Great Times Down Under!

Monday, November 3rd - Sunday, November 10th

Monday (11/3/14)

P-day was a lot of fun today. We headed down to the ocean as a District, and hung out by the sea.

The sun, the sea, the District, and fish and chips on the wharf... livin' the dream!

And the verdict is... Thumbs up on the fish and chips!

Run for your life... the star fish are attacking!

District selfie... Is that a train I hear coming down the tracks?

Tuesday (11/4/14)

We started the day by doing service for our stake in the stake basketball tournament. That was fun because we got to keep score for the games in the tourney. However, after that ALL 5 of our appointments canceled so we GQed like always :) I always seem to attract WACK JOBS when I GQ! Take today for example. This guy came up to me and stuck his middle finger right in my face; and was saying F this and F that to me... It didn't really faze me. I just remembered what Dad always said about people who give you the finger… “They’re just showing you their iQ level by holding up ONE finger.” :) However, I did feel super bad for the guy. He’s missing out on the True Church!! Oh well, I guess the truth for some people is hard to swallow:) haha

Wednesday (11/5/14)

Damn, (pardon my Australian....but "damn" is not a swear word in Australia; you even hear it over the pulpit in church!!) but there must be a Bug going around the city of Melbourne because 5 of our 8 lessons called in sick!  However, we did teach L, (our investigator who has smoked for 30 years) He was supposed to stop smoking but he wasn't able to kick the addiction yet.  So we just tried to build up his faith in Christ! We know that through the power of Jesus Christ nothing is impossible. Later that day we taught M! He is the one who was a minister in Kenya! It is such a miracle that we found him. I am amazed at the amount of faith he has!  For today's lesson we taught him about Tithes and Offerings and he said, "Once I get a job I will for sure pay my 10% to God!" He is definitely getting baptized next Saturday when the Branch President can be there.

Thursday (11/6/14)

Our Zone had Zone Meeting and it was super great :) I always enjoy the trainings there and seeing all the other missionaries. But, the only bad thing is it takes time out of the day for teaching people…. which makes me kind of sad. However, we did have time to teach a man named J who is from Chile. He is here in Melbourne trying to support his family back home in Chile. He knew the Church has some employment services he could use! He also really enjoyed the message about the Restoration. He loves his family and it was so awesome to teach him how this Gospel blesses families in so many different aspects!

Later in the evening we taught a girl from Malaysia named A. She is a very smart international student and had some VERY interesting questions from her research on the Internet. I WISH PEOPLE WOULD NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING THEY READ ON THE INTERNET! THERE IS A LOT FALSE INFO ABOUT THE CHURCH! :)  Anyway she describes herself as a Buddhist Christian… if that is even possible! Only time will tell where this goes. I think I’m going to hop on the Internet and research Buddhist Christians :) hahaha

Friday (11/7/14)

We taught a very BOLD lesson today to C (our 17 year old investigator whose Mom won't let him be baptized) and his friend K because C was thinking about going to a different church! So we told him THIS IS THE ONLY TRUE CHURCH on the earth today. We reminded him of the restoration of the Lord’s church, the priesthood and a living prophet who receives revelation directly from God.

Later, we were able to teach a man named M from mainland China! Man, it was so cool to even just plant a little seed in his heart about the gospel so he can take it back to China:) As much as we wanted to keep teaching him we referred him to the Chinese elders so he could be taught in his native Chinese language. I loved learning Chinese and visiting China when I was in high school so it was a really cool experience for me to have this brief teaching experience with him!

We also taught a man named H from West Papua... unfortunately he doesn't want to get baptized because he feels his previous baptism (different religion) should be enough.

Then in the evening, we taught a guy named J who came up to the branch. He wanted me to tell him the EXACT steps he needed to take in order to be baptized! I swear I heard angels singing the Hallelujah chorus… That is the question every missionary dreams about answering, and LOVES to talk about!!! So basically I told him to come and let us teach him, and then he would be ready to be baptized in early December. 

Saturday (11/8/14)

Today was a little bit slower than usual. Believe it or not, missionaries have slow days sometimes.  Time slipped away from us because we were waiting for appointments that never showed… super frustrating!  Because we are missionaries in the heart of Melbourne city, we can't go to investigator's houses; all our appointments have to come meet with us at our branch building. I hate feeling like I’m wasting any of the time I’ve committed to serving the Lord as a full time missionary. Oh well, I guess it’s helping me learn patience (maybe it’s not time wasted)!

On a happy note, we went to a Convent in Abottsford for lunch, to meet with that philosopher guy I met awhile back! The discussion was as healthy as the food… It was vegan food and it was really good (not good enough to eat everyday, but good enough) :) The convent was super trusting because you paid for your meal with a donation at the very end! So when we went to pay, we asked the cashier how much our meal should have cost, and we gave a donation of 10% :) Just kidding. We paid for our meal in full.

Me and Elder C enjoying a little "V" (Vegan). 

The whole Zone going vegan... at least for one meal :)

When we got back to Melbourne we taught C from Malaysia. Man he is doing so well but he just isn’t seeing it :(  He is feeling the spirit and getting answers, but he wants answers all the time!  We are trying to teach him that salvation does NOT come easy and we have to do our part for blessings of the Spirit.  Fortunately, in contrast to our discussion with C today, this evening we had the amazing experience of seeing three people from our branch receive the Melchizedek Priesthood after much preparation. That was really cool :)

Sunday (11/9/14)

Before Church we were able to teach a guy from Columbia. His name is J and he is a really humble man. He was instantly fellow shipped by some other Colombians in our branch and he stayed the whole time at church!! Right before Sacrament meeting started, L (our investigator who is struggling with smoking) turned to me and said "Elder Steele, I have been praying for the will to stop and now I am down to my last box of Chops (smokes, cigarettes, cancer sticks). I will be finished with them tonight and I am NOT buying anymore!!!!" Lyall is going to try to give up smoking!! That is a miracle!! Please keep praying for him! He has smoked 30 cigarettes a day for 30 years!! I testify that Heavenly Father is a God of miracles!!

I Love you all so much! Thank you for all of your prayers!