Dragon Boats and Opera

What a wonderful couple of weeks we've had! A visit from the New Zealand MTC president, Lynn Wood and his wife, Shirlee; working with Mission Presidents near and far; teaching seminars on "Who Moved My Cheese?" (definitely not our idea, or our "thing," but they asked us to--and we did it) because of the possible upcoming changes in the Area Offices here; running into our former Perth missionaries--life here is good. The weather is turning into spring, and everything is all abloom, so things are great. We miss home--but it's good here!

During the week, we heard that everything in town was booked up because of the International Dragon Boat races. Dragon boat races??? We checked into it, and went to see the opening ceremonies in nearby Parramatta. Apparently, it is quite a sport, with boats that have (yes!) dragon heads on the front and dragon tails on the back, and the team sits in a row down the boat--and paddles. (They do not row, we found out!) They even have a drummer in the back of the boat to help the paddlers keep in rhythm! The whole concept originated in China, but has become quite popular, and teams had come from all over the world--about 2000 participants--to compete. The opening ceremony was held on the Parramatta River--close to where we live, and the actual competitions were throughout the week out at Penrith, at the Olympic Rowing site. And yes--the US has a team, and they were here!

On Saturday, we left early to catch the 7:15 a.m. ferry into Sydney. These rides are fabulous--down the beautiful Parramatta River we go, and the ride takes about 45 minutes to land us right at Circular Quay (pronounced "Key"), which is the hub for catching trains, buses, or other ferries to different parts of town. This particular morning, we had a few minutes before catching our next ferry, so stepped onto the wharf and had an apple cinnamon twist for breakfast! Yum!

Our next ferry took us across the harbor to Mosmon Point, where strolled out--in lots of wind and a little rain--to a beautiful point on the water, looking across the bay toward the city. (Good thing we combed our hair!)

From there we strolled around Mosmon Bay, with the water on one side, and beautiful old, elegant homes on the other.

Some wonderful dedicated couple had, out of their own pockets, planted acres of beautiful gardens along the pathway--full of blooms and trees and bushes and buds of every kind, fountains, rock pathways, arbors, and rock gardens that were so beautiful!

And there--so beautiful, was the little bay, with boats bobbing in the water, gulls flying overhead, and the six of us Americans--grateful to be there!

At the back end of the bay, we caught another ferry back to Circular Quay, where we had an early lunch at Vittorio's--right on the wharf: excellent Italian food--and such a sight and atmosphere!

After lunch, it was a short stroll to the Sydney Opera House for a marvelous matinee production (sold out!) of "The Gondoliers" by Gilbert and Sullivan. It is so light-hearted and fun, but was done sooooo well, and we loved it.

At the "interval" (intermission), we strolled out into hallways made of glass which looked over the water and across to the Sydney Harbor Bridge. With the water lapping at the shore right beneath our feet, and with the waves from passing barges, ferries and sailboats, we had the sensation that we were on a cruise ship--having the time of our lives! Marvelous!

Off to Melbourne!

We had a sad phone call to tell us one of our sweet sister missionaries, Sister Kristie Scantlebury, had just passed away. She had had breast cancer and then chemo, and they thought she was better. But she fell and broke her rib, and blood clots formed around her lungs and heart. In an effort to take care of them, she went into cardiac arrest, and passed away. She was only 29, and had just married about 18 months ago.

We wondered if we could get to Melbourne for the funeral, talked to Elder Sybrowsky about it, and he asked us to go on down to Melbourne, make it "official" Church business, and make a point of visiting with the two new Mission Presidents down there. So--off we went.

We attended the viewing and funeral, where everyone wore pink: pink ties, jackets, sweaters, blouses, skirts, etc. Everyone--except us (since we didn't know). They also passed out pink ribbons for everyone to pin on--in a reminder of the fight against breast cancer, which took the life of such a wonderful young woman.

After the funeral, we headed to the Maroonda Chapel, which sits on the same property with the beautiful Melbourne Temple--to attend the Zone Conference being held by the Melbourne East Mission. What a joy! Great talks, training, spot-on doctrine, good-looking missionaries, great participation, and wonderful testimonies on the end. They called on us to speak for a bit, and the Mission President, Corey Lindley and his wife, Janis, were fabulous! Of course they are--Janis is my cousin--Uncle Bill's daughter! But they really were excellent.

Following the Zone Conference, we drove across town (a BIG drive!) to meet with President Barry and Sister Pauline Lee, Mission President of the Melbourne West Mission. They really were glad for the chance to talk, ask questions, and "unload" a bit, since they've walked into quite a situation with their mission. We took them to dinner--and enjoyed them so much.

Interesting thing about Sister Lee: she joined the Church when staying with her aunt and uncle in Melbourne years ago--the aunt and uncle having just been converted and baptized by our cousin, Elder Jerald Farnsworth from Cedar City (Uncle Reed's son). The aunt and uncle raised a wonderful, dedicated and active family who have served missions, been bishops, etc. In fact, the husband, Dr. Mageur, was our Area Medical Advisor when we were in Perth, and two of his grandsons served in our mission (one as assistant to Lonnie!). Now here we were, 40-plus years after those baptisms, in Melbourne: cousins to Elder Farnsworth (Janis and myself), and connected in a wonderful way to Sister Mageur and her niece, Sister Lee. Great fruits from those baptisms all those years ago!

On Saturday, Dad and I slept in a bit, then went on a bit of a "tour" of Fitzroy Park--near downtown Melbourne. Australian parks are beautiful! They have ponds and pathways, lovely flower beds, huge grassy areas, and historical sites to visit.

This one had a beautiful arboretum, and we LOVED the flowers. This is just a little corner of the flowers inside, and the air was thick with the marvelous scent of these blossoms...

We also visited "Cooks' Cottage," which is the home of Captain Cook's parents. It was originally built in England in the 1750's, and was taken down and re-constructed in Australia.

Over the front doorway, they carved some initials: "C" for Cook, "J" for James (the husband), and "G" for his wife, Grace. Then the year--1753. And--note how short the doorway is!

There was also the "Fairy Tree"--an old tree stump which some artist had carved, on all sides, pixies and fairies and fanciful animals. It was really neat.

And--a miniature Tudor Village, with each building about 2 feet tall. It was so delightful!

Later that afternoon, we attended a baptism in a Spanish ward in Corey and Janis's mission, and my talented little cousin stood up and gave a 10-minute talk in Spanish! She served her mission in Peru, so it was great! Corey served in New York City--Greek speaking!!!--and one in ten people in Melbourne is Greek. And--they have their great experiences in China for the past five years, so they are PERFECT for their mission assignment! Afterward, we went out for great Italian food, and had a wonderful visit.

Sunday morning, we attended Church with Lindleys, then went to their home, where 9 missionaries, a woman who was baptized a week ago, their six (two of their kids are at BYU) kids who are still at home, and we all ate dinner. It was a houseful--and fun! Janis managed it all without batting an eyelash.

It was fun to be with them. Janis hardly looks like the mother of eight, plus a returned missionary and--now--a Mission President's wife! But there we were--two little cousins on the far side of the world.

The whole trip was lovely, and we hope we accomplished some good things, with seeing these mission presidents "doing their thing," and hopefully giving them some encouragement in their big assignments. Their feet are "wet" now--and they are fully into their tasks. What good people they are!

We returned home Sunday evening--tired, but happy. Melbourne is beautiful! And the work is going forward there too!