Video Chat - 11th April 2022 - Overnight Trip Up to Broken Hill With President Johansson

We got a run down from Elder East on some happenings from the previous week.

On the previous Tuesday (5th Apr) they had a Missionary Leadership Council on the importance of the Book of Mormon. Elders East & Ma’a also had the opportunity to have dinner with the Adelaide Temple President and his family.

Wednesday was a day of meetings - Technology Council followed by District Council. They then had trade-offs with the Zone Leaders. They went out tracting, as well as providing some service in Fulham Gardens.

They completed their trade-offs on Friday morning after which they headed off with President Johansson to go and get their flu shots at 10am. Whilst waiting, President told them that he had to drive up to Broken Hill in a couple of hours and wanted the APs to accompany him on the drive. So that was their Thursday afternoon, accompanying President Johansson on a drive up to Broken Hill to do some paperwork that had to be done in person. The mission had re-opened the Broken Hill area for missionaries only three weeks earlier, so they ended up staying with the Elders overnight before driving back on Friday morning. Once back in Adelaide they were able to catch up and have a meal with a family who were visiting from Alice Springs. Elder Ma’a knew them well from his time serving in Alice Springs.

They were able to teach a number of lessons on Saturday including a video lesson with a lady that Elder East had previously taught when in Onkaparinga Ward. Saturday evening was taken up with making calls advising missionaries who would be affected by the following mid-cycle transfer.

On Wednesday Elder East had received an email about starting his preparation course for returning home. He admitted that this made him a little but trunkee. He is feeling a bit burnt-out. It is likely that he will remain AP until the end of his mission. If that is the case, he’s likely to be in a three-way companionship during the last 3 weeks of his mission as he helps train up his replacement.

Other notes from our chat:

• The mission is dealing with several missionaries who have Covid or are in isolation including the Port Pirie Elders. Probably the most unfortunate is the Elder who was due to leave for his original assignment in Italy. He undertook his mandatory PCR test two days before leaving even though he had no symptoms … and subsequently returned a positive result.
• They have an Elder Chick coming into the mission. He is the son of a missionary who was in the same MTC and mission as Elder East’s mum. We’ve actually caught up with them several times in the intervening years and sent a few photos of the younger Elder Chick through to Elder East.
• Elder East says that his new suit is doing well. It’s a bit darker than he expected it to be. It’s also “stretchy”, which he likes.
• We also spoke a bit about Easter. Elder East wasn’t too keen on having too much chocolate, so we arranged for a Coles delivery to the office. It included lots of small Easter chocolates that he could share with other people as well as a selection of fruit.
• He called Grandma & Grandad Yates later in the day which they were absolutely thrilled with.

Video Chat - 30th March 2022 - Mini-training of Elders Tu'itavake and Rogers

P-Day had been moved to a Wednesday (30th Mar) this week, so it was a Wednesday afternoon video chat for us. It had been a busy week+ for the APs. The previous Tuesday had been Transfers, with all of the usual work involved with ensuring the missionaries ended up at their new assignments. 

On Wednesday (23rd Mar) morning they picked up a new missionary from the airport, Elder Tu'itavake. Unfortunately, his trainer had to get tested for Covid and had to go into isolation. They had to pick up another new Sister from the airport on Wednesday evening. 

Elder Tu'itavake stayed with the APs until Friday when Orientation was held for the three new missionaries arriving this transfer. Elder East said that they took Elder Tu'itavake out tracting on Thursday as well as following up on previous lessons. He said that they had a good time with him during their "Mini-training" session.

On Friday morning they picked up the third new missionary from the airport - Elder Rogers. The rest of Friday was taken up with the orientation of the three new missionaries. 

Elder Rogers would also be staying with the APs over the weekend. The significant thing about Elder Rogers is that he was flying in from the USA. He's actually an Aussie, but living in the USA. Still, he was the first missionary to come out to the AAM from America since the Covid border restrictions had been relaxed.

Elder East commented that the missionaries with international assignments were now getting ready to travel. The AAM has missionaries preparing to reassign to missions in Japan, Italy, and Chile. They're also expecting those originally called to New Zealand missions to be leaving in May, as well as start receiving missionaries from New Zealand.

