Meat Pies and Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Before we came on our mission we had a nice long visit with a returned missionary from Brisbane, Australia.  He spoke of Australia's legendary meat pies!  While delivering a bed to some sister missionaries in a town named Gympie, heehee, we saw a billboard boasting the best meat pies--we jumped at the opportunity.  They're like a pot pie but smaller and much sturdier--you eat them with your hands!  Pie crust upper and bottom with delicious meat fillings.  I was so excited that they had a gluten-free option.  I ordered a chicken meat pie and Elder Bond had a steak and bacon meat pie!  They were delish and came with chips, which are french fries, and a drink in the meal package.  Mine had a yummy white sauce and Elder Bond's had a rich gravy.  I could eat one every week but would probably weigh the plane down coming home from our mission!!!

We are finally settling in to the rhythm of Australia and learning new things every day.  We asked for shortening the other day at the grocery store, Woolworths affectionately called Woolies, and they had NO idea what we were talking about.  We asked some Aussies we knew what they used to make cookies and they said butter.  Okay.  So, we tried Elder Bond's famous chocolate chip cookies with butter and they were really good--and fattening.  We miss our cookie scoop back home but have gone back to the spoon method and they don't look too Frankenstein-ish.  We put the extra dough in the fridge and enjoy fresh cookies on the fly.

At the mission office we are super busy every day.  It seems like we are putting out fires left and right!  Our mentors flew home to Adelaide yesterday so we are on our own.  The flats (apartments) constantly need something worked on, the mission president wants to open more areas which means we have to find more flats, contracts in different stages need signing or scanning or emailing, agents are sending out notices to inspect flats every 3 months and since we have 70 flats that means every week for us!  Plus there's always meetings to go to and every 6 weeks we have missionaries going home and missionaries arriving!  Last Monday we sent 9 home and received 19 new ones.  Whew, the work never ends!  I'm trying to keep up but my stamina continues to be an issue and every now and then I just have to sleep for a block of hours during the day.  On the upside, we are getting invited to eat at member's and other missionaries' homes. :D 

We love you all and hope you are doing well.