Bush Fires

I thought I'd take this time to post and talk a little bit about the fires going on over here.

Firstly, they're not near Melbourne. The fires are north of us. Yes, a lot of Victoria is currently on fire, but Melbourne isn't close to them. However, on days when the wind comes from the north, we will wake up with a lot of smoke in the air. I've had maybe 6 or 7 days when you could see and smell the smoke in the air. It dries out your throat, and I can't wear my contacts on those days because they stick to my eyes. Today isn't one of those days.

The wind is blowing really badly, which can't be good for the fires. There isn't any rain, which is also not a good thing. Melbourne is going to go into stage 3 water restrictions starting January 1st; that means that you can't wash your car (except your windows and mirrors with a wet rag), and you can't water your garden even with a bucket (among other restrictions). We've all been taking less than 4 minute showers, and Cheryl even puts a bucket in the shower with her, to catch whatever extra water may fall into it. She uses that to water her garden.

Last fast sunday, all of the LDS members across Australia fasted and prayed for rain. Please help us down here. We need the rain terribly. Experts are saying that this is the worst drought in history, and we're hoping that this summer won't turn into Australia's worst bush fire season as well. So far only one person has died from the fires, which is something to be incredibly grateful for.

This weekend is supposed to be cool; Christmas is actually predicted to be 18 degrees, so about 64 degrees F. We're praying and hoping for rain. Please pray with us. The people over here not only need it, but so do the animals.

If you'd like to read more about the fires, I've got a couple of links:

Written December 16th:
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/
Display_news.aspsection=World_
News&subsection=Rest+of+the+
World&month=December2006
&file=World_News2006121771830.xml

Written December 18th:
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=
1881612006

I'm sorry that this post isn't very kid friendly. I just wanted to say that I'm not so close to the fires that you have to worry about me. Melbourne is down at the bottom of Australia, and it would be difficult for the fires to get to us. You don't need to worry about us; we'll be alright.

Please pray for rain for Australia, though. Who knows? It could happen. 3 Nephi 27:28-29. I love you all, and I'll see you in just over one month! :)