Stake/Ward website

For those of you who have not heard of the Stake and Ward websites which are now up and running, here's the spill and the instructions.

The church has developed a website system for keeping members informed of information and events in each stake and ward. What this means for our stake is that this website will replace the traditional hardcopy Stake Calender which previously has been the means of distributing scheduled events for the year and leaders/members directory.

To access the website you will need to create an LDS Account, which is pretty easy. All you need is your member number (you can find this on your temple recommend or from your ward clerk) and your confirmation date (can get from your ward clerk). You will also need to think of a username and a password.

Go to https://secure.lds.org/units/login/ and click "Obtain an LDS Account." Follow the steps listed, and once you have your LDS Account you can sign into the website. You will be taken first to your ward website, which includes a ward calender and leaders and members directories. There is also a link to go to the Stake Website at the top left, which includes a stake calender and stake leaders and members directories.

Our Stake leaders strongly encourage us to begin using this new resource to keep informed of stake and ward events and information.

Foreign Correspondance

Well Perth is pretty foreign for us here in Tassie! The first lucky missionary to make their mark on this wall is Elder Brett Docking, originating from Rosny ward. He writes the following in response to the letters of encouragement that we have written to him:

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"Hi everyone,

As you all can probably tell I'm not the best at writing letters, but I try sometimes anyway. I have served in 4 areas now, in Thornlie, Port Headland, Kwinana & now I'm in Midland, I've been here a little over 2 weeks now. So far the mission has been good filled with highs & lows, but more highs. I've been lucky enough to have had a car for the first half of my mission, however at this current time I am riding a bike, which could be a good thing for me.
I have had a mixture of the good & the bad when it comes to companions. I've served with 3 Americans, 2 Samoans, 1 Australian & am now serving with a German. I've spent most of the time serving with Americans.
My mission has given me some good experiences, some of which I wish I hadn't had & others which I am grateful. I've seen the growth in me, even how small it is.
Well that does it for me for now, I'll see you all next year.
Elder Brett Docking."

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Thanks to all those who have taken time to write to Elder Brett so far :)

Little Red Riding Hood - The Musical

Despite the cold weather, mountain snow and frequent rain, seven brave and courageous souls of the Hobart Stake ventured out to the stake centre for some Movie Making Mania! Being presented with the well known tale of Little Red Riding Hood and a choice of genres, such as old western, drama/soapie, comedy, silent movie, and reality tv, the group of budding hollywood artists (one of whom has lived just 8 hours away from Hollywood itself) chose to film in the musical genre. And thus was born: Little Red Riding Hood - The Opera. *Due to technical errors, this video cannot be uploaded...but we will find a way!*

Missionary Minded

This week three very fat envelopes were sent to three hopefully-not-very-fat missionaries serving from our stake: Elder Sam Sullivan, Elder Aaron Hatchard and Elder Brett Docking. Thanks to all who took the time to write an encouraging note at the last YSA fireside to our diligent missionaries serving, I'm sure they will greatly appreciate it.

We also farewelled yet another of our valiant soldiers, Sister Lauren Greswell, affectionaly known in her past life as 'Lego', who departed last Thursday for the New Zealand MTC in preparation to serve in the Australia Sydney North Mission in a few weeks. We are all very proud of Lauren and wish her all the best, and I'm sure we'll all remember to send her lots of encouraging letters in the MTC!