Man what an awesome week it was! Been pretty busy and it was a really fun week that is for sure! So transfers were yesterday and I am staying in Sutherland with Elder Boden for another 6 weeks and I will continue to train him for this transfer! I am really excited to stay in this area for Christmas and for another transfer because the members here are so awesome!! Before I start my weekly update I just wanted to tell you some random things about Australia that I may have not mentioned before. Guns are really hard to get here so I always feel safe knowing that the gun laws here are really enforced strongly! There is no such thing as real grass here… it is all just thorny and sucky! haha so real grass is not a thing here. They don’t eat real bacon here, their “bacon” is basically just ham/canadian bacon so that is a bummer! Food portions are really small here but that hasn’t stopped me from gaining like 10 pounds already! I started running in the mornings today haha I don’t want to get fat!!! Health care is like free here or something like that and there is welfare that people live on and there are like government housing for the poor people but it gets abused. You can just be unemployed and still get paid from welfare which is weird to me. A cost for a decent place to live is like 500,000 dollars!!! It’s freaking nuts! Living here would be a joke!! hahaha people in our ward have houses/property worth like 1.2 million and it is a junk house! So yeah weird stuff here man! I’ll think of other random stuff and write them down for next weeks email! Here is what my week was like!
Monday- So I left the keys in the ignition of the car all night from Sunday to Monday morning so our battery was dead. We got a jump from someone in our complex we live in thankfully or P day would have been the worst! We shopped, cleaned the car, and emailed, you know the usual! Then we went to zone p day where we had a huge water balloon fight, played kickball (my team won), and then we went back to the chapel to play some free for all dodgeball!! Super fun P day, I really enjoyed myself haha :) Then we went to the Liehr’s house for dinner and a message! We shared a mormon message with them about daring to stand alone! Really solid dinner and lesson with them!
Tuesday- We had a really normal day! Just found people on the train all day! That night we went to the Mortdale chapel where Rolf was being interviewed for his baptism by President Back! The interview lasted like 2 hours because Rolf LOVES to talk! He passed with flying colors and was ready for baptism! Haha he really loves to talk though, like our lessons lasted ages with him because he talks a lot! He just loves talking about the scriptures and all the things he learns! Then we went to dinner at the Cashman’s home and had a meal and a lesson with them! Members are good here, we get fed like every night pretty much, probably why I am gaining weight!
Wednesday- Did some yard work in the morning at the Cashman’s home where we mowed and edged the lawn! Good thing I had practice with an edger on my grandparents yard or I totally would have butchered it! The lawn looked good though! Then they fed us lunch and we were on our way! We then went and found on the train until our appointment with Rolf! We taught Rolf about more of the Commandments in preparation for his baptism! The lesson was solid and he understood it all! Then we went to Mcdonalds for dinner with a member! I ate a Big Mac, Two Cheeseburgers, Large Fry, Large strawberry shake, and an Ice Cream Cone…. Fetch I know why I am getting fat!!! hahaha but it was good :)
Thursday- Really normal and basic day! We just did finding on the train and then we went to another appointment with Rolf! We met with him all week just to help get him ready and to help him stay away from smoking! He said that he had lost the urge to smoke and that the smell made him sick now!! How cool is that? We promised him awhile back that all of this would happen and it is so cool to see that once he put in his effort, the Lord provided the rest! The Lord always comes through for us when we do what he asks us to do! The lesson went good with Rolf and he loved it! Then we went to the Kendrick’s home for dinner and a game of kickball as usual! They are so awesome! I will send pics of all the kids from this week!
Friday- We were T minus 1 day from Rolfy boy’s baptism! We had DTM in the morning, then we went and taught Gavin about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited him to be baptised! He said yes! We just need to get him married to his partner and he will be all good to go! But they said that they have been wanting to get married for awhile now so hopefully we can put that all into action for them! Really good lesson with him! Then we met with Rolf for our final visit before his baptism! The Lier family gave us an old suit they had, two white shirts, and heaps of ties to give Rolf on Monday and we waited until the day before to give it to him! We gave it to him after we taught him a lesson on the Priesthood and explained how he would get it after he was baptised! We showed him all the stuff and he loved it! He was so stoked to have all that stuff! Then we had to run from there to a dinner appointment with the Baker family! They are a young couple who has one little son named Sam! They fed us dinner, we played Settlers of Catan, Shared a message and then we went home! Oh and Elder Smith and his new comps stayed at our flat that night for Rolf’s baptism the next day! Elder Smith and I were so stoked to be together again that we stayed up till 2:30 talking that night! Super bad idea and I will never do that again!! Hahaha but yeah it was still fun!
Saturday- Rolf’s baptism baby! Elder Smith did the honors of baptising him! When Rolf stepped into the water I got so teary eyed it was nuts! The Spirit was so strong in the room and it was so surreal seeing someone that you’ve taught from the beginning, being baptised! I loved it so much! Rolf was so emotional after he came out of the water! He was clean! It was a good service and there was a good turnout of members there! Then we went to lunch in Cronulla and we took Elder Smith’s Comps back to their area! Smith stayed with us until Sunday for Rolf’s confirmation as well! Then we went and did Service for the Bakers and then we had dinner and played Catan again! Then We went home and went to bed haha I have never been so tired!!
Sunday- We had the confirmation of Rolf and I was the one who got to do that! I was really nervous because I have never done it before, but I did pretty good I think haha not that you can really judge a blessing! It was so cool to use my priesthood power to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost on someone and to confirm them a member of the church! Rolf is now the newest member of the Sutherland Ward! After church we had to take Smith back to Mortdale to be with his comps! Smith isn’t getting transferred either, he is staying in Mortdale, which is like a 15 minute drive from where I am, so we will still get to see each other a lot on P days and District/Zone meetings on Fridays! Anyways then later that night we went to Chris Lee’s house and had dinner with his wife and him! For our lesson we watched the full Restoration movie! Chris loved it! He has never seen it before and it was really eye opening to him and he thought it was really cool! During and after the movie I could feel the Spirit! We discussed the movie after and I just felt the burning inside me of the Sprit telling me it was all so true! I know this church is true!! Without a doubt in my mind I know it is and I could never deny it! I am grateful for this Gospel!
So this week Heavenly Father has strengthened my testimony on prayer. I have been praying a lot for strength to overcome my anxiety and home sickness and in return I am loving my mission and I am so excited to move forward in the mission! I still get glimpses of homesickness but who doesn’t? haha I definitely feel His presence in my life and I know He is helping me! Along with those prayers, he answered my prayers and fasting about Rolf! We prayed and fast for him so much and everything that we prayed for came to be! Rolf quit smoking and his urges went away! We promised Rolf all sorts of blessings as he strived to quit smoking and Heavenly Father poured out his blessings on Rolf and He truly did get Rolf where he is today! Really awesome to see and something I will never forget is Rolf’s progress to baptism! I really do love it out here! The mission is so hard but so fun at the same time! I love all of you and I know that if any of you are struggling with anything, just get on your knees and pray, then get up and work at overcoming or fixing whatever it is and Heavenly Father will provide the rest for you! You are never alone just remember that! I am so glad I made the decision to come on a mission and to stay out here! This is the most rewarding thing I have done and I have only been out 3 months! I can’t wait for the rest of my mission and what it has to offer to my life and those that I come in contact with along the way! All is well here and I hope all is well in your neck of the woods as well! Shoot your boy some emails of pics of what is going on in your life, I love hearing from everyone :) Have a good week!!
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