Transfers this week; "No Religious Callers"

Email #33
Area: Grange area of the Firle Zone
Companion: Elder Danielsen-Jensen

Excerpts from Mom's email:

Hey Mom!

Yeah transfers are today, but it takes a while for all the missionaries to get where they are going because it is such a large mission so that is probably why they said that. Well looks like I am staying in Grange another transfer haha. I was pretty surprised, but I am okay with it. My companion is going to an area called Paralowie. It is only an hour or so away from here. No word at all about his visa. I am also training a brand new missionary again... I don't know who he is and won't meet him for a few days. I will be in the Zone leaders area for a few days until he arrives. That is pretty cool that you know Elder Lee's family! I will be with him for a few days as well. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this transfer, because a huge part of me doesn't want to leave because I want to see F... through more then anything! Plus I have a real love for this area now. At the same time I want to see other areas and change it up a little. It's okay though I have really accepted wherever I go is where I am meant to be. Yeah I read me Patriarchal Blessing pretty much every other week. So pretty often, I especially have been reading it a lot trying to understand certain parts of it.

Besides transfers, there is a little bit of news and excitement going on here in Australia! First we found out how the mission is doing as a whole! From last year to this year, baptisms have increased 55%! The work is hastening! We are at 144 so far and our goal is 264 for the year. Now in the Grange area, we have 2 on date at the moment, but the real promise is our investigator F.... He isn't on date only because he wants to be sure. He is thinking about a date really soon though! I won't say what it is, but he is doing so well!! I look forward to going there more then anyone else that we teach! He is working really hard to be ready, all there really is now is giving up coffee and he is putting forth a lot of effort to do it! His family, especially his wife, is super supportive! This is something that I feel I need to see through! My perspective on the work has really changed lately! I see it more clearly for what it is! It is kind of weird how things change and we change as time goes on. There are some that we are teaching that are pretty difficult at times and I wonder why they have us around at times. That's hard because they want to be baptized, but they are taking a long time to act and actually repent. We are really focusing on new investigators at the moment as well. Probably going to be smashing the finding much much more this next transfer! My new companion is going to hate me for that haha! Obedience is much more prevalent to me now as well! We are going to strive to be exactly obedient! Will be tough, but that's my goal! Never worked so hard in my life, I used to even hate the idea of working this hard!

I will definitely miss my companion, but he is going were he is meant to! We unfortunately just figured a lot of things out and now he is leaving:(. We'll see how long I will be here haha maybe I will finish my mission here who knows.

Love ya Mom! Have a good week!


Excerpts from Dad's email:

Hey Dad!

This week went pretty quick for me though. I have come to realize all I took for granted! We have something that most that have lived don't have! We have the gospel in our life! We have a family who actually loves one another! We live in a place that we can be safe! So many things that I never took the time to appreciate or even utilize. Just remember those things we are blessed with! Use those blessings! I am excited  to see what the heck you have going on there! I really want to know now! 2 years is a long time to wait to hear news! Transfer news is on moms email.

So this week there was actually a pretty weird experience. We went to a members home to pick up dinner and she said she didn't have it fully ready yet. She invited us inside, but since it is a mission rule not to go in unless a male is present, we asked if you could go knock some doors as we wait. She was cool about it so that is what we did. We get to the last door on the street and we see the infamous "No Religious Callers" sign that my companion hated knocking on out of respect. Well he said "no next door" and as we turn around we hear a women shout out "Who's there!?". She saw our legs somehow through the screen door. She comes out and we start talking to her. Well turns out about 20 so years ago she had missionaries over. They were super slack missionaries... She told us how they came by everyday for 2 months and didn't teach anything until the last day they showed a video to check the box. She loved them though so as she was telling us this she was giving us cupcakes and water and all this stuff. Was pretty funny and she wanted us to come in, but same reason there was no male in the home so she invited us to come back in 20 min when her husband came home. We then picked up dinner from the member, put it in the car, went back to this ladies house, and she made us dinner... Haha so we ate the first Mexican food I have had in some time and it was honestly awesome! We ended up teaching the restoration and now they are new investigators. It might take some time with them because they are spiritualists/Christian. Some interesting beliefs, but super cool!

Have a good week Dad! Love  you!

Elder Bryner covered in a mountain of stuffed animals

Trade offs with Zone leaders

Email #32
Area: Grange area of the Firle Zone
Companion: Elder Danielsen-Jensen

Excerpts from Mom's email:

Hey Mom!

