February 6, 2021
The past couple of weeks have been quite the rollercoaster ride for the people of Western Australia! We've been very protected & safe here & still are for the most part, but lately things have gotten a bit more like everywhere else.
Last Sunday evening Perth went into lockdown when it was discovered that a hotel worker...one person, tested positive for C19. Yep...you read that right, one person & we went into lockdown! All church meetings/activities were cancelled until further notice. Lucky for us, that ban was lifted as we are in the middle of nowhere & the infected guy had no contact with anyone coming our way. As of now, there have been no new cases reported & all the contacts of this one person have come back negative, so hopefully things related to C19 will probably return to 'normal' by the weekend. But we did get face masks...just in case.
In other news, fires started about 18.miles east of Perth in areas w/beautiful vineyards & rolling hills covered w/trees & bush. The fires spread very quickly as the deep valleys create their own weather patterns with high winds that make fighting the fires very difficult. So far, over 80 homes have been lost & about 60K acres. You can barely see the outline of the skyscrapers below in these hazy photos.
So while fires are burning out of control east of Perth, we went to bed Tuesday night to the sound of pouring rain & howling wind. It was still going strong Wednesday morning & outside our driveway there were rivers of red water, tree limbs & debris floating down the sides of the road to who knows where?
These pictures were taken by a member in our ward as they drove their kids to school. The red lake is actually an open park type area off one of the main roads.
We have a little Toyota Corolla so didn't go out anywhere...we know with sudden flash floods/high water, cars stall out. Later on in the day we saw several on the sides of roads & being towed away. By the end of the day the water was pretty much gone & completely filled the large local reservoirs. And yes...the dirt is that red everywhere you look around here!
For those who remember our driving back & forth from Karratha to Perth, here is a picture of just one section of the only main road. Another cyclone passed through the area & the results were pretty devastating with a hundred or so miles of destroyed road. The truck you see here is only one of dozens stranded along the road carrying food & provisions to numerous out of the way towns. Our friends in Karratha say they are all good & didn't have this kind of flooding, so we are grateful for that. The prices for food/fuel will be going way up though.
Birthday cake for Detroyt TePuke...his wife Nawal & their three very energetic boys; #1 baby reveal party for Josh & CeCe Katane...their little princess is coming the end of June! We are sooo sad cause we will be leaving to come home before she arrives & a few months before they are sealed in the Temple.
This past week we had a Pacific Conference Tour w/the Pacific Area Presidency, which includes Elder Nattress from Fruitland, Idaho. Elder Yamashita & his wife gave us great counsel over three days on how to 'open our mouths' & help share the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ w/our neighbors/friends/strangers. They had infectious spirits & were so very joyful to be among all of us...even if it was just on Zoom.
Sister Yamashita had a sweet sense of humor & attempted to teach all of us how to do a piece of origami. It was comical to watch the looks & confusion on all of our faces as we tried to understand her accent & follow her directions. She was very emphatic that we must listen & do what she said w/exactness to be successful. It wasn't as easy as it sounded to make the folds, creases & lines as close to perfect as possible. When we saw the results by those who had trouble following her directions because of her accent, or because it was hard to see what exactly was being done, or because someone just didn't listen/follow well...their origami creation was less than ideal. For those who managed to follow her instructions w/exactness (or as much as possible) their origami 'mouths' worked as desired & were fun to see. Everyone else learned a valuable lesson & had a good laugh at the silly things we made. You can see in ours that in one the lips are together & in the other the mouth is open...Glad we didn't receive a grade for it!
So what did we learn from this exercise? Well, a few things...it takes patience, time, practice & obedience in order to successfully share the gospel. It isn't hard, but it does require attention to details. Kindness, sincerity, good listening skills, asking pertinent questions & listening to the Spirit are a few of the skills necessary to be effective missionaries. And regardless of how well we learn these lessons or develop these skills, unless we are willing to open our mouths, nothing will ever be gained.
We pray for you our dear family/friends & are so grateful for your prayers in our behalf. We look forward to the day when we can be reunited & see all those sweet faces once again...making new memories together. May you all feel the love of our Heavenly Father & His Son in your lives & be unafraid to open your mouths to share the good news of the restored gospel w/our brothers & sisters whom the Lord also loves & desires to learn of Him.
Be safe & be happy!! Hurrah for Israel! Elder & Sister Tate
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