The Temple is My Salvation

Seriously, I could not have made it here in Australia without a temple! God knew that when He sent us here--I'm positive.  The Brisbane Temple is a small temple but another one was just announced last conference, April 2024, for Brisbane South!  Everyone is very excited!  We've been able to attend the temple every other Saturday but I haven't been healthy enough to work there.  Everyone else in the office works there and they love it.  I'm hoping to be able to work in the Saratoga Springs Temple after we go home.  Our days here are just too grueling for me to work at the temple at night after working at the office!  Some weeks we don't even get a P-day which is on Saturdays for seniors here.

                                                     

Well, we got the new nurse and her husband, the Hancocks, into their flat on Wednesday.  Whew!  That was quite a workout cleaning out the flat, going to the dump, going to make donations and furnishing a flat that had junior missionaries for senior missionaries!  I definitely had to have a recovery day after that! They are delightful and her husband and Tim are very similar and serious and she and I are very similar and bubbly!

On Wednesday, Garth and Joanne Pitman invited us over for dinner.  He was the 1st counselor in our mission presidency but was just released to serve as the Brisbane Australia Temple president.  They start in September.  We acquired a flat for his 1st counselor near the temple.  The Pitmans flat is across the street from the temple but they won't be able to move in until the Gordons, current president and matron, move out.  They decided to move into the flat we acquired until his counselor and wife, the Broekmans, show up later in August.  At first we were a little apprehensive about going.  We were hoping they weren't going to tell us everything that was wrong with the flat but it turned out to be a wonderful evening.  They just wanted to thank us for all that we had done to acquire that flat and for dealing with the Broekman's requests--which were many.  When Joanne extended the invitation I told her I didn't know if she wanted to take me on because I was gluten-free.  She said she was aware of that and had already planned the menu:  chicken in a sundried tomato basil pesto, coconut rice, carrots, broccolini and corn and ambrosia salad for dessert!  Delicious!  Good food, good company.

Our last zone conference was Thursday.  I actually got emotional as I saw them all singing.  I knew them all and had trained most of them on Housing.  They are definitely the cream of the Lord's crop even though they lock themselves out of their flats, make holes in the wall and ruin their vacuum cleaners! For most of them it's their first time out of their homes if not their countries! Boy have I gone soft!  Well, only 5 weeks left so I guess it's okay, right?

Miss you all but will see you soon!  Love you!