A couple of weeks ago Elder Tietjen wanted to call his brother Bill with the Skype phone. Since it is set up on my computer and he wanted to call him early, he got me up at 4:00 am.
Well, I was too sleepy to think about the Slug Ball going on in the living room. So I walked out half asleep in my bare feet. I stood by my computer where they have their Promenade. All of a sudden as I stepped down I felt something very slimy. Oh, my gosh, I knew right that moment what it was. I had stepped on one of those slimy Slugs. I was now wide awake.
I had an envelope, a ruler and the camera ready to capture the thing on film. I scooped it up onto the envelope. It wasn't moving very much. I don't think I would either if I had just had a giant step on me.
Ooooo, oooo, have you ever tried to wash Slug Slime off of your foot before? It does not want to wash off. Standing in the kitchen with my foot up over the kitchen sink I rubbed and rubbed. It is like trying to wash off soap when you have soft water in your water.

That stuff stuck. I had to scrape it off. If you ever need to glue anything just try some Slug Slime. I bet it would work great.

This one was smaller than the first.

Headstone Hunting

On November 5, 2011, My sister Corinne Carter asked me if I would be able to hunt for some headstone here in the Orange Cemetery.   A lady was requesting on findagrave.com for a photo of a headstone to be placed on her ancestors site that she had created.    Mrs. Elizabeth Anne Scott Valkenburg, supposedly was buried here in the Orange Cemetery.  
Corinne also requested for photos of headstones of Pvt. Timothy Joseph Cutcliffe age 21 killed in Vietnam and Harriet Catt Fuller both to be buried in Orange.   
Elder Tietjen and I took the names to the Cemetery Clerk and she looked them up.    She said that the Pvt. was in the Orange Cemetery and Harriet was in the Byng Cemetery.    But there was no sign of Elizabeth being buried in the area.  

We looked up the Orange Cemetery and found it only 5 minutes from us.    We found Pvt. Timothy's headstone right off with the directions from the Clerk.   His parents were also right next to him.  

We found that the Byng Cemetery was only about 20 min from us so we took a little ride there.  

There  we found this quaint little valley with a church and a very small run down cemetery.

This is the entrance to the Byng Cemetery.    We looked and looked in the tall grasses and many flowering bushes but could not find Harriet Fuller.

We decided to come back the next day more equipted with rake and clipper in hand.   We would use the rake to pull back some of the tall grasses and most of all probe around to scare the snakes.    This is the time of the year for the snakes to come out.    We were very glad we did not see any.

We finally found Harriet Fuller grave on the second time here.   According to the findagrave web site that was submitted, she died on March 7th 1873.   But on the records we got from the Clerk she died on June 7th 1873.   We took photos from many angles to see if we could read it correct.   As we looked Elder Tietjen and I were both positive that it said she had died in June.    Was this really the Harriet Fuller that we wanted?

That evening as we enlarged the photos on the computer  we could see plain as day that she had died in March.   We had found the right Harriet Fuller.    I sent the photos to Corinne and she wrote to the submitter on findagrave and told him that we had found a photo but she was not buried in Orange.    He changed the information and her headstone photo is now entered as being in Byng, NSW, Australia

We took other headstone photos that Corninne will get submitted to findagrave.com
It is so neat how you have such a reverent feeling and a slight connection to these people when you go out amongest their grave sites.   I could spend a whole mission doing this.

Helping Anne find her genealogy

Sunday November 6, 2011 trip to Dubbo
 
2:15 pm– leave Orange for Dubbo

2:25 pm  pick up a hitch hiker, you could smell the tobacco on him. I told Elder Tietjen that if he gets shot in the head, well, then?    He just said "then you know how to get me to the hospital."    

This man was going to Warren. That is past Dubbo farther up NW. His name is Pau. He grew up in Warren and still lives and works there.

He seemed to be quite a nice fella. I am sure he was an Aborigine.

4:10 pm we dropped him off at Dubbo out on the Highway so he could try to get another ride up to Warren. He seemed to really appreciate the ride, especially since it was raining.

