Two Terrific Websites

Khan Academy

If you or your child are learning Maths, Science, Humanities, Economics or Computing, then you will want to know about the Khan Academy.  Whether you are interested in third grade Maths, differential calculus or a crash course in World History, just type your question or topic into the search bar and you can access superb teaching that is also fun, interesting and entertaining.  Explore this non-profit site to find all that it has to offer. I love this site!  Its motto is:
A free world-class education for anyone anywhere.

(To access the Khan Academy, click here.  To read an article written about the Khan Academy, click here.)

TED

Ted is a non-profit site devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less) - more than 1,700 talks that cover almost all topics, in over 100 languages.  From people like Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, Bono... some of the world's great thinkers, or from ordinary people with extraordinary experiences. You may not agree with every idea, but you'll probably enjoy it more than you will another 10 minutes on Fb. Click here to access TED.

Got 3 minutes, 27 seconds?  You might try:
Matt Cutts: Try something new for 30 days

Got 9 minutes, 22 seconds?  You might try:
Gever Tulley: 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do


Enjoy!  Do you have any great sites you'd like to share?



By Sandy Munro

Never Too Old To Learn

If someone had told me when I was young that I would go back to school in my 50s I probably would have scoffed in disbelief. But that is exactly what I did.

(From L to R)  My daughter Samantha (now a Registered Nurse), her friend William, and myself on Graduation day.

My middle daughter started studying at the local technical institute to be a nurse. She’s got guts and determination and is one of those people that, if you say she can’t do it, she will fight tooth and nail to prove you wrong.

I was living in the Gold Coast at the time and had come back to NZ for a visit. At that time she was studying for a Science exam, and asked me to quiz her on some of the material. So we stayed up quite late at night and I quizzed her from the book she gave me. Needless to say, she passed her exam and I returned to the Gold Coast.

Six months later I started to feel restless. I was working in a supermarket as a checkout operator, and felt like I was stagnating. I was certain I could do more. Studying with my daughter had stimulated the old grey matter and I felt the compulsion to do something about it. So I went online and checked out my options.

Because I wasn’t an Australian citizen or Permanent Resident, I would be unable to get a student loan. I was not going to let this stop me. So I researched a bit further and found that I could go back and study in NZ. There was a shorter nursing course (Enrolled Nursing) that was beginning mid-year and to prepare for it I could take what they called Foundation Studies, which featured Science, Maths, Human Development, Social Science and Writing and Study Skills. I registered and waited to hear back. When I got the email, I told my husband what I wanted to do, and booked my flight back.

Once I was in NZ, I joined the thousands of other students, lining up for student loans and queuing in the registration office to sign up for classes. I had caught the bug… I was going to be an Adult Student!

I worked hard to pass all my classes and revelled in achieving fairly good grades. My daughter had aced many of her classes and when I got my first A, she expected me to continue getting them, so there was an element of pressure there.

When I started the course, my daughter was halfway through her three year degree course. When I finished my Diploma, she had already finished her degree and was awaiting graduation the following March. I sat and passed my final exam in December and was extremely proud to graduate the very same day as my daughter, and her many nursing course friends.

I can vouch for the fact that you’re NEVER too old to learn…

I was not the oldest person in my class: there was a man in my class who was 70!

Footnote: Shortly after I had finished my course, the government changed the regulations and requirements for student loans and would no longer grant student loans to anyone over 55 years of age. I had JUST made it through in the nick of time.

By Toni Paton

They're Soaking It Up!!!

If you've ever studied anything about child development, you know that children learn a LOT in their first few years of life. Like, EVERYTHING. They learn your language (more if you speak more than one!), manners, acceptable behaviours, consequences, toilet training, how to feed themselves, and dress themselves, and groom themselves, colours, nature, weather, navigating social situations, and a kazillion other things.

I remember Mum always saying to me that she wanted us to know more than anything else in those first few years that we were loved. That we are children of God, who loves us, and that Mum and Dad loved us. I guess it works, cause I think I've known those things my whole life!! And I honestly think they were among the first things Maggie knew too.

Anyway, lately at church we've had 2 Sunday School lessons about family scripture reading. A lot of the time it's hard to get the family together every single day to read the scriptures, and a lot of parents feel like what they're reading isn't even 'going in' anyway, as the children and teenagers might be half asleep or not seeming like they're paying attention! A lot of people who've grown up reading scriptures together have said maybe they didn't learn much a lot of the time, but they're sure they got something out of it.

Since our girls are 1 and 2, we read out of these awesome illustrated (they're almost in a comic style) scripture story books:

You can purchase all four books of scripture here, for either $6.50 or $7 each, with free postage. They're awesome, and the children love them!!

