A humbling week...

Nov. 18, 2019

Well, can I just say I had the best Australian birthday ever?! Elder Tate made my favorite cake...german chocolate; I received lots of flowers & lovely things & had a wonderful time spent w/wonderful new friends here in Karratha! They treated this elderly sister like a queen. Sorry....elderly Sister.  

We returned from our monthly visit to Port Hedland yesterday afternoon. During our time there we have a specific assignment to work with/engage the YSA ladies. I've mentioned before that there are seven, but only one actively participates. This certainly makes it challenging, however it always seems to work out, because the Lord wants these young women to know He loves them...so we do whatever we can to accomplish this goal. We invited the YW & their mums/leaders to join us & had a wonderful time making yummy smelling, feeling sugar scrubs, lip balm & sweet muddy buddies.  Next time I think we'll have lots more show up! 

We also had the Relief Society ladies Christmas dinner. We had a lovely time chatting & enjoying each other's company. The group might have been small but we made up for it in laughter & in sharing the holiday spirit with our Kris Kringle gift exchange.

It was also the branch's Primary program which is always a special treat. There are only about a dozen kids, but they certainly did a wonderful job of bringing the Spirit into our meeting. We had several less active members & a couple non-members attend, which is always a great opportunity for them to feel the Spirit, meet the members & feel the love we have one to another.

Elder Tate had a wonderful experience as he spoke to a gentleman who has recently been separated from his family due to some poor choices/struggles on his part. He was so grateful to be able to watch & enjoy the Primary program & spend time w/his children. It was obvious to us that he truly missed being a part of their lives/the gospel. Randy felt impressed to speak privately with him & offered to listen if he ever felt the need to unburden himself. 

Because our Heavenly Father knows our deepest sorrows & pains, He can & will open the way for us to find our way back to safety & peace. It is often by another's hands that these things come to pass...so it is up to us to be prepared to receive those quiet promptings...then have the faith to go & do accordingly. 

Unbeknownst to us, our young missionaries had made an appointment earlier in the week to visit this family's home after church which provided Elder Tate with additional time & opportunity to visit w/this brother & get to know him better. He says of this..."My experience after our discussion was very unusual; this was the first time I have ever mourned privately and actually felt the pain of someone I am not close to.  The Holy Ghost has the responsibility to comfort and testify of truth to all who are willing to learn what Jesus experienced on our behalf.  Truly an unforgettable experience for me."

Our time with the Saints in Port Hedland is becoming sweeter w/each visit...we love their devotion & desire to serve the Lord. Here is a pic of Jacob (fully clothed!) & Robert. Elder Tate loves these two humble men & so enjoys hearing of their life experiences & stories. You will have to read our previous posts to learn about Jacob's history as it is quite impressive. Robert joined the church at 14 but was never really active. He has hard a very hard life but has a strong desire receive the blessings that come from being fully engaged in the gospel & able to go to the temple this next year. We know our Father & the Savior love them for their child-like meekness & kind souls.

We learned that one sister's father was baptized without ever being taught the gospel because he saw how it changed people for the better & knew it was true. He was disowned by his pastor father & lost his inheritance/land & was forced to move into a hut donated/built by others. A short time later he was called to be the first missionary to go to a small island near Tonga, so he took his family & moved away...again without anything but what they could carry...totally dependent upon people they did not know. 

On this island the members of a local church were kind & provided the family with a hut/land & helped them become part of the small community. Within a couple of years her father had taught & baptized dozens of people. Now this small island is home to a large community of saints, a full-size ward church building & the gospel of Jesus Christ is strong & thriving. This good sister has eleven siblings & every one of them have served missions & have been married in the Temple; two are currently Bishops, one is a Stake President & all are active & strong in the gospel..all because her father/mother were willing to move forward in faith & embrace the Lord's true church. 

We also both had an experience that required us to repent of some unkind feelings towards someone we felt was being sooo difficult & judgemental! As we came to better understand this person & their needs, it was made clear to us that we were the ones being uncharitable... examples of us having a beam in our eye vs. the tiny mote in theirs. We are so grateful for the opportunity to repent & try, yet again, to become more Christlike. I'm afraid it's going to be a very long journey...

You've read of our previous experience getting lost. We made sure not to do that again. However, as we were driving over & back again, we felt the sun beating down through the windshield & knew it had to be very hot outside. There were men out doing road construction & guys digging post holes along the way home. Couldn't believe it when we took this shot of our temperature gauge.

