Hello everyone! Guess what? the rain stopped! well for now, we are hoping its finally done, but im sure its not. Its been beautiful this week! i'll send some pictures of the beautiful weather. its been quite warm, and quite humid. Tracting (door to door knocking) has been relatively successful, but getting a hold of the people who were a bit interested and actually setting up an appointment is the trick. We are teaching the Prasad Family. The dad, Neel, is a member, but he wants his wife, Anny and his nine year old daughter Zinia to get baptized. Zinia wants to get baptized, but Anny isnt quite feeling it all yet. We are working with the relief society president to find Anny some fellowship, and maybe we can soften her up a bit. Hopefully we will set up a Baptismal Date with them within the next couple of weeks.
You will see pictures of the chapel where we attend, but the chapel is not actually in Queensland. Its only 25km south of Mudgeeraba, but it lies in New South Wales, which is the state that Sydney is in. Its not too far in, but nonetheless we cross the border a couple of times a week.
We still don't know when we will go up to Brisbane for my orientation meeting that was cancelled because of the flooding. Clean-up is slow going, but progressing nonetheless. We called the AP's (Assistants to the President(Langeland)) and we offered to come up and offer service, but they said no. Its just as well, because there is too many people trying to offer service that it is quite un-organized. I am more than halfway over with my first transfer (transfers last 6 weeks). Its kind of amazing how fast it has gone. I will probably remain in Mudgeeraba for at least the next transfer, but who knows? I might go to a new area, you never can tell.
The new vehicles look cool! its kind of nice to see so many changes happening at home as well. I dont like the idea of me having new experiences everyday and you all are stuck in the same old. I hope the Expedition gets running well. The jeep is really cool! See dad, I told you if you just try a car, it might call to you. And it did it sounds like :) Keep looking for a Camaro, i still want one :)
I saw my first Wallabys the other day! (wallabys are smaller versions of Kangas)
We were out for our run and there was two of them just up the hill from us. I didnt get pics because i didnt have my camera on me, but we are going to a place called Springbrook today, and apparently it has hiking trails and waterfalls and overlooks, so maybe i'll see some kangas and koalas, and i'll have my camera on me!
Shelby, you would love it here. The tropical sounds, the forests everywhere are nice! there are large areas of natural forests that havent been destroyed for housing, so even right in the middle of our city Robina are small swampy like forests that are left unchanged. Its pretty cool. I'll send more pics as i get them! the next couple of emails should be all or almost all the pictures i have so far! Enjoy! Love you all soooo much! Miss you! XOXOXO send my love to everyone!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
January 11, 2010
Yep i'm busy busy. We've taught a couple of lessons and did more tracting and found some people who were interesting. Yeah i got rid of my bug and im feeling great now. Take off was my favorite, because they rev up the engines loud and it rumbles quite a bit, and they dont have to do that on landing, but langing was pretty exciting too. Both pilots did a good job landing
Today is actually the first day i've seen some sun since the morning i flew in. Yesterday the AP's (mission president assistants) sent out texts to all the missionaries and told us to make sure we have plenty of food and water and return to our flats. So we hung out, did some laundry and some other things that needed to be done. The city of Brisbane as you might have heard has kind of been flooding out, and the missionaries in the Brisbane Zone had to be evacuated because they lived on low ground, our temple trip that was supposed to be today was cancelled, because we couldnt get into the city anyway, they shut down power to the CBD (central business district near where the temple is) and there wouldnt have been any temple workers there obviously. We are allowed to go to the temple once every transfer (every six weeks) so hopefully we will either reschedule, or we might just have to wait till next transfer.
Our area (Gold Coast) has been alright as far as flooding goes. . . we live right off a river, so if for some reason they did need to evacuate Robina (the city we are in) we would be one of the first to leave. But that will most likely not happen, at least over the next couple of days, because its supposed to clear up friday and saturday, but the rain will probably continue after that. There is no reason to worry, because if our district or zone is in danger, President Langeland would make sure you all are informed if there is serious trouble. Until you get a phone call, know that we are alright and taken care of.
Its funny, there are quite a few members here, and if they see us walking around, they will always give us a ride, even if they are not in our ward. Its kind of a special relationship between members and missionaries here, they all watch out for us all the time, and they are all so nice and accomodating.
