Video Chat - 27th September 2021 - Territory Wildlife Park and Bad News About Nanny

We had received the news on the Sunday night that Elder East's paternal grandmother had been put into palliative care and was only expected to last a day or two before passing. We notified the mission office about the circumstances and advised that we'd be letting Elder East know on P Day. We didn't want to delay notifying him in case she passed away quickly, we wanted him to be prepared. 

Contacting him early on P Day, he told us he wasn't free to speak at the time. The Senior Missionary couple was taking the Elders and four of their grandkids to the Territory Wildlife Park. The park is a natural habitat zoo in Berry Springs, about 45 minutes south of Darwin and they were currently on their way driving to the Park.

Once they arrived at the Park we were able to have a quick call and let Elder East know about his grandmother. We know that it's something he would want to silently contemplate through the day.

The Park that they were visiting was essentially a big zoo that showcases the NT environments The Park featured a forest, wetlands, a coastal exhibit, a nocturnal house, a lagoon, an aviary and even an aquarium.  Elder East particularly liked the Birds of Prey show that showcased eagles but also included other large birds such as emus and storks. He said that the show included an eagle that cracked open an egg using a rock, a little-known natural behavior for the eagle in the wild which the show highlights. 

Elder East sent us through a few photos from the day.

Going back over the events of the week, the Elders flew back from Alice Springs on Tuesday (21st Sep) morning after which they then met up with Elder East's Great Uncle Ross who was visiting Darwin. They went out for lunch at a nearby burger joint.  He said it was good meeting up with Uncle Ross. The rest of Tuesday involved catching up with P Day activities like shopping that they weren't able to do due to still being in Alice Springs.

Elder East had his second covid vaccine shot on Thursday (23rd Sep). He was fortunate not to get too serious side effects but was very tired on Friday. Elder Roberts was scheduled to have his second covid vaccination on Saturday (2nd Oct).

On Thursday evening they attended the Branch Coordination Council. Afterward, when heading to their car they had an inebriated local approach them wanting them to drive him home about 20-30 minutes away. Missionaries aren't allowed to take other people in their cars so they politely declined. The local then wanted money for food.  They said that they would go get him some at which point he tried to get into their car. They politely stopped him from doing so and then left and got him some McDonalds. When they returned with food for him he seemed surprised that they'd actually returned. 

Friday was spent Zooming in to the Missionary Leadership Council that was being held down in Adelaide. 

On Saturday they provided some service to a less-active member by mowing their lawn. They ere pleasantly surprised when the member turned up to Church the following day.

On Saturday evening the two branches held a combined pot luck dinner and dance which the missionaries from both branches attended. One of their investigators attended the evening as they'd been invited by a member friend. Elder East said that he danced with a number of the elderly ladies during the evening, as well as joining in the Nutbush

Some other dot points from our discussion:

• The Elders bought a Magic The Gathering card collection from somebody they were working with which they'll split between themselves. 
• After having been good for a long time, they've eaten a lot of fast food over the last couple of weeks. Elder East says on the plus side that he now has enough winning stickers from the McDonald's Monopoly promotion that he doesn't have to pay next time they go to McDonalds. 
• His trainer Elder De Guzman managed to get home during the week, presumably on an out-of-cycle repatriation flight back home to the  Philippines. Elder East was disappointed he wasn't able to farewell him.
• We spent a bit of time talking about how Nanny (his grandmother) was doing and how her health had deteriorated over the last week.
• Transfers is next week and he thinks he'll likely be transferred. 
• The Elders did a short video which was shared on the mission social media pages during the week. They filmed the video down in Alice Springs.