They had several missionaries recently leave for their assignments in the Perth mission. Don & Tamara, friends of the family are currently serving as a missionary couple in the Australia Perth Mission were quizzing the new arrivals from the AAM to find out if they knew Elder east. The answers of course were "yea". (Technically they actually asked if the missionaries knew Elder Yates, before realizing their mistake and correcting it to Elder East.)

On Monday (28th Mar)  they had a District Council, as well as providing service. I had a note that they provided service at a hospital, and then another note that President Johansson joined them as they did 2½ hours of service working on ladders, but I hadn't noted if they were part of the same service activity. Either way, President Johansson bought them dinner afterward and they all sat in the car eating dinner at an ocean lookout.

On Tuesday (29th Mar) the Elders had three teaching appointments with members, although one ended up canceling. 

The next two days (Thurs 31st Mar and Fri 1st Apr) were going to be Zone Conferences. The APs had been asked by President Johansson to change the way they train during these Conferences. President wants the APs to focus on doing this training by the Spirit, running it more as a workshop rather than "teaching a sermon". Elder East is a bit nervous about how well he'll do.

Video Chat - 21st March 2022 - The Borders Start Opening Up

Another P Day chat with Elder East. Transfers was coming up the next day (22nd Mar) and the big news was that the borders are starting to open up. The AAM would be losing three missionaries as they proceed to their original assignments in Perth.  

There would also be three missionaries going home this transfer including his former companion Elder Nalesoni and Sister Ip. 

There were several new missionaries coming into the mission. One would be arriving on Thursday (24th Mar) and staying overnight with the APs until Friday when his trainer would be arriving. Then on Friday another missionary would be arriving. This one was coming from America although he holds an Aussie passport. He was going to be staying with the APs until Monday (28th Mar). Elder East joked that he should probably count both of the misisoanries who'd be staying with them as additional companions and trainees of his. 

A quick photo of Elders East & Ma'a eating out last week.

A few updates on events during the week:

• They went street contacting in the CBD during trade-offs with members from the City Branch on Thursday.
• On Thursday evening they had dinner and did a lesson with Sister Johansson and the Johnasson family.
• On Saturday they had an appointment with an investigator fall through. It was the same person that Elder Lekias had accompanied them to fellowship with the previous week.
• We commented about how two girls Elder East knew had both just been set apart for their missions - Utopia Kikkert and Emma Davison.
• The APs attended Firle Stake Conference over the weekend. (19th & 20th Mar.) We had Stake Conference in Canberra as well, with Elder Lekias in attendance. We were planning to catch up with him to chat about Elder East, however, we ended up being in quarantine with Covid, so didn't get the chance. We did learn whilst watching the Stake Conference broadcast that Elder Leakias and President Johansson had been mission companions serving in Christchurch together.

Elder East shared with us several photos during our chat.

Elders East and Ma'a joined Sister Bridge and her trainee, Sister Denton, to help provide some service on Saturday morning. They joined in with some members from Onkaparinga Ward that Elder East knew in helping somebody to move house. The other three missionaries apart from Sister Denton are all in the last few months of their mission and Elder East said they were joking with Sister Denton about the fact they were all going home whilst she's only starting her mission.  

There were also several photos from a District Meeting during the week. A member who runs a donut shop had provided donuts for the missionaries.

The final photo he sent us was of a waterfall and lake. The APs were doing some location scouting for a video to be made around the "Waters of Mormon" and this looks like a candidate to be used. 

Video Chat - 22nd November 2021 - Elder Evans Joins as a New Assistant to the President

We chatted with Elder East twice during last P-Day. He was rather down when we first spoke to him early in the morning as there had been some issues in the mission over the last 3 or 4 days. This had resulted in a lot of interviews by the Mission President and a number of changes in companionships. Missionaries hadn’t been the best at keeping the mission rules – nothing serious enough to be sent home over – but enough that it would affect the work and their ability to recognize the promptings of the Spirit. Helping President Johansson deal with that had obviously taken a bit of an emotional toll on Elder East. When we spoke to him again later in the day he was more upbeat and positive about how things were going.

