Another Trip to Beautiful Tasmania!

Monday (5.16.16)

We went to the airport at the crack of dawn to drop off the Maxwells so they could go to the Mission President’s Devotional in Brisbane. After Elder Eyring and I finished dropping them at the airport we went back to the Mission Home to take a quick power nap and do our studies. Then it was off to the Chinese Zone P-day at the Fairfield Chapel. We had a great time participating with them in a sports activity and BBQ. It is really fun when you get a bunch of Elders and Sisters together. The missionaries in the Australia Melbourne mission are the BEST!  We love Zone P-Days!  After we showered and got ready we went to teach our new investigator, Aaron. He is doing really good!  However, he and his wife have some things to work out about religion. He is ready to be baptized and he loves the Gospel, but he really wants to be baptized with his wife and have the goal of baptism together. I can certainly understand what he is feeling because the Gospel brings happiness to everyone! We are going to pray and fast extra hard for them this week!

Tuesday (5.17.16)

We went to the Springvale District meeting this morning and it was GREAT! The District Leader is a Vietnamese Elder and he is an absolutely stellar missionary! Then it was off to the train station to drop off the Sisters after the District meeting. We love to spend time chatting with missionaries as we are shuttling them to and from the train station. It is a good chance for us to hear the things they are encountering as they are striving valiantly to serve the Lord. 

Missionary Uber Drivers....tipping strictly optional!

After we finished at the train station, we decided to stop by the mission office for a quick visit to say hello to the best office missionaries in the world! It was a good thing we came by because there were some urgent car duties we needed to help Elder Gourlie with. So we quickly shifted our schedule because our quick one hour visit to the office somehow turned into five hours!  We had to jump a battery in one of the mission cars and things went just a little bit crazy when it started smoking!!!  We had a great time talking with Elder Gourlie while we went to some car dealerships and helped find a master panel with him. Elder Erying and I always learn so much when we are with Elder Gourlie. 

Missionary mechanics to the rescue!

It was a great day but such crazy and unexpected things came up! You never know what your day will be like as an Assistant to the President. But I love being flexible and doing what the Lord needs us to do! We finished the night by going over to the Requelmaes for a dinner! We had a great lesson with them on the importance of being an example. They are doing such great member missionary work! We loved going over the goals they had set. They are such a wonderful family and it is so helpful to missionaries when members get involved. Everybody who reads this….please help the missionaries by praying about who you can introduce the missionaries to. The missionaries will love you and so will your friends that you share the Gospel with! 

Wednesday (5.18.16)

Because we were busy with mission stuff we weren’t able to attend the temple on our regular temple day so we were able to join with the Chinese Zone this morning on their temple day! IT WAS SOOO AMAZING!!! :) I LOVE THE TEMPLE. We are so blessed to be able to go to the temple as missionaries!  Even though I will miss the Australia Melbourne Mission more than I can even say, one of the things that I look forward to when I go home is being able to go to the temple more often. The Temple is TRULY a blessing to us! Those of you with a temple close by…..try and take full advantage of it. You will learn so much and grow so close to Heavenly Father as you take the time to visit His house.

Later in the day we went on an exchange with the Craigieburn Zone Leaders! It was really great, these men are fabulous missionaries. Elder Eyring and I love doing exchanges because as assistants this is really how we are able to do missionary work! It happens when we go on exchanges! IT IS THE BEST!!! 

There is always something to smile about in the missionary mini van!

We planned this exchange to coincide with picking up the Maxwells from the airport. The Craigieburn area is the closest one to the airport. We picked the Maxwells up around 8:00 pm and then we drove them home. But of course we had to stop and get a bite to eat at Maccas (McDonalds) before we made the trip back home. We had planned to eat together tonight because tomorrow we are starting our mission wide fast.

We are trying something different with our mission wide fast this time. I had the idea that instead of doing a one and done day of fasting we would have the missionaries in our different zones fast over the course of ten days. That way there would be continual fasting for the Australia Melbourne Mission.  We KNOW the Lord will bless our mission with lots of miracles!

