, Sister Nielsen and Elder Watts.
Nicholas Cutler was also baptized on the 27th. He is the younger brother of Jesse Cutler who was baptized last March. It was very special that Jesse was able to baptize and confirm his little brother. We are thrilled with the miracles we have seen in this wonderful family. We are looking forward to the baptisms of his sister and his Mum. L-R: Elder and Sister Nielsen, Nicholas O'Brien, Wendy O'Brien, Jesse Cutler, Elder Justet and Elder Watts.

We went out to Wahgunyah to teach the Temple Preparation Class to Alfred George and Robyn Williams. We pass through one of the most important wine producing regions in Australia, so as we went through Rutherglen, noted for it's wine, we stopped to snap some pictures of the beautiful vineyards laden with sweet grapes. Perfectly straight rows go for miles and miles, over and around the rolling hills. Truly a lovely sight.

Elder Watts and Elder Justet overlook the city of Albury. They were both transferred out of our area and as has become the custom, we went to Huon Hill to look at the valley and have a picnic. Shortly after this picture was taken it started pouring rain, so we had our little barbie in the rain. Elder Watts went down to "the city" Melbourne and Elder Justet is now one of the Assistants to the President. They were able to return for the baptisms. We will miss these delightful and dedicated Elders.

February 17, 2010 we were in Wahgunyah. We love to stop by the Murray River and enjoy the beautiful scenery and listen to the cockatoos. The Murray River really is that color. It is the longest river in Australia and winds its way 2500 kilometers through the south eastern part of the country. It is quiet and tranquil and we enjoy stopping to visit it whether we are in Wahgunyah, Echuca or Albury/Wodonga.

Baptism, Bush fire 1 year later and a reverent koala

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On February 15, 2010, the Wangaratta District went to Oz.e.wildlife animal reserve. You have probably noticed that we go there often. So often, in fact, that they never charge us to go in anymore. This little koala had just been given fresh leaves and took time to "give thanks."
Exactly one year after the fires of Black Saturday, we happened to drive through the area. Notice how the regrowth on the trees grows all around the tree like soft green fuzz.

Last year this very spot was nothing but black.

January 23, 2010 was the day our beloved Hungry Jacks burned down. We had just had our lunch in there three hourse before and the Elders had only left the building 20 minutes before the fire broke out. A vent grill above the broiler grill fell causing the fire to leap up into the ceiling area. There was nothing anyone could do it spread so fast.

January 23, 2010, was also a very happy day. Our dear Rose Velilla was baptized. We all love her so much. Here she is with (L-R) Elders Watts and Nielsen, Helen Williams, Rose, Sister Nielsen and Elder Justet.

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On Thursday, January 14, 2010, we took the Elders with us to visit with members in Colac Colac and Cudgewa. We spent a little time in Corryong and visited the grave of Jack Riley, the man said to be "The Man from Snowy River"
We visited the Holland family in Cudgewa. They have a wonderful swimming hole in the creek behind their house. We walked out to see it and watched as their girls played and splashed and had a great time. Elder Justet and Elder Watts (L to R) would sure like to have gone in as well.
It was a scorching hot day!

On the second day of our flat inspection trip we took another ride down the Murray River in Echuca. We rode the same boat, the Emmy Lou, that we rode last time. There has been more rain this past year and the river is considerably higher than it was last May. Notice the house boats docked along the bank. People just tie up their house boats and stay there for their vacations swimming in the river and fishing from the boat or the bank. The river used to be the main way goods were taken to Melbourne from the farm lands, vineyards and ranches. The once bustling port in Echuca was the third largest port in Australia. It is inland, nowhere near the ocean.

After we inspected the flats of the Missionaries in Griffith, we took a few minutes to visit the site of the Hermit's Caves on the bluff above the city. The caves were once the home of an Italian immigrant named Valerio Ricetti who lived the life of a hermit in the caves during the 1930's. The flowers painted on the rock to the left of President Nielsen were painted by Valerio. This was his living room. The kitchen area was to the right in front of the rock on the right and the sleeping area was behind President Nielsen. Mr. Ricetti had created lovely gardens and rock walls painstakingly stacked as terraces. Most of those things are gone now.

