Day 5: The Sabbath in Sydney

So then comes the first Sunday and church experience in Sydney. Tanya had been telling me for a few weeks before I arrived that she had a cute Utah missionary serving in her ward. My response? "Tanya, I can find Utah boys here, thanks. I plan on taking home an Aussie boy instead." Also, I secretly thought that "cute" might mean "sweet spirit", so I basically forgot about it...until the elders walked in. Sheesh! She was not kidding. Both elders were very cute, but my eyes kept drawing to the blonde one, who was indeed Elder Bettridge from Highland, Utah. Let's just say I have a serious crush on this kid which is difficult as he is thousands of miles and an entire ocean away, but I did write to him, and he will be attending the Y in only 15 short months :).

Church in Australia is so different from church here. Like the principles and the spirit are the same, but the atmosphere and the people make it a completely separate experience. The chapel, for one, is about half or maybe even a third the size of most Utah chapels. The ward is small, and you can tell everyone is very close (although Tanya says this is just because her ward is the best). One thing that I loved about it, though, was the fact that you could feel in the spirit of these people that every single one of them had a genuine desire to be there learning the gospel and living His word. They are a very strong group of saints, and I am honored to have met them. Oh...and the picture is just Tanya's license plate. They are cute and rectangular, and they remind me of her car and the steering wheel that is incorrectly placed on the right side :/ haha. 

Anyway, after church we had a few hours to spare before I was whisked off to rehearsal for the Ten Virgins Fireside that Tanya was the narrator for. We arrived at 3:00 for rehearsal I believe and the performance started at 6:30 (it was supposed to start at 6...). It was really great. I wish we did more musical firesides like that here, heaven knows we have the talent and resources. I remember crying through a few of the songs. I tried to find a picture or video of Tanya's stake doing it, but all I could find was one from New Zealand so if you want, you can listen to one of my favorite songs here. We ventured home, and talked for a few hours until I once again collapsed of exhaustion. Jet lag is something else...

Overall it was a rather beautiful day, and a perfect way to spend that Sabbath, although I could have done without the crazy director of the fireside yelling at the stake presidency haha. Oh well. I still had fun. On to my week with Sam...