Well time seems to be flying by here in Sydney.  We love the diversity of responsibilities that we have and the new people and opportunities that continually come our way.  We have 2 new and very cute members who were baptized last week.  When they began coming to FHE we were playing a name game and one of the girls wanted a new English name.  So I suggested Karli and she loved it.  So now our daughter's namesake is a new member and also one of my favorite English students.

One of our favorite P-day activities is to take the ferry to one of the numerous beautiful places .  Last week was Manly beach.  It is such a fun little beach town with shops and restaurants and a really beautiful beach.  It was such a relaxing day with my favorite companion!!!

Our ward was responsible for the Stake YSA Valentine Party and the YSA committee planned such a fun evening.  The decorations were really cute and we played really great games all night, ate good food and treats and just hung out.  About 60 attended and "lingered longer".  Allan and I planned the "create a prophet" game which was really funny.  Us oldies were pretty tired at the end of that evening.

This week we went on an "adventure" with one of our cute YSAs to some sights a couple of hours away by train.  We visited a Buddhist Shrine/school that was so interesting.  The grounds were so beautiful and the buildings, statues, and teachings were unique and so different.  One of the young monks explained some of their philosophies and beliefs as we toured the facility.

Lainey is the girl who planned this day.  She has been a member for 2 or more years and is such an amazing girl who has been going through some struggles.  So we were so glad to spend this special day together.  She is such a dear friend.

Then we went to a really fun beach town, Kiama, and walked along the shore to the blowhole and lighthouse.  It was such a perfect weather day and the thickly wooded hillsides along the beach are amazing.  It was a great day!!!

The ward FHE group has picked up now that the holidays are over.  Last week we had a really fun activity - "Us-ie" scavenger hunt in Hyde Park.  Each group had a list of places they had to find and take an Usie picture.  It was quite hilarious to follow them around that huge park.

We were so happy for the baptism of Maria who has been one of Allan's english students for several months.  She is from Spain and is a beautiful gal who is a bit older and very religious and serious about the gospel.  She will be a strong one.

We had a fun R.S. activity this month.  We had the Thai sister missionaries teach us how to make Pad Thai noodles.  It was a fun activity and the noodles were yummy.  Because we had so many missionaries completing their service and others being transferred we made Brunch for them this week.  We made scrambled eggs and 80 strawberry pancakes.  We love these missionaries.

This was a tough transfer.  We lost some of our "trainers" who were here when we began.  Goodbye to Sister Pragang, Sister Bua-in, and Elder Watson from Syracuse and Elder Brown from N.Z.  Sister Nelson also got transferred and we will miss her.

AUSTRALIA DAY - January 27
Today we celebrated with such a fun party with the ward.  Bishop Akroyd and his family really know how to throw a party.  We did Aussie trivia competition, and lots of other fun games.  They decorated so cute and prepared a yummy lunch.  There were about 60 in attendance.

Happy New Year 2016
It is always good to move into a new year and have fond memories of the past.  We have been so blessed during 2015.  It was an amazing year with good changes for us an our family.
We took the challenge of trying to see the world famous New Years eve fireworks in the Sydney Harbour and bridge.  It was estimated that almost 2 million people viewed the festivities live.  We took our chairs, lunch and books at noon to get a spot on Observation Hill (Millers Point) and waited for 8 hrs for the fireworks.  It was a beautiful warm day and we had a spectacular view of the Harbour and bridge.  So it was a good wait and we were not disappointed.  There were 6 locations in the harbour that shot off fireworks at 9 pm.  We then fought the small crowds to get home and watched the 12 midnight show on TV.  So it was another once in a lifetime experience.

During the holidays our good friends Kim and Vicki Rowlands invited us to join them at their sisters home in Luera, in the Blue Mountains.  It was a lovely 2 days away from the crowds, noise and hustle of the city.  We went on a wonderful hike to Gordon Falls (and talked about Gordon & Wileen of course).  We also loved Luera Cascades which was very tropical with water "cascading" down a mountain.  And the views of the Blue Mountains were breath taking.  It is literally carpeted with trees and goes on forever.  We also visited the cute little town of Luera with its cute shops and European flavor.  We think we will take our upcoming guests to this great location.  We love the Rowlands---they are so kind and terrific hosts.  

Last week we had another wonderful friend baptized.  Tina is from China and is doing research here.  We met her doing IELTS prep. and the missionaries began teaching her about 6 months ago.  We were able to join in several lessons with her and she is so sincere and took the time she needed to discover for herself the truth of the restored gospel and came to know Jesus Christ.  It was a long and thoughtful journey for her and a beautiful baptism.  She will be a solid member of the church.