Week #5: There is a time for remembering and a time for dumplings

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MEMORIAL           

Sterling gets all American and Australian holidays off of work, so we had a day that we could spend together, to honor Veteran’s Day.  Now Australia also celebrates a holiday on Nov. 11, call ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps).  This is their version of Veteran’s Day.   We thought it would be only appropriate if we went to the Australian War Memorial on his day off.  We went on Monday, the day after Veteran’s/ANZAC Day, but it was still very meaningful.  The memorial is actually a museum/educational center as well.  Sterling and I were both very touched by an exhibit they had of photographs taken by a French couple, of Australian soldiers fighting in France.  They had set up their own little studio where soldiers could get portraits.  Reading some of the soldiers’ letters home was particularly moving.  Now, in general, I am ashamed to admit, I don’t think about servicemen and women involved in combat (and their families) as much as I would like to.  I am grateful for the opportunity I had on Monday to reflect and remember veterans from the States and here in Australia. 

These beautiful walls of the memorial are inscribed with names of people who fought in WWI.  For ANZAC Day, people place poppies along the wall in remembrance of loved ones.  What is the significance of the poppy, you may ask?  Poppies were among the first flowers to spring up on the battlefields of northern Belgium and France after the war.  The color is also reminiscent of the blood that was shed in combat.  The wall of names in the memorial (see below), covered in a carpet of red, was really a beautiful thing—aesthetically and symbolically. 

Australian War Memorial (stock photo)

Australian War Memorial (stock photo)

After the Memorial, we had a delicious picnic lunch (prepared by the one and only Sterling) on the grass, overlooking Canberra.  It was one of those days where you just want to live outside and let the sun soak into your black shirt because it is just a little bit chilly, but the sun makes is simply perfect.  You know exactly what I mean…

Now, I you’ll notice that we didn’t take any photos of ourselves from this day.  There is a reason.  First of all, I was totally having a “chubby day.”  It was one of those days when you just feel gross (even though you probably look like you do everyday) and don’t like what you are wearing, and your hair isn’t quite the way you want it.  Sterling told me that he didn’t do his hair and didn’t like the way it looked, either.  (I thought he looked great, but that didn’t change how he felt.)  And poor Cora’s eczema was particularly horrible that day.  She had scratched her face so much, Sterling found her in her bed with blood all over.  Her face looked like a Pollock painting in red.  Needless to say, the Larsen’s weren’t looking so hot.  That’s why there aren’t any photos.  Hopefully, we can get ourselves put back together sometime soon!

RELIEF

I received a call from a member of the Relief Society presidency asking me if I would be willing to teach the lesson on Sunday.  The lesson, as many of you may know, was on faith.   Not coincidentally, I had been praying that week to strengthen my faith.  This was the answer to my prayer.  In preparation for my lesson, I was able to spend last week really studying and pondering the topic.  As it so often goes, I am pretty sure I got more out of the lesson than any of the women in our ward. 

I focused a good portion on my lesson around the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel, chapter 3.  In my preparations, I was reminded of a talk given in General Conference by Dennis Simmons called, “But if not.”  I won’t go into too much detail here, but I will say that the part about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego telling the king that they have faith that God will deliver them from the furnace, BUT IF NOT, that they will still have faith in God.  Wow. 

I guess my big take-away was that faith isn’t faith if it is conditional.  Yes, God has promised blessing to us if we are obedient and faithful, but some of those blessings won’t come until after this life.  That’s the part that is difficult to remember sometimes.  Here is my favorite quote from the talk:

Our God will see that we receive justice and fairness, but if not. … He will make sure that we are loved and recognized, but if not. … We will receive a perfect companion and righteous and obedient children, but if not, … we will have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that if we do all we can do, we will, in His time and in His way, be delivered and receive all that He has.

--Elder Dennis E. Simmons, General Conference, 2004

WORK IT, WOOD!

On Saturday, we went to Bunglendore, a little historic village bout 45 minutes outside of Canberra.  To be honest, it looked a lot like a pioneer town in Utah.  Ephraim, Nephi, Moroni, anyone?  The draw for us to this little place was their woodworking gallery.  I must say that the drive was totally worth it.  Sterling and I had so much fun looking at $50,000 homemade dining tables with inlays of rare wood from Africa and the like.  The craftsmanship was pretty exquisite!  (Now there’s a word I never use!)  I wish the photos we found online could do it justice. 

Bungendore Wood Works Gallery

Aside from the woodworking gallery, we spent some time at the antique shop, lolly shop (aka candy store), photo gallery, and got some lunch on the main street. 

  

DICKSON SHOPS

The other day, it was totally rainy and gross outside, but I knew that if I stayed inside all day, I would totally regret it.  I decided that Cora and I should venture out in the rain to Dickson, a nearby shopping center with a health clinic and library and stuff.  She needed her vaccinations and I needed faster Internet to post photos to this blog, so it seemed like a good idea. 