Elder East filled us in on some more details of Elder Read. He said that they had been getting along well. Elder Read had previously lived in London, working as a kitchenhand before heading back to Melbourne. He was originally called to serve in one of the Chilean missions and spent several months there before Covid hit. He was reassigned to serve in the Adelaide Mission, but got caught up in the Melbourne lockdown and served some time there. He is now in the Adelaide Mission to complete his service. 

The rundown of their previous week (16th - 22nd Nov) was as follows:

Monday (15th Nov) - after having spoken to us on P Day he also contacted and spoke with Grandma and Grandad Yates to thank them for a car and money that they had sent through to him. They were pleasantly surprised to get to talk to him.

Tuesday (16th Nov) was Transfers, so a hectic day, as well as learning the ropes of being an AP from Elder Read. They got to have a farewell meal at a Burger restaurant with one of Elder East’s former companions (and his 13th cousin)  Elder Aiho who was heading home.

Wednesday (17th Nov) they had several new trainees fly in, so it was a matter of dropping Elder Aiho off at the airport and picking up three new missionaries - Two Elders and one Sister. They got to have lunch with the new trainees.

Thursday through to Saturday was helping President Johansson in dealing with a lot of interviews to deal with the issues that had arisen. He commented that they went out so that Elder Read could get a new suit on Saturday at one point. 

On Sunday they joined in the Marion Stake Conference. He said that they had a number of difficulties with their technology as they tried to broadcast the meeting. He said it got a bit humorous as the Zoom chat full of messages about problems with the broadcast was displayed behind the speaker at the pulpit.  Elder East mentioned that he got to catch up with some of the missionaries and old investigators he had taught in Onakapringa and Marion Wards. 

As a result of the missionary interviews, there were a number of leadership changes and movements amongst the missionaries.  Elder East now had a new companion as a fellow Assistant to the President, his former companion Elder Evans. Elder East said that Elder Evans was very surprised to be called as an AP. He had been serving down in Victor Harbour.

The coming week was going to include a lot of Zone Conferences where they would be accompanying President Johansson. 

Some other short notes from our discussion:

• They'd only had one "home cooked" meal during the week as quite often they're accompanying and eating with president Johansson. 
• One of Elder East's former companions, Elder Taua, who is now home from his mission, has gotten engaged to one of the former Sister Missionaries from the AAM. 
• Part of the upcoming training will be on rebalancing the service vs proselyting hours for the missionaries. As Covid restrictions reduce, the options for proselyting are opening up and should be more of a focus.
• Elder East got to show us a nativity display that is set up outside the mission office.

Video Chat - 8th November 2021 - No Fish & Chip Shops in Port Germein

Another weekly recount of how Elder East is doing out in the mission field.

Tuesday was spent doing a lot of doorknocking. They're trying to do at least an hour of doorknocking each day. They had a lesson with a lady who is involved a lot with family history. Elder East said that there was a name in her family tree (William Yates) that was the same as from one of his ancestors in Family Search. He was wondering if there could be some distant relation knowing that he has relatives from around the area. He also discovered that some of these people had graves in Port Pirie so he'll investigate further.

On Wednesday they did more doorknocking as well as provide some service for a member. Elder East said that the service involved a lot of shoveling and that a lot of the service they do is gardening or outside maintenance-related. 

They also had a teaching appointment with somebody they've been teaching for a while. He'd decided that for a laugh he was going to pretend to be a "Fundamentalist" to try and shock Elder Rea during the lesson.

On Thursday they helped a branch member with her family history. Specifically, there was a bit of ICT help required in trying to get her family history off of the old Personal Ancestral File and on to the Family Search website. 

On Friday they did over three hours of doorknocking, and as always is the way, the success didn't come until the end. The last three houses they doorknocked all resulted in return appointments. Maybe they just started at the wrong end of the street :)

Every Saturday they are providing service for a family in helping with their backyard cleanup and this week was no different. Later in the day they also taught a lesson. Elder East said that there was a "cool" thunderstorm that came through during the afternoon. In the evening they were at the nearby town of Port Germein.  They were hoping to get Fish & Chips for dinner whilst in town but found none, so ended up heading back to Port Pirie. Elder East sent us a photo of the two of them at the jetty at Port Germein. 

