Family and Friends:

Family and friends,                                                                              Feb 4, 2008

Well, 7 months has gone by since we entered the MTC. It has gone by very, very fast for me, too fast. I love it here. To be so old and yet to be so needed. The Canberra stake is so small, about the size of a large Utah Ward with  500-600 active members dispersed between 4 wards, 1 branch and two dependant branches that meet once or twice  a month.. We have a beautiful small chapel  that until a few months ago was not even being used and had been unused for 2 years. . We are now using it for seminary and 1 Sunday a month for the 3 hour block meetings .   There is a huge inactive population here. Sunday is sports and play day here.   

Today the seminary classes started for the year. The summer vacation is over and school is back in session. We are roughly a semester behind the states, and we have 3 early morning seminary classes and 4 home study classes in the Canberra stake and 2 large home study classes that meet  in chapels and 1 individual home study class that meet in the Nowra District . All are supervised by us. The area that we cover is roughly 200 miles by 150 miles, with units in all the corners of the stake and district. We have just distributed all the supplies. Fortunately, there are missionaries in all these places and some of the materials were given to them at zone conference and sent out with them. We also completed our preschool in-service training with all the newly called seminary teachers.

This month we were to hear from Elder Quentin Cook and Elder Tingey, who came to Australia but unfortunately, they were called back at President Hinckley's death.  This month Elder Keith Hilbig of the of the 1^st quorum of the 70 will tour the mission. When mom & I first joined the Church in 1963, my very first assignment was that of a home teacher and my senior companion was his father Karl Hilbig in Milwaukee Wisconsin. .

We are still teaching Summer institute as the University's don't start up until the last week in February. We still teach the Book of Mormon at our flat to a small group of new member YSA's . When the Universities start up we will teach a large class of YSA's the Old Testament and a class of young newly married couples the After Temple Marriage class. ( we have had 5 temple marriages since we been here), and 2 Pearl of Great Price classes, one at Canberra University and one at  Australian National University(ANU). We have also scheduled 3 seminary teacher in-services this semester, here in Canberra and then going to the coast (Nowra District ) and teaching them individually because their  are so spread out.

Our scriptures are already wearing out as we are in them for hours almost every day preparing for our classes.

After Sister MacPherson (can't call her Pat, Honey or Mom)  2  knee operations in November and January, she is thankfully pretty much pain free, however she needs a cane when she walks  up or down stairs and more then 50 yards. If she has to have a partial knee replacement then that will be a real problem. So far though, a month later, she is doing okay.

We are doing a lot of fellowshipping as the missionaries get YSA's close to baptism and after they are baptised.  Tonight we are having over a young  woman with her member friend and the missionaries for dinner and a discussion . She is very close to being baptized. We first met her in November at a YSA picnic that another YSA brought along.

            Well I better close this rare update   Hope all is well with you and as they say here when all is well.  "No Worries"  Elder MacPherson

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