Christchurch Pettys July 2012

Mark at the Sugar Loaf with Lake Dunstan and Cromwell

July was busy but not very eventful.
The big thing looming ahead of us is the Autism Victoria Conference in early August, at which we are presenting. Jonathan has been very diligent in reminding us to get our speeches ready. Fortunately the Apple is finally functional again, so I have been able to put together the visuals. Part of our preparation has been reading back through some of my journals and Our Petty Lives. It is a wonderful resource to remind us what life was like when the boys were little. Very cute, they were, but lots of work!

Jonathan gave a ten minute talk in Sacrament Meeting about Alma 32. He did a nice job, with a little help from his friends. I gave a short-notice talk on being an instrument in the hands of God. I was chatting to Bishop Clendon on Friday night and he said he had a talk to prepare for Sunday as he couldn’t find anyone to give it. So I volunteered. It turned out to be on Alma 26 where Ammon rejoices at the conversion of the Lamanites. In it was one of my favourite ideas in scripture, that of being an instrument in the hands of God. I was pretty happy to be able to talk about that.

Elder David Thompson, our Area Seventy, came and did some training, and I went to the session on Ward Councils. Mark went to a few sessions. He has to do a lot of that sort of thing. I was impressed at the new emphasis on inclusion and collaboration.

Being Primary President is hard work. It is time-consuming and emotionally demanding. I rather long for the days when I was Seminary teacher and could work pretty much independent of other adults and just get on with it. There are seventeen people serving in Primary, and it is hard work leading them all, and building relationships with the fifty or so children. I’ve been reading an institute manual about leadership and getting some more ideas. I’m learning to stop feeling responsible for what they do. They have their agency! Sundays are pretty draining in the main.

Mark cleaning guttering at an elderly widow's
place where he is a Home Teacher.

It is as if University of Canterbury never existed. I don’t miss it at all. I was talking to someone the other day, who has recently lost her job too. She is a contemporary of mine, with children grown up. She is really bored and looking for a job. I find that intriguing as I have so much to do and so much more I would like to do. To be fair, she may not be able to get started on stuff in case she gets a job. Still…

I unblocked the kitchen sink. Twice. Maybe we should get a dishwasher.

During the school holidays we had the Brown children over for one afternoon, and another afternoon we went to Spencer Park.

Jonathan’s band played at an “Open mic” night at a bar. They did really well and I so enjoyed being there. Not being in paid employment has freed me up to enjoy things like this. Jonathan also did a fantastic solo part in “Someday my Prince will come” at the Miller Bar, where the class plays every second week. Everyone cheered and clapped. I finished doing the development work for a publishing company. That was a great feeling to be done, though I will need to approve the final product later. I would rather work for myself, but it is useful to have some money coming in.

Mark with his unique placement of a Rogaine
checkpoint 

Mark does between two and four days a week at Eliot Sinclairs. He would rather not, but we would like to pay off the mortgage one day.

My brother, Peter, is over from Japan for four weeks with his daughter, Emma, who is seven. It is mainly for Emma to develop her English, as the only person she speaks English to is Peter. She is going to school for the time she is here, and seems to be enjoying that. She is a bright and nicely behaved little girl. I had a lovely morning with her, playing with Lego and Playdoh.

Next month will be much more eventful. And we will be seeing many of you other Pettys. We fly to Melbourne on the 8th of August and will be there for nearly three weeks.

I’ve had trouble getting going on scripture study since I stopped teaching seminary. I’ve finally worked out a system that really works for me. I have eight different things to read from and I go through an eight day cycle reading them. The eight are the four books of scripture, the RS manual, General Conference, and Institute manual on leadership, and a book “Expressions of Faith”. I look forward to it every day and spend 20 minutes on it at present.

And that is the excitement that was July in Christchurch in 2012. But unexciting in Christchurch is a good thing. We have had more than our fill of "exciting" in the last two years.

See many of you soon!



Nicola, Mark and Jonathan

One more for the road at Birdlings Flat