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!