Last week during scripture reading both of the girls were a bit distracted, and didn't seem to be listening at all. We were reading - over the course of the week - about the last supper, the Saviour's death, resurrection, and his ministry after his death. I didn't think too deeply about it, but didn't think a great deal 'went in', until Maggie the other morning randomly said to me, "Mummy, Jesus was res-a-rec-ted, remember??". I stopped in my tracks and said "Yes! You remember that too, do you?" (I was impressed that she was able to say the word so well!). Then she said "Yes Mummy, but he died! Jesus died! And it was so sad! But then he was res-a-rec-ted, and now he's alive, Mummy! Jesus is alive!! And he saved us!!" I was a little bit gobsmacked. How did she learn that so fast?? I mean, we really tried to teach it to her while we read, but she seemed a little more interested in making Ana giggle at the time! But it went in. The little sponge soaked it up! So now she knows the basic foundation of Christianity. Jesus died for us. He saved us. He was resurrected and He lives again! So I guess the whole 'family scripture reading' thing is working! - More than we even knew.

It made me realise more than ever, that although I know they're learning more now than they'll learn in years following, sometimes I don't know if I spend enough time making sure they're learning all the important things. What else do I want them to know??! I want them to treat people decently, to think the best of everyone. I want them to be respectful and kind, to look out for anyone who might need a hand, to share and play nicely. I want them to know that they are of such great worth, and can be anything they want to be - that they have endless potential. I want them to work hard, and love life - to celebrate, to enjoy and feel free... and that it's never okay to speak with your mouth full :)

But since they are little sponges, and sponges can soak up an awful lot, what else should they know??

By Abby Easthope

The Way to Sure Success

We are commanded to be perfect.  Sometimes that seems to be a goal beyond our reach, and we can become discouraged.  I'd like to pass on a thought I've had about our need to be patient with ourselves...

http://www.practicingparents.com

Babies, children, toddlers are wonderful!  They try, and try, and fall or fail, and try again, until they 'get it'.  We know that eventually, they will walk, talk, toilet themselves, say 'Mummy, I love you'; even learn to ride a bike, swim across the pool, and read by themselves.  Eventually, their toes will touch the floor while they are sitting on the pew in church; their fingers will eventually reach the doorknob, the top of the doorway, (and sometimes, in the case of teenage boys straining to be picked for the basketball team), the ceiling.  These things will all, in the normal course of life, always be achieved.   

Babies don't ever ponder the possibility of failure.  It just never seems to occur to them.  So they keep trying, until they do advance; achieve; succeed.  And we take their eventual success just as much for granted - we know that their destiny is to be successful in these things.  

Little Ballerina's Dream painting by Roberta Martin

To look at a newborn baby or a small child, it could seem incredible that they will be able to accomplish so many intricate, fabulous things one day.  Except that we know what is possible, and probable, because we have already managed it ourselves.  How sad it would be for us to ever see a baby just give up on trying - to walk, or talk, or feed themselves, knowing as we do know, the progress that would have occurred if they had just continued their efforts.   

I wonder if this is the way that Heavenly Father looks upon us in our struggle to become like Him.  He sees us fall over, again and again, and I think that His response probably somewhat mirrors our response to our own children: a warm and vitally interested desire to encourage and support, and a feeling of overwhelming love for the child: walking or not; successful or..  not just yet.  Perhaps He loves us in the same way that we love our babies, even when they can't do anything much yet!  Perhaps He smiles understandingly, as we occasionally do, when the baby who is learning to sit up, puddles over onto their side, or sometimes falls flat on their face, or even occasionally throws a tantrum.  Maybe it really doesn't bother Him that much that it takes us a while to learn what we need to learn - since He knows that eventually, with His help, we will, inevitably, succeed. As long as we don't give up.

Pinterest

I remember with love and humour the picture of our oldest daughter, Tammy, attempting to learn a piano piece for her Beginner's exam.  I think she was about seven.  She sat at our piano each day, plonking out a few simple notes, trying over and over again to play the childish tune, before one day throwing her hands to her eyes and crying, with real anguish, "I can't do it, I just can't do it!  I'll NEVER be able to learn this - it's too hard!"   

Fast forward to her seventeenth year, to the exceptionally lengthy and difficult music pieces I heard her practise then, in preparation for her Diploma of Music exam.  How beautiful it was to hear her filling our home with such intricate and lovely melodies.

How wonderful to know that our own stumbling, occasionally faltering, and even sometimes emotionally hysterical attempts now to sound a tune, are one day, most certainly, if we 'continue in patience', destined to become performances of great beauty too.



By Sandy Munro

The Story of the Glazed Brick and the Ants

(This story has been retold many times - by Jeffrey R. Holland in 1974 Speeches of the Year, by Marion D. Hanks in his book, ' The Gift of Self', and by others.  Its purport is to inspire us to keep learning.)