4:15 pm we made a pit stop at our summer cabin and then

4:30 pm we went to visit Anne to give her the genealogy that we found of her family.    (Denise helped me find it on their Ancestry and their many computer monitors.)  

When we got there, Anne was cutting out some photos of her grand daughter to make a couple of scrapbook pages for her.    She was in tears.    She apologized and said that she was emotional from the photos.

She talked for some time before we were able to talk genealogy.    I finally handed her the information that I had found.

She was totally thrilled.    She had never seen so much information in her life on her family.    She is seriously thinking of going to see her Uncle this week  for a 2 week long visit.    Now I feel like that is a miracle on the timing.    Because he will be able to give her more information now that she has as much as she has.    Maybe start gathering records from other family members.   She is very much interested right now to start finding her genealogy. 

Wow, she loved visiting and she talked and talked and talked.

Elder Tietjen got a phone call and he went to answer it.

Finally she got a phone call.   So Elder Tietjen told me that the phone call was LiLi cancelling our visit tonight because she has to go babysit and will not be home.

It was after 6 pm now and I was getting stressed wondering how we were going to get away, she was enjoying talking so much.    But now we did not need too so we just sat back and relaxed and enjoyed the rest of our visit.

She had made a remark that she could not get her new ink cartridges into her printer.    So Elder Tietjen taught her how to do that.     She was so grateful.

I still don't know her whole story.    As far as we know, her husband was a member. But she had found a letter that she showed us from some missionaries and it dated back to 1979.    She just loved the missionaries coming whether they were couples or single Elders.     And they had many through the years.  But as far as we know she is not a member.

As long as she is willing to let us come we will keep coming and hopfully help her into the gospel.     Her husband was paralized for many years before his death, so he probably did not go to church. 

7:50 pm we left Annes home and went back to our apartment

We got dinner of split pea soup, pear, and banana. Mmmm  banana. (the price is down to $5.99 per kilo)

Monday we head to Forbes to see Doris Polambo in the assisted living center. 

Doing genealogy

Just about every week we got to the Doyle's for a genealogy lesson, or search some ancestor.    Brother Doyle thinks I should send this picture to let you know that I will not be able to do genealogy again without this set up.   What do you think?

Teaching Winston

We went to Winston's tonight  Thur. Nov 3, to give them a gosepl lesson. Elder Tietjen said it was teach only.   So we got ourselves some dinner.    We were not very hungry so I just fixed a half of a sandwich for each and the last of the left over fruit salad that we have been having all week.
I then made some popcorn for our snack when we got home.
We went to Winston's to give the family the lesson.    Winston was out in the back yard.    The aroma of steak was in the air.    I looked at Elder Tietjen and said "smells like steaks".
We were welcomed into the house and Winston came in and said he did a barbeque for us. "Oh, no".     Elder Tietjen said "mmm yum".
Winston always stays outside doing the barbeque while we are giving the kids and Lee the lesson.    They seem to be real receptive and have questions. They seem to like what we are telling them. We challenged them to come to church. They said they would. Last Sunday, only Winston came.
After the lesson, again Winston dished up the plates.
On each plate was 1 large steak, 1 lg piece of chicken, 2 long skewers packed with chicken pieces, 2 Prawns, (have attached a picture), and a scoop each of the following: lettuce salad, macaroni salad, pickled beets, and corn. This time while Winston was still dishing up I told Elder Tietjen to quickly take one plate full back and bring an empty plate because we would share. No way was I going to force myself this time. Especially since we had just eaten.
I ate 1 skewer of the chicken (delicious) some macaroni salad, lettuce salad, 1 slice of beet, and a couple bites of corn. I was done. Elder Tietjen tried a Prawn, but no way was I going to be that brave. I was stuffed. Later he said he did not like it.
Winston kept telling me to go get more that there was plenty. No way. Uhg. When Elder Tietjen said he could not eat any more, leaving the steak, chicken and 1 prawn, Winston said he would have to call the police. He was just joking. He is Tongan and Lee says she has never seen any people ever that can eat like those Tongan's.
So much for my snack of popcorn. Tomorrow maybe.