Thursday (5.19.16)

We came into the office this morning for a meeting with President and Sister Maxwell and the office staff! We love meeting with these amazing people. After the meeting we had lots of stuff to do because we are going to Tasmania tomorrow! We are trying to bust through a new Guideline book that will help the missionaries a lot. We also had an important milestone today. We did a Mission wide conference call to all the missionaries for the first time ever in the Australia Melbourne Mission! We are just trying to do a lot of things that have never happened before! The Lord is really blessing us with inspiration to try to help and motivate the missionaries to move onward and upward as a mission. After our day was finished we stayed at the mission home to prepare for our early flight to Tasmania in the morning! 

Friday (5.20.16)

This was an amazing day! We flew into Tasmania bright and early this morning.

Off to Tazzy! 

First on the agenda was a trip to a place called Cradle Mountain. It was the best day trip ever because the scenery was spectacular! Get ready for picture overload! 

After we made our way down from Cradle Mountain we went to a GREAT restaurant called Still Water! On this trip to Tasmania we stayed at a different hotel than we usually do. It is called the Penny Royal and it is really cool! 

Loved the hotel! It was decorated in vintage Nacho Libre....he was also a man of the cloth! The only difference is I LOVE my duties!

Saturday (5.21.16)

We were up bright and early this morning and started the day by visiting an amazing place called Christmas Hills Raspberry Farms for breakfast. Check out these raspberry waffles! If you can believe it they tasted even better than they looked!

After that unbelievable breakfast we went to a wild life reserve called Trowunna. 

We were able to feed kangaroos, pet Wombats and watch Tasmanian Devils! Elder Eyring and I can't even believe how good the Maxwells are to us. We are TRULY blessed by their love and service to us!

A Tasmanian Devil....with devil in its name you can't expect it to be cute!

The wombat tried to smooch me!

After we finished looking at the amazing wildlife we went to our hotel in Hobart. It was about a three hour drive from Launceston to Hobart and we got there a little early to prepare for our first  devotional! It went really well and I was honored to be able to conduct the meeting. During the Devotional Elder Eyring and I sang "Saviour Redeemer of My Soul".  We were definitely blessed because our song went very well. After we were done with the devotional, we had a wonderful time greeting and talking with all the amazing people who came. We finished up about 9:30 pm and we were STARVING! So we went to the Ball and Chain and got our steaks! We went there the last time we were in Tasmania and I have been dreaming about their steaks!

Sunday (5.22.16)

Today was a wonderful day. We started out by going to church in Rosny, at the beautiful chapel that over looks the river.  After church we made the long drive back up to Launceston for the second devotional that was happening tonight! We made a short pit stop back at our hotel, the, Penny Royal, to freshen up and take a bit of a nap. After our power nap, we woke up refreshed and ready for Round 2! We were thrilled with the GREAT turn out for our second devotional. There were about 150 people and about a quarter of them were not members! Elder Eyring and I also sang again at the devotional. It was truly an amazing day and one I will never forget!

Monday (5.23.16)

We woke up early in the morning so we could have a yummy breakfast at the Still Water restaurant again:) We had this really cool hot chocolate and it was the best I have ever tasted. Then we went to a place called Cataract Gorge. 

So nice to enjoy such a beautiful place with people I love so much! I can't think of anyone else I would rather be with in Australia than the Maxwells and Elder Eyring!

I now have the honor of saying I have ridden the world’s longest single chairlift span! It was GREAT going up! 

However, on the way back down the mountain.. it started to RAIN!! There was absolutely nothing we could do but wait it out and get soaked!

After that it was back to the airport for our flight to the mainland. Our flight was really delayed but airport delays never bother me because it is a great opportunity to talk to lots of different people about the Gospel. Take note frequent travelers who are reading this……ha ha!