Anybody serve there? Are they mormon-friendly? Any advice?

He will be spending this weekend with us hunting. Doesn't have to go to church on conference weekend. lol

According to my son's elementary school teacher, Mozart was born in Australia. Must be a pretty good place.

Too funny.

sort of OT but it fits here...

I went to school with a girl who was born in Australia and lived there til age 7. Someone told her older sister that she spoke English so well for someone born overseas....

Oh dear.................

Some data (from Wikipedia):

Population: 2.3 million, including 2% indigenous and 29.7% expats (mostly from the UK and New Zealand)

Religions: Catholic 24.3%, No Religion 22.9%, Anglican 16.9%, Uniting Church 5.9% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.2%

More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane

Per Numbeo.com, a cost-of-living comparison site, the cost of living in Brisbane is 20% higher than in Salt Lake City. A $12 meal in a cheap place in SLC will cost you $13.84 in Brisbane. A bottle of Coke costing $1.56 in SLC is $2.47 in Brisbane.

More here: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=Australia&city1=Salt+Lake+City%2C+UT&city2=Brisbane

My dad joined the church in Perth, Australia in 1966. It was pretty friendly back then.

I did forward him the link to the penis bit by spider article. Couldn't resist.

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2015-01/28/16/enhanced/webdr03/original-21756-1422478822-10.jpg?output-format=auto
If you go to Austria, they have t- shirts all over Austria on the lack of kangaroos there.

I've spent a few weeks in Brisbane.
My experience: religion is largely a non-issue. The "majority" catholics are mostly holiday catholics (go to church on christmas and easter). Everybody just gets on with their lives, religion isn't even discussed much.

I don't know how the mishies are treated there, but I can't imagine they'd get many investigators. Given how friendly the Aussies are, though, they likely won't be harassed, either.

If the largely irreligious Aussies do as good on job on him as the largely irreligious French did on me, he might just come back with his eyes opened as to the silliness of his church's beliefs. One can hope :)

He's lived his entire life in a sheltered SLC TBM environment. I am hoping that exposure to reality will help him see the light.

It seems like a pretty cool place to spend 2 years, hope his mission companions are not assholes or too gung-ho rule followers

My mom had a pen pal from there in elementary school in the early 1950s and they reconnected on facebook a few years ago

Climate is much like Jacksonville, FL

Tell him what most of the RMs who went or foreign missions who are now on this board wish they had done. Get out and enjoy the country. Talk to tons of people, just to talk to people. Eat native food. Learn the slang. Love the people. And make up numbers. Hope he has at least a few comps who will go along with same.

If he's assigned to Bellbird Park have him drop in and say hi. He won't have a lot of luck getting converts among mainstream Aussies as we are a very secular nation most think Mormons are just odd. He may have some luck among the Pacific Islanders who make up the majority of members in the Brisbane area.
Lots to see and experience in Queensland have him spend some time enjoying the place.

Several years ago there was an evil apostate who was regularly on here that used to be a Mormon Bishop in Brisbane. He was a plant geneticist who had a PhD in Genetics. However due to some reason that I dare not investigate deeply because I could lose the Spirit, he came to the silly conclusion that there were genetic markers linking them to some so-called-ice-age land bridge crossers. We all know that's baloney because the Book of Genesis and D&C 77:6 spell out the true story on the creation of the earth and the timelines regarding our planet's temporarl existence. The scriptures make it pretty clear that the genetic markers in the Americas are going to be those that match those of Father Lehi and Mulek's people. That's why thanks to modern revelation we can be sure that the smart scientists all believe that the Native Americans came to America about 2616 years ago from Jerusalem. As soon as they dig up Ishmael's wife's grave then we'll see the Mitochondrial Eve DNA for the Lamanites :)

Well that geneticist with a PhD, who obviously knows so little about genetics compared to everyone in the LDS church, eventually moved away from Brisbane to Canberra. I know it may sound condescending to anyone who isn't worthy of the Holy Ghost (i.e. they obey the prophet unquestioningly) that this guy doesn't know sh*t but its a proven fact (well at least according to the wonderful gospel) that you can't really know anything unless you know that the church is true.