So this week was a slow week work wise. In that aspect we have been finding a lot of new investigators for the Sisters for some reason haha. Everyone that seems to be solid we have to refer to the Sisters, but that's okay it is the same work. The best day of the week for sure though was on Saturday! We went on trade offs with the Zone leaders and that was a really good day! So we went to a place called Mount Lofty, you should look it up it is beautiful. We went on a hike there with the Elders quorum in there ward and they had an investigator come. It was such a great experience. I will have Elder Layatele send you the pics I had to use his camera. There is sometimes Koalas and Kangaroos there, but this time we didn't see any. Still it was a beautiful day and the view was amazing. I was in a trio for the day and those Elders are just hilarious. The new Elder, Elder Lee, is 6'9'' and he's pretty funny. He is going to play for BYU basketball when he gets home. Anyway, there so happened to be heaps of gorgeous girls hiking this trail and he was just dying haha. In all honesty there was just one after the other it was crazy! Even Elder Layetele at the end of the hike turns to us and asks "Did you lock your hearts?". Yeah my heart is locked, but honest there was a lot of beauty on that hike! So following the hike we get to the bottom and realize we are going to be late for Elder Lee's appointment with the chiropractor. They told us it was about a ten min walk to the car where we parked down the road so we thought we could just run it. So we ran... for 30 straight min! We are all sore as now! It was crazy how far it was to the car. Then we went to the Chiropractor and did service and all this stuff. By the time we closed the trade off, we only did like 2 hours of finding is all. Was a really fun day, but didn't get much work done. There was just a lot to do.

Love you heaps Mom! Have a good week!


Excerpts from Dad's email:

Hey Dad!

As well this week, we did a chapel tour with our investigator M.... It went really great actually! He never has gone to church before, so we showed him around with a member and you could really feel the spirit strong! I hope he will soon feel comfortable enough to come to church next week. Never done a chapel tour like that before though. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson as we went and he seemed to really be interested in temples. He saw a magazine all about temples and that really peaked his interest.

I am really looking forward to teaching F... again tonight! It is always a highlight of the week! Love their family! Not really sure what else to write about haha any questions just email me!

Love you dad!!!!!

Wow, these guys are tall! Elder Lee, Elder Bryner & Elder Layatele

Bring me to tears

Email #31
Area: Grange area of the Firle Zone
Companion: Elder Danielsen-Jensen

Excerpts from Mom's email:

Hey Mom!

So this week didn't have to much happen, but what did happen were big things! My biggest highlight was definitely last night!! Last night was just really great for me. So we went to go and teach F... again and as always it went so great! We taught the Word of Wisdom in a way I never have before. His only concern was coffee, just the fact that he really likes it, but the way we went over it and what his wife said is probably the best possible way we could have taught it. He is so close! He is doing so well and we are so blessed for the opportunity to know their family. The best part of that lesson though was the end! What I felt still will almost bring me to tears. He said his first verbal prayer at the end of the lesson. It was so powerful.. what really hit us was when we looked up, his wife had tears in her eyes and it was so touching. It was the first time she had ever heard him pray. We can see more then anything else the great love they have. We could feel the spirit so strong! It is an experience I won't soon forget! It is one of those had to be their type of things I know, but it was a special experience I was able to have.

Excerpts from Dad's email:

Hey Dad!

So story for ya that is pretty interesting. Earlier this week, my companion and I were looking for a place for us to contact people at night. We can't of course knock on doors at night, so we needed a place to find people even at night.  So we went to the bike paths near the beach and turns out there are a few people that walk that at night. Anyway, we came across this one guy who I mistaken for a hobo basically. He was digging through the rubbish bin for bottles to sell. We start talking to him and turns out he doesn't have a great opinion on religion, because of his past experience with it. Once we got to talking, he opened up a lot and turns out that he has had a really hard life! Probably one of the most difficult life stories I have heard. He went down to the beach that night to think about ending his life. He felt he didn't have much to live for and wasn't really even sure why he was looking for bottles at that moment. Just to pass the time maybe. We told him of the Plan of Salvation and about God's love. He didn't necessarily say he was going to take the lessons at this point in time, but we promised him there is a purpose in his life. He ended up going home to think about what we talked about. All I know is what the spirit told me. That we were sent to that spot at that moment for a reason. Not sure for the exact purpose, but I wonder all the time what happened to him after that. Guess I will find out one day.

Another cool experience this week was when we went to the temple with L... and her father, who are both recent converts. Brother S.... was baptized just two weeks ago as I told you about and he is a very spiritual man. You could tell the way he lit up at the temple on what he felt. He receives the Aaronic Priesthood next Sunday and after that he can get a recommend. His daughter L... was able to do baptisms and she just smiled haha! She was just so happy it was really cool to see. Her son, A..... will be turning 12 in a couple of months and I am really excited for him. I've gotten really close with to him since I have been here and care about him a lot. We also started teaching another young Indian boy named S...... He is one smart kid! Only 10 years old, but he just asks the best questions! His father was baptized a few years ago, but he just recently got close to us and we started teaching him this past week! His Mom is now taking the lessons from the sisters as well! So excited how the work is progressing!

