The end of an Era!!

March 26, 2020

These past few weeks have been very busy & productive. Elder Tate's basketball days here in Western Australia have come to an end. His boys played hard & gave it their all, but it wasn't quite enough to stay in the tournament. It didn't help that they didn't have any subs & two of the better players moved mid-season. But they learned a lot about sportsmanship, discipline & teamwork w/Elder Tate, their amazing & very patient coach.

A couple weeks ago we held our first missionary fireside. It was specifically for members & we had a great turnout w/many people remarking how much they loved the format & ideas that were presented. The Elders were in charge & gave assignments to each of the auxiliaries to figure out & implement. Those in attendance were divided up into four groups & rotated to another room every 10 minutes. Each group watched a 1-2 minute video from the gospel library app called 'How to Share' & received great suggestions on how to be better missionaries using proven methods of friendship & sincerity. We ended in under an hour & then spent another hours eating & visiting about what we had just done. Lots of questions about if/when we would be having another missionary fireside, so I'd call it successful!

Here's Elder Tate playing w/the Mortley kiddos, Eli & Lillum. They love Elder/Grandpa Tate & he gets his grandkid 'fix' when we can hang out w/these cuties. They will be missed when we leave to return home. One little part of our heart will always be in Karratha & another part will remain in Kalgoorlie. 

Our new missionary is Elder Meads. He played his first 'Murder' marble game w/Elder Tate as his partner, & as you can tell from Elder van der Linden's face, our team lost...badly. The game has caught on on we have eight boards now in circulation in Western Australia that Elder Tate has made w/six more that Bro. Barr's family have made & play in Perth. We leave a legacy of 'murder' in our wake.

Randy has become friends w/the father of one of the boy's from basketball over the last few weeks. The family are originally from Ghana, Africa but have lived here in Kalgoorlie for the past nine years. The dad, Peter, is a geologist turned assistant pastor at the Assembly of God church & chaplin at the Baptist college. The mom, Harriet, works at the local hospital. They have five children...two in college in Perth & three here in high school. They are lovely people & we are enjoying getting to know them better. Peter has been coming to the Family History center for the past couple of weeks & has become very excited to see things coming together w/his genealogy as his brothers/sisters back in Africa send him information & he's been able to get the records digitized. The gathering of Israel for his family has started...

his questions have also started as to why we do this work.

Here we are at dinner w/Harriet, Peter & the Mortley family at a local Italian restaurant. We wanted to introduce them to a member family & Scott is our EQ Pres. & they are awesome missionaries. Come to find out, they have a mutual friend who is starting work at the prison where Scott is an administrator, so the Mortley's will invite both families to their home along w/several other members who also work at the prison to do some friend shipping & fellowship. 

Here is a picture of Elder Tate & Peter on their way back from a visit to an Assembly of God group last Sunday in a very small settlement about an hour from Kalgoorlie. There were about 12 in attendance & the ladies loved the chocolate cake Elder Tate made to share w/them after their meeting. The two guys had a great conversation on the way home about our Heavenly Father's plan for his children & self reliance. We just happen to be facilitating the 'Start Your Own Business' self reliance class, so Peter is planning on attending in the near future to see what it's all about. He is a very good man & we are hopeful these things will be the catalyst for more questions & missionary lessons.

The other picture is of a huge lake of salt...one of many in our area. 

Here we are at another of our Monday night FHE in the park...Two of our Chinese families came & they had a great time. Henry/Yue (she's expecting in May) w/daughter Amy on the left (below) & James/Chen Chen w/baby (boy) on right...they have another little boy, too & he had so much fun playing w/all the other children.

Several of Elder Tate's basketball boys came to hang out & eat some hotdogs, play some ball & games.  Adom, (front right) is Peter & Harriet's son. They all had a great time playing the game below, which is an old family favorite w/a spin. I had totally forgotten this game until just before we left for the park. The Spirit whispered it to me, so strange to remember this from when I was growing up...what we used to call the 'States' game. Instead of states, we had everyone choose a fruit or veggie & say what they were in the circle. A person is in the middle w/a rolled up newspaper & getting to smack someone if they don't give the right response quickly. We played using fruits/veggies instead of names. The little Chinese boy is sitting next to the Elders & he got so excited to be able to participate. He doesn't speak much English but chose to be a peach (the fruit)...he learned quickly that when 'peach' was called out, to jump up & yell 'apple' or 'banana' or something else & laughed so much when they got hit. If he got to have a turn hitting someone with the paper, then that was even better! His parents were so happy to hear/see him laughing & to know he had fun. It's a great game for all ages...the youngest playing was four.

