Elder Jaren Bryner A LDS Missionary Down Under in Adelaide Australia: First baptism and visit to Temple in Australia

Email #12
Area: Grange area of the Firle Zone
Companion: Elder Hamilton

Excerpts from Mom's email:

Hey Momma!

I really loved the email that you wrote me so thanks for that. I'll try to get the name tag picture soon because we are going to the peer for finding tomorrow. The baptism went super well. A..... is a good kid and he is super smart too. It is really great to see the fruits of your labors especially when you are working so hard. I am a little nervous for this Sunday, because I am going to be doing the confirmation. It will be my first time doing that, so I am a little nervous for it haha, but it will be good. I can tell just by the knowledge that he has at 12 years old that he will be a really active member of the church. When he bore his testimony, it told us how grateful he was for Elder Hamilton and I because when the Sisters were teaching his Mom, he really hated it. He felt that they were forcing his mom to be baptized, but then we had a chance to begin teaching him and as soon as he heard the message himself, it made him feel happy. He is especially looking forward to receiving the priesthood in a couple of weeks and becoming a deacon.

We have a total of 8 in our teaching pool at the moment and a lot of potentials as well. We definitely are super busy all the time doing the Lords work and I have had to learn the ins and outs of missionary work really quickly. I really think that I have got a hang of it now and I am super grateful for my companion right now, because him and I have such great unity. At the same time we both can make this work a lot of fun. Their is so much joy in this work and it kind of surprises me how much I like it. I thought that since it is such hard work that I would really just start to dislike it, but I love every second of it. Maybe it is because I have lucked out with such great companions so far or maybe with the great investigators IDK, but none the less I am super grateful for my experiences so far.

To answer your questions, yes we have a washer and dryer. We keep the bikes locked up nice and tight, so no worries there. Yeah the mission office has my passport. Yeah we will be Skyping on Mother's day so that will be pretty cool. I will let you know the details of that as the day gets closer. No worries though we will be Skyping at a members house for about an hour each.

I love talking to ya.
Love Elder Bryner

Excerpts from Dad's email:

Hey Pops!

The work is going super great! We have a ton of area to work with, so we are always busy. Yeah I have been thinking a lot about what others have told me and what it says in my patriotically blessing. Every day I feel closer and closer to God and can really feel a connection with him when I teach. I have seen some pretty amazing miracles by following the spirit. We have been doing what I call praying by faith. It is where you pray and as where we should go finding for that day. As soon as you decide as a companionship what area to go to, you then pray separate and ask what specific streets we should go on and write down five streets each that we feel inspired to go on. Then we compare what we wrote and every time, we have a matching street so we start there. I have seen that by doing this, we are showing our faith in the Lord to guide us. I have seen that wherever we go, we always end up finding at least one person to begin teaching. The hardest part is being able to visit all of them. We have 8 right now in our teaching pool meaning 8 that we consistently are teaching, but we have a ton to follow up with and many potentials that we need to get around to seeing. That is the hardest part in finding the time in the day to do it all. It requires a lot of sacrifice of personal time sometimes to be able to accomplish it all, but we see the blessings.

So in California, a senior companion came to me with tears in his eyes and told me "I felt impressed to tell you what the spirit had told me when we first met. I saw a young man who at first glance had a young charm to him, who seemed to love everyone. I then heard the spirit say that this young man one day would stand at the pulpit of general conference. I know not what position he will hold, nor why I was told this but I know he is a wise man and we should one day follow his council." He wrote this in my transfer journal as well so then I may always remember it. This was a lot to take in that he would even tell me this. He then told me to later on search in my patriarchal blessing for guidance to listen to the spirit to guide me. It is a lot to live up to, but at the moment I need to focus on this work and do my best to fulfill my calling right now.

Here in Australia Adelaide mission, the rules are pretty strict and concrete, much much more then in California. There is much urgency here for the work and I can feel that I was called here to this mission for a purpose. I know that this is the mission that God has called me to. It has been really cool to see all the different cultures here. The Aussies are all really nice people. There are also many other cultures here that I never expected. So much cool wildlife to that I have never seen before. I can't imagine what it will be like up north later on in my mission.

Love ya Dad,
Elder Bryner