Family and Friends, Happy 2015!
I have a feeling this year is going to fly by
just like last year did:) This week has been great but pretty crazy with
Transfers and my New Golden.
Tuesday
(12.30.14):
It was Transfer meeting today and that
basically takes up the WHOLE day... My very first companion and trainer, Elder
N, got transferred to a place called Deer Park and he is now companions with
Elder W, who was in the MTC with me! And then Elder O, the golden we both trained,
was transferred to Mornington which is down near the tip of Melbourne! I was
temporarily assigned to another Elder for the night as we both waited for our
Goldens to arrive the next day.
Wednesday
(12.31.14):
I received the "Golden" that I
will be training!!! Golden Orientation lasted all day long because there were
some missionaries who had flight delays. It was a long wait, but it wasn’t too
bad because I really like being with other missionaries and hanging with the
office staff! They are awesome!
Anyway my new companion’s name is Elder L. I will give you three chances to
guess where he is from……1. America?….no, 2. New Zealand?……no, 3, Africa?……no!
Elder L is from……..drum roll please………the Republic of Moldova!!!! HOLY FETCH
were my words when I was told I would be training a missionary in the city that
has only been speaking English for 8 weeks in the Provo MTC! President Maxwell
and the Lord must have some serious trust in me or something! But I am blessed
because Elder L is super nice and he is trying super hard with the language so
that makes me happy:)
I would like to introduce you to my new Golden... Elder L!
Background on Elder L: He is 23 and is
from Moldova (it is a small country between Romania and Ukraine)! The
missionaries found him when he was 21 years old, and so he has only been a
member for only 2 years! He has an awesome testimony and we get along really
well:) He is the youngest and the only member in his family! He truly is an
inspiration to me! It is awesome
to see the result of missionary work in people’s lives!!
Tonight was New Year’s Eve and I heard Melbourne has an amazing
fireworks show. However, Elder L and I are committed to being 100% obedient so we went to bed at 10:30 pm when we are supposed to. I
know when we are obedient (especially in hard times) the Lord blesses us a lot.
So I consider that an alright trade!
Where's the PARTY... but I got to be in bed by 10:30 pm!
Thursday
(1.1.15):
HAPPY NEW YEAR! were my thoughts for
this day! 2015 is the only full year that I will spend away from my family and
that is a good feeling! I have to say that training a golden that does not
speak English in the City where you HAVE to talk to people has proven a bit
difficult. However, I know the Lord will bless us as I call on him for help! I
am really humbled by Elder L’s valiant attempt to speak English and proclaim
the Gospel! I know the Lord will bless us for his efforts!!
We met with C, (our 17 year old investigator
that is waiting to be baptized until he turns 18). Elder L really helped out
with C’s lesson. We taught him more about Joseph Smith because unfortunately
his mom gives him lots of anti-Mormon information about Joseph Smith. Next, we
had a really hard lesson with a lady who was super disrespectful to us. She
said she didn’t want to be taught by us because we were just kids and we didn’t
know anything! It was weird and made us feel bad but we just had to shake it
off. On a positive note, we finished by teaching, G again! (He is the guy from
India). We taught him about the commandments that Heavenly Father has given us.
It really seemed to expand his belief in God, and how He know us and helps us every
day:)
Friday
(1.2.15):
Well now that Elder L needs to learn
English we take an hour every morning and I turn into an English teacher! Ha Ha,
imagine that... Even though I got a 4.0 in school every year, English has
always been my hardest subject. I have been thinking that Heavenly Father
definitely has a sense of humor!
One thing that I thought would help Elder L is to Post-it-note the whole
flat with the English names of the household objects that he needs to learn. And
just so I wouldn’t left out i Post it Noted myself!
While Elder L is still working on his English
skills we have to GQ together and I am not feeling quite as productive… But I KNOW
this is what the Lord wants for Elder L and me so I am happy to do it. With my
other companions in the city we taught lots of discussions. Because Elder L and
I have to team up to GQ the number of lessons we teach will go down a little
bit but that is okay.
Today we also taught J (she is the
re-activating member who wants to learn more and come back to church) and it
was a really great lesson! It is good because Elder L feels more comfortable
talking to people who are already members of the Church. It is really nice
because it helps build up his vocabulary and increases his confidence with
speaking English. Tonight I also took on the Crazy Wing Challenge!!! I must say
it was so HOT it made tears pour out of my eyes!!! I know missionaries are
protected every day, but apparently it doesn’t make you immune to spicy wings!!!
Saturday
(1.3.15):
It turned out to be a really great day
with Elder L! Even though sometimes we have trouble communicating it doesn’t
really matter because he is trying his very best to speak to me and I am trying
my very best to understand him. I am truly learning the Christ like attribute
of patience, and I am super grateful for it :)
We taught C (the 17 year old) today
about "The Stick of Ephraim" in Ezekiel 37! This was the moment where
“C” KNEW this Church was true, and it was really cool to be there to experience
that with him! He is doing awesome and he is still planning on being Baptized
on the 17th of this month. Please pray his mom’s heart will be softened and she
won’t be angry with him.
Then the G family (they fed us the
kangaroo Christmas dinner) invited us over for dinner. Sister G made AMAZING
CHICKEN BURGERS! Mmmmmm they were so good! Sister G found out that I sing and
now she always makes me sing for my food…..ha ha! I don’t mind sharing my
talent with them because singing in their home is a good way to give a
spiritual message with Mr. G (he isn’t a member of the church) because he
really enjoys music! It is funny how the Lord helps us connect with different
people! He truly knows us and loves each one of us. Also, the G’s grandkids
were there too and they really enjoyed talking to us about the Book of Mormon
so that made a wonderful night even SWEETER!! :)
Sunday
(1.4.15):
OUR 5TH FAST SUNDAY DOWN!!! WE ARE NOW
IN THE TEENS! That is a really good feeling:) It was a really great day with
Elder L. I am being blessed so that my ear is slowly adapting to the way he
says things so I can understand what he is trying to say. The language barrier
does make for some really funny stories though. Tonight when we got home Elder
L enthusiastically said to me (In his Romanian/Russian accent), "Today was
a Super Pooper day" HAHAHAHA, I just started busting out laughing and
thought to myself... Man after a day like this I could probably use a
"Super Pooper!” I am just having fun with Elder L and making the best out
of what we have:) I know Heavenly Father has put us together so we can teach
his children.
High Five!
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