I was called as the Relief Society Meeting Co-ordinator before we went to Canada which basically means that I will be working with Robyn, 1st counsellor in the Relief Society presidency, to plan and carry out activities for the women in the ward. We are planning on having one activity a month, so we are going to be very busy organizing things during the year. I was so happy to be called to this position as it will help me to feel more a part of our ward - it's been tough with not being at home much. Everyone is so welcoming when we come home and that makes us feel really good, but it's nice now to be able to contribute to the ward even when I am away.
So, I spent time in Montreal (mostly on Pinterest - love that site!) coming up with some activities which I think the sisters will enjoy. I also came up with a spiritual thought that would go along with the activity. We want to have activities for the sisters which will help them get to know each other better and also give them an opportunity to serve others.
I spent most of our one week at home with Robyn going over the activities I had come up with and she added her thoughts (two heads really are better than one!). We also planned out the December activity (which I won't be at) completely so that Robyn knew what she needed to do for that day. We also bought all the supplies she will need for the day. They are going to have a 'speed friendshipping' activity first - kind of like speed dating where you ask questions of a person in front of you and then change to a new person every three minutes. They will then have a progressive dinner - usually this is done by going to a different home for a different course of a meal. We are doing it a little differently. We are making a hexagon with six tables which will sit four sisters on the inside and four on the outside of each table. The older sisters will sit on the inside and they will not move. The younger sisters, who will be sitting on the outside of the tables, will rotate one table for each course of the meal. I wish I could be there, but Robyn has promised she will take lots of pics for me.
We have been down here in Melbourne for a week now and the weather has been crazy - there's a saying down here: 'if you don't like the weather in Melbourne, wait five minutes!'. They are not wrong. It will be super hot one day and then the next day, you will need a sweater - crazy! Dad's course has been going really well - there are 12 guys on the course - some of them are newbies, though (meaning that this is their first course after their basic training) and that has been a bit of a challenge for Dad. It means that he has to find the 'sweet spot' of when to stop and let the newbies catch up (they have to use their laptops to figure out how to troubleshoot a fault which Dad has given them - they then have to make notes and answer questions electronically on what they found) and when to go on so that he doesn't lose the other guys. One of the part-time instructors, Neil, from QAC is a student on the course and is staying with us in the unit. He is very nice, but very quiet - it's been hard to get to know him.
I have been spending most of my time trying to get the nitty gritty details down for each of the activities Robyn and I have planned for Relief Society in 2016. Some of them include: card making, quilting, bread making, learning Tai Chi, family history and gift bags for the needy. I will keep you posted as we have each of the activities. We are planning on having the activities on the third Saturday of the month so that the sisters can plan their other activities around that date. We are hoping that the sisters will enjoy these activities and getting to know each other.
Dad and I spent last weekend (both days) geocaching. We had brought back five geo travel buddies from Canada to put into geocaches here in Australia. One of the owners of one of the travel buddies asked each person who found it to take pics of where the cache which it was being put into was. We took some neat pics of this fabulous cache where we put it (one of our favourite caches so far) and also a pic of a kangaroo we saw nearby. The owner of the travel buddy was so happy to see the pics of the cool cache and the kangaroo. :-) We went geocaching again today after a quick nap (for me). We set out to find six caches and we found all of them. :-) We are getting really good at finding the exact spot of the caches, although we did have to get clues for a couple of them today. Sometimes, it's obvious where it is, sometimes it's pretty clear where it could be and sometimes there are so many places it could be hidden that we generally look for a bit and then, if we both can't find it, we check out the clue. I have also been out on my bike a couple of times since we've been here and also Dad and I try to get out for a walk each day.
Yesterday, the ward here (Glenroy) held their Relief Society Christmas party. We were all asked to bring a salad and a $5. gift. I brought 'salad in a bag' as it was easy to do here in Melbourne - it was actually really nice. The gift I bought was a selection of creams for the body. Along with the salads, the ward provided chicken and ham and desserts. There are a lot of Samoan people in the ward and so there were a number of foods which I didn't recognize - and you know me, I didn't try any of them. :-) I did ask one of the Samoan sisters to tell me what had been cooked. After eating, each table was invited up to sing a song - we chose 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' - thankfully, the other people at the table could sing. :-) At the end of the afternoon, the gifts were handed out to the sisters - I ended up with a cute Christmas globe and a fan. It was a really nice afternoon - this ward is so welcoming and I was able to get to know some more sisters in the ward as I talked with other sisters at my table.
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