Oh So Grateful

I am known for using the expression, “Oh what a wonderful thing”. It is wonderful to be having this experience here in Australia. I am grateful for opportunities to serve in the Australia Melbourne Mission. I am grateful that our assignments have been so varied and afford us opportunities to be mostly “on the go” meeting new people, working with new missionaries, teaching, learning, growing and seeing the wonders around us when we get the time.

The people we meet on the train, in our neighborhood and elsewhere in our travels are quite friendly. I think I mentioned in the past that Melbourne is a melting pot of a myriad of different cultures. The diversity makes our experience here all that much more interesting. It would appear that people in general are very accepting of each other and their cultural differences.

We are still working with the young missionaries who are preparing to further their education after their mission. We have approximately 200 missionaries at all different stages of their missionary service. Every six weeks there are some arriving and some leaving. For those who are applying to universities, it can be a fairly lengthy process particularly for international students so we try to work with them at least 6 months out. We guide, direct, provide information, and proctor required English proficiency exams but we also try to teach some self reliance principles along the way. Their primary focus and responsibility is their missionary work but they use part of their p-days to work on their own applications, schedule tests and so forth.

We recently had an international student from the city branch text us and said that she is working on her doctorate in ophthalmology at Melbourne University and needed some “elderly” people to be practice patients and asked if we would be willing to help out. Of course we laughed about the “elderly” part but were happy to get a free eye exam. It was quite interesting. I have always had a hard time reading because I would easily lose my place or not be able to see the words clearly even with glasses. I found that if I would cover or close one eye, I could read just fine but it was tedious and so reading has never been a source of relaxation for me as it is for others. They found that I have Binocular Vision Dysfunction which means that each one of my eyes can focus just fine but they are out of alignment when attempting to work in concert with each other. They said that it is typical for people to cover one eye with this condition or otherwise try to compensate. I think it is treatable even for the “elderly”.

The scripture I have pondered this week is found in Ecclesiastes 9:11:
“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

President Monson in a talk given in a BYU devotional in 2009:

“Many of you here tonight are close to completing your formal education. (We’ll have a moment of cheer on that one.) Others of you have additional periods of academic preparation ahead. Each is in what could be called the race of life. The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes wrote, “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong” (Ecclesiastes 9:11); it is to him who endures to the end. The race of life is so important, the prize so valued, that great emphasis must necessarily be placed on adequate and thorough preparation. When we contemplate the eternal nature of our choices, preparation is a vital factor in our lives. The day will come when we will look upon our period of preparation and be grateful that we properly applied ourselves.” Preparation is so important when time and chance happens to us. I can testify of that from my experiences in life. Some things I have been prepared for and others I have not. I am oh so grateful for life and the opportunities I have to learn and grow and continually prepare.

Attached are some pictures. Fun with the sister missionaries on their pday and another adventure with my companion to an amazing waterfall.

I love you all. Thank you for your friendship and love.

Hugs,
Sister Cooper