Monday
(4.4.16)
We went to our weekly office staff meeting
and then after that we were able to play some tennis for a couple hours
with the Dandenong Zone Leaders and Reuel! After our tennis matches we were scheduled to
meet with President Maxwell but he got a bit busy with some other matters so we
changed our plans and went to Brother Kumarasamys house. It was such a great blessing to us that
our plans changed because he went took us to visit his friend Denotion!
Denotion is now investigating the church and he is also living with a member of
the church. He really showed interest in coming to church and learning about
the gospel! It really helped me gain a testimony of how important members are
to missionary work. I have seen it time and time again…..when members and
missionaries unite it is a truly a blessing. I guess you could call it a freight
train STRAIGHT to the waters of baptism! I am so very grateful for all the
members of the church who are willing to help missionaries do the work of the Lord.
Tuesday
(4.5.16)
Today was a VERY long day but a very great
day! We started the day early with a wonderful trip to the temple with some of the missionaries
who are going to be departing soon. The temple is going to be closing soon for annual cleaning and maintenance so we are trying to make sure everyone has a chance to go before they leave to go home.
A wonderful day at the temple!
It was so nice to be inside the House of the Lord again. It made me think back to
when I was first endowed before I left on my mission. I reflected back to when
we were all in the celestial room as a family. Everyone that I loved was there
with the exception of Talmage. However, this time I was blessed to be in the temple
with my mission family! My perspective has really changed now that I am able to look
at the mission on a much broader level! It is a real blessing to me being able
to have a different view of my mission. After our wonderful time at the temple it
was off to Maroondah Zone Interviews all day! I LOVED serving in the Maroondah
zone and I was super excited to go back. We started around 11:00 am and didn’t
finish till about 8:00 pm
so
it was a bit of a long day! After we finished with interviews, Elder Eyring,
the Maxwells and I went back to the Mission Home to talk about the day while we ate some dinner together.
Wednesday
(4.6.16)
Today we were up bright and early to get
to the Heidelberg Zone Interviews! The last two days were a great blessing to
me. It was so wonderful returning to two zones where I served as zone leader
back to back! Heidelberg is a great place and there are great missionaries in
this zone!
Some of the missionaries I love so much!
The schedule for the interviews today would have gone long as well
but President Maxwell had another appointment so we finished by about 4:30 pm. It was a
great day because Elder Eyring and I truly love being with the missionaries and
trying to boost their spirits by helping them recognize how much the Lord is involved
in the details of HIS work……..missionary work!!! Because time was short, we
ended up going to President
Maxwell’s appointment with him. After we finished with his appointment we all
went out to dinner. We went to a really great restaurant called the Eating House
and it was really good! I love going places with the Maxwells because it really
does feel like the little Steele family is back together again and we go to the same kind of restaurants here in Australia that we go to back home.
Thursday
(4.7.16)
Today was a really good day but it ended
up being really long. We drove to
the other side of the city to Wyndham Zone to do interviews! I had never been
to this zone before so it was a first for me! It was really great because you
know me…….I love to see new things!
The awesome thing is that the Wyndham Zone is basically just the same as
all the other zones in the wonderful Australia Melbourne mission…… there is a
GREAT feeling here and I knew that there are people that live here that NEED
the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives.
We were able to talk and role play some
lessons on how to teach with all the missionaries while they are waiting for
their interviews with President Maxwell. It was really uplifting to see them
practice and then makes changes based on the feedback that Elder Eyring and I
gave them after their first time! With some of the missionaries we saw that
when they did their second set of role plays that the Spirit witnessed to them
very strongly that this was how they were SUPPOSED to be teaching! I love how with missionary work the missionary is NOTHING!!! It is all based upon the
Spirit! I have found if the Spirit is not present we might as well not be there
either!
I have come to learn the challenge in life is to find ways that we can "Always have
His Spirit to be with us" It is our life journey and I know that is why we
hear it EVERY Sunday when we partake of the sacrament. Then after we drove the
Maxwells home, we went to pick up an Elder that was going home. We drove to pick him up and take his companion to his new area! Then
all three of us made our journey back to the mission home around 10:00 pm and
we all slept there for the night! I love sleeping at the mission home! It is so
warm, comfortable and homey!
A sleepover at the mission home!
Friday
(4.8.16)
We started the day by going to the
airport to drop off Elder Kuo. He is on his way back to Taiwan. I will miss him
a lot but I know he will be in good hands back in his branch in Taiwan.
