"I really think though that I need one of those books of yours, the Book of Mormon"

Email #88
Area: Oaklands Park
Companion: Elder Turcotte

Excerpts from Mom's email:

In the mission, things are moving slowly. We really need to get the zones success up. We have discussed that the only way we are going to do that is first by getting ours up ourselves. Having had build our teaching pool more this week, I honestly feel that next week has much more potential. We expect 3 at church and each on date, and that is for sure an achievable goal in our area at this point! The zone I pray will follow! We will be trying our best to show the progression in the zone as it comes by something the Marion South Zone leaders showed us. It is simply a chart that we send out each night that shows our progression to our weekly goals. It should be fun to make!

We had a really good experience this week teaching our new friend T...! It's funny, when we first found T... he really didn't seem all that interested, but asked us to come by another time so we did. Next time we showed up and turns out he is solid as! We taught the first day in 20 min because we had another appointment to get to and it was just supposed to be a quick follow up. Anyways, we gave him a pamphlet and came back on Saturday. He read the whole thing and studied it, researched it, and loved it! He said he agrees with everything said. He then said, "I really think though that I need one of those books of yours, the Book of Mormon. I need to read that before I can really know if this is true." We were blown away and couldn't get a Book of Mormon out quick enough haha. He accepted a date for Baptism on Nov 24. I think it might take a little more time for him because he wants to be sure before he makes a big commitment. He wants to come to church so high hopes for him.

I haven't talked about it to much in past emails how much I enjoy serving others in my zone and getting to know them! We have some great missionaries in our zone that I just love so much! Many of them are brand new in the field and it's great to see the fire they have! It has also been funny to watch them adjust to Australia and the culture because 2 of them are from Utah and one from Idaho. One sister has been really concerned for ages when she hears "sweet as". In Australia, that is just a term used all the time to say something is cool or nice. She thought all these missionaries were saying something else this whole time. Idk what must have gone through her head, but low key I feel bad because she is kind of pretty and might have thought we were referring to her or something lol. We also had one elder try Vegemite for the first time... He hated it haha. Then the sisters have asked like 3 times about the spiders and how to protect themselves from them. Just a whole heap of funny stuff that I am just used to now. Reminds me of when I started my mission I guess.

Did you get the picture from a member. I think she sent it to you in Facebook or something. Nice family, we had dinner with them last night. Members have been really great here! We are building a great relationship with a few specific ones. That is why I like to be in a ward for a while because you can get such a string bond with the members. The most success I have seen in my mission has been though the members and it all starts with a relationship with them. That's hard to do when you are only in an area for one transfer. Hopefully the ball will keep rolling with the ward I am in right now.

I'm glad you enjoy the pictures! It was a good time for sure and something I won't ever forget! It's not everyday you get to do stuff like that. For Australians it is common place and not that cool, but for me it was awesome! I have seen heaps of kangaroos before, but never so close to the point to pet them and hold them.


Excerpts from Dad's email:

Hey Dad!

They kind of celebrate Halloween, but Australians are not very big on holidays for some reason or another. They recently in the past few years started celebrating Halloween. They are definitely missing out. I haven't heard anything on the release date yet, but I am supposed to soon I guess. Probably my guess would be my next interview.

Wow! Mom told me about how long I have.... that is crazy! I honestly don't know how I feel about it. Part of me still is no where near close to leaving and part of me is excited for the day. I've realized I only have once in my life to do this and once I get home, there is just heaps of other things that I will be having to do. It how true this statement is, but I still feel like missionary work is one of the most difficult things I will ever do! Especially in Australia! It's hard haha. As time goes on, I realize more and more how difficult this may be for some missionaries. I've been lucky!

Through these trials, I sure have learned a lot! It mn this information!! For some reason, it is through hard times where the spirit teaches you the most. ay not seem like a lot to someone who knows so much, but to me it feels like my brain can't hold oWe can have spiritual experiences, feel the spirit, even in the most difficult of times. Joseph Smith received the revelations found in Doctorine and Covenants 121, 122, and 123 while facing one of the hardest trials in his entire life, Liberty Jail.

I have learned that it's hard to express the things I feel to people sometimes. We cannot express spiritual knowledge in words alone. We can, however, with words show another how to prepare for the reception of the Spirit. The Spirit itself will help us do so. “For when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.” (2 Ne. 33:1.)

I love learning things like this and I know that they will help me through the rest of my life!

Love you heaps and talk to you soon!