To start off, we took the bus and I totally missed our stop.  I tried to discreetly ask someone how to get to the Dickson shops and suddenly like four or five people were telling me what to do.  I felt very loved—and a bit embarrassed! We got off and I found the Health Clinic, apparently I have no idea how the health system here works and I need to call “this” number, then “this” number and make an appointment and I better do it quick ‘cause the appointments fill up fast.  The secretary made me feel totally incompetent and like a bad mother than won’t be able to vaccinate her child because the 4-month and 6-month shots have to be exactly 2 months apart.  Ahh!  Then I went to the library and found some books for Cora.  We went through the detector to leave and it started beeping.  I guess I did the self check-out thing wrong.  This adventure made me just feel a bit incompetent.  Maybe staying home and just reading and eating Halloween candy would have been a better idea?  (I don’t really feel that way, but sometimes I like to not be constantly reminded that I don’t know how things work here…)

Then I decided to go home.  The bus didn’t stop at the bus stop like the schedule said it was going to and I didn’t want to wait for another 30 minutes.  At this point it was totally raining, but I decided to walk home.  I didn’t know how long it would take, but I was just ready to be home.  I thought that I could catch the bus at one of the many stops along the way.  The rain kept pouring down and I was totally soaked.  Cora’s blankets were totally sopping wet (thankfully she slept through most of it!).  My little flats were filled with water and giving me blisters and I was regretting my decision to “get home faster.”  About 20 minutes from our apartment, someone pulled over to the side of the road.  It was an Indian woman, probably in her late 20’s.  She asked me if she could give me a ride somewhere.  Isn’t that the nicest thing ever!  I was totally going to take here up on it, but Cora was asleep and I didn’t want to have to unpack all of the stuff under the stroller (or pram :), fold it up, and get the car seat all situated in her car in the pouring rain.  There was a bus stop right there, so I told her that I could just catch the bus right there instead.  I thanked her profusely and waved good bye to her, amazed at people’s goodness.  Not only did she feel prompted to pull over to help me, but she actually did it!!  I sat at the bus stop for awhile, but the bus never came, so I got up and set out on the journey home, again.  After almost an hour, Cora and I arrived home, dripping wet and tired.  Well, Cora wasn’t tired, but I was.  I showered and got into my pajamas and stayed inside the rest of the day.  I am sure Dickson is a lovely place and that the buses actually do get people places, but I am going to need another day to be convinced!

That last story sounded really negative.  Sorry!  I really am totally over it now.  Now it’s kind of funny. I should have should have calmed down before I started typing J 

To mend my relationship with the Dickson shopping area, Sterling and I went there for dinner on date night Friday.  We found a wonderful Chinese dumpling place and had a great meal.  From the street, there was a window where you could watch the restaurant workers making hundreds of dumplings.  It looked like incredibly monotonous work, but I was also amazed by the workers’ skill in making mechanically identical little pockets of pork goodness.  When our food came, Sterling taught me how to take a tiny bite from the side of each dumpling, suck out all of the juice, and then dip it in the vinegar sauce.  I had been doing it wrong my whole life J  Now I don’t have to worry about dumpling juice exploding all over.

MORE NICE PEOPLE

People in the ward have been so, so kind to us.  The Perry’s invited us over for dinner, under the conditions that we prepare the FHE lesson for their three teenagers.  We did so happily.  Well, I guess Sterling actually did it and I just supported him J

Sterling told a story of a BYU Devotional he went to a few years ago.  Randy Boothe, a professor of music, was the keynote speaker.  Just a few minutes into the meeting, the lights in the whole Marriott Center went out, leaving the audience of several thousand students without any light.  Randy Boothe found his was to the piano and began playing hymns from memory and soon the students began singing along.  With only a few minutes left in the meeting, the lights came back on and Randy Boothe took his place back at the podium.  He told the students that he had spent the whole week preparing his devotional talk, but he had been playing the piano his whole life in preparation for that day.    

Sterling went on to explain that the way we live the gospel everyday can prepare us to share the gospel at a moment’s notice.  If we are constantly developing and preparing ourselves to share the Gospel, then when a teaching moment comes, the Spirit will be able to work within us, just as Randy Boothe’s lifetime of practicing prepared him for an unexpected moment. 

We then shared one of my favorite verses with the Perry’s, Peter 3:15, “…be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you…” 

Now, as you may have noticed, the topic of Mormonism, is pretty hot these days  J   As a result, I find myself answering questions about our faith frequently. For the FHE activity, we practiced “answering the reason of hope” within us.  Each person drew a topic out of a jar (temple, Book of Mormon, full-time missions, etc.) and had about 5 minutes to write down a 30-second “elevator pitch” explaining it to someone who was unfamiliar with the topic.  (Now, this wasn’t to practicing “selling” the Book of Mormon or whatever, but to help us think simply about the topic and organize our thoughts.) We shared-out our ideas at the end of the 5 minutes.   I loved hearing what everyone came up with. 

We ended the night with a lovely dessert, good conversation, and a humidifier.  (They let us borrow one for Cora!)  There are some good people in the world and we are so thankful to know many of them J

I realize that this post is very touchy-feely and contemplative, but that is just hhow this week has been. 

***If you are wanting something funny, here’s our new favorite YouTube video.  Parents act out the stories that their kids make-up.  Listen for the line, “What else is about it?”  We say that a lot in the Larsen home these days. Pretty great!