The Adventure Continues - Life After an LDS Mission to Australia
(yes, I know it is an old picture but just think what lies ahead...)
New Blog: Make It A Great Day!
Life After a Mission Blog - go to update website
http://www.serveblesslove2.blogspot.com
Our Australian Adventure is over but the memories are dear.
What joy we experienced for 18 months while we served a Family History Support Senior Couple Mission.
We loved the work and we loved the people we served.
We also loved coming home to our family. The joy of family is priceless.
Natalie said that my checks would hurt for days because I was smiling so much when I saw everyone.
The hugs and kisses were pure gold.
We returned from the land of sunshine to snow and frost and yet we still enjoyed a very warm white Christmas.
Though jet lag still lingered on we held a grandchild's slumber party and renewed our loving connection.
Carolyn came up from Arizona and my parents from St. George made our return home even more special.
Brothers and Sister, nieces and nephews joined our children and grandchildren for a family gathering after our talks at church.
Families that's what it's all about.
That's was our mission to digitally record genealogical information so that families can find their ancestors and join them together forever.
Henry B. Eyring, “The True and Living Church,” “… I am grateful for blessings to my family. It is the sealing power and our knowledge of it which changes and transforms our family life here and our expectations for the joy of family life in the world to come.
…The promise to the faithful … is that we may have associations and an expansion of families in the eternities. That assurance changes forever and for the better all of our associations in families.” Families that is Life Eternal
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15 Dec. 2009 we left at 1 pm in the afternoon from Melbourne and arrived at 8 am on the 15 Dec. 2009 in Los Angeles.
Our families' greeting warmed us up on this cold Utah winter day.
We had a very special mission. We spent our work days digitizing records so that people could go on line and discover their ancestors.
We also had the opportunity to discover Michael's heritage and to meet his cousins in Australia. Pres. Thomas S. Monson said, "Learn from the past, prepare for the future, and live in the present. That has been our mission.
Thank-you to our family, relatives, and friends for all of your support.
The Joy of Christmas is Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ families can be together forever.
I can't think of a better Christmas present than to be surrounded by my family.
May we come to know and love the Savior, Jesus Christ. May this coming year be one of peace within your heart and love between you and your family.
Families can be together forever, it's part of Heavenly Father's Plan.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Cheers, Elder & Sister Flynn (Michael & Linda)
10 Dec. 2009 Our missionary friends Carol & Geoffry Cartner who served in the Australia Sydney South Mission, while we were in Sydney, invited us to go to the Brisbane Temple with them.
Missionary work is about helping other's to understand and live God's plan so that we can return to live with our Father in Heaven and be with our families.
Henry B Eyring said, "... It is the sealing power and our knowledge of it which changes and transforms our family life here and our expectations for the joy of family life in the world to come..."
The famous Gold Coast where Australians holiday in the winter time.
11 Dec. 2009 The Cartners took us for a drive and walk along the Gold Coast to see their beautiful beaches and azure blue waters.
We went south from Brisbane till we reached the New South Wales boarder about 99 miles of resort villages and pristine shores.
We also took a side trip up to the Tambourine Mountains. Thank-you to our friends for a gorgeous day of discovery and beauty.
There's more to see on the Gold Coast than just sandy beaches and blue water.
8 Dec - 14 Dec. 2009 - We didn't have a car or phone but stayed downtown Brisbane where everything was accessible by foot or free bus ride. The relatives and friends came to us and took us to see the sites.
Barbara Dean Wilcox & Elva Dean Shaw daughters of Douglas Graham Dean & Doris Miller. Their grandfather, Albert Dean & Eliza Graham was the brother of James Dean, Michael's maternal grandfather.
Barbara took us up to Pietrie just outside of Brisbane center to see the old Pietrie Baptist Church where Michael's grandfather, James Dean was the Church Secretary and Choir President. Michael's grandmother, Marion Maud Harbottle was in the choir.
We then explored LaTrobe St. to see if we could match an old photo of Charles Henry & Sarah (Hayes) Dean had a store but the fronts have changed and buildings torn down so we couldn't find it.
But she was able to show us the home where her grandparents, Albert & Eliza Dean lived.
At lunch she showed Michael the prized journal of Charles Henry & Sarah (Hayes) Dean which records their immigration through the Suez Canal and how he tried to describe a new fruit, never seen before, a banana.
Michael poses besides a bunch hanging from the stall (just like Michael's dad on a mission to Tonga in 1948 found every morning on his doorway. Michael thought it was unfair because he loved bananas (and still does) and his dad did not.
Barbara indicated that it was too bad that we hadn't met her sister Elva & husband Max Shaw while we were in Sydney. That evening we got a call from Barbara saying that Elva had just rung her up and they are in Brisbane to attend their daughter's graduation and they are staying in your hotel and on the same floor.
Miracles continue to happen. We were able to meet with them for breakfast the next day before they flew back to Sydney.
George D. Durrant wrote: Genealogy is not family group record forms, pedigree charts, micro-films, name abbreviations, and technical regulations. These are only tools. Genealogy is the study of one's family, the study of our ancestors -- their births, their childhood, their dreams, their marriages, their occupations, their children, their deaths. And because these things in the past all have an impact on the present, in a very real sense genealogy is a stody of one's self."
Richard and Graham Dean also descend from Charles Henry & Sarah Hayes Dean through Thomas, brother to Michael's grandfather, James Dean.
Richard & Dee Dean and Graham & Susan Dean took us to lunch at Mount Cootha to view the city and to exchange family history information.
They also took us to LaTrobe St. and couldn't identify the Charles Henry Dean store but they were able to show us Thomas Dean's store and home.
And then to the Toowonga Cemetery on the hillside overlooking Brisbane. This is where the Deans are buried.
They showed us Thomas' grave site.
Barbara, Elva, Richard, and Graham, and Michael are great grandchildren of Charles Henry Dean and Sarah Hayes.
Pearlie Christie Roberts & son Wayne Roberts are descendants of William Perhouse and Margaret Tisdale through Francis Ashword Pershouse & Mary Elizabeth Harbottle brother to John Perhouse and wife Mary Hannam, Michael's great, great, great grandparents.
Wayne has been a family history researcher for over 30 years when he was in his twentys. He has worked with Michael's brothers; mother, Ethel Harbottle Dean Flynn; and grandmother, Marion Maud Harbottle Dean.
They also took us to the Toowonga Cemetery to see some Harbottle and Pershouse sites. Unfortunately where the tombs are supposed to be is a row of trees.
We were so grateful for the generosity and kindness shown to us by Michael's cousins in Brisbane.,Thank-you. It is wonderful to connect with family, living and past and feel of their love. Friends come and go, but when friends are family they are bonded together forever.