You can see it reads 47*C...that's 116.6*F!! 

If that isn't incentive to get a good education for an inside job, I don't know what is!

We were blessed to have our Mission President & companion come visit us a short time ago. They don't get up this far north very often, so it was lovely to have some time with them. They provided some wonderful training to our country district & it was sweet to hear their testimonies of the Savior & feel of their love for the missionaries in their care. Just like the rest of us, they have their own struggles & challenges to overcome & work through. Their 35 yr. old daughter is married w/five small children & was diagnosed w/a rare form of cancer several months ago. She is currently undergoing an extremely rigorous treatment of both radiation/chemo 5 days/wk...all day, & will continue this for over a year. And yet they both smile, give hugs & are so filled w/love for the work of bringing others to Christ & encourage us all to do the same. 

We testify that when we are willing to repent & submit to the Lord's will...doing whatever is required or necessary in faith, our Heavenly Father will bless us; give us the strength to endure our trials & perform miracles in our behalf. His Son's perfect Atonement will cover all sins & weaknesses...He is more than capable of bringing us, or our loved ones, back from the deepest despair or sorrows. 

At this time of Thanksgiving, we are so very grateful for the gift of agency; for the blessings of covenants & the possibility of eternal family units; for our liberties & freedoms. We are especially grateful for the knowledge we have that Christ is our Savior & Redeemer. We testify that the Book of Mormon is true, that the Prophet Joseph Smith was the instrument chosen by God to restore the fullness of His gospel & that Pres. Nelson is His prophet upon the earth today. Christ lives & The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His Church. How blessed we are to have these truths & be able to share them with the people in this part of the Lord's vineyard.

We appreciate your prayers. We can feel their power in our lives. May you feel His love in your lives as well. God bless!! 

Elder & Sister Tate

Lost....& not metaphorically speaking :-\

November 3, 2019

The last weekend of October we visited our Port Hedland branch. I posted pictures of our activities there...the radio station, serving w/the elders at the soup kitchen, hanging out w/Jacob (in his underwear), & in general, doing what missionaries are supposed to do. 

On the way home to Karratha, Elder Tate was passing one of the big road trains...they're called this because one semi can have up to 7 trailers...yep, that's over 225 ft & looks like a train on the road! So we're driving on the wrong side of the road...on the wrong side of he car...& passing on the wrong side of the road. No worries, mate!! Here's a picture as we're passing one & I couldn't get the last trailer in the frame.

So, we're passing this monster & totally miss our turn off cause it was blocking the sign telling us where to go. And we have no idea cause everything looks the same...red dirt, small red hills w/scrubby trees/grasses, more red dirt, etc. You get the picture. So, we drive for almost two hours then notice the hills are getting greener...there's some mountains in the distance & what looks like rain! Rain?! We haven't seen that since we've been here. And, oh, look...there's a termite hill & a balancing rock we've not seen before....Wait! We've never seen them before! 

Yep, we're totally lost w/no idea where we're at. No road signs anywhere along the way, no cell service or GPS, no pit stops, gas stations...nothing. Half hour later we see our first & only road sign telling us we're about 140 kilometers from Tom Price (a small town six hours southeast of where we live). Fortunately, we come to a roadhouse (truck stop) a short time later where we learn there's a short cut only 30 mins back...but we need a 4-wheel drive vehicle to travel that road, which we don't have. So back we go to where we started...a 7.5 hr. road trip we hadn't planned. At least we didn't hit any kangaroos after it got dark, which is when they usually hop out of nowhere onto the roads. You know the safety roll bars our vehicles have in the states? Out here they're called....roobars! 

Safely back home we enjoyed a good nights sleep on our new mattress from IKEA. We had been sleeping on one of the most uncomfortable beds ever & the mission had purchased us a new mattress. It got lost then found, lost again then reordered then both showed up 7 weeks after being ordered. (Notice a theme about being lost yet?) Upon getting it upstairs we discovered the hideously hard mattress we had been sleeping on was actually upside down! Whoever had made up the bed for the future tenants (us) had done so w/the soft mattress side face down. Who does that?! So now we are very comfortable sleeping on two mattresses...we're like princesses. 