Thank goodness we have the truth in the most honest and transparent church ever in history. It's so silly for all those people who don't have all the very plausible truths that Mormonism provides. For example, it won't be long until there won't even be a yellow dog to wag its tail when Jackson County, MO gets cleansed as its taught that Heavenly Father has a loving plan in store for the wicked there.

"Several years ago there was an evil apostate who was regularly on here that used to be a Mormon Bishop in Brisbane. He was a plant geneticist who had a PhD in Genetics."

Interestingly, I was a missionary in 1975 in the same ward (Gaythorne, now Enoggera) that Simon was a bishop in during the 1980s. (He didn't live there while I was there.) And in 2002, we both spoke at an ExMormon Foundation conference in SLC. Who'da thunk.

If you feel brave, see if he'll read these true stories of mormon missionaries in the field:

http://www.postmormon.org/exp_e/index.php/discussions/viewthread/18763/

Seriously, Holy McGhost has witnessed to me that all these stories are true!

Being as salesman for religion will not be something the Brisbane Aussies will be very interested in, but an American seeing Australia will be welcome. So a lot depends on what he will emphasise about himself while he is there.

I grew up in Brisbane (now live in Northern NSW). It is warm (can be quite hot in summer) sub-tropical climate. A nice laid-back city with friendly people. I hope he enjoys it and comes to the conclusion that most Aussie agree on, religion is a private personal thing, not often discussed, and while they practice a good, honest lifestyle, is largely not overly important.

I'm sure that a lot has changed since I was there. For instance, as Thorn wrote, there are a lot more Islanders in the church than when I was there. It used to be mostly run-of-the-mill British- descended Aussies.

Also as Thorn wrote, most Aussies aren't religious. Most who are, are either Catholic, Church of England, Scottish Presbyterian, etc. They're more formal and traditional in their practices.

Most Queenslanders are like a lot of American Southerners---more laid-back and easygoing, blue-collar and "no worries, mate." They're by and large friendly, but a lot of them will shut the door in religious solicitors' faces, or just say "Not interested, mate," or "Sorry, we've got our own religion, and we're not gonna change." Some Aussies confuse Mormons with JWs, and they'll curse them with "Bloody Jehovahs!" Your nephew will probably knock on the doors of the children and grandchildren of people whom I bothered.

As for climate, the nicest time of year is May-July, and the hottest and wettest is November-March. We had Cyclone Tracy while I was there, and it produced hellacious rains for two weeks---so hard that sometimes we couldn't even see the houses across the street, and couldn't leave our flat. The Brisbane area is sub-tropical, but northwards is VERY tropical---sugar cane plantations, tropical fruits of every kind. etc. He should bring a good-quality raincoat, vinyl hat, and perhaps some vinyl overshoes, or buy some as soon as he gets there. HE WILL GET WET.

Most of the cities are near the ocean or within an hour of it. Your nephew will have more fun in the oceanside areas. I spent eight months in Mackay, which is about 400 miles north of Brisbane. It kinda became my home. Maybe your nephew can get to places like that. Cairns, Townsville, and the Gold Coast (south of Brisbane) are nice too. The two cities I didn't like were Rockhampton and Ipswich.

I would advise your nephew to not worry so much about how many converts he gets. He should try to see attractions such as the Lone Pine sanctuary in Brisbane, the Queensland Museum, Steve Irwin's shark place, Currumbin Bird Sanctuary, and any part of the coast he gets to north of Brisbane. The Great Barrier Reef starts around Mackay and northwards. The most fun day I had was when a local member took us to Cape Hillsborough National Park, and we played on this island:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cA0PjTE1-M

You can walk out on that bridge and view coral and sea life.

Eungella National Park is nearby:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvNRA0Y4N00

Hopefully, your nephew will get to do more "service" work than knocking on doors. Some of my happiest times were spending P-Days painting the chapel or digging footings for an addition. And of course, on some P-days, we played racquetball or frisbee football. District study classes on Fridays could be fun when the whole district (6 or 8 of us) had pancakes or something.

Tell your nephew to watch his health. I got a tropical ear infection during the rainy season, and had to get an antibiotic. Above all, tell him "No worries, mate!"

Thanks everyone for the information/advice. I'll pass on to him what I can.