Well that's all I have for ya this week. Love you so much!

Stolen bike; BLITZing the mission

Email #30
Area: Grange area of the Firle Zone
Companion: Elder Danielsen-Jensen

Excerpts from Mom's email:

Hey Mom!

This week was a real crazy one full of ups and downs. Wait until you here some of this lol. Sounds like things are pretty crazy over there to. It's really weird to think about home and what is going on there. It feels like a whole other world it is so weird especially with all the changes there.

So this week I don't really know where to begin. I will start with the bad news. So first off, prepare yourself.... my bike was stolen the other night. They didn't take my companions bike since it is an old one. That same morning we went to the mission office for a training and I talked to the senior couple in charge of bikes and he told me typically you have to buy a new one or a refurbished one. Now for the good news. Luckily I have a good relationship with one of the assistants, because he is giving me his old bike. Funny thing to is that he was just released as assistant, but I guess he has another bike idk. He is going home soon, but for now I am just using a brand new bike they gave me until he heads off. So I don't have to buy a new bike, so I lucked out. That morning what happened was I was getting ready and my companion yells, "Elder your bike was stolen!". Man I was so mad at first. I was soo mad haha. Now I am all goods though especially because how blessed I am to have another alternative. That usually doesn't happen. Elder Smith, the senior missionary, told me that in February they had 12 bikes stolen. So its not the most uncommon thing.

As for L..., we went by the other day and it was just a hard situation. She wasn't able to make her date for the 29th and she even said that day she got drunk and the whole works... She was so hurt she wasn't able to make it and I think now she has given up. She said "I don't think I can do this Mormon thing" where before she had more fire then anyone else I've seen. There are a lot of variables that has made her take steps backwards, but mostly it is those around her. I feel she could do it if she was in the right environment. That was hard and there were a lot of things this week that good have discouraged us that happened, but we are not.

The highlight of the week was visiting F... and his wife! We felt prompted to share with him more about testimony and how to know. This lesson we had, man I swear it was probably the most powerful lesson I've been a part of! His wife, Sister Hansen, bore testimony and told him how huge of a help he has been to her! After the lesson, F... walked us out and was "taking the garbage cans out" haha. I knew then that a question was coming. He asked us how baptism works. He is really thinking about it now at this point. The next lesson is tonight and we plan on inviting finally.

There was more to the week, but I have to save some for Dad haha. Love you heaps Mom! Have a good week!


Excerpts from Dad's email:

Hey Dad!

So I told Mom some things that happened this week, but there is just so much more! Was a busy week! Wait until you hear what happened this week. I know what you will think, "You have the worst luck" lol. Yeah I feel that way to. I swear I don't do it on purpose haha. Yeah the BLITZ went really well! In fact, the zone leaders talked about it in MLC and all the other leaders in the mission loved the idea! They want to bring it into the mission and it might be a new thing for the mission! I did a training on it before and yeah that stuff you sent me really helped me organize it. I'm excited, because it is a new thing starting in our district and it might just be a mission wide thing soon. Yeah we have been trying to touch on parts of our area we haven't been able to all that much, but our area is just huge. It's intimidating to thing how many people in our area might just be waiting for us.

So we did something really cool this last week with one of our investigators, B...., and the G........! They have just been so good to us seriously saving us all the time and helping us more then I could say in a short amount of time. To give back, we cooked for them believe it or not! Brother Tutor has been teaching me how to cook all these cool Aussie dishes and man the dessert was good! It's called pavlova. I don't know if you have ever heard of it, but it is super good and I know how to make it now:). So we made that and then cooked a really good roast recipe that he gave us! It was a pretty good success! They joked how not even the sisters have done something like that before haha. I will have to make you the pavlova when I get home it is pretty dang good! We have had really good food since I have been here, but as well this past week I had some of the hottest food as well. Love (A.....'s mom) cooked for us and since they are Indian, they love their spicy food. So that was really good as well.

We experience all sorts of things all the time that could be stories to tell. I don't know which one to tell ya. Well I guess one funny thing that happens all the time is that aboriginals typically when you talk to them will always ask for like $2. This last guy said "Hey could you guys spot me $2 for a bus ticket?". I asked him where he is headed and he didn't seem to know lol. I don't know why they do that all the time, but it is pretty funny. My companion was nice enough to give it to him though so hopefully he was being honest. Besides that, the week was all over the place. We went up north in our area which is like a 20 min drive and visited former investigators and spent a day up there. There is good potential there for sure, but it is a pretty geto part.

Well that's all I can think to talk about at the moment.
Love you heaps Dad!!!

Having dinner 

Aussie Pavlova dessert

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