We took Elder Justet and Elder Watts to oz.e.wildlife on January 4 to see the kangaroos, koalas, black swans, wombats, emus, and so on. Elder Watts was new in the country and thrilled to see these fascinating animals close up. While we were watching the koala bears I noticed this stringy bark gum tree. It struck me that this is a beautiful representation of repentance. When we strip off the sins we have committed and remove them from our lives we are left clean, white and beautiful like the bark on this tree. As the tree grows it continues to shed the stringy bark. Like the tree, we must continually repent every day so that we can stand pure and clean at the last day.

More Christmas 2009

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Our beautiful daughter, Kiera, and her new granddaugher, Chloe. What a wonderful belated Christmas gift! She was born Dec. 28, 2009 to Brittany and James. And now we are GREAT Grandparents...at last we are great!
Locklan was baptized on Dec. 26, 2009 by President Nielsen. Here he is with his family and Elders Justet and Watts

We had this wonderful group over to our flat on Christmas Eve for turkey noodle soup and hot rolls. We watched the First Presidency Fireside and enjoyed one another's company. We forgot to take a picutre, so we gathered them all together at Lockey's baptism. Elder and Sister Nielsen, Diana Hawksworth, Don Thickins, Elders Watts and Justet. Chris is not shown, he came as well.

Little Primary Angels

The Albury Primary Nativity. Cutest Primary ever!

Christmas in Albury 2009

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Elder Justet and Elder Watts on Christmas Day at the Smith home.

Our cute little Christmas Tree.

The Lindley Children put on the Nativity for the Missionaries at the Mission Christmas Conference in Melbourne. Devin plays the part of the donkey while Brady (Joseph) helps Mary (Alyssa) stay on the donkey. It was a terrific production and made us homesick for our family. The Nativity is one of our favorite traditions.

The main characters in the Albury Branch Christmas Pageant. Dec. 12, 2009. This was taken in our little chapel/cultural hall.

The Albury Branch Christmas Pageant

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December 12, 2009. The Albury Branch Christmas Pageant. Everyone participated by being part of the cast either being citizens who witnesssed the events or the main characters.

Here the wise men bring gifts to the young child, Jesus.

The shepherds find the baby Jesus at the stable, the sheep gather around, notice the Angel of the Lord behind the tree, he had just made his appearance and is standing near to watch over the Baby Jesus.

The shepherds keeping watch over their flock.

Some of the "flock" wandered away and had to be rounded up, but they had a good time!

The World's biggest rolling pin is in Wodonga, VIC, Australia.

You cannot tell, by the picture, but it actually rolls!

Kathleen and Joel with Brigham enjoy an after Thanksgiving Dinner

chat with Elder Nielsen.

We treated them to a "Traditional" Thanksgiving feast. Since this holiday is not observed in Australia, we had a difficult time finding a turkey. When we finally did find one, it was about the size of a glorified chicken. We found cranberry sauce in the American Foods store in Melbourne. Now that the Christmas season is here, both of these items are available locally. Our Thanksgiving Dinner was great and we all had a wonderful time. Unfortunately there was so much going on we did not get a group picture.

Our Flat in Wodonga

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Grandpa working at the computer.
Our bedroom

The kitchen and dining area.

Lounge room

Our humble abode in Wodonga.

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Grandpa leaves footsteps to follow...
We had a wonderful time at the Penguin Parade. No cameras are allowed, so no pictures to share, but it was a delightful, fascinating experience to watch the little penguins come in from the surf and waddle to their burrows and their hungry chicks!

Grandpa and Grandma at the beach at Cowes, Philip Island, Victoria, Australia.

Beautiful beach, warm sand and fantastic scenery!

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

Australia Melbourne East Mission Senior Couples Conference, Nov. 17-20, 2009.

The Racines, McGraths and Nielsens at dinner.

Elder and Sister Nielsen at Sassafras, Victoria,

a charming little village in the Dandanong Mountains.

oz.e.wildlife Park and a Baptism

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November 14 was the baptism of Ian. He was baptized by Vincent (right) who was baptized in June. We are so blessed to work with these wonderful people.
The Albury Branch on Mormon Helping Hands Day at oz.e.wildlife park, November 7, 2009. We worked hard, mowing, raking, and sprucing up the park.

"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he..."

The kangaroos peek at us from behind the "Patterson's curse,"

a beautiful, but toxic weed in full bloom all over the place!

