Albany

Over the weekend, I went to Albany. It was  a LONG car ride ! 818kms round trip ! We left 1pm - ish on the Saturday and arrived home just after 6pm Sunday. Thankfully, I was chauffeured driven down there and I had the WHOLE back seat to myself ! Woot !

So WHY? Well, it was the Albany Branch Conference so as a stake leader, I went to support the Relief Society sisters in the far reaches of WA. It was awesome. Lot of happy memories of what fun a branch can be - everyone knows everyone...people serving diligently with three and four callings....hilarious activities and gatherings...half the branch getting up to sing for their visitors... :D Most of all I remembered the strength I got from knowing the unconditional love of being part of something special.



The Holder's place

 Upon arrival, the wonderful Holder family had dinner on the table..."Thermomix" dinner...butter chicken. Was delish and the dinner conversation lively and fun. The views outside spectacular ! Imagine...a two week old foal just outside the front door - literally ! Huge, big, sweeping gumtrees, birds twittering, sheep contentedly munching away....and GREENERY everywhere you look ! Was SO delightful !

The branch activity included "get to know the stake leaders" games...was hilarious. The members of Albany branch had to "guess" which foot was sticking out from under the stage curtains. The it was random questions to get to know us better...then a Scattergories game...fun.

I slept in a double bed all to myself...it was even COLD enough that I had to have covers on ! Imagine that huh? (56 days and counting since Perth got any rain?!) Was delicious having to snuggle under the covers ! I even read in bed ! Breakfast was oats...freshly cooked for us with home grown honey and dried figs....YUM ! SO delicious !

Meetings were so inspiring. Pres Pemberton spoke about his travel down to Albany and how he almost came "a-gusta" by drifting off two - three times because he fell asleep behind the wheel of the car ! He paralleled the story with every day life  - we don't mean to drift to the "other side" and engage in things we know are wrong ....it can happen at any time. We need to be alert and attentive for things that distract us from the path of "truth and righteousness".

The sisters appreciated our efforts to present a lesson for them - based on Doctrine and Covenants 101:16.



Jenny (lf) and Lorraine (rt) "hamming" it up !

 It was a good weekend. The road trip was a great opportunity for the three of us in our presidency to bond and get to know each other better. We are a terrific team and I am blessed to be motivated by these fantastic sisters !