This is last Friday nights couple's dinner...enjoying good food, good laughter & good times. They're all from New Zealand & the guy on the left is a convert w/a story similar to Elder Tate's. The other couple have the most adorable kids & the little one calls Elder Tate 'Papa'. We had a great time getting to know them all better & sharing experiences. We've become like a set of parent's/grandparents to a lot of these young couples whose families are all back in NZ or gone. They like talking about the differences in America to here, talking about marriage/parenting & work. People are the same wherever we go...they love their family, worry about their kids, work, relationships & want to be happy. The gospel answers so many questions on how to become our best selves & achieve happiness in this life & joy in the life to come.

Yes...we do post lots of pictures w/food & it does appear that we are always eating somewhere or with someone! We do spend a lot of time w/people at one kind of celebration, activity or church function that has food as a part of it. Not much different than being back home, actually! Elder Tate is doing very well taking off the pounds he's put on while we've been on our mission...me, not so much. Even w/Zumba starting back up, I've got to get out more & will do that as soon as the temps start to drop. 

What is also the same is that lots of people need service! On the left is Elder Tate & one of our YM, Lennox helping to stake a tree that had fallen over; many other hands cleaning out dead bushes/trees & cleaning up a single sister's yard. We had two nonmembers helping out & two less actives...plus lots of little kids giving us a hand. The old adage is still true...many hands make light work!  

The Primary put together a great activity in preparation for Easter. Families met at the Church then received a series of clues an their phones sending them out on a scavenger hunt. They had to figure out the clues to know where to go to complete an activity, put together a message or receive a treat. The handout they received also had codes to find additional activities, the treat recipe & Easter stories. Lots of participation & everyone said how much fun they had together! 

And the bagged goodies are...wait for it...Rice Krispy treats! They have been introduced & reproduced on several occasions & are now beloved by both young & old alike! They love 'American' food!

Another busy few weeks have  passed & we are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to go to Perth next week for a very quick trip to see our dedicated, long serving missionaries from Kiribati finally getting to return home. They have been out over three years due to Covid having closed the borders to their tiny island home. What trust & pride our Heavenly Father must have in them to send them out knowing they would remain faithful & obedient in such times as these. They never complained...just kept working, loving & serving by loving & serving our Father's children. We have been so blessed to see their devotion & selflessness. It will be hard saying goodbye.

This thought brings me to thinking about how difficult it must have been for us to say goodbye to our brothers/sisters who rebelled against Heavenly Father/Jesus in the pre-mortal realms. How much grief must our Heavenly Parents have felt to know so many of their children willingly chose to turn their backs upon all that was good/true because of pride & would never be able to return to live w/them again.

How much joy must they experience when we choose to follow the Plan of Salvation & be obedient/faithful to the love which has been so freely given us. To have a Savior who loves us so much that he gave himself as a ransom, regardless of whether or not we will follow Him. Because of this perfect understanding & selfless love, Christ became our Redeemer & provided a way back to our heavenly home for all those who choose to take His yoke upon them & follow him. 

My heart fills w/peace & joy to know because of this great plan of happiness, I can see my beloved Father & little Jack-Jack again & dwell w/my family for eternity. The path is not always easy. It is strewn w/detours, mountains, great divides & barriers sadness & grief. It is also filled w/rivers & lakes of great peace & serenity; valleys covered in green pastures of peace & mountains that spread wide before us the incredible creations of God.

May the next few days lead be filled w/joy as you create or relive wonderful memories of family & the true message of Easter. We pray you will take time to reflect, study & learn more of our Savior & Redeemer & share the incredible story of His life & Atonement w/those you love. May the Spirit touch your hearts as you seek to hear His voice & learn of Him. May you feel impressed to share that joy w/others that they may come to know the Lord & receive the promises He offers each of us. 

We give thanks for the blessings of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. We know He lives & love us. We know this is His true Church & is led by men called to lead/direct it. That Russell M. Nelson is His chosen Prophet; that he & the Apostles direct the Church according to His will & that as we follow their counsel, we may find safety/shelter amid the storms that rage around us. May we always strive to be worthy of the blessings we have been promised through obedience & endure w/patience & faith until He comes again.

We love you all & look forward to the coming days when we will be together once again. Hurrah for Israel!!  Elder & Sister Tate