Lots of animals!

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Little calf and little kid want some milk too, and the camel gets it all!

At Cheri's we got to feed the babies, puppies, goat kids, calf, camel, dogs and kangaroos and...

On October 11th we held a musical fireside. Here is the wonderful cast!

Sister Pasina, Sister Staples and the rest of us were thrilled to be a part of Temeka's baptism. She is an adorable spunky gal!

In Shepparton we enjoyed the "Mooving Art" exhibit. This cow is all dress up in her red shoes and necklace.

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Sister Nielsen gets to hold a 7 month old joey. Her mum was hit by a car and the joey was rescued and brought to Cheri to care for. "Candy" love to be in this pouch while Cheri wears it around much like the mommy kangaroo carrying the joey in her pouch.

On October 6-8 it was our turn for the flat inspection trip. We enjoy visiting with the missionaries, leaving treats and notes at their flats and soaking up this beautiful. We stopped in Shepparton, VIC and enjoyed their "Mooving Art" exhibit. They have dozens of these unique painted cows all over the town. This mermaid cow was very interesting!

We visited the Kyabram Fauna Park between Shepparton and Echuca. It is bigger than our beloved Oz.e.wildlife Park near our home, but their kangaroos are not as friendly. However they have more variety and a bigger area. We really enjoyed the morning we spent there. These are flying foxes. We spent a long time watching them, but I could never get a shot of one flying. Their wings look like leather, and they walked upside down on the top of the cage and they use little hooks on the end of their wing as little hands. Fascinating.

This lovely cockatoo was pretty cheeky. He grabbed my glasses, snatched Howard's glasses from his pocket, ate a hole in the map of the park and kept us entertained for over a half hour. It is not easy to see, but he has my glasses in his beak. These beautiful birds are eveywhere in Australia flying free!

This friendly emu was checking us out for something to eat. We were very disappointing to him, because we had nothing to offer but some kind words. Emus and kangaroos cannot go backwards. They are on the Australian Crest to signify that Australia is always moving forward.

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October 1, 2009. We went with Sister Pasina and Sister Staples to Mt. Beauty to have a hangi dinner at the Greenings.
Erin Peacock was baptized on September 26, 2009

September 21, 2009. We had some chicken kebabs on the barbie by the Murray River. We fed the ducks and a very persistent magpie.

September 21, Sally Carter and her girls spent the night on their way to Melbourne. Sally plays various instruments. This is called the hurdy gurdy. It is wound by a handle and the pegs on the front are played like piano keys. On the inside, the wooden sticks press on strings like a violin. It sounds much like bagpipes. Very interesting, but I wouldn't want to hear it all day.

On the 14th of September we drove out to the Weir (Lake Hume Reservoir) It was a beautiful clear day and the lake was perfectly still. Notice the tops of trees in the background. We have had quite a bit of rain since then and the lake is even higher.

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On Sept 14, 2009 we took the Sisters to the Oz.e.wildlife park for a BBQ and some fun with the animals. This kangaroo wanted the food, he didn't think I was feeding him fast enough, so he took the bag out of my hand and helped himself.
This little koala kept us entertained watching him nibble on the eucalyptus leaves.

These beautiful black swans have three little babies, called signets.

This beautiful fellow put on quite a show for us...and his lady friends, they wanted nothing to do with him, but we enjoyed the production.

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Shoes worn out in service to the Lord!
August 23, 2009. The Branch held a Welfare Evening. President and Sister Nielsen did a workshop on cooking with wheat. Howard made his famous wheat pancakes, which were the big hit of the evening. We served cracked wheat cereal, popped wheat, wheat sprouts, homemade syrup and homemade brown sugar. There were workshops on finance, education, employment, spiritual, emotional and mental health preparedness. We enjoyed a demonstration on 72 hour kits and a pot luck dinner of dishes we prepared from food storage. It was a great evening.

On August 17 the Wangaratta District met in Beechworth. Here is our District Leader, Elder Kahaiali'i beside a statue of Ned Kelly, infamous Australian outlaw. "Such is Life" were Ned Kelly's last words. The rest of us only came up to the bottom of Neds' sleeve. Elder Kahaiali'i will be returning to the BYU football team after his mission.