'Keep learning. Where to discover your interest and how to amass relevant information are illustrated in the story of an obscure spinster woman who insisted that she never had a chance. She muttered these words to Dr. Louis Agassiz, distinguished naturalist, after one of his lectures in London. In response to her complaint, he replied: “Do you say, madam, you never had a chance? What do you do?”

“I am single and help my sister run a boardinghouse.”

“What do you do?” he asked.

“I skin potatoes and chop onions.”

He said, “Madam, where do you sit during these interesting but homely duties?”

“On the bottom step of the kitchen stairs.”

“Where do your feet rest?”

“On the glazed brick.”

“What is glazed brick?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

He said, “How long have you been sitting there?”

She said, “Fifteen years.”

“Madam, here is my personal card,” said Dr. Agassiz. “Would you kindly write me a letter concerning the nature of a glazed brick?”

'She took him seriously. She went home and explored the dictionary and discovered that a brick was a piece of baked clay. That definition seemed too simple to send to Dr. Agassiz, so after the dishes were washed, she went to the library and in an encyclopedia read that a glazed brick is vitrified kaolin and hydrous aluminium silicate. She didn’t know what that meant, but she was curious and found out. She took the word vitrified and read all she could find about it. Then she visited museums. She moved out of the basement of her life and into a new world on the wings of vitrified.And having started, she took the word hydrous, studied geology, and went back in her studies to the time when God started the world and laid the clay beds. One afternoon she went to a brickyard, where she found the history of more than 120 kinds of bricks and tiles, and why there have to be so many. Then she sat down and wrote thirty-six pages on the subject of glazed brick and tile.

'Back came the letter from Dr. Agassiz: “Dear Madam, this is the best article I have ever seen on the subject. If you will kindly change the three words marked with asterisks, I will have it published and pay you for it.”

'A short time later there came a letter that brought $250, and penciled on the bottom of this letter was this query: “What was under those bricks?” She had learned the value of time and answered with a single word: “Ants.” He wrote back and said, “Tell me about the ants.”

'She began to study ants. She found there were between eighteen hundred and twenty-five hundred different kinds. There are ants so tiny you could put three head-to-head on a pin and have standing room left over for other ants; ants an inch long that march in solid armies half a mile wide, driving everything ahead of them; ants that are blind; ants that get wings on the afternoon of the day they die; ants that build anthills so tiny that you can cover one with a lady’s silver thimble; peasant ants that keep cows to milk, and then deliver the fresh milk to the apartment house of the aristocrat ants of the neighbourhood.

'After wide reading, much microscopic work, and deep study, the spinster sat down and wrote Dr. Agassiz 360 pages on the subject. He published the book and sent her the money, and she went to visit all the lands of her dreams on the proceeds of her work.

'Now, as you hear this story, do you feel acutely that all of us are sitting with our feet on pieces of

vitrified kaolin and hydrous aluminium silicate—with ants under them? Lord Chesterton answers: 

“There are no uninteresting things; 

there are only uninterested people.”

Keep learning!'


By Sandy Munro

Challenge to Read the Book of Mormon Twice This Year

“I promise you, as you do so, there will be a greater sense of unity love and faith in your stake, district, ward or branch. There will be a greater love and harmony in marriages and families. An increase in faith. A greater ability to seek and receive the influence of the Holy Ghost and a sweet deepening spiritual conversion unto the Lord.” – Elder Kevin W. Pearson (Pacific Area Presidency Broadcast 2014)

In a recent training from the Area Presidency, Elder Kevin W. Pearson of the Seventy challenged the members of Ward and Stake Councils to immerse themselves in the Book of Mormon. As an Area we have been challenged to deepen our own personal conversion by doing 3 things.

1. Increase personal faith in Christ and urgency for the work by keeping the commandments, magnifying your calling, and serving others
2. Recommitment to the Law of the Fast by prayerfully fasting with a purpose on Fast Sunday and the payment of a generous fast offering
3. Immersion in the Book of Mormon by individuals and families praying, studying, pondering, and reading the Book of Mormon at least twice this year.

Elder Pearson has prepared a Reading chart as a guide to help us fulfil this challenge.

Click here to Download the Reading Schedule

You can watch the entire broadcast here.

(Following are the thoughts of one of our EMP sisters, as she commits herself to 

accept Elder Pearson's challenge to us all.)

The Area Presidency has recently issued the challenge to read the book of Mormon twice this year. I am excited about that, because sometimes I end up doing the reading just for Sunday School, and don’t also get to read the book of Mormon. Which is not good- I really know the extra amazingness that I feel in my life when I am regularly reading the Book of Mormon, so I really should make that extra effort! So I have started putting that into my day, and I am so happy to be doing it. And it is already making a difference.