Sunday was nice, they called me up to introduce myself, which i wasnt expecting, but what could i do? it was fine and i knew it would be, but it just took me by surprise. The ward covers a big area, and there was tons of people in the tiny chapel, and it would be nearly impossible to learn all of their names and remember them.
I'm gonna put my SD card in the mail probably tomorrow. Elder Prina says it usually takes two weeks for mail from the states to get to the Mission Office, and then probably a couple of days from Hamilton to Robina. So i'll send it directly to you, so expect it in about two weeks. I still havent received the stuff that you sent when i left, which makes sense if it takes two weeks. So almost all of our correspondence will probably be email. Thank heavens for email then eh?
I hope the explorer gets running soon, and the ice melts too. There is no way that ice will be here anytime soon, even with the "cold" stormy weather. Good luck shelby with selling your car and getting a new one. Any good Camaro's on KSL?
I still havent seen a Kanga, Koala or a Wallaby. Someday. . . but there are still plenty of spiders, funky ducks, and other weird things. The other night we were eating dinner at a members home that is right next to a forest. Here, they dont have central air systems, they use electrical cooling units that are up on the wall if it gets extremely hot and muggy, but most of the time the doors are open with the screen doors. We were eating and the doors were open and there were tons of tropical sounds in the forest. Sister Reid said that most of them are frogs, maybe some other bugs, and possibly birds, but she said they were most likely frogs, and that she actually never noticed the sound before. (which makes sense because she has grown up in Australia and i havent) Its pretty though. I love the feeling of being in a jungle with all the exotic plants, animals and bugs. Note they do have cockroaches here, but i havent seen any yet because we keep our flat very clean :)
As much as I love it here, i am still looking forward to coming back to Utah. But that wont be for awhile, so i'll enjoy this! ...
...It might interest you to know that they dont sell 1%, 2% or even Skim milk in Australia. It's all full cream, all the time. They have a few brands of foods here that are the same. Paul Newmans Salad Dressing, Ferrero Roche Chocolate and Lindt Chocolate. I cant think of anymore off the top of my head, but there are quite a few. All the rest are the same product in a slightly differently designed box, and or under a different name, and there is still a bunch that is all new. A lot of things are more expensive, but some arent quite as much as double. A cheap loaf of bread is about $1.39, and a bag of large carrots is about $1.98. Contrary, a box of cereal is commonly about $7.00, and a Kg of meat can cost up to $35. But, a Kg of meat is still a lot, and we usually buy $8 worth of lunch meat, and it is about as much as a bag of lunch meat in the states. A two litre (yes, litre; and centre, and flavour, and colour) I know weird spellings; A two litre bottle of juice is about $4.50 or $5.00 (a cheap one). Lots of differences, and not enough time to tell. . .
I left one of my watches on Utah time, and its kind of fun to see how far behind us you are. I'll always keep it on Utah time so that I have that part of Utah still with me (besides all the pictures and other things).
Tell everyone I love them, tell the boys to get feeling better and that i laughed out loud when i read about the snot bubbles :) cute cute. I love you all too much, miss you all too much, and i have to constantly pull myself out of my thoughts to make sure i'm focused on the work! I will try to think of you less, maybe hoping the time will go by faster, but I will always dedicate this one hour a week to thinking of you.
Today is actually the first day i've seen some sun since the morning i flew in. Yesterday the AP's (mission president assistants) sent out texts to all the missionaries and told us to make sure we have plenty of food and water and return to our flats. So we hung out, did some laundry and some other things that needed to be done. The city of Brisbane as you might have heard has kind of been flooding out, and the missionaries in the Brisbane Zone had to be evacuated because they lived on low ground, our temple trip that was supposed to be today was cancelled, because we couldnt get into the city anyway, they shut down power to the CBD (central business district near where the temple is) and there wouldnt have been any temple workers there obviously. We are allowed to go to the temple once every transfer (every six weeks) so hopefully we will either reschedule, or we might just have to wait till next transfer.
Our area (Gold Coast) has been alright as far as flooding goes. . . we live right off a river, so if for some reason they did need to evacuate Robina (the city we are in) we would be one of the first to leave. But that will most likely not happen, at least over the next couple of days, because its supposed to clear up friday and saturday, but the rain will probably continue after that. There is no reason to worry, because if our district or zone is in danger, President Langeland would make sure you all are informed if there is serious trouble. Until you get a phone call, know that we are alright and taken care of.
