On Saturday, Nov. 13 Kurt and I took a trip to Australia. We had been planning this trip for about a year. Our friends Sally and Tom Sanders joined us the last minute. We flew in to Sydney and enjoyed a dinner cruise at Circular Quay that evening. The next day we woke and rode up in to the Blue Mountains and enjoyed the sites and views there. It is spectacular. Kurt and I did a few of the trails. On Monday we traveled to an aboriginal cultural center and learned interesting facts about the culture (Muru Mittigar). On our way back to Sydney we stopped at the Featherland Zoo and were able to see Koala's and Kangaroo's. We also saw a Carraway which looks like a huge dinosaur bird. Very interesting with it's little dinosaur horn on top of it's head. That evening we drove back and stayed in Sydney until Wed., Nov. 17. Sally and Tom flew on to New Zealand and Kurt and I traveled up to the Gold Coast to Port Vincent. We went snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef on a very pristinely beautiful day. We saw huge fish and the reef was amazing. Another bucket wish list ticked off. We were blessed to have gone to the reef on the day we did because the next few days were pretty rainy. We went to the Dain Tree Rain Forest on Friday and it rained the whole time. It was actually pretty fun to be in the rainforest in the rain. It again was beautiful. Later that afternoon we went on another river boat cruise on the Dain Tree River and saw real crocodiles in the wild. One was very small, one small but one was HUGE. I was glad that we stayed out of it's way. It was massive. We flew back to Sydney on Sunday morning very early to catch our plane back to Singapore. Sunday was a crazy travel day. We were at the Sydney airport with a 5 hour layover until our flight left. We arrived back in to Singapore at 12:30 a.m. By the time we got home and in to bed it was 1:30 a.m. Tom and Sally stayed over for the night before flying out to the States for their new assignment in San Fransisco. I arose early Monday morning to teach seminary - but actually I just had them work on scripture mastery.
This was Thanksgiving week. Kurt had to work on Thursday since Thanksgiving is not celebrated here so I invited the missionaries over for dinner on Friday night and fixed Thanksgiving Dinner for us and them. I actually did a pretty good job considering it has been years since I cooked a proper Thanksgiving dinner. The missionaries that were here were Elder Martin and Elder Daas. They are both very special young men. Elder Martin is from the states (AZ, I believe). Elder Daas is an Indian missionary but was born in England and raised in KL. He told us the story of how is father had been introduced to the Church in England when he Elder Daas was two years old. His mother had been raised Catholic (which I think was very interesting since she is Indian). They moved to KL when he was young for his father's business. He was the only Christian (much less Mormon) in his school and was persecuted and got pretty beaten up. His testimony of the Gospel was amazing to me. How easy it would be for him to have been discouraged and left the gospel - but the example of his parents and his faith helped him to raise up above the persecution and here he is serving a mission in Singapore/Malaysia. I never cease to be strengthened by the testimony of those that truly have tribulations that should keep them from holding to the rod but yet they stay firm and true. I am grateful. I told that young man that his mother was a celestial woman and he began to tear up. I was very grateful to hear his testimony and be strengthened by it during a Thanksgiving feast to celebrate our blessing. I know I am very blessed and I am grateful. I am so grateful for the restored gospel in my life and for my testimony of the Son of God and Heavenly Father's wonderful Plan of Salvation/Happiness.
I set up the Christmas decorations this weekend. I am excited to have Christmas just around the corner and that Bryce and Ali will soon be here.