I am going to tell you about me and the scriptures. I know everyone has different ways of reading them, and some people really struggle. For me, I have gone through stages where sometimes I do more than at other times. I have a testimony of how much God wants to bless us, and I know He sends power, inspiration, light, patience, strength, peace and a whole lot more when we do read the scriptures.

When I was a teenager, probably in about Grade 11, I suddenly fell in love with the scriptures. I would write down all the scriptures I liked in big, fat, teenage writing in my journal- often I wouldn’t even end up writing about my day- I would just write down a bunch of scriptures that I liked.

I remember doing big long scripture trawls, where I would follow every cross reference, trying to find the answer to a point that puzzled me. In this way, I learned to think about the meanings of the words on the page, and about the concepts. For instance, I stayed for ages on 2 Nephi 2, which is a chapter that is particularly full of really big gospel concepts, and unpacked a lot of really key gospel doctrines.

I also fell in love with Isaiah. I used to read 2 Nephi with 3 books open: 2 Nephi, Isaiah, and Avraham Gileadi’s translation of Isaiah. By comparing three different translations of the words written by Isaiah, I came to love the messages and prophecies of this great prophet. I have never been scared of 2 Nephi since that time!

I found that when I read the scriptures really, really slowly, thinking about each word, and each concept, and expecting to understand it, the language just opens up, and because I have studied it in depth, the next time I come round to reading that part, there is a remembrance still, and I don’t have to do as much deciphering to understand it.

When I became a Mum, I went through a period of 7 years of post-natal depression. I guess if you have never had depression you would find it hard to believe just how much of a mountain every single thing gets to be. I got to the point where I would set a goal to achieve just three things per day, and hopefully one of them was to have a shower! It was tough. Sometimes, my scripture study dwindled. But I have a really strong testimony of the power of the scriptures, and so even if I all I could do was to read just one verse that day, I would still read a verse.

I think that if you have trouble reading the scriptures, and carry some guilt around for not reading them that it is super wonderful if you just read a verse a day. Sometime, that verse will turn into 2, and then maybe a page. But even one a day is the greatest start. It will bring power and peace into your life.

I have always read the scriptures, and we have always had family scripture study too. I believe they have literally protected me and my family from Satan. My home is a truly happy place. I believe that there is a measure of the Spirit that comes into a home when you actively block Satan from it by not viewing stuff that has sex or violence or swearing, and when you actively invite God into it by praying and reading the scriptures. Sometimes, on crazy busy weeks, we might miss a few days, but in general, we read them and talk about the meaning. My kids understand them, because from their earliest days, they have been part of a family scripture reading pattern. I don’t claim that doing these things will make your home a perfect home! But I do know that when you very deliberately go about blocking the evil of the world, and filling its place with the pure things of God, there is a much better chance of having a happy home.

In the last few years, I have been super, super busy. I work part time, I am at uni writing my psychology honours thesis, and I have kids at every stage of schooling: uni, high school and primary school. I run the home, I do the books for my husband’s business, and I am Stake Primary President. At one stage I was also P & C President. My day starts at about 5am with seminary, and often goes till 11.30 or 12 at night, and during exam time, it is often later than that. I am busy all day, every day. But I really love my life! I love being a mum. Having had depression, you really learn to value the days when you feel OK, and I still wake up and feel joy at being better. I love to dive into a day- it is so great to be free from depression, and to have motivation. So, I am busy, but in a good, happy way.

So, where do I put the scriptures into my day now? I try to read them first thing. Some days are better than others. Sometimes I wake up late, or there is someone needing something straight away, and so some days I don’t get to read. But my pattern is there, so I never let it go more than a day or two before I am back.

Some days I read a little. Life is like that. Some days I get a good half an hour or more in. Each year, I try to read the book of scripture we are up to in Sunday School, as well as the reading from RS. Because I travel quite a bit with my calling, I am often not in Sunday School or RS, so I have the fun of just having my own little lessons by myself. Soooo, what I do, is to download the Institute manual onto my phone, and then I read that along with the scriptures. It is SOOOOOOOOOOO amazing how much is in the Institute manuals, and how they help me understand the scriptures better. This morning I was reading about the Fall (Genesis 3) and there is such a lot of wonderful doctrinal commentary in the institute manual, that really helps explain the Fall.

The other great thing I have discovered when reading my scriptures is the internet. If I don’t understand something, or if I suddenly want to know about a person mentioned, I will jump onto google and start exploring. Last week, I was finally finishing off the Doctrine and Covenants reading from last year, and I suddenly wanted to know about what happened with Joseph Smith’s children. There was some great material. Did you know that Joseph’s brother, Hyrum has 30 000 living descendants, while Joseph only has 1 100! And 2/3 of them live in Australia! Oh, and only about 130 of Joseph’s descendants are members of the Church. When I find an article that I want to go back to, I stick it onto Pinterest.

