Our new area is amazing!!

Greetings from Western Australia! Elder Tate & I arrived on Aug. 28th to a warm welcome from Pres. & Sister Bennallack & were swiftly taken to meet the two other senior couples serving in the Perth mission office. They are incredible, hard-working people devoted to making sure all the missionaries are well taken care of & kept on task. While there they took us around to experience many of the unique sights...one of my faves was the Koala bears & kangaroo habitat @ Cohunu Park.

The beach at Hilary’s Cove with our new senior missionary friends! The Olsen’s, us & the Daleys.

We flew out of Perth for our new assignment on Sept. 2. It’s about as far north as one can get & as we flew overland & saw red dirt as far as the eye could see, we wondered if Mars was our new destination. It’s actually a small oasis on the edge of the Indian Ocean called Karratha & we have fallen in love with it & the people here. They are as warm as the temperature (currently it’s early spring & 91*). Get’s up in the triple digits in summertime. 😎

Went w/the young missionaries to teach the second day here & met a great new member named Melanie & an investigator family...an aboriginal mom & four kids. Church was wonderful & the members are like one big family who truly love & minister to each other. The families are almost all young w/several children & there are about 60 active members in the branch.

The average age in Karratha is...wait for it...seven! Yep, seven years old. That’s cause educated singles or young married couples come here, work for really good money, start their families & save for when they can move away to somewhere else w/more opportunities for growth. But those that are here to stay are very supportive & understanding. The huge corporations that operate the mines & off shore drilling provide lots of amazing amenities for their employees to make their time here productive & enjoyable. Like a $62 million sports complex, new state of the art hospital, Library & performing arts center. 

The Church is true wherever one goes in the world & the members love to share & be a part of helping the Kingdom grow. We are so grateful for this opportunity & know the Lord lives & loves each of us regardless of where we are, who we are or what we do. God bless & love to all!