Mebourne Pettys

Had our Stake youth Trek near Ballarat, Dylan’s mission papers are sent off, Ellen goes to the Temple, we go to the RAAF museum and Austin turned twelve.

Before dawn on the first of April Calvin, Carmen, Austin and I drove up to the Ballarat chapel to get there by 7am for the Stake Youth Trek. After dropping off Calvin and Carmen I drove Austin over to his friend’s place just out of town were he stayed for the next three days. I was so glad it had finally started since we had been planning it for months, the weather was great and all was well with the world. After registration the 59 youth were transported out to the Creswick State forest to begin the Trek. Vernice and I were part of the about 20 strong support crew this time doing the running around behind the scenes. Vernice was supposed to come up with me but had a funeral to go to that day so caught the train up later that afternoon. I picked her up at the Ballarat train station which was a massive old building, very nice. We met up with President Dudfield and after a hot pie we drove back out to the bush to set up camp.

That first day the youth walk into the night with very little food and didn’t arrive at their first campsite until 1.00am. Vern and I were driving from one place to another dropping and picking up people who performed vignettes along the way. We also had to pick up a couple of youth who couldn’t go on due to health or injury reasons.

Calvin is in the Hat in the photo
 
The next morning it was overcast and there were a few light showers but mostly a nice day. Vernice was helping with the food and I went to drop off another group to do an ‘Indian Trade’ with the youth on their way to their second camp site. Ben Louws was with me and while we were waiting for them to do their thing a young guy about 14 rides up on his motorbike and tells me that he is lost and has been riding around for about an hour. He was low on fuel and had no idea were his parents were. He used my phone to call his mum but she didn’t answer so we hid his bike in the bush and started driving out. He finally got hold of his mother and we managed to figure out were they were which was about a fifteen minute drive from were we found him. On the way there a mother and her son flag us down  and tell us that they are lost and have been walking around for three hours. I told them that we would pick them up on the way back once we found this boy’s parents. On the way back with the boy and his parents following in their car to pick up the motorbike we picked the women and her son up and once we recovered the bike we took her to her camp site and managed to get back in time to pick up our people. I must say it is easy to get lost in that forest because there are so many roads and few real landmarks.

That night the youth had their fireside and skit night. Vernice had to relate a pioneer story and sing a song so we went down and watched most of it. At the end of the fireside when the youth thought they could go to bed we had Bro Samson come in and call for volunteers to join the Mormon Battalion and march off into the night. He did it well since he is a Sergeant Major in the army at the moment and had the voice for it. He marched them off for an hour or so then brought them back.

 Carmen on the Right
Saturday was a nice sunny day and after packing up our camp we went out to the site where the Trek would finish. The youth came about lunch time and had a testimony meeting in a nice clearing in the bush. I dropped off Carmen’s violin so she could play Come Come Ye Saints as part of that meeting. We didn’t get to hear it since the meeting was just for the youth and their Trek Mas and Pas but it went well from all accounts. The youth had dropped their handcarts near the road and walked down to were they had their meeting. While they were having their meeting the support crew unloaded the eight handcarts and loaded up the truck for the first load to the storage container. I went in the truck with Chris Stewart and President Dudfield and when we were about to head off when David Hoare asked if we needed a hand to unload at the other end. I said that would great and he said he would catch up to us in his car.

We headed off and about five minutes later I get a phone call from Ben Schwabe who sounded very distressed saying that they had had an accident and that he and David were ok but Scott Samson and his twenty two year son Joerell who were sitting in the back seat were badly injured and that we needed to come back. On the way back I rang President Tempany who was still at the finish point to get Sister Parton our nurse who was with the youth and make their way to the crash site. When we rounded the corner we saw that the car had hit a tree and the rear of the car was still on the road. Ben and David had managed to get Joerell and Scott out of the car and they were lying on the gravel road. Joerell had towel over his face that was covered in blood and David was lying next to Scott whos face was also badly cut, speaking to him in an effort to keep him conscious. President Tempany arrived with Vern about the same time.

We gave them both a blessing and Sister Parton did her thing. Ben wasn’t sure that the ambulance that he rang knew where to come so I got a lift to the top of the hill to get better phone reception to check, as I did the ambulance came down the road. Then more ambulances came, then police cars and fire engines and shortly afterwards a helicopter as they had decided that the Samsons would need to be air lifted out. Scott was dropped off at the Ballarat hospital and Jarrel was taken to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. David and Ben were both take to Ballarat in an ambulance.

We decided not to let the youth know what had happened. They had heard the helicopter but didn’t know what it was for so we thought it best not to have the Trek that had been such a good experience for them overshadowed with that news. President Tempany welcomed the youth at the end of the trail. The accident was out of sight and they were taken to the chapel down another road. I made sure everything was packed away and President Dudfield went to the Hospital. The Scott’s had only just moved into our Stake and Ward and Vernice was the only one that knew Sister Samson so she was given the task to call her and give her the news. We made sure Ellen and Marion were at home first so when she rang we offered to have them to come over to baby sit their four younger children so she could get to her son. Ellen and Marion both went over and Sister Samson made it to the end of the road then she broke down not knowing who she should go and see. She rang Vern who told her to go back home and get Ellen to drive her to the Alfred to see her son and we would take care of her husband and that is what she did. Ellen went into emergency with Sister Samson to see Joerell. Vern had down played the injuries somewhat so she got a shock when she first saw him. He though was in good spirits and got her to take photos of his injuries. He had a badly lacerated face and lip; lost two teeth had a broken wrist and broken vertebrae in his neck but was out of hospital in a couple of days and was at General Conference the next weekend complete with neck brace and cast.