Now, when the Area Presidency counselled us to read the Book of Mormon twice this year, while I was excited, I just didn’t know where I was going to fit that in! But one day, when I was being annoyed for the millionth time that our car radio has stopped working, I had this brilliant idea: I realised that I could listen to the scriptures on my phone while I was driving. I spend a heap of time in the car- shopping, taking kids to school and seminary, driving to uni, driving to other wards etc. It takes only 3-5 minutes to listen to a chapter of scripture, so even if I only listen for 10 minutes a day, I’ve done a couple of chapters that day.

I have been so blessed as I have returned to a study of the Book of Mormon. I can definitely say my productivity has increased, and I am feeling a greater measure of light in my mind. The Book of Mormon is an internal cleanser. It also makes me bolder with sharing the gospel. So I am truly grateful for the challenge this year- it has bettered my life already.

By Rachel Garcia

Love of Learning

Over the past 4 years, completing my Bachelor of Nursing has been a significant journey of self-discovery, testimony building, balancing my life and developing a love for learning. I enrolled into University to do a Bachelor of Nursing for the first time in 2010 at the age of 33. As a mother of 4 whose children were now all at school, I decided with the encouragement of my husband to go and do what I had always wanted to do – become a registered nurse. I was concerned at first whether I could do it…as a stay at home mum for 12 years I was worried that I may not be smart enough, whether I could make the time, would my children still receive the love and attention they needed, could I commit to years of study, and could I learn to use the computer sufficiently to write essays?

'Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow 
that talent to the.... place where it leads.'

- Erica Jong

Graduating from University last year definitely gave me a greater sense of achievement and gratitude towards my husband and children for their support.

I would encourage any woman, whether young or older who have the desire to learn something new – whether it is to become a florist or to get a Bachelor degree – go for it!

I benefited so much over the four years of studying:

· I learnt to rely on the Lord to bless my efforts both at home and at Uni

· I developed a greater testimony of our bodies being creations of our Heavenly Father.

· I had opportunities to meet new people and develop friendships outside the church (something I had not previously done).

· I had so many opportunities to share the gospel and give away the Book of Mormon.

· I gained self-confidence (which I previously really struggled with) as I developed new talents and received blessings from the Lord.

· During my degree my husband started cooking for the first time in our marriage and I love that now we work more as a team in everything needed inside the home.

· Completing my mental health subjects and working in a ‘Post Traumatic Stress Unit’ for my prac allows me to confidently associate and communicate with those who struggle with mental health disorders, and empathise and understand family members who struggle with depression / anxiety.

· Through my ‘psychosocial’ subjects studied at Uni I learnt to communicate better with my teenagers and understand the different learning and physical development stages in my four children.

· After completing my anatomy and physiology subjects at Uni I was inspired to understand and live the ‘Word of Wisdom’ as best as possible. Our family now enjoys a delicious well-balanced healthy diet including loads of raw vegetables, avoiding artificial manufactured products and regularly exercising together.

· I had the opportunity to go and volunteer as a nurse for 3 weeks overseas in Laos – giving much needed primary health care and donations to remote villages and had an amazing time!

I also learnt that I am much more capable than I ever thought, and now encourage my children to strive towards their best!


By Katharina Spiller

Things I’ve Learnt

Several years ago, someone suggested doing this activity: At the top of a page, write "I've learnt that..." and then list some of the truths you've learnt recently. Make them simple, brief and don't try to write them particularly wonderfully; but make sure they are really true for you. They don't have to apply to anyone else. Don’t try to make them sound profound and lovely-sounding. Write them reasonably quickly, without thinking too hard about it. Some may be silly and light-hearted, some may be profound. When you read back through them, or even as you write them, you'll be surprised at some of the things you really have learnt, and some things will solidify themselves into actual truths that you hadn't put into words until now.

I do it every so often, because it helps me to reflect, and to see that I have actually learnt a few things through the glut of days that the recent past often appears to be. Here are a few from my lists:

I've learnt that...

... God loves me, that He watches over me, and that He answers my prayers.

... of all things and people on earth, my family is most important to me.

... it is through adversity that we find our greatest strength.

… life takes time.

...wishes and dreams will remain just that, unless I act on them.

...you can't plan everything, so you have to learn to take events as they come.

...I really don't know very much, and I seem to keep making a lot of the same mistakes I've always made.

… my first impressions of people are usually wrong.

… patience is about the hardest virtue to assume.

... in the end, I have to make my own decisions.

... a clean, tidy room is much nicer to live in than a dirty, messy one, but I don't like tidying it.

... I will always feel inadequate when I compare myself to other people.

... things seem a lot easier when you're lying in bed thinking about doing them than they do the next day.

...I grow the most when things are difficult.

... some things shouldn't be analysed.

...it is more important for me to come to love and understand others than it is to spend my energy trying to make sure they understand me.