Its funny, there are quite a few members here, and if they see us walking around, they will always give us a ride, even if they are not in our ward. Its kind of a special relationship between members and missionaries here, they all watch out for us all the time, and they are all so nice and accomodating.
Sunday was nice, they called me up to introduce myself, which i wasnt expecting, but what could i do? it was fine and i knew it would be, but it just took me by surprise. The ward covers a big area, and there was tons of people in the tiny chapel, and it would be nearly impossible to learn all of their names and remember them.
I'm gonna put my SD card in the mail probably tomorrow. Elder Prina says it usually takes two weeks for mail from the states to get to the Mission Office, and then probably a couple of days from Hamilton to Robina. So i'll send it directly to you, so expect it in about two weeks. I still havent received the stuff that you sent when i left, which makes sense if it takes two weeks. So almost all of our correspondence will probably be email. Thank heavens for email then eh?
I hope the explorer gets running soon, and the ice melts too. There is no way that ice will be here anytime soon, even with the "cold" stormy weather. Good luck shelby with selling your car and getting a new one. Any good Camaro's on KSL?
I still havent seen a Kanga, Koala or a Wallaby. Someday. . . but there are still plenty of spiders, funky ducks, and other weird things. The other night we were eating dinner at a members home that is right next to a forest. Here, they dont have central air systems, they use electrical cooling units that are up on the wall if it gets extremely hot and muggy, but most of the time the doors are open with the screen doors. We were eating and the doors were open and there were tons of tropical sounds in the forest. Sister Reid said that most of them are frogs, maybe some other bugs, and possibly birds, but she said they were most likely frogs, and that she actually never noticed the sound before. (which makes sense because she has grown up in Australia and i havent) Its pretty though. I love the feeling of being in a jungle with all the exotic plants, animals and bugs. Note they do have cockroaches here, but i havent seen any yet because we keep our flat very clean :)
As much as I love it here, i am still looking forward to coming back to Utah. But that wont be for awhile, so i'll enjoy this! ...
...It might interest you to know that they dont sell 1%, 2% or even Skim milk in Australia. It's all full cream, all the time. They have a few brands of foods here that are the same. Paul Newmans Salad Dressing, Ferrero Roche Chocolate and Lindt Chocolate. I cant think of anymore off the top of my head, but there are quite a few. All the rest are the same product in a slightly differently designed box, and or under a different name, and there is still a bunch that is all new. A lot of things are more expensive, but some arent quite as much as double. A cheap loaf of bread is about $1.39, and a bag of large carrots is about $1.98. Contrary, a box of cereal is commonly about $7.00, and a Kg of meat can cost up to $35. But, a Kg of meat is still a lot, and we usually buy $8 worth of lunch meat, and it is about as much as a bag of lunch meat in the states. A two litre (yes, litre; and centre, and flavour, and colour) I know weird spellings; A two litre bottle of juice is about $4.50 or $5.00 (a cheap one). Lots of differences, and not enough time to tell. . .
I left one of my watches on Utah time, and its kind of fun to see how far behind us you are. I'll always keep it on Utah time so that I have that part of Utah still with me (besides all the pictures and other things).
Tell everyone I love them, tell the boys to get feeling better and that i laughed out loud when i read about the snot bubbles :) cute cute. I love you all too much, miss you all too much, and i have to constantly pull myself out of my thoughts to make sure i'm focused on the work! I will try to think of you less, maybe hoping the time will go by faster, but I will always dedicate this one hour a week to thinking of you.
Friday, January 7, 2011
First Email from Australia
Greetings from Robina (suburb of Gold Coast) about an hour south of Brisbane! Our area is called Mudgeeraba (Mudge-er-buh).
yep i got here ok. Anyway we ended up leaving SLC at 9:00pm instead of 8:11. I dont know why they delayed it, but we landed in LAX just in time to grab a bite to eat, board and sleep. How was Jan. 4th? The plane ride from SLC to LAX was kind of annoying, it was packed full, but more annoyingly it was a narrow plane (six seats in each row divided by about and 18 inch wide walkway, and the ceiling was quite low. I was a little claustrophobic about that for a while, but it was only an hour and a half long flight. The Qantas Flight from LAX to BNE was much better. There was a row of eight seats, with isles between seats 2-3 and 6-7. They served us dinner and breakfast. We got some good sleep, about 12 hours. I woke up every three hours, because of turbulance. It wasn't very severe, it was just annoying and made it hard to get back to sleep.