Goodbye to Elder Kuo at the airport. I love him and I will miss him!
After
that we were off to Narre Warren Zone interviews! It was really good to be with my
own Zone today. I feel bad that this is the first time I have been with my very own Zone the
whole time I have been an AP. There are really great missionaries in the Narre Warren Zone
and it was an awesome day! We finished about 5:00 pm and went straight to a lesson we had scheduled
with the Danielson family. I love being able spend time with families! Elder Eyring and I really love the Danielson’s. They are a great family and we are really close to them. We
were able to give the dad, Brother Danielson, a blessing tonight. It was an
honor to give him a priesthood blessing and I was so grateful that he trusted
us enough to ask us for a blessing. After meeting with the Danielson's, we finished up our night by going back to
the mission home and discussing some possible transfer moves and what we can do
for our upcoming MLC (Mission Leadership Council – a monthly meeting with the
Mission President and his wife, Assistants to the President, Zone Leaders and
Sister Training Leaders.)
Saturday
(4.9.16)
Today was the day all of Australia gets
to listen to the Saturday session of General Conference! It was weird to think this was the last conference on my mission. Today turned out to be a very
crazy day with a HUGE miracle!!!
Elder Eyring and I went to watch conference at the Maroondah chapel with
President and Sister Maxwell. However, before we left the flat as I was backing
Elder Eyring out of the driveway, (one missionary always stands outside the
vehicle and guides the missionary doing the driving when they put the vehicle
in reverse and back out) I noticed that my scripture case and Elder Eyring’s
bag were no longer in the boot (trunk) of the van.. SO we stopped the car and
we went and looked in the boot... NOTHING... Looked in the flat...
NOTHING. Sadly, we came to the
conclusion that they had been stolen the night before from our van. To be
honest I was GUTTED!!! My scripture case had my missionary scriptures in it,
one of my study notebooks that I have used since January, AND the PREACH MY GOSPEL manual I have
used my whole mission!
I remember just sitting in the car as we
drove to the mission home in unbelief!!! In a split second my most VALUABLE and
SACRED possessions were now gone. I was so thankful for all the talks in the three sessions of
conference! I knew Heavenly Father was aware of my sorrow and the talks in
conference were so wonderful and helped me to feel a little bit better but it
didn’t take away all my sadness over losing my precious scriptures. President Maxwell
was really kind and he gave Elder Eyring and I two journals that we could use
to take notes in during conference.
However, Elder Eyring and I weren’t
ready to give up just yet. On Saturday night, after the Priesthood Session of
conference we decided to go out on a hunt! We said some prayers for guidance
and we walked all the way down our street and the next busiest street checking
EVERY dumpster and rubbish bin on the street and we found NOTHING!! It wasn’t
until we went back to our street as we were walking back to our flat that we
saw my scripture case and Elder Eyring’s bag way in the back on the top of this
mailbox thing! We were overjoyed when we say them….it was a true miracle! However, when we opened them we found
that NOTHING was inside either of them.
So we took them back to the flat and we
said another prayer! We knew that if Heavenly Father wanted us to have them we
would get them back! So we went back to where we found our bags and we started
tearing up up the dumpster! And BAM we FOUND EVERYTHING!! Sure they all got a
bit stinky and sticky but we did not care at all!!! Heavenly Father is amazing
and He always provides a way! We came to the conclusion the van was unlocked
that night and a druggie or someone not very well off came and looked in the
van and thought our bags were computers and things of material value, then when
they saw what was inside them they dumped them and went on to the other cars!! Little
did they know that what they so carelessly threw away was worth more than
anything they could imagine. I testify the Lord protects and provides for His
missionaries.
Sunday
(4.10.16)
It was another great day of General Conference
but it was a sad day for me as well...It was all over! I had just finished the
last Conference on my mission. I got so much out of both days of conference
and it was just super amazing! When conference was over we went to the mission
office to do some work to prepare a bit for our upcoming MLC (Mission
Leadership Council). When we finished at the office we drove to Footscray to
interview two missionaries that had missed their interview due to the tight time
schedule when we were in the Heidelberg Zone on Wednesday.
I am learning so much from the Maxwells
and it is truly amazing to be with them almost every day! I am just trying to
be a sponge and just soak in EVERYTHING that is coming my way as a representative
of Jesus Christ! I feel so blessed to have this opportunity!
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