...it is not so much what we are given, but what we do with it that counts.

...a genuine friend is worth more than many acquaintances.

... just the act of setting a goal contains great power in itself.

... sometimes, God takes away so that He can give us more in its place.

... I like being an auntie.

... I really dislike dry weather.

... when I put my mind to it, I'm capable of more than I realise.

... the best and deepest learning comes little by little.

... daily life requires courage.

... I shouldn't try to change my brother's mind.

... all good teaching requires great involvement.

... it feels a lot better to take control of a situation than to allow circumstances to control you.

... God doesn't punish or condemn us for our weaknesses, but we punish ourselves by hanging onto them, when He bids us let go.

By Tamara Hann

'Wrinkled Missionaries': The Ins and Outs of Serving a Senior Mission

If you have read Sister Gretta Holzworth's article about serving a couples' mission, you might be interested in more information about this wonderful opportunity.  Single senior Sisters also have many opportunities to give wonderful missionary service throughout the world.  And every Mission President I have ever heard of would always love to have more senior missionaries within the ranks of his missionaries!

(Some parts of the following are taken from articles in the Deseret News and in LDS Living magazine.  You can read these articles in full by clicking on the links.)

"We continue to need many more senior couples.  As your circumstances allow, as you are eligible for retirement, and as your health permits, I encourage you to make yourselves available for full-time missionary service.  Both husband and wife will have a greater joy as they together serve our Father's children."  
(President Thomas S. Monson, 2012)

The age requirements for young missionaries were lowered in October 2012, by President Thomas S. Monson. We can probably all remember how exciting that was!  Within a year there was a staggering 40-percent increase in missionaries serving.  What many don't realise, is that there were also changes made to service opportunities for senior missionaries about a year before that... 

For instance, did you know?...

1.  Prospective senior missionaries are encouraged to indicate on their missionary recommendation forms, their interests and preferences regarding where and how they would like to serve.  Senior missionary assignments seek to take advantage of the professional, social, and spiritual skills that have been garnered over a life-time.  Elder Don R. Clarke of the First Quorum of the Seventy, and assistant executive director in the Missionary Department says that because of the range of needs and the fact that only about half of the available opportunities are filled, “Usually couples can do something they really want to do—something they’re really good at.”  (Couples are reminded however, that assignments are made by the Lord through His ordained Apostles, and are asked to be willing to serve wherever and in whatever capacity they are called.)   

2.  Senior missionary couples have opportunities to serve in visitor centres, mission offices, on medical assignments, in military relations, in member and leader support, in Church education, humanitarian areas, employment resource centres, in family and church history support, church administration and other areas. Single senior sisters can also serve in a variety of areas.

3.  There is no upper age limit for seniors, as long as they have the physical, mental and emotional health to serve a mission.

4.  Couples pay no more than $1,400 per month for housing costs, (rent, utilities and furnishings), but are further responsible for transport and food costs, and other personal expenses.  Couples can now serve a six month mission, in addition to 12, 18 and 23 month missions.  (For international missions of less than 18 months duration, missionaries are required to pay for their own travel to and from the mission field.)

5.  Senior missionaries generally receive their mission calls about 4 - 6 weeks after their papers are submitted to Church headquarters.  Service usually begins about 1 - 2 months following that, although there may be a wait of up to six months if the assignment is in a foreign country.

6.  Senior missionaries are given more flexibility and have less strenuous requirements placed upon them than the young missionaries.  You can go home and take a nap in the middle of the day if you need to. There is also more in the way of ongoing communication with home, via email, Skype and Face Time.  

If you are interested in learning more about what it would be like for you to serve as a senior missionary, there are many helpful resources:

• On the Church Senior Missionary Opportunities Bulletin website, you can get an idea of missionary service opportunities and costs throughout the world.

• On the Full-Time Senior Missionaries page here at LDS.org, you can watch videos of missionary stories and experiences from those who have served.  Very interesting and illuminating!

• 'What we wish we'd known before we served a Mormon mission' article at Deseret News.

• 'How to Prepare for a Senior Couples Mission' at LDS Living magazine.

• There is also a lovely little book called 'Wrinkled Missionaries' that you can read, with its inspirational accounts of the everyday ups and downs of serving a senior mission.  Full of encouragement and reassurance :) 

In summary:   Yes, grandparents miss their grand-children, their homes and their pets when they serve a full-time mission away from home - but usually not as much as they thought they would! The blessings seem to so clearly outweigh the sacrifices - as usual!  Senior missionaries bear testimony that they discover so much purpose, learn so much about the gospel, see so much good accomplished, and strengthen their love for the Saviour and for their husband or wife so much, that they often want to sign up again as soon as they get home, if they can!  Family groups are strengthened through the example of their grandparents, and miracles occur both in the mission field and in the lives of the missionaries themselves.  