Elder East said that the highlight of the week spiritually was on Sunday. Besides Church, they were doorknocking and were able to teach two lessons that afternoon. One was to an 18-year-old guy with two of his mates and then another man later on. Elder East said that the Spirit was strong during the lessons. I'd like to hear more of these types of experiences from Elder East and in more detail. Sometimes we only find out about interesting or poignant events weeks or months after they occur when he'll casually mention them. It would be good to record more faith-promoting stories on this blog rather than just being a travelogue. Elder East has them, but he often doesn't think to share them with us even we ask about spiritual highlights of the week. 

Next weekend  (13th-14th Nov) they are hoping to get out to Whyalla Branch and visit the members around Whyalla and Port Augusta. They have contacted the referral from the previous week and arranged for them to come along to Whyalla Branch next Sunday (14th Nov).

They had been hoping to travel down to Adelaide last night (Sun 7th Nov) and then spend P Day with other missionaries before heading back to Port Pirie. Elder East is aiming to try and have a P Day meetup with the Adelaide Elders as a regular fortnightly event. Their plans were thrown into disarray though when they found out on Sunday that they had to travel down to Adelaide over Wednesday and Thursday (10th-11th Nov) for a devotional being held on Thursday. It is going to be a streamed devotional with Elder Lekias (Area Authority), several Area Seventies, and Elder Soares from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Other notes from our discussion:

• They are being fed a lot and are being given lots of leftovers as well. He said that the previous night's meal appointment had left them with about 6 servings of bolognese to take home. he says that their fridge is full and that they have "So much food."
• The mission had a Zoom meeting scheduled with President Johansson for that P Day evening (Mon 8th Nov.)
• Port Pirie Branch averages about 20-25 people in attendance at Sacrament each Sunday.
• Elder Rea is very physically fit. It's motivating Elder East to exercise. They've been going out jogging each morning. Elder East says that Elder Rea is also very smart. High praise from someone who's definitely no mental slouch himself. 

Video Chat - 25th October 2021 - Companion Number 17 ... Elder Burgess

It was only a brief chat this week ... as Elder East was once again preparing for a new companion. To see his full companionship list see the Companionship Page on this blog. Elder East had spent the previous week as companions with Elder Burgess from the Gold Coast. 

On Monday  Elders East & Aiho drove down to Adelaide where they stayed overnight for a District Council on Tuesday morning, at which point Elder Burgess then went with Elder East back up to Point Pirie on Tuesday afternoon. 

Elder East said that he and Elder Burgess provided a lot of service to people in Port Pirie during the week. This included going to Sister Harrison, the older Sister who feeds them in the branch, as well as heading out to the town of Gladstone to help clean up a backyard for somebody there. 

Elder East had identified that Gladstone is where one of our relatives was meant to be buried, so they visited the town graveyard whilst out there. They were unable to find our relative's grave though. He did comment that there were unmarked graves there though, so we might need to do some additional research to find out more details. 

Speaking about Elder Burgess Elder East said that they talked a lot and that Elder East helped Elder Burgess out. He says that Elder Burgess has good factual knowledge but little experience teaching or role-playing, so it sounds like this companionship was an opportunity to provide an extended training experience for Elder Burgess. Elder East commented that they did get the opportunity to teach a lesson to a new member in the Branch.  

Following their shortened week together, they got the call on Saturday that Elder East would be receiving one of the new trainees arriving the next Wednesday (27th Oct) and that Elder Burgess would be transferred up to Darwin. 

They drove down to Adelaide to stay at the Playford Elders flat so that Elder Burgess could fly out on Monday to Darwin. In the meantime, Elder East would be companions with Elder Reeves for the 2 days until his trainee arrived. Elder Reeves' area is being split and he is also getting a new trainee on Wednesday too.

Elder East and Reeves had developed a friendship before Elder East's mission started, and their Mums have become friends. They were both excited to hear that their sons would be serving together, even if only for a couple of days. Elder East said that Elder Reeves didn't count as a proper companion though - it's just a temporary companionship. They had spent some time that P Day afternoon driving through some of the Barossa Valley that makes up the Playford Elder's area.

