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.

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

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

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!

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

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

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.