News from Australia

Dear family and friends; Well we just got some news. I guess we will be the last of the American Senior CES missionaries to Australia for a while. The church has changed its policy in that seminary and institute teachers will be called by the stake president  and not assigned by CES. On top of this the Australian area and the New Zealand areas have been combined and the Australian area offices in Sydney have been closed and moved to the New Zealand office complex in Hamilton New Zealand. The area will be called the Pacific Area.  The new Pacific Area president has said that the CES missionaries, if called, must be called from local people but not from the same stake. This country needs to step up to the plate and start running more of its own programs. In leadership meetings with the President Keith Hilbig of the Area Presidency,  said that only 7 % of the Australian young men are going on fulltime missions and in stake conference our stake president said only 30  %  of the stake's 1500 members attend sacrament meeting.  Home teaching is less than 20 %.   There have been at least 5-6  American Senior CES missionary couples that have been in Canberra since the late 90's.Although they & we  have been  fairly successful ,  I think that the expense to both the church and the senior missionaries has been too much.  Our mission president's wife  told us that the Sydney mission's  are  the 3rd most expensive missions in the church behind The London, and Tokyo missions.   I guess they will be looking for Australian  Senior couples  to live at home and serve a nearby stake by being Seminary supervisors and Institute teachers.    I noticed on lds.org., that the church is still looking for 14 senior missionary couples for Australia that will either be prostylizing  missionaries or mission office missionaries. So that demand has not diminished but the problem is that there is not enough senior couples that want to go on foreign missions.         All is busy and well   Love Elder Mac