Our "First Time" Day

Tuesday October 18, 2011                　
Today we will label as our "First Time Day". This was our first day for a lot of things.
I got up and fixed a lunch for our "First Time Day" . Why do I call it a "First Time Day"?    Because it was a first time for many things today.

First of all I will start off by telling you about this really nice elderly gentleman in our Orange Branch. He is really devoted to the church. I would guess he is in his 90's. Norman Aukland lives in an assisted living center. He comes to church every Sunday with the assistance of the Branch President picking him up and taking him back home. He is very hard of hearing and can’t see details enough to show him a picture, but he still comes.    Every Sunday he is faithfully there in the chapel seat.   

He asked us one day if we would come and visit him.    He is lonely and I think only has 1 daughter that comes to visit him.    The sisters were telling us that it was a long time that his daughter didn’t even come.    He was very sad.    So we go visit him every Sunday now.

When we first went into his tiny little mentholated smelling room, the walls were covered with large photographs of trains. Very old steam trains.   Elder Tietjen asked him about them and he told us that his life’s occupation was working with trains.    His main job was the switching of the tracks or switchman.     We talked trains a lot that day.     We asked if he would like to take us to the railway station and show us around.    He lit up.     The next time we came to visit he said he had a better idea about the railway visit.    He wanted us to take a little trip on the train to Dubbo.     And he would come too.
Monday Oct 10we took Norman Aukland to the Railway Station to have him show us around the station.    He knew it all and seemed pleased to be showing it to us.    We were there to see 2 trains come in and go out.    He wanted us to buy tickets.    He said he had a pass to get on the train for free.     We went in to check on the tickets.     It turned out that his pass had expired back in 2008. But the station man asked if he had a pension card.    He did, and could get his ticket for $2.50.    We had planned on going on Tuesday Oct 18 but it turned out that he could only use his card 7 days before the event.  Since this was Monday Elder Tietjen had to come back the next day on Tues Oct 11 to get the tickets.     It cost us each $45 round trip for our tickets.Norm still has a very sharp mind.    It is just hard to visit with him because he can’t hear too good.  You have to get up to his right ear and talk very loud.    On Sunday he reminded us of the train trip to be on Tuesday at half past 11.     I think he was really excited.    Almost as excited as Elder Tietjen.
So Tuesday Oct 18 finally came.    I fixed a large sack lunch of sandwiches and the normal junk foods for trips.    We then went to pick Norman up.    He was ready and waiting in the foyer.
We drove to the station and waited for the train to come.    11:50 am we boarded the train.
This was a "First Time" for Elder Tietjen to ever in his life ride on a train.
We were assigned 2 seats together and then 1 seat across the isle.    The train was pretty packed because a school group of kids were going on an field trip to the Dubbo Zoo.    That same zoo that we saw the $46 a ticket per adult zoo.    Elder Tietjen sat with Brother Aukland because there was a lady that needed to sit there.    So we had her sit by me.

We visited and I showed her my family photos.    She kept saying that I was so blessed to have such a wonderful family.   

At one moment, and I still can’t believe that it was at that very moment, that I looked out the window. The track was built up and down below on my side the ground had a flat trail running along side of it. And right at that moment, there was a kangaroo running along the trail going the same direction as the train.   I could not hardly believe it that I got to see another kangaroo and so close.    The train moved faster than the kangaroo could run and therefore we over took it in no time.   I could not get my camera out fast enough to snap a shot at it.