On Tuesday (26th Oct) they will be having a combined Zone Conference for the Adelaide Zones, and then picking up their trainees on Wednesday. 

A few other quick notes from our discussion:

• Elder East discovered that he'd incurred a speeding fine back in Darwin (45km/h in a 40km/h zone), so had to arrange to pay for that. 
• We had planned on going to WA before he started his mission, however, Covid-19 caused that trip to be canceled. We will likely plan for a trip to WA next year after he returns home. 
• Elder East got to see his Mum hand-feeding wild cockatoos on the balcony back home.

Video Chat - 17th Oct 2021 - Companion Number 16 ... Elder Aiho (Again)

 Lots of changes during the past week for Elder East when we spoke to him last week. We actually spoke to him briefly on the Sunday night as he wasn't going to be free during P Day the next day. He sent us a couple of photos from the week and gave us a rundown of his week as follows:

Tuesday - With Elder Haycock preparing to fly home back to Perth, Elder East spent the day with the APs. They were involved in a District Council, after which Elder East found out that he would be companions with Elder Aiho. He and Elder Aiho had previously been companions back in Morialta Ward over the Christmas-New Year period. Elder Aiho had been moved into a three-way companionship during the last transfer. They drove back to Port Pirie on Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday - They had a teaching appointment that went well.

Thursday - They provided service to a member, cleaning out their backyard that had forty years of accumulated junk in it. Family friend Dannielle also served in Port Pirie on her mission. Presumably, the family made the connection that she and Elder East knew each other as she was sent the following photos which she forwarded on to us.

Friday & Saturday - The Elders had trade-offs over Friday/Saturday with the Elders in Gulfview Heights, swapping the companions on each day. Elder East said that they went tracting on both days and were able to give out a Book of Mormon and also get a return appointment at another home.

Sunday - they were at Church in Port Pirie. Edler East said they had about 30 in attendance, which is good for the branch. Elder East was advised that they needed to come back down to Adelaide tomorrow (Mon 18th Oct) as he was receiving a new companion, Elder Burgess from Queensland. His new companion needed some assistance and President Johansson felt that Elder East was the right person to assist.

Elder East was sounding a bit tired/down during our video call. He's tired of driving to Adelaide - it's a 5-hour round trip and tomorrow is going to be his fifth trip in 2 weeks. (Transfer up, get spare key, change of companion, trade-offs, change of companion)  as well as having his 3rd companion change in 2 weeks. (Roberts > Haycock > Aiho > Burgess.) He's feeling a bit run down.

Some other quick notes:

• He made the comment to us that he believes that one of Mum's ancestors is buried in Gladstone, a town only about 30 minutes away from Port Pirie. Her family came out to South Australia as free settlers back in the 19th century. Elder east will try and get out to visit the grave.
• With all of the driving he's been doing, he needs some different church music to listen to. 
• He got the chance to go to a games store whilst on trade-offs ... and now wants to buya  Dungeons & Dragons book that's just come out ...

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.

Video Chat - 13th September 2021 - Missionary Cane Toad Removal Service

The preceding week was a quiet but good week according to Elder East. They are still teaching a lot. He says that they are actually spending very little in the way of time doing finding as most of their time is taken up following up with people and teaching lessons. They were happy that a less-active member of the Church that they had been visiting came along to Church on Sunday. 

They all also provided a bit of service during the week - getting rid of another two cane toads. The first was at the same house as the last caen toad they got rid of. The second was at the same place where a snake came out of the garage whilst they were etaching. They removed one of the cane toads as it had killed a dog with its poison, whilst they removed the second one as a four-year-old child was about to try playing with it. Unfortunately, no photos of their cane toad extractions. We joked that at least we know what Elder East is going to do with his life after his mission - move to the NT and become a cane toad exterminator. 

With all of the recent discussions about trips to remote areas, Elder East advised that it looked like they weren't going to get out to Gove or Katherine. They were however going to be flying down to Alice Springs on Thursday morning (16th Sep) to have trade-offs with the missionaries there. They would be staying there over the weekend and flying back to Darwin on the following Monday morning (20th Sep).  President Johansson and the APs would be flying up from Adelaide to join them as well. Elder East was looking forward to seeing Alice Springs. He likes the idea of being able to try and work in remote regional towns.