Just south of Beechworth is a place called Flat Rock. This is the beautiful view looking west.

Our guides took us to a lovely little cafe where we were treated to some "European Hot Chocolate," so rich and delicious we had to eat it with a spoon!

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July 27, 2009 was a transfer day. Our flat was the meeting place for the moving of missionaries and belongings. These Elders are efficient and organized!

Did you ever wonder where Sesame Street is? It is in Wodonga, VIC, Australia!

Sheep and lambs at Morgan's Lookout, Walla Walla, NSW, Australia. July 20, 2009.

Morgan's Lookout, Walla Walla, NSW, AU. Morgan was a bush ranger who used the rocks as a hiding place. These huge boulders are all by themselves in the middle of paddocks; from the top of them you can see for miles in all directions.

July 17, 2009. Spiritual Spa Enrichment Activity. I was assigned to do the session on the Sense of Smell. I had a crock pot of wassail and we talked about how certain smells can bring back wonderful memories; sugar cookies, bread, pot roast on a Sunday, newly cut grass and so on.
There were also classes on the senses of hearing, sight, touch, taste and spirit.

It was a wonderful evening.

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It was our turn to do the flat inspections again in July. We enjoy visiting the missionaries and seeing the sights as well. On this trip we stayed at the Church Farm near Griffith, Kooba Station. It is 115,000 acres of cattle ranching and some crops. This is the homestead. We stayed in the wing to the left.
Howard is standing in the Lounge Room

The beautiful grand piano in the main living room.
Notice the lovely stained glass windows.

The main entry into the homestead. The home is full of this wonderful antique furniture.

Master Suite in the Homestead.

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June 29, 2009. Such an unusual cloud formation, I could not resist shooting it.
June 29, 2009. We went to Kathleen's for tea, but she was not there, so we visited with Joel. Kathleen kept calling, clearly having some sort of emergency. Joel finally said her car had broken down near our home and could we please drop him off. When we got to the house, I noticed that lights were on that I had turned off. We went in to find the house all decorated, dinner on the table and food prepared. Katheen had made arrangements with the Sisters to unlock our doors on their way out that afternoon. What they didn't know was that Howard checks and locks all the doors when we leave. So, Kathleen arrived, two kids and dinner in tow and could not get in. She went to a neighbor and asked him to help her break in. They could not get the sliding door to open, so she said, "Okay, we need to pray about this."

So they both knelt down on the cement and prayed. After two more tries the door opened. I don't know if the man is religious or not, he has not responded to our thank you note, but he will definitely believe in the power of prayer!

42nd Anniversary Dinner. Kathleen doing dishes in the background.

Christmas in June Zone Conference, June 22, 2009. Sister Lindley and Elder Petty wearing the new scarfs we received to remind us to be "Righteous in the Dark." It is winter here, the days are shorter and we are in need of the inspiration. The scarfs are embroidered with AMEM, (Australia Melbourne East Mission) Gloves arrived a few weeks later.

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On the top of Huon Hill is this interesting plaque telling how far we (in Wodonga) are from just about anyplace of note in Australia. Just to the lower right of the date is a very long name. It is all one word. How would you like that on a spelling test?
June 15, 2009. Sister Zhang's last day in the Mission Field. We got Subway sandwiches and went to the top of Huon Hill in Wodonga. It is a lovely view of the entire area. We had a terrific time, but we will miss this humble and sincere servant of the Lord. This picture is looking south toward Mt. Beauty.
June 11, 2009. We had a branch activity which was a farewell party for Sister Zhang. We had a great turnout and a wonderful time. Here Sister Zhang pulled the string on a "popper" that shot confetti across the room. She is a cutie.

June 8, 2009. The Wangaratte District met in Beechworth for our Preparation Day and the last P-Day for Sister Zhang and Elder Pauna. It was rainy, but we didn't care. June is the middle of winter here. We drove down a narrow one-way road through "the gorge." We had all stopped to look at the scenery when another car came along and we had to move our cars. President Nielsen thought he could four-wheel in the Camry. The left rear tire is about 18 inches off the ground. Fortunately the other three tires were on solid ground. We love our little white Camry!

President and Sister Nielsen at "the Gorge," Beechworth, VIC, AU. Looking north toward Wodonga.