Anyway, its thursday the sixth here, and it's not P-Day. Normally our P-Day is Wednesday, but we didnt get much of one since my companion, Elder Prina (pree-na) came up to Brisbane to pick us up from the Mission Home. So normally expect my email's on Wednesday (Tuesday in Utah). It's about 3:15pm here. Elder Prina is District Leader, grew up in Michegan and moved to Orem when he was about 13. He went to Timpview and has been out about 20 months. He is a really good trainer! We pretty much have the best apartment in the mission. (here they call homes/property flats) our flat. He said it was small compared to the other ones, which i dont believe because its quite large. I'll send pictures next week probably, once i get settled in (Im still living out of my suitcase). The kitchen is kinda small, but it's really nice. We have a dishwasher. So our flat is pretty much posh. But i dont know any different right now. The shower is huge; 7 ft. by 3 and 1/2 feet, and we have a washer and dryer in our little utility room. All together, the unit is about as big as Whitney and Chris', but with only one room, giving more living space and a larger bathroom. We share a car with some Sisters (Leon and Yost), they have it generally from sunday to wednesday, then we have it thursday to sunday.
It is really rainy, but quite warm as well, about 85 degrees F. (30 or 35 Celcius here). im bearing the humidity alright, it seems like missouri and illinois were worse, but im probably wrong, because its quite tropical here. Tons of Eucalyptus trees, Palm Trees, Birds of Paradise Flowers, Hibiscus, all kinds of rainforest type flora. Haven't seen a kanga yet, but i might see a Wallaby soon (mini kangaroo). I have seen quite a few spiders hanging around on webs between trees. You have to watch really carefully where you are going. Havent seen any snakes yet, but when im walking past someones garden and i hear some rustling in the leaves, i run. The city is beautiful, the ocean is beautiful, its all just gorgeous!
Yesterday President Langeland (Lang-land) and Sister Langeland picked us up at the Airport, along with his assistants Elder Jensen and Elder Waipeo. We went to the Mission office to apply for a Blue Card (allows me to legally work around children), and recieve a small orientation. We went back to the mission home where Sister Langeland cooked us lunch. Then President took us to the chapel right across from the Temple. ok, the temple is absolutely tiny. The spire only reaches about 30 feet in the air, but it's pretty nonetheless. There we met up with some Elders (Sowards and Paki) and we three-sum'd up and did about an hour of tracting. We met a woman named Margaret. Her husband passed away, and she was really interested about the Plan of Salvation. So we gave her a Book of Mormon and set up a time for a lesson ( i of course wont be at the lesson, because i wasn't assigned my area yet, but Elders' Sowards and Paki will return to teach her). Afterward we went back to the mission home for Mission President Interviews and dinner, then we met our trainers and went back to our area's (Elder Pond is about 20 minutes south of Brisbane, and I am about a half hour further south, and I cant remember which area Elder Dahl is in).
Busy, busy day yesterday.
This morning we had District Meeting, and we out to lunch afterward. We went to a restaurant called Nandos where we ate spicy chicken and chips (fries). It was pretty good :)
After i'm done with this email, we are going grocery shopping (because we obviously couldn't yesterday), and proselyting. Then we have a dinner/lesson with an investigator named Jade at the member's flat (the Parker's Family; i wonder if we are related way far back?). We might also meet with a less active (LA) member named Doug Knight and give him a lesson. All in all we are doing pretty good.One month down, only 23 to go. Happy Kangaroo! (for the Cranneys)
Love, Elder Stringfellow
yep i got here ok. Anyway we ended up leaving SLC at 9:00pm instead of 8:11. I dont know why they delayed it, but we landed in LAX just in time to grab a bite to eat, board and sleep. How was Jan. 4th? The plane ride from SLC to LAX was kind of annoying, it was packed full, but more annoyingly it was a narrow plane (six seats in each row divided by about and 18 inch wide walkway, and the ceiling was quite low. I was a little claustrophobic about that for a while, but it was only an hour and a half long flight. The Qantas Flight from LAX to BNE was much better. There was a row of eight seats, with isles between seats 2-3 and 6-7. They served us dinner and breakfast. We got some good sleep, about 12 hours. I woke up every three hours, because of turbulance. It wasn't very severe, it was just annoying and made it hard to get back to sleep.