His dad Scott wasn’t so fortunate, if that is the right word. His external injuries weren’t so severe, had also had a bad cut on his face and lip that require many stiches but there were no broken bones and we were able to pick him up from the Ballarat Hospital on the Monday. He was very talkative in the car on the way home but the next day he was having trouble with his balance, vision and speech and was taken to the Hospital in Richmond. Further tests showed he had some bleeding in the brain and that he would need to remain in hospital for some time to recover.

David Hoare the driver of the car had to stay in Ballarat Hospital overnight for observations and was very stiff and sore. He is the nicest guy and since he was the one that lost control of the car was feeling really bad about the whole thing. The Samson’s have been great and have told him not to worry that it could have happened to anyone but he has taken it very hard.

So that was our Easter driving backwards and forwards to Ballarat. Vern did a great job taking care of Eva Samson and Ellen and Marion looking her children. They even took them to Church on Sunday when Vern and I drove Eva up to see her husband. It was a busy few days but it was nice to be able to help out. Let me just add part of an email I sent to the Bishops and crew to give them an update;

“The purpose of the activity was to strengthen the testimony of the youth and bring them closer together. From what we have heard so far from the testimony meetings in the Wards and comments from the youth we are confident that this has been the case. Certainly the experience has strengthened our testimonies and brought the members of the support crew closer together.

President Dudfield and Tempany spent the morning yesterday with Jarel at the Alfred Hospital and were impressed with his courage and good humour. He told his mother not to worry that he had had a Priesthood blessing so he would be fine and bounce back. Like a typical male he made his mother Eva take photos of his injuries so he show them off later (those photos are not for the faint hearted). At the crash scene as he was lying next to his father on that gravel road he was fully conscious but quietly endured his injuries while David and Ben attended to his father who was semi conscious. He is a very brave man and President Dudfield and Tempany left him when the YSAs came to stay with him so they could travel to Ballarat to see Scott. His operation went well last night, he really appreciated the visits from the YSAs as he was bored just staring at the ceiling.

Scott had the cuts on his face stitched up yesterday afternoon in Ballarat and when he came too he also was in good spirits and was happy to hear that the youth had enjoyed the Trek and had bourn their testimonies around the Stake and wished he could have heard them. He bore his testimony of the Atonement and told us that he was impressed with the young men in the Stake and how even though they were tired and hungry they answered his call (it was a very loud call) and marched off into the night not knowing how far they would have to go. He just hopes that they will answer the call to go on their missions one day went that call comes. At this point he can’t remember the accident but if all goes well he should come home today.

David Hoare was released from hospital yesterday and is very sore and stiff. Marsha and children came to picked him up. As you can imagine he is feeling very bad about the whole thing but we would just like to say that he and Ben acted swiftly and well, this sentiment was supported by the attending ambulance officers. After seeing to Jarel and Scott, Ben had to run up the hill to get reception on his phone to call us and the ambulance then he ran back down to help David. David who as it turns out can’t stand the sight of blood lay at Scott’s side holding his hand and talking to him to try and keep him awake”.

The big new the next week was Dylan’s missionary papers being sent off, it was a last minute thing before President Dudfield headed off on an overseas business trip for a couple of weeks. I enjoyed General Conference, Ellen and Dylan flew to Canberra for that weekend to visit their family up there. Calvin came to the Priesthood session with me then came with the family to the Saturday afternoon session. We all went to the Sunday sessions then went over to the Sayers for dinner that evening. Calvin and their daughter Alex seem to be friendly.

On the fifteenth Vern and I took Ellen down to the Temple for her endowment. She was looking forward to it and very excited. We met with President Lobley and he covered off things very well. Her grandfather, Moana and Courtney came down from Canberra. The Randels, Bryers, Whites, Dot and her friends Ashton, Thomas and Jason were also there. It was a good night she couldn’t stop talking all the way there and all the way back.

On the seventeenth I took Austin and Dayne down to Point Cook to see the RAAF Museum. It was a nice sunny warm day and we enjoyed looking at the old planes and displays. There were even a few pieces of the Red Baron’s plane there since it was the Australian troops that shot him down and buried him. Afterwards we got ice-cream and went to Sanctuary Lakes to eat it. As the name implies they have made a lake with several islands and jammed big houses on all of them. It is all very nice but they must spend a bit on flood insurance.

Austin turned twelve and we had planned to have the family party on the day however as it turned out there was a school music concert on that night. It was Austin’s first one so he needed to go. It was held in the Central Hall in Fitzroy. It is part of the University that Marion goes to and she has one of her lectures in there. It was built in 1904 and is highly ornate. Austin and Carmen were both up the front of their groups, Austin on the clarinet and Carmen on the violin. The Music program is pretty full on at that school and those senior groups are very impressive.

I went to Epping Ward on Sunday the 25th. Since President Dudfield was there also I wasn’t required to sit on the stand so I was able to sit with the family. I find it hard to stay reverent when I sit with them. Just before Sacrament was to start Ellen ask Austin if he had remembered to brush his teeth, he said yes then Dylan chimed in and said “and did you think to pray?”

We had a day off in lieu of ANZAC on the Monday. Calvin worked and I went over and mowed Brother Griggs lawn as he is in hospital, he has one big lawn. Our YSA children had activities they went to. But most of the day we just relaxed around the house. The next day we had a combined Stake Mutual and we used that to have a fireside about the Trek and to show the Trek DVD that was very good. We had a really good turnout as the youth all wanted to see each other again.