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June 6, 2009. Sister Kathleen Smith went to the Temple in Melbourne for the first time. She has worked so hard for this blessing and was touched by the Spirit there. Sister Nielsen went along as her escort. After the session those who attended met a the mall for lunch.

L-R : Ali Ziegelbauer makes arrangements on the phone,

Sister Nielsen, Kathleen Smith, Lisa Smith (no relation)

L-R Sisters Sykes and Zhang, Vincent Ezou, Kevin Clacy, Sister Nielsen, President Nielsen.

Monday, June 1, 2009 was the baptism and confirmation day for Vincent Ezou. Vincent is from Togo, Africa. He is thirty years old and totally delightful. He has a strong testimony of the Gospel and is eager to learn more. His brother, Joseph and two of his kids attended the baptism. The rest of his family lives in Togo. The Spirit was so strong in the meeting most of us were in tears. Vincent will be a great blessing to this Branch. We have enjoyed teaching him and getting to know him.

The weekend of May 29-30, 2009 we were blessed to be taught at the feet of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. He came to our mission conference and we feasted upon his words for two days. We were amazed at his insight, humor and delightful personality. What a wonderful weekend.

We found some time to go to the Dandanong Market. It is a place of many sounds, smells, sights and textures. Wares of every kind are one sale there usually for pretty reasonable prices. Here President Nielsen tries to decide which veggies he wants to take home.

On the last day of the Senior Couples Conference we attended the Temple. It happened to be our Branch Temple Day as well. Brother Thickins and Brother Bishop went through for the first time in many years, Alfred George did baptisms and Robyn Williams did confirmations. No way was she getting in the water again! L to R Sister Zhang, Marg Goode, Don Thickins, Alfred George, Robyn Williams, Sister Nielsen, Sister Sykes and Rob Bishop.

Baptism of Rose Nugent

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Rose Nugent was baptized on May 9, 2009. We had been teaching Rose for some time. She has had a difficult life, but feels the Spirit. She is deathly afraid of water. Howard was in the font waiting for her and I was standing behind her. She could not enter the water. She saw one of the little girls in the Branch smiling at her and said, "I can't let that cute little girl down." So she went in and was baptized and, of course, her hand popped up and she had to be baptized again. This time she came out of the water beaming and she has been smiling ever since.

Baptisms and Beautiful Places

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On the 15th of May we traveled to the southernmost tip of Australia, Wilson's Promontory. We stopped at squeaky beach, only problem was that the beach only squeaks when it is dry and it was a cold and wet day. It was still beautiful and we had a great time, rain and all. The Senior Couples Conference ended with a trip to the Melbourne Temple and a testimony meeting. We are so blessed to be able to serve in this beautiful country.

On May 14the we attended the Senior Couples Conference in Melbourne. There are six couples in the mission. We rode the steam train, Puffing Billy. It was so much fun. Billy was not too long ago, the main way that people on the mountain east of Melbourne took their products, animals and families to Melbourne. Now it is a great trip up and down the mountain! We were not brave enough to sit on the side like these kids.

Christian Agbauze was baptized in Finley on May 2, 2009. We had been teaching him with the Sisters. He moved to Finley where the Elders finished teaching him and baptized him. Christian is from Nigeria. We went with our district to the Oz.e.wildlife park again, which was fun. We attended a Zone Conference in Melbourne on April 17 where we were taught by Elder Tad Callister. It was an inspiriting meeting, he is a master teacher. Our District Conference was held in Wangaratta on the 18th and 19th where we were again taught by Elder Callister and President Lindley.

Shaun Saker was baptized on April 25th between the sessions of General Conference. We receive DVD's of the conference and show it in the chapel. Up until now they have huddled around the TV set, we purchased a projector and small sound system, hung a huge sheet on the back wall, and they can watch General Conference on the Big Screen. We had a huge turn out for conference in April. The children were thrilled with the "Conference Packets" that I made for them.

While we traveled through the Zone on out flat inspection tour, we stopped in the river town of Echuca and rode the paddle steamer, EmmyLou. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip down the Murray River, longest river in Australia. The port at Echuca used to be the third largest port in Australia, considering it is inland quite a way, that is really something.

Still catching up!