Please see your Bishop for more information and direction.

By Sandy Munro

Serving a Couples Mission: "Will It Ever Be Possible?"

"Will It Ever Be Possible?"

Nearly all of us plan on serving a full time mission "when we retire."

Some make it but many don't.

Why not?

When the time comes, will it be in the 'too hard basket'?

For most, yes.

We can't find anyone to care for our home. My health won't allow it. I don't think that we can afford it. Our cat is too old to leave with someone else. I really don't feel like it anymore. My husband wants to go but I no longer feel inclined, I used to, but not now, I feel too old to go away etc.

The first thing that you need to know and this is for sure, it will be the best experience!

It will be hard, challenging, a few tears of frustration, you will spend some of your savings, your family will manage extremely well without you, and you will manage extremely well without them, even the cat will manage and you will be crying heaps when it is time to come home, so don't miss it!!!

Expense wise? You will probably need to pay rent for your lodgings, you will still have to put fuel into your car, pay for your phone calls and provide your food and personal needs.

What you won't need is....no more family dinners which cost, no more birthday or Christmas gifts which cost. The family will excuse you of these great expenses 'because you are serving a mission' No more Visiting Teaching or Home Teaching and providing the treats accompanied with these callings and so forth.

Instead, life becomes a whole lot easier as you change your focus from being a parent, grand parent, uncle or aunt etc. to focusing on your mission assignment and nothing else.

Your loyalty is shifted to the needs of your assignment, to the people you are called to serve and very much, to your spouse or missionary companion. It's like being newly married before the children arrived.

Let me share something with you.

Alvin and I had always planned on serving a mission when we retired. The problem was who would look after my mother and our home? Our five children were married and the babies were arriving and each was set up in their own home.

But the first step was to decide that yes, we are going. Now, what do we need to do to make it happen?

We fasted and prayed about the home challenge. Our daughter and husband living in USA decided that they wanted to come out here and be with the family. So Michelle and Ken lived in our home, even produced three children whilst here. How about that?

My mother was going to be cared for by my other siblings, but mother soon realised that this wasn't working too well, and so through a string of circumstances, put herself into a Nursing Home.

It actually cost us a little less on our mission. the expenses of living at home compared to living in the mission field, was not the same, and with fewer mouths to feed, we actually saved a little!

Now something else special happened.

As we arrived in our mission field (Western Australia-CES Mission assignment) we found that we had to drive and navigate the new city and suburbs. We had early morning Seminary classes to visit, Institute classes to teach and campuses to find. Much travelling to new places was a daily challenge.

I usually drove and Alvin navigated.

When he said, turn left, I would invariably turn right and visa-versa. He would look at me in disbelief and began to say very crossly, "Are you stupid????" I would agree with him totally. I had no idea why I kept turning exactly opposite to his direction. One day I said to him, "Elder Holzworth, I am sorry for these mistakes. I don't mean them. It only takes a few moments for me to turn around and correct our direction but what you are saying to me is totally wrong. I am your missionary companion and you shouldn't speak to me that way. We lose the spirit immediately and I become very upset."

Well, he never spoke to me again in that tone or with that spirit.

No, he never again for the rest of our lives.

Our relationship strengthened and we became very close, our mission experience blessed us enormously. We had the opportunity to serve three full time missions in the CES program of the Church and again a full time mission in the Brisbane Australia Mission. It was at the end of this that the affliction called Alzheimer's commenced and he died as a result of one of the symptoms.

I can truly testify that in order to serve a mission in later years, firstly turn your hand to the sickle and put your trust in Heavenly Father. After you have done your part to the best of your ability;, and you are committed to serve, the way will open up and into the mission field you will go and have a most marvellous experience.

You will live as you haven't done before, laugh often, learn heaps and have a circle of new friends to love and be loved back. This will be amazing to you. Most of all, you will grow closer to your beloved companion and to Heavenly Father and you will make a remarkable difference in your family.

By Gretta Holzworth

'Live, Learn, Laugh and Love - Back In The Old Days'

Bet this didn't happen to you!

"All those who feel that they can sustain Gretta Holzworth as a member of Brisbane Ward Relief Society, please show by the lifted hand?" 

This is how I became a member of Relief Society! I was twenty four years and married. 

I had been born in the Church and active all my life.

My mother was the Relief Society President, she had a tear in her eye when after being sustained in the Sacrament meeting, I was then sustained in Relief Society as my mother conducted the meeting that day.

You had to be a member in good standing in the Church and in the community and have attended Relief Society three weeks in a row. It was an honour and privilege to be invited to be a member of Relief Society. It was a special event for all the family.

So began a wonderful, marvellous, extraordinary, life changing, most important chapter in my life.

Wow, has it been a journey!

