Teaching pool is growing

Email #47
Area: Murray Bridge of the Marion Zone
Companion: Elder Uili and Elder Siosi

Excerpts from Mom's email:

Hey Mom!

Well I will try to answer your questions real quick:). Yeah V....and L...! They are great! They are still figuring details out for their baptism and probably will have to be around June though. They come to church every week and are great just need to finish a few things. Yeah much of the ward is Samoan, but as well there are a lot of Aussies down here when we knock doors. We go to church at 9:30 here. Yeah there were a few here not that long ago. I know two recent converts from this past year here. Yeah it is about as hard as most of Australia, but hey this past week we got 5 new investigators! Of coarse we worked our butts off haha, but the Lord has blessed us for sure. We never were feeding the horses this is just a small town so there are farms/ranches everywhere with animals. That was right next to where we parked before we went to knock doors.

This past week was really a good one. There were about 3-4 days we were down in Adelaide for Zone Conference and Arrivers training as well. It was good though, we stayed down in Oakland's Park with 9 Elders in one flat! That was pretty crazy because the flat really was maybe meant for 4 people. One morning we played Aussie Rules Footballl for morning exercise together and that was a really good game with all of us. It is very different to what anyone back home would be use to for sure. Right before we went down we went to do some service for an investigator; basically did the lawn. It was so funny though to see Elder Siosi's reaction to the edger! Haha he has never seen anything like it because at home they would use machetes. Trainings were really good as always! Learned better skills and method's of teaching. (I'm basically just going through my journal and telling you about some entries lol).

The past week we have had a little bit of bad luck here in Murrey Bridge, especially the sisters haha. Starting off at the beginning of the week, Sister Tokuma's handle bars fell off her bike somehow and she just went over... She has a hard time walking at the moment, so she has just been staying at a members home. Then Sister Troescher, one night was getting hot water for her companion to put heat on and she spills scolding hot water all over her hand. Now she is wearing a bandage. Then sister Thomson nailed a curb last Tuesday and blew a tire out, hit her knee on the door of the car so she limps.  Then she tripped into her desk two nights ago... So have my hands full with these sisters having to pray for them constantly, so they don't all end up crippled lol.

I'll continue stories with dad:)

Happy Birthday Mom! Sorry I am late with it, but not my fault haha!
Love you so much!


Excerpts from Dad's email:

Hey Dad!

Yeah guess what! Our teaching pool is now up to 11!!!! Trust me when I say it didn't come easy! Running a lot for sure lol! The Lord has blessed us a lot no doubt.

Here is my letter to President:
I was raised in an active LDS home since I was born. My family has surely been blessed with what we have and the family relationship we have. It was a loving home, but of coarse we had our arguments at times. However overall it was a loving environment. When I was young, my family would call me Jaren the prophet, because I always tried to do what was right and to get my family to do the same, at least I think that is why they called me that haha. Time went on I think I lost that a little due to teenage life. The trials that I faced in the years leading up to my mission were more spiritual. They were trials such as great temptation, especially in high school. I thought for sure being in a community where everyone is a member of the church that there wouldn't be very much peer pressure or anything like that.  That was the time period in my life where I had more of a social testimony. I went to church often, but even sometimes I didn't want to be there. I would have rather stayed home much of the time. Then my older brother, James left on his mission to South Africa. When he left I think was the point when I really started to wonder about what faith is and really what it was that my family had. That was really when my testimony began to grow. I started paying attention in seminary. I actually prayed at night. It was just the beginning. I still went through high school with a lot of temptation coming my way, but for some reason or another, I never gave in to my desires. I had control and I new what was right. I didn't want to do something that I would regret. Two years went by and my brother got home. This was just when I was finishing school and when I started seeing more and more that it is time to repent and time to change. This was about the time when I then started reading my scriptures more and really considering a mission. I had made the decision to serve a mission when I was young and already had it on my mind, but I don't think I really started thinking about it until my brother returned home. I saw the massive change that he had made and I felt the massive testimony that he had.

From then on, I wanted to take my life seriously! I had a choice to make. To go and serve or to remain home and continue the way I was going. Well, it took much prayer and much pondering, but I made the choice to send in my mission papers. I never really talked about it with anyone how hard of a choice it actually was for me. When it came down to it, I have always known the church was true. God has always been there in my life and he was speaking to me. I just wasn't listening a lot of the time. I had 5 months to prepare after I received my mission call.  During that time I tried my best to make sure my testimony was strong enough for me to step on that plane. I am so grateful it was. It has been on my mission where I have truly come to know my Savior and know of the truth. If I didn't know it was true, I would have gone home a long time ago. I have faced more trial on my mission than I have in my whole life, but I have never grown more in my life then I have in this past year. I know the gospel and everything that goes with it is true! I am a better man because of it. My conversion story has lasted my whole life to this point. I have always had the gospel. As Nephi of old, I was borne of goodly parents, and I am so grateful for them for the life I've been given. My conversion continues and I look forward to what the future holds.

So to continue from moms email:
On Saturday, the temperature was 43 degrees C!!!! Holly smokes it was hot! We were out side for a lot of it knocking on doors and people just thought we were crazy as haha. I had that cloth thing you sent me around my neck all day and it helps heaps! Still super hot though, so drinking water a lot. We have had to use the car a lot this week because Elder Siosi blew his tire after we got back from Adelaide and we can't get bike tires up here. We will be going down tonight though. Speaking of, Elder Uili is leaving to PNG tomorrow morning at 4am. So we are taking him down to Adelaide to stay with the assistance tonight. On his last day here, we are going to have our district pday activity. We are hoping to go to this kangaroo reserve, but I don't know how much it will be so we will see.

The work is going really well at the moment! We have found 5 new investigators this past week and each of them are different for sure. One is aboriginal, two are from India, one is Seventh day v, and one is a guy who wants to find a church. Would take to long to explain them all, but we are looking forward to teaching each of them!!! They all have great potential for sure!

Well the rest of the week has just been crazy finding and follow ups. We have been trying to go by formers as much as we can, because there are a lot in the area book that have never been followed up with. Finding as been good as well, because since the sisters have not had to much of a chance to do much this week, I think the Lord has passed more responsibility to us. One day we only found potentials that were single sisters, so we have sent through this past week like 10 referrals for them I think.

That's all I can think of for this week. I forgot my camera at the flat, btw so I will try to send pics from my comps camera and send the others next week...