In September our mission president notified us of a probability of a transfer. Back in June a family of five moved into Armidale and after a few months it became evident that the husband was worthy and capable of serving as the branch president. Therefore our services were no longer needed as it is church policy that when a permanent resident can serve in leadership positions that they do so. Before we left Armidale we were able to see Christopher Ugochukwu, who we baptized in February, be ordained as an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood. It was a pleasure to see him assist in the blessing of his baby Emmanuel.
Our new assignment, starting in October, finds us in a
suburb of Canberra (Belconnen) ACT, which is the capital of Australia. We were
excited about the move but hated leaving our good friends in Armidale and
Inverell. Our work here is under the direction of the stake president and
involves working with Young Single Adults (YSA) and Single Adults (SA) in the
stake. Family Home Evenings are held on Monday nights with the YSA and we also
assist them in planning their activities. We are just getting the SA organized
trying to develop leadership and determine interests. Visiting less active and
homebound members along with speaking frequently in sacrament meetings are also
part of how we spend our time. Zoom meetings are a frequent occurrence as
well. For example, Penny has enjoyed and
benefitted meeting by Zoom with the other senior sisters to discuss inspiring
talks from the last General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
One of the challenges in this area is the lack of interest
in any religion so bringing people back into activity or introducing the gospel
is very difficult.
Canberra is a beautiful city with many suburbs separated by
open tracts of land. It was a carefully planned city and includes many lakes,
walking/bike paths, forested areas, and parks. We walk around Lake Ginninderra,
which is close to where we live, most mornings observing many beautiful species
of birds including some amazing black swans. We visited Tidbinbilla Nature
Reserve observing koalas in their natural habitat, platypuses, wallabies and
kangaroos.
While in Sydney for our Christmas missionary conference and
get together with the other senior missionaries we were able to go to “Van Gogh
Alive”. It is a multi-media presentation of his work and was spectacular.
Part of the Canberra Stake is a small branch about three
hours from away on the south coast of Australia in Merimbula. We met members of
the Church there and also visited the camp site where the YSA’s will be holding
their super activity at the end of January. The coastline is rocky and rugged
with sandy bays and inlets…quite beautiful and remarkable.
Christmas was special this year in that we were able to have
two sets of missionaries and three single adults join us for dinner, read the
story of the first Christmas in Luke, play games and enjoy conversations.
In this part of Australia Covid is practically non-existent
and we appreciate the safety that we enjoy.
We love Australia and the wonderful people we have met here.
We are so privileged to have this opportunity to bear testimony of the restored
gospel of Jesus Christ and of His atoning sacrifice.
We have attached pictures below that show some of our
experiences and hope you enjoy seeing them.
We love you all and wish you a Happy New Year!
Love, Elder and Sister Brown (Elwood and Penny)
Members in Armidale and Inverell
Canberra
Canberra Animal Reserve
Van Gogh Alive
Bird at Lake Ginninderra