The lady rode for 1 hr and got off at Wellington.    Then a man had to sit by me.    He was a young man probably in his 30's.    He was black and very nice looking.    Elder Tietjen introduced himself and because of "our" accents he asked where we came from.     After telling him we came from America he asked the popular question of why were we here.      (Now isn’t that suppose to be our question as a missionary?) We told him we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.    He said he had seen several other missionaries walking around.    Then the lady in front of Elder Tietjen turned around and said, "No you probably saw Jehovah Witness Missionaries, there are a lot of them".     Elder Tietjen commented that there were probably a few of them around too.    And she let him know that she was a Jehovah Witness and there were a LOT of them.     The man then started to ask me questions about the church.       As the lady was talking to Elder Tietjen so I was on my own.  I could not answer all of his questions.     I was telling him about Joseph Smith and he asked how do you know his story is legitimate and not just some other fairy tale.    The train then stopped.    I gave him a pass along card that gave the mormon.org web site. He went away acting like he wasn’t too sure of me.     I felt like a real failure as a missionary.
Hopefully he will go to the website and read more.     I also gave him our card with our name and address and phone on it.
So this Day was:

A "First Time" ever in his life that Elder Tietjen got to ride on a real life size train.

A "First Time" ever that I got to see a Kangaroo running along side a train.

A "First Time" ever for me to talk the gospel to someone all alone.

A "First Time" for Elder Tietjen to talk to a Jehovah Witness and she did not want to hear about the Book of Mormon. The Bible is all there is.

Now the train ride was something else especially for here in Australia.   It was smooth and straight.   shocking huh?    Elder Tietjen was amazed at how smooth a train could feel.    He always imagined that they would be very bumpy and go clank clank as it went over the rails.     It was a very enjoyable and relaxing trip. (Except when I was put on the spot).

We rode to Dubbo, sat in the station for 15 minutes and then boarded the train and came home to Orange.    Dubbo was the end of the route as far as this train goes.    They push a lever at the bottom of the seats and turn them around backwards.    The engine that was pulled is now the lead engine.    Very cleaver.    On the way home the train was almost empty.    Very very relaxing.

Brother Aukland said this will not be our last ride. I hope not. It was a total of 4 hrs for the round trip.

As I walked him towards the home, those that saw him coming asked him about his train ride.    Everyone seemed to know about it.    The manager lady of the place walked by and said to me "thanks for doing that for him".    That made the day complete.
Now most of you have been told the typical missionary story like the following. "Overeating."

5:40 pm -To top off our wonderfully ecstatic day, we had our "First Time" barbeque with W........., L...... and kids.     We gave them a short missionary lesson first and then Winston dished up the plates and oh, my goodness.     Each of our plates had two pieces of chicken, a steak, a huge sausage, a scoop of cooked veggies, and a scoop of fresh veggie salad. Which consisted of large chunks of fresh onions, green and red peppers, whole peas, corn and avocados. Before we hardly even got started, he was offering us more. They were all finished eating before our plates even looked like we had started on them. And he kept offering us more. I did not see him go back for seconds. I ate almost all of it. But if you know me very well, I will probably go into Uric Acid shock tonight along with onion breath. He wants to have another barbeque again this Saturday out at the Lake. I will be sure to dish my own plate up.
We played 2 rounds of Phase 10 and then said we had to go home.     It was 8 pm and there is school for the kids tomorrow.     We both went home to explode.

