Can you believe it's July already?

Wow, it has been six weeks since my last post. I don't know how your time is going, but time in Australia flys. So much happens every day and our time is so full of good things, that each day and week just disappear. Yesterday (30 June) was a very special day for Elder McRae. The Greenwich Zone had their day at the Temple and then afterward they all came to the office and had a zone activity. They bought seven whole chickens and chips (fries) for the whole zone. They asked me if I would make a green salad to go with the other food. We didn't think seven chickens would be enough, so we bought three more plus two more boxes of chips. Elder Davis (one of the zone leaders) made two dishes of peach cobbler and they served that with ice cream. I bought a birthday card for Elder McRae with an outline of the "Grease" character on the front and then on the inside it said, "to a man who's still got it". We had all the missionaries write inside of it - all 20 of them. We had balloons and it was a great day for him. He heard from lots of you on Facebook and he was truly touched by the outpouring of love and birthday wishes. Thanks for that! In the evening, our friends the Taylors came over and visited for an hour or so and gave him some chocolate bars and then the Temple President's counsellor and his wife came over and brought some brownies. It was a very busy, but very special day for both of us. Thank you so much for remembering him - it really meant a lot!
We are gearing up for a new Church internet program that will be turned on in the next month or so. When new missionaries are called, it is my responsibility to put all their information in the computer and build a file for them. That file is also used by Elder McRae to disburse monies to them and to pay bills etc. It is the system the whole mission uses to keep track of the missionaries. It is currently being used by missions in the States, but we will be the first ones to use it outside the US. Elder McRae is not too happy about that - he says he didn't want to be the first guinea pig to try the new vaccine. Hopefully, it won't be as traumatic as he seems to think it will be.
We are almost to our one year mark - 25 July - and then it will be a downhill slide. Everyone says how quickly time passes by on your mission - and we surely believe that that is true. We feel badly that we are missing prime camping time with our family, but know that when we get home next summer, you all need to be ready to go!! The blessings and special experiences we are having are a great compensation for everything we are missing. We are missing our grandkids growing up years and that is the hardest part of all this. Just know that we love you all so very much and we do watch your family blogs or Facebook posts often.
And that is all I have to say for now!!