Anyway, its thursday the sixth here, and it's not P-Day. Normally our P-Day is Wednesday, but we didnt get much of one since my companion, Elder Prina (pree-na) came up to Brisbane to pick us up from the Mission Home. So normally expect my email's on Wednesday (Tuesday in Utah). It's about 3:15pm here. Elder Prina is District Leader, grew up in Michegan and moved to Orem when he was about 13. He went to Timpview and has been out about 20 months. He is a really good trainer! We pretty much have the best apartment in the mission. (here they call homes/property flats) our flat. He said it was small compared to the other ones, which i dont believe because its quite large. I'll send pictures next week probably, once i get settled in (Im still living out of my suitcase). The kitchen is kinda small, but it's really nice. We have a dishwasher. So our flat is pretty much posh. But i dont know any different right now. The shower is huge; 7 ft. by 3 and 1/2 feet, and we have a washer and dryer in our little utility room. All together, the unit is about as big as Whitney and Chris', but with only one room, giving more living space and a larger bathroom. We share a car with some Sisters (Leon and Yost), they have it generally from sunday to wednesday, then we have it thursday to sunday.
It is really rainy, but quite warm as well, about 85 degrees F. (30 or 35 Celcius here). im bearing the humidity alright, it seems like missouri and illinois were worse, but im probably wrong, because its quite tropical here. Tons of Eucalyptus trees, Palm Trees, Birds of Paradise Flowers, Hibiscus, all kinds of rainforest type flora. Haven't seen a kanga yet, but i might see a Wallaby soon (mini kangaroo). I have seen quite a few spiders hanging around on webs between trees. You have to watch really carefully where you are going. Havent seen any snakes yet, but when im walking past someones garden and i hear some rustling in the leaves, i run. The city is beautiful, the ocean is beautiful, its all just gorgeous!
Yesterday President Langeland (Lang-land) and Sister Langeland picked us up at the Airport, along with his assistants Elder Jensen and Elder Waipeo. We went to the Mission office to apply for a Blue Card (allows me to legally work around children), and recieve a small orientation. We went back to the mission home where Sister Langeland cooked us lunch. Then President took us to the chapel right across from the Temple. ok, the temple is absolutely tiny. The spire only reaches about 30 feet in the air, but it's pretty nonetheless. There we met up with some Elders (Sowards and Paki) and we three-sum'd up and did about an hour of tracting. We met a woman named Margaret. Her husband passed away, and she was really interested about the Plan of Salvation. So we gave her a Book of Mormon and set up a time for a lesson ( i of course wont be at the lesson, because i wasn't assigned my area yet, but Elders' Sowards and Paki will return to teach her). Afterward we went back to the mission home for Mission President Interviews and dinner, then we met our trainers and went back to our area's (Elder Pond is about 20 minutes south of Brisbane, and I am about a half hour further south, and I cant remember which area Elder Dahl is in).
Busy, busy day yesterday.
This morning we had District Meeting, and we out to lunch afterward. We went to a restaurant called Nandos where we ate spicy chicken and chips (fries). It was pretty good :)
After i'm done with this email, we are going grocery shopping (because we obviously couldn't yesterday), and proselyting. Then we have a dinner/lesson with an investigator named Jade at the member's flat (the Parker's Family; i wonder if we are related way far back?). We might also meet with a less active (LA) member named Doug Knight and give him a lesson. All in all we are doing pretty good.One month down, only 23 to go. Happy Kangaroo! (for the Cranneys)
Love, Elder Stringfellow
Monday, January 3, 2011
Flying to Australia! Tonight!
Elder Stringfellow is flying to Australia tonight! We are so excited for him. What a great time and experience he had in the MTC (letter updates from the MTC to come later) and it prepared him well for what is headed his way.
Elder Stringfellow flies to the LAX airport and has a 2 hour layover where, hopefully, he will get to call us. He gets to Brisbane January 5, 2011, he completely skips January 4, 2011. He never gets to live that day. Funny huh? Good luck, Elder Stringfellow! More updates to come as we hear from him. Stay tuned!
Elder Stringfellow flies to the LAX airport and has a 2 hour layover where, hopefully, he will get to call us. He gets to Brisbane January 5, 2011, he completely skips January 4, 2011. He never gets to live that day. Funny huh? Good luck, Elder Stringfellow! More updates to come as we hear from him. Stay tuned!
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