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When we arrived in January it was the middle of the summer in the "Land Down Under" and everything was dry and brown. I made the comment that one match could do a lot of damage, and the next thing we know a bush fire had started and soon had turned into the worst bush fires that had been seen here in many years. They called it "Black Saturday." Many people killed, homes lost, and entire towns lost. Very sad.

We spent time getting acquainted with the members of the Branch, the area, the food, the customs, and our responsibilities. On the 21 of February we held a baptism for Alfred George and Robyn Williams. Robyn is terrified of water and it took about ten minutes for Alfred's son, Chris, to get her to let him put her under the water. Finally she said she felt a calm feeling come over her and she was able to bend her knees.

In March we were thrilled to see Jesse Cutler enter the waters of baptism on March 14, 2009. We had done all the teaching of Jesse and were so happy that he was so eager to be baptized. He has become a strength to the Branch as we have watched him grow in his testimony and his faith. We also had the opportunity to attend the Melbourne Temple with our Relief Society President, Phaedra Barnes as she took out her own endowment. It was a beautiful day for all of us. The Relief Society had a very lovely "Birthday" Celebration. I was lucky enough to get to decorate the cake. We have enjoyed seeing many of the sights in the area, including a visit to the WWI War Memorial, "Lest we Forget" on the hill above Albury and the lovely Botanical Gardens in Albury. David Coleman was baptized on the 28th of March. He is a good man and we have enjoyed being involved with teaching him the Gospel.

Pictures top: Elder & Sister Nielsen, David Coleman, Sister Zhang & Sister Sykes.

RS Birthday cake.

Sister Nielsen at Botanical Gardens, Albury NSW.
Elder & Sister Nielsen & Jesse Cutler.

At the Melbourne Temple

With Alfred George and Robyn Williams

In a tree at the Murray River.

Trying to catch up

2009-06-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

We would really like to catch up on this blog thing. Time and knowledge being the greatest factors in our not keeping up. We have some really great pictures we would like to share with all of you. We are loving serving in this beautiful, wonderful country. The people are great and friendly. We are learning new versions of English and driving on the other side of the road. Amazing. Since it has been nearly six months since we arrived and our last entry was from the MTC. Three people responded to the blog and I just discovered it. Sorry, Lance, Kathy and Jami (Marshall! how good to hear from you!)

Here we are on our first day at the MTC in Provo. After an exciting week there we got on our plane to Los Angeles, and then to Australia. We arrived in Melbourne on the 23rd of January, tired and excited. We were greeted warmly by our Mission President, Corry Lindley and taken to the Mission Office. On the way to the Mission Office we were informed that Howard would be the new Branch President of the Albury Branch. There was no save way out of the car at that point. We had our pictures taken, ate lunch and then they took us to the home of one of the Mission Couples to take a much needed nap. The next day we were driven to the edge of Melbourne and then Howard got to drive (our white Toyota Camry) as we followed President Lindley to Wodonga. Howard got to drive, as he has had experience driving on the other side of the road while serving in New Zealand in 1964-66. The next day was Sunday, and he was sustained as the New Branch President of the Albury Branch. We had a great Sacrament Meeting where we both got to speak, noone was there to run the Primary, so I was enlisted to do music, sharing time and class. After the meetings we were left with a set of keys to the Camry, the church, the house and we watched President Lindley's taillights disappear. We felt a bit overwhelmed and alone. We got settled in, acquainted with some of the members and did some visits. We have found some food products that are familiar, and are missing some old stand-bys that we cannot get here, but all-in-all we were starting to feel at home by the first of February. We went with Sister Bowie and Sister Sykes (the missionary sisters serving in our area) to a wildlife reserve near here. We had a wonderful time feeding the kangaroos and enjoying seeing new and strange animals. I will try to catch up on the past six months in short installments if this works. We would like to have this record of our mission, although I have written in my journal evey night. Wish us luck!

MTC

2009-01-12T17:58:00.000-08:00

We made it to the MTC! First day was great. I have been appointed district leader over 4 couples (including ourselves). Mostly we just got oriented with a reading assignment for Preach my Gospel for tomorrow morning. I am writing this just to see how to do it. We love all of you and appreciate your prayers.

Beginnings

2008-12-26T23:57:00.000-08:00

This is our first attempt at a blog. It should be interesting to see how this works. We will attempt to keep track of our mission to Australia on this site. Wish us luck!