“How did it get so late so soon?” ― Dr. Seuss

"Time doth fly", said the poet, and so it has. Another month in the mission field has flown by ... and so much has happened. Another transfer has come and gone, including saying goodbye to some amazing missionaries. And we've welcome 17 new ones to the mission.

Mission President's office on transfer day

The Book of Mormon play is still all the rage in Melbourne and the missionaries have handed out hundreds and hundreds of copies of the real Book of Mormon in many languages. We've heard some incredible stories of lessons taught, miracles that have transpired, and lives that are changing. The blessings of the gospel—and this work—are evident at every turn.

And the more temporal aspects of Senior Missionary work also continue. We've closed down a few flats in some outlying areas and are in the process of looking for new ones in growth areas. I've (unfortunately) had to deal with more than a few wrecked cars recently and have had to process a couple of speeding tickets as well. At our Zone Conferences last week I had the opportunity to spend some time with the missionaries teaching them about responsibility and stewardship, and how to take care of their cars (and not wreck them). The principle of obedience—along with the consequences of disobedience—were mentioned often. Indeed, the work goes on.

This past week many of our missionaries had the opportunity to do some service and help clean the temple, inside and out. One after another they came into the office after 4 hours of pretty intense physical labor with huge smiles on their faces, so happy to have had the privilege to clean the House of the Lord. A few lucky Elders even got to clean the Angel Moroni, which was no easy task!

          

As office workers in the mission, we put in many hours each and every weekday; there's just a lot of work to do. But Saturday is our P-Day and a couple of weeks ago we took a little "side trip" about an hour north and visited the famous Yarra Valley Chocolaterie. It was a pretty incredible place ... and a chocolate lover's dream! It was fun to watch their talented European Chocolatiers at work and browse through the amazing showroom filled with over 250 different chocolate products. Until next time, enjoy a few photos of what Chocolate Heaven looks like!