"This Week Has Been Devoted to Service.

It is summer here and a tourist town. The population triples during the next month, and almost all of the income for the year is made. Most people are very busy in the area until the end of February, so service is our alternative.

"Potoroo's Palace is a frequent stop for us. We never know what work we will do, but no doubt it will be memorable. On Monday we went to help Alexandra, the owner, and she took us in the back of a 'ute,' which was filled with old clothes the Salvation Army couldn't sell, up the side of a mountain.

"'Up' is an understatement: The angle of the truck at some points was over 50 degrees, and Alexandra has no perception of speed or danger. I took a couple of branches to the face; it made the trip more interesting. Upon arriving at the top of the secluded mountaintop, we unloaded the clothes. The clothes are used to terrace the cliff side so that, one day, it will be passable.

"Clothes are a breeding ground for spiders. This is how I learn the Australian wildlife: through experience. Everything's bigger here and more extreme. If a spider isn't deadly, it'll be huge (like the huntsman in my closet). The grasshopper here is neon green and has a deadly hypodermic stinger. If it moves, run. The locals don't help when they warn you of animals that don't exist, i.e. albino sea ferrets and drop bears. Elder Johnson and I are however looking for a Red Belly Black Snake to kill. It'll make a great belt.

"Yesterday, we went out to the bush to do service for Ken and Susie, a Seventh Day Adventist family. They built their home from the materials on their land and believe in 'roughing it.' Ken won't get a job, so they make their living by selling Susie's curry at the market.

"'I love using a pick ax,' I told them, so they put me to work breaking rock in the trenches for seven hours. The hot Australian sun doesn't make the work hard -- Susie's cooking does. She's from India and feeds you like its your last meal. When we arrived, they sat us down at a table and began to bring out food. Her cousins and family were there, so we assumed that the huge portions of spicy and savory Indian food was for everybody.

"Wrong.

"Not only is everything for you, but they watch you eat it. No tucking peas under your plate here. When you can no longer move and think that you're soon going to pass out, like clockwork susie insists, 'You need more.' While you are outside working hard, the food continues to arrive. I gained weight doing the hardest work I've ever done.

"I did get her recipe for googalla, which is like an Indian donut.

"There are a lot of rich people in the area we fellowship that want nothing to do with the church. So we play tennis with them on their private courts. Elder Johnson is a big tennis player, so they love him. We get invites back based solely on his racket skills. They give me directions, but I don't listen. I swing the racket like a baseball bat; if I get good, they may lose interest."