In those days we paid an annual subscription to the General Board of Relief Society. Each auxiliary of the Church had its own funds, they raised what was needed and spent as they thought best. We had a membership card from General Board which showed that we were paid up and a current member of Relief Society. No one had yet thought that it was a program of the Church, inaugurated by the Prophet Joseph Smith and was for all sisters. That came later. 

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Tuesday was Relief Society day. Just about around the world, Tuesday was the designated day, much like Family Home Evening is Monday, 10.00am -12noon.

The chapel was at Kangaroo Point where the temple is now and we all caught buses and trams to get there. 

I lived in Tarragindi. I had a half mile walk to the bus stop, jump off the bus at Chardon's Corner which is across the road from the Mater Hospital and then tackle the walk up Allan Street to the KP chapel.

In my hands I had the stroller with baby inside. Packed around baby was a nappy bag, baby needs, lesson manual, scriptures, visual aids, stuff and in my spare hand was the toddler and at one stage I had three children under three years to deal with. Was I ever discouraged? Never! I smiled and thought about my lesson, huffed and puffed, wiped the perspiration from off my brow and pushed on undaunted. I was quite mad, wasn't I ????

I was always a teacher in RS or served in an administrative role.

Coming home was worse!! Of course the children would go to sleep! The poor bus driver would soon realise that if he was to ever be able to move on, then the quicker he grabbed the stroller and took a child's hand and helped us all get off his bus, the quicker he would be on his way!

The lessons were Theology, Work Meeting, Social Relations and Cultural Refinement, in that order, with Visiting Teaching message. Eventually these changed to Spiritual Living, Homemaking, Mother Education and Cultural Refinement.

We loved Homemaking day.

We inaugurated our own mini class program as we moved from 'Work Meeting' where we did all the hand sewing on clothing articles usually made by the multi talented and faithful, Betty Geddes, for the ever happening street stalls.

Lunch was always the highlight. It was a sit down affair, knife, fork & spoon with cloths & flowers. Two courses always, the cost shared by the sisters attending, or the two sisters assigned the lunch (usually a once a year task) who would provide it. Sarah Scott would always bring parsley, eggs, lemons, new dripping, jams, Lemon Butter, relish, etc, which she produced from her garden and sell it us for a pittance and then give to the sisters who prepared and provided our lunch.

At home that night, we all made for dinner the new recipes demonstrated at lunch.

We talked the talk. Oh how we talked about everything and everyone around those lunch tables.

Rosemary Knoth would always blow us away with the description of her extravagant lunches which she made for her husband and three children. We would sit with gaping mouths as she described, what none of us ever even imagined, that she would buy a chicken, cook it and strip the meat for the lunch sandwiches!!! Unheard of! Chicken was for Christmas Dinner!

Oh, and we will never forget when Zillah Rope, 42 years, announced that she and her husband Stewart wanted to have another baby, and she did.

Then Rosemary Knoth and Deanna Dunham decided that they wished to lose a lot of weight and made a pact that they would not eat any food, only drink fluids, for one week. We couldn't wait for the next Tuesday to meet up again and yes, they did it, became sick and weak but stuck to their promise and both lost a stone in weight, about seven kilos.

Guess what? Next Tuesday, they both arrived very sorrowfully to announce that not only had they put the lost weight back on, but a few more pounds as well!!!

We young mothers learned so much from the other sisters. On how we loved each other. How we shared each other's burdens. Many a problem was shared and solved over the washing up in the kitchen following our fabulous lunch. We also got to take bits and pieces home. The sisters were truly my sisters. We worked hard on caring for the missionaries, earning the money to pay the debt we owed the Church as our share in the cost of the Kangaroo Point building. There was a Building Fund event every month, mainly orchestrated by the Relief Society. We were all shapes and sizes, ages, different backgrounds, different personalities, - we all loved and dealt with the sister from England, who played the organ and felt that she was the best at this and kept the key to the organ hidden so that only she did all the playing! We loved the romance which blossomed between Sam Parker 70 years and Lily Burns, same age. The RS put on the greatest reception for their wedding.

In fact, as each of our young people married, which took place in the chapel, the Relief Society, under the direction of the mother, always prepared and served the 'sit down' reception which followed the wedding. This was in the Cultural Hall where no effort was spared to make everything as pretty and special as possible.

We wept tears when we grew in number and the day came when we were divided as a ward, again and again. Our children grew up together, served missions and remained faithful.Our Priesthood leaders loved us also. We were well supported by them. When I look back, I am amazed at the extraordinary things we accomplished and cherish the strong bonds of sisterhood which we shared, the laughter, tears the good and bad of life.

Together, those early years of my life in Relief Society was where I learned to grab every opportunity to serve, whenever asked, to live life, to love and be loved, and to laugh often.

Hurrah for Israel!!!!!

By Gretta Holzworth