Wonderful week spent meeting new people & teaching English to a missionary sister from Samoa. She is a wonderful, strong missionary with a humble heart of gold. She has a large family of 10 children...she's # 9 & also the ninth missionary to serve & her younger sister is preparing to leave in just a few months. Her parents were converted 25 yrs ago & have been so faithful in teaching their children the gospel & instilling strong values & a desire to serve. Amazing people!! 

The Elder we teach English is from Thailand & comes from a small village where his parents are dairy farmers. His goal is simple...to return home, marry in the temple, raise a righteous family & help run the farm. He wants to learn how to help grow the farm to provide work & income for others in their village. No big dreams of being a millionaire or traveling the world, just making a difference in his part of the Lord's vineyard the best way he can. We love these missionaries!

We had our Primary program two Sundays ago & it was such a beautiful meeting! The spirit was strong & we could feel the love of our Savior as the children bore their simple testimonies of Him. The family singing above are Maori & originally came from New Zealand. They have three of the loveliest children! The two boys have long, curly hair...the daughter's is short. Our branch has several such families...living far from home & family members, so this little branch is truly one big family who love & care one for another & welcome all into their circle.

We have one family who can only come to church one weekend a month as they live 6 hrs away. They're from the States...she's from Utah & he's from Arizona & they have 4 little ones. He worked for Kennicutt mines in SLC & was promoted to be the general manager at one of the big Rio Tinto mining operations over here. They are so faithful & determined to make sure their time here is spent teaching others of the Gospel & being true disciples of Christ. Another family is a hour away so come a couple times a month; there are also numerous fly-foes...these are workers who are flyin & flying out all the time. They may live 1200 miles away from their families yet come work for weeks at a time before flying out again. Lots of sacrifice.

We took a little drive over to Point Samson on Saturday...it's about an hour away so we didn't get lost. Along the way we saw our first real river...it was high tide & coming inland. We met a couple from Scandinavia...Her name is Ingrid & he's Gaston. We spent some time visiting & watched as some sea turtles swam in the river. She's going out to one of the islands in a few weeks to help tag the turtles & take an inventory of their numbers. It's always so interesting how the Lord's hand can be seen in the smallest of things. She was excited when we told her we had a friend from Sweden, Inger Bishop. Then we find out they live in the unit right next to us in Karratha...crazy!

We had a relaxing time exploring the area...beautiful beaches, a cool ghost town & a small park in the town of Wickham that had some retired machinery. This picture is for our grandson Lucas who loves everything about trucks! These can be seen all over the mining areas along with huge trains that can be up to 2 or miles long with cars filled w/iron ore being shipped off to China.

Then Elder Tate felt prompted to see if we could find one of the other families that have to travel in order to come to Church. The grandmother was home with two of the boys & welcomed us in. She got quite emotional as she shared some concerns that have been weighing heavy on her mind about her family & expressed her gratitude that we had made the effort to come visit. We were humbled & grateful to know the Lord had trusted us to meet her needs at this time. We know the Lord loves & cares about each & every one of His children regardless of where they live, what they do & who they are. He will send those who are able & willing to do His work...so we must always be listening to & for that still, small voice.

One of our neighbors is a returned missionary from Thailand who no longer attends church. She is a professional chef & seamstress...a very busy woman. She has been holding cooking classes in her home on Monday evenings, so we try to go as often as possible. It's more of a friendshipping thing than learning to cook...but she creates some beautiful dishes that taste as good as they look. She has friends who are partiers, so she now parties; she is lonely even in a crowd because she's forgotten who she is/where she comes from. So, along with others in our branch, we try to give her opportunities to feel & remember those things she once taught others. We are kind & try to show by example that you can find true joy by being in the world, but not of the world. 

We have a dear sister who was recently baptized & who has made some mistakes so thinks she is no longer worthy to attend church & participate in her new calling. It is difficult for her to think that she is not alone in this...that others feel the same way & it takes all of us to love & accept each other...wherever we are on the path of discipleship. 

So, I end with the beginning....in some way, at some time & in some place, we are all a little bit lost. It may be the result of poor choices we've made or that have been foisted upon us by another; it might be that we allow our doubts to push aside our faith or life just gets really, really hard & we think it might just be easier not to live the gospel for awhile. 

Elder Holland has expressed it this way, "...however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines."

We are so very grateful for this knowledge. It is humbling & yet thrilling at the same time to be a part of this great gathering of the last days. We pray for the strength & ability to continue moving forward as we serve His children in this remote, but beautiful part of the world. 

Love to all,

Elder & Sister Tate