All in a Days work

Friday Oct 14, 2011

Every morning now for a few weeks, across our front room carpet, we have seen shiny shimmery slivers of what looks like threads of Saran plastic Wrap.    But when you go to pick it up, it disintegrates to the touch of your fingers.    What in the world is this we thought?    We could see it strung across the room and back and forth and around here and around there.    Under the table over by the couch.    Some places had bigger spots rather than just thread like shimmers.   I looked it up on the internet as having shiny streaks on carpet and all I could find is some articles about Slugs. Slugs? I thought.    Where in the world would a Slug come from?    The lines went straight to the corner of the sliding glass door. Well, not really straight, but they made their way back to the corner. "We would rub them away each day and each morning they would come from the same corner. OOOO, a slug in the house?,    oooooo gross.    We hunted and hunted everywhere not being able to find any critters that might be making them.
Last night I told Elder Tietjen that we should sleep on the couch in the living room to see if we could see the slug ball going on.   He just laughed and we went to bed.
Today we stayed home most of the day.   We had scheduled 4:00 pm to go to W.........'s home and teach our 1^st lesson to the family.
We studied and got pictures and such all ready for the lesson.
We did get a shopping list together and went to town for car parts and a lot of groceries.   We were out of a lot of things.   We shopped Woolsworth's today.    I don't know any of the grocery stores well enough yet to find things and so it takes so long.    Elder Tietjen  gets so worn out shopping at a grocery store.    I don't like going shopping with other people.   I like to take my own time trying to find things and not boring others.   But he is enduring.
We then came home and had some lunch and Elder Tietjen fell asleep on the floor.   With the slug? Oooooo.
I studied and got more pictures ready for my lesson that I will be teaching Monday evening at Lisa's home with her 4 yr old Rhys.
At 2:30 Elder Tietjen took our car into a car dealer repair place just down across the street a ways to get it inspected.   We are suppose to have it inspected before we can get the final registration for it.   We have been fearing that because the cover over the air bag is curled up that we may have to have that replaced and it may cost us a lot.    It was to take the man about 45 min to do the inspection.    Elder Tietjen walked home and again fell asleep.    I don't mind, it gives me more time to study at my speed.
W......... called and cancelled our night together.    After teaching the lesson we were going to have a barbeque with them.    He said that L..... was not feeling well.    I don't think I would feel well either with expecting Twins in December and so overly over weight.
So we spent the rest of the day organizing our lessons and visual aids.   At least me, Elder Tietjen was still asleep.    Elder Tietjen will be teaching Lu, Li Li and Halery on Sunday nights and then at Tasha's home on Monday nights.
Elder Tietjen was awaken with some strange message on his phone that we could not figure out.   Something about covering the Payneham and weather permitting will uncover at 9 am.   Well, I do think they got the wrong number.    I looked up Payneham and it is a town.   So I have no idea what that was about.  It was now 4:15 pm. He commented that the guy had not called about the car being done, so at 4:30 pm he finally got up and walked over to the place.    The guy said he was just about to call him.    Whew, the air bags passed.    But we do have to replace the rubber bushings that hold the sway bar in place.    That will cost about $200.    Charles where are you when we need you?
We then spent more time on our lessons and pictures until 9:30 pm.
We decide to rest and take a break by watching a movie.   I know we should have gone to bed right?    We watch "The Inheritance".    Thanks to Wayne he put  a whole bunch of movies onto my external hard drive.    We did not know what this one was so we decided to watch it.
We slid the couch up to the desk and played the movie on my little tiny lap top.   For some reason Elder Tietjen's computer will not play the movies.    So we endure with my little one.    I don't mind it so much.    We are close enough that it is like sitting in the back at the movies.    Well, maybe, not, but it isn't too bad.

It was a very enjoyable movie.     It got over around 11:30pm  and as I was gathering my blanket up off of me, I happened to look down at the floor.    In the dimly lit room, from porch and computer light only, I could see a little dark spot on the floor under the chair that I had my legs resting upon.   It kind of looked like a cat had come and done it's thing.    Since we don't have a cat and I knew there was no dark spot under my chair before, I reached down and touched it. OOOOOOOO, it was so slimy.    I grabbed my hand away and told Elder Tietjen to hurry and turn on the lights.    He did.   

Oh, my goodness,right  there was our party animal, the SLUG.    AND I TOUCHED IT!!! Gross.    Was he big or was he big.   They grow things BIG here in Australia.    Remember the mushroom that was about 8 or 9 in across.    Well this thing was about 3 in. long.    I told Elder Tietjen to hurry and get a napkin or paper towel.    He did.    I was thinking "down the toilet this critter is going" but I did not say it out loud.  Elder Tietjen can't even kill a spider so I knew he could not drown a slug.    He gathered it up and took it outside someplace.    He said clear across someplace to throw it into the grass.    Well, we have no grass at our apartment so I don't know where he took it.    But at least it is finally out of our house. Good riddance. Ooo shudder shudder.

All's well that ends well