Other dot points from our discussion included:

• The temperature hasn't gotten below 20° over the last 4 months that he's been in Darwin. Elder East reckons he prefers the cold weather, as you can look/dress nicer in cold weather.
• Elder East finished studying the Book of Mormon again, and has started back into 1st Nephi over the past week. 
• Elder East had bought himself new shoes and clothes during the last week. He's hoping that they'll last until the end of his mission.
• Elder East mentioned that they'd caught up with a member from Gove when he was in Darwin during the week, but we forgot to ask him about the details. 
• His Great Uncle Ross was going to be visiting Darwin during the week and was planning to try and take him out to dinner. Elder East wasn't sure if he'd be able to meet up with him though. Because of the trip to Alce Springs, they'd already tried to fill up Tuesday and Wednesday by seeing everybody they'd normally see during the week. 
• Four trainees were coming into the mission during the week. As a result, the missionary who has cut Elder East's hair whilst he's been in Darwin was transferred down to Adelaide. Much to Elder East's relief, however, the only other missionary who he'd let cut his hair was transferred up from Adelaide to Darwin to take the other Elder's place. 
• Elder East got into a joking argument with his sister Jewel about the family car he used to drive, which Jewel now drives. The car's upholstery was updated earlier in the year with a cowhide print material. Elder East joked that he wanted his toy dinosaurs that sit on the dashboard removed from the car so that they can have some dignity. 

Video Chat - 16th August 2021 - Lockdowns and Cane Toads

The immediate news from our chat with Elder East last P day was that Darwin was going into a snap lockdown for that Monday afternoon through to Thursday afternoon. The Elders had been out at the shops around 10:30am that morning and could see long lines at the shops. They joked that there must have been a lockdown coming. They got back to their car and sure enough, got a phone call letting them know that a lockdown was about to start. They had the job of letting the other missionaries in Darwin know the details.

There have been some changes in the other NT missionaries over the last week that have occurred out of the transfer cycle. An Elder had been transferred up to Darwin to stay with the Darwin Elders for 14 days in preparation for heading to the Perth mission. We're unsure how the lockdown will affect those plans noting that they were to try and make it easier for him to comply with WA's strict covid border regulations.

In addition, the Sister Missionaries in the Darwin branch have moved down to Adelaide.

Transfers is scheduled to occur next week (Mon 23rd Aug), but Elder East isn't sure how many changes will occur on that day. There were some new missionaries due to come into the mission, but they've been pushed back by three weeks. he speculated whether maybe some were from overseas as they had a New Zealander arrive last transfer.

A quick coverage of happenings through the previous week:

• President Johansson called them on Tuesday night and spoke to them about getting down to work with the less active families in Katherine one weekend. They are about 60-70 members in the branch but they are spread around hundreds of kilometers. The Elders started working their way through calling member's phone numbers, but of the first 20 or so they called, they didn't have anybody answer their calls.
• They had trade-offs on Thursday and Friday with the Darwin Elders, however, the other Elders weren't well. One had an injured foot whilst the other was feeling sick, so it was a fairly quiet time.
• On Sunday evening they helped with the Missionary Preparation devotional. Elder East said the evening went well. They had about 10 youth in attendance, including some Zooming in from Alice Springs.
• They also had a lesson with a young man (19YO) on Sunday. They'd tried catching up with his Dad earlier in the week - but he'd said it wasn't a good time - they were about to start a D&D session with mates. Elder East would have been in his element. They enjoyed the lesson with his son on Sunday - seeing someone learning about the Gospel for the first time.
• They have also been spending time with a part-member family (couple and son) who have been to Church, had a lesson and come along to the branch sports night as well. 

The final event of note relates to the only photo we got from Elder East this week. He explained that they helped catch a cane toad in a lady's yard during the week. The only problem was what to do with it once they caught it. They didn't want to kill it themselves even though it's a dangerous pest, so they ended up putting it securely in the lady's rubbish bin where it would be assumed to die and then be disposed of.