Spring Beauty Brings the Beasts!

Greetings to all you special family and friends, 

Beetle All Dressed up for the Ball!  

A Huge Moon Dog  Fit for any Halloween  Night

The NOT Itsy Bitsy Spider!

How's it going for you all? Has it frosted a good one yet in Utah?  It seems quite strange as October hastens on that here in Brisbane it's getting hotter each day instead of colder!  We'll enjoy 2 springs this year and skip the winter----quite a good deal, yes? During springtime here, everything comes to life---plants and animals alike.  We've been warned by the locals to watch out for the cranky snakes who are looking for mates and are in no mood to deal with a human!  Since Australia has some of the most plentiful species of poisonous animals, as in very deadly ones, stay clear.  The brown snake is most feared since it loves to dwell where humans do and its bite is lethal in about 45 minutes!. But how about diving birds? Note the sign, about 50 yards from our flat, which warns of "Birds Swooping" and tells you that you are in an area of high concentration for nesting birds who won't  hesitate to protect their territory from YOU by dive-bombing and pecking you on the head!  Wearing a hat and not riding a bike are recommended. Sounds like a good sequel to an Alfred Hitchcock movie. And watch out for the overhead BIG spiders in the woods where we walk.  We climbed up a path and noticed a stick overhead dangling in midair.  Hmmm.  Reason said it wasn't a magic Harry Potter wand, so we scoured our surroundings and found a large 5" spider in its web above the stick!  The web was strong enough to catch that stick! Not very nourishing prey, that stick!

Okay, all you GRAND-KIDS and young-at-heart folks---

this is for you!  Thinking about differences in foods here made Grandma start SINGING a silly little song.  So, luckily, you can sing along too.  Just use the tune from "Are You Sleeping,"  Ready?

VERSE 1:  

In Australia, in Australia, 

Eggs are brown, very brown.  

Most kiwis are yellow, 

Most kiwis are yellow; 

Don't you frown!  

Come on down!

VERSE 2:

In Australia, in Australia, 

Sultanas are raisins,

Sultanas are raisins.  

Capsicums are peppers, 

Capsicums are peppers, 

They are found

All 'round town!  

                                                       VERSE 3:

In Australia, in Australia,

"Avo's are HUGE!

 Avo's are huge!

Orange are purple. 

Oranges are purple.

(Just kidding!)
Thanks for singing!

 Again,  we're so fortunate to enjoy a cultural delight wherever we turn in Brisbane whether it be sights, food or people.  These are our neighbors directly across the very narrow lane we live on.  They are from Libya in Africa and are Sahlad, and Nagia with their 4 little children. This picture is missing the mom, Nagia  & 12 year-old Ali.  Nagia has her master's degree in English/Linguistics and teaches at  a  high school.  She is always in traditional Muslim dress, whereas Sahlad usually only dresses in his traditional clothing when going to the Mosque. They came because of the poor political situation in Libya, but now it is too dangerous to even think of returning.  ALL of their entire families live there still, so they long to see their families.  Little sweet Lamar, the baby girl in arms, is waving at you!  Just last week Sahlad, the dad, was cutting a frozen chicken to get dinner on, and the big knife slipped and two fingers were badly, badly cut--tendons and nerves!  After surgery and 3 days' stay in the hospital, he is on the road to recovery and the fingers will  be saved!!  

We have been enjoying the variety of work that we are able to participate in while on our Mission.

 Last week we attended some Zone Conferences and were able to meet with Elders who are within 2 weeks of completing their missions.  These Elders and Sisters all participate in a "What's after the Mission?" type of activity with us or the Osbornes, the other Self-Reliance missionary couple.  We loved meeting with these  fine, polished and accomplished Elders who all spoke no English when they arrived 24 months ago!  It is a testimony to how incredibly well most learn the language while on their missions, because 2 out of the 3 of these were able to pass an English proficiency test that will enable them to get into most universities. The third was very close to passing and will take it again soon.  Such success gives them much hope for a better future to know they have the opportunity to follow their dreams and get more education,  Most  would not have been able to even think it was possible to do a higher degree before their mission service.  The three we worked with this week (at different times) were from Fiji, and 2 from different areas of the Philippines.  We're pictured here with Elder Flojo who is so short that he didn't qualify for one university who had height restrictions! That wouldn't fly in the USA! Can't you hear the CLU jumping on that restriction!

Best Air-Freshener on the Planet--Fresh Gardenias and Jasmine

Ah, come on, Grandpa!  Have a HEART!
If you want to keep the "pet kookas" happy,
you need to have their favorite foods ready
and cut into their bite-sized pieces.  Their
favorite meats are chicken gizzards, livers,
and hearts!  They watch carefully for when we
arise in the morning or get home, and call
loudly to be fed!  Look on line for a kookaburra's
call!  What an unusual racket it is!

While in one church building this week, I walked into a ladies restroom, called "Toilet" here, and smelled the best refreshing smell EVER!!!  As I rounded the corner, to my surprise, there sat a fresh bouquet of gardenias and white jasmine, freshly picked by some loving person---most likely not a missionary.  That's a first in my lifetime---fresh flowers in the church restroom!  But there were bouquets in the mother's room and the 2nd ladies restroom as well.  When I questioned Elder Yates if he had a bouquet of flowers in his restroom, he looked at me, puzzled.  Sadly, no one had given the men's restrooms the same treatment!  Ah, the glories of springtime!

Yes, Grandpa loves the kookaburras as much as Grandma does!

Because Brisbane is known as a "teaching" mission, we get an inordinately high percentage of new missionaries who know little to NO English.  The scales were tipped 2 weeks ago when 16 new Elders/Sisters arrived and 9 of the 16 were non-English speakers.  Problem: where to put them so they have a companion who is at least semi-proficient in English. So our mission President, is being very proactive in providing the mentoring these new "greenies" will need to get up to speed.  And with faith and lots of ambition, miracles do happen.  We're witnessing that every day in this marvelous work! We are blessed to be a small part of what goes on as we learn more of our duties and how to spread the word about Self-Reliance initiatives that will assist people in making progress in their lives.  

These greetings come with much love and admiration for you and your families and all the good works you're involved in every day.  The world turns on an axis greased with the oil of service as each one of tries to do our part to make the world a better place.  Have a superb week as fall  puts on its glorious show of autumn colors!  

Love to each of you in abundance, 

Elder and Sister Yates, Dad/Mom, Grandpa/Grandma, David/Marsha