An Adventurous Week

What a Blast

This past week has been a blast!!!  Australia is starting to become my home.  I'm getting used to only being able to email my family on Monday's me and Elder Leal were talking the other day and I was saying how weird it is going to be that I am going to get to talk to and actually see my family next month I guess I better take a shower and look presentable.:)  I'm starting to think of myself as an aussie now instead of an american.  Haha I'm so used to using aussie words that I forget some words in America.  Australia is becoming my home and I love it here.  I think to myself sometimes that I want to serve a mission like the sons of Mosiah for ages.  This work is so awesome and so much fun yet so hard at the same time but I am constantly growing.  It's crazy I come out here on a mission to serve the Lord but yet he doesn't stop serving me.  He never stops blessing us.  No matter what we do in our lives we can never come even remotely close to even start repaying the debt.  He blesses all of us constantly sometimes big sometimes small but it's the times that he blesses us with small rewards that we take for granted.  Everything that we have in this world is because of God and his son Jesus Christ and sometimes we ask ourselves I want more I want nicer things.  

An Adventure

This past week has been pretty adventurous and fun.  So in my pictures this week the first few are of me and my Zone Leader Elder Mills (the guy in the sweatshirt) he is an awesome guy from New Zealand.  The few pictures of me and Elder Lee (the guy in the tan pants) is my District Leader and he is a smash missionary.  Haha he has the best laugh ever.:)   

 

District Leader Elder Lee

Bestest Friend Elder Leal

Zone Leader Elder Mills from New Zealand

The other pictures are of these two guys riding on motor bikes and they were wearing bunny ears while driving down the road.:) Haha classic Aussie's.

 

Working Hard!

We've been working hard again this week but it's typical Australia not a whole lot goin on but we keep putting our heads down and going to work.  We've been teaching our new investigators we've only been able to teach them once this past week but it was a really good lesson and we hope we can keep teaching them and help  them come closer to Christ.  We've been doing a lot of service pretty much two full days of service this past week.  We went out on Saturday with  the branch president and a few members and helped out a non-member clean up his field.  We also helped out E____P____ take a whole bunch of rubbish to the tip (dump yard) We've also been doing some exploring this past week on P-Day and stuff and we went on some cool hikes and of course I forgot my camera :( We also went to this cool look-out where you can just see for ages it is so cool it's amazing to see how much of Australia has not been touched yet.  

Trade Offs

We had tradeoffs this past week, our District Leader Elder Lee and his companion came up for a few days.  It's always fun to hang out with the other missionaries especially because were out here on our own.  The weather has been crazy here it has rained almost everyday for the past 2 weeks and when it rains it rains.  This past week streets were flooding and yards and everything it has been crazy.  Thursday afternoon we were traveling to Bathurst for a training. We left and everything was fine and then about half way there it started dumping.  The hardest I have ever seen it rain in my life it was like someone was dumping an endless bucket of water and then it started to hail and  then the streets started flooding man it was crazy.  But we kept driving forward even though we could barely see.  At the beginning when it started to rain I knew it was gonna be bad for some reason so I said a prayer for safety and protection and the whole entire time we were driving I was not once scared or worried something was going to happen.  I know without a doubt that we were watched over and protected and we drove through that storm.  The Lord really does protect us in time of need I know that he knows each and everyone of us personally and cares about us and our specific needs.  Thank you so much mom for sharing that it is so true that the Lord can help us through anything all we have to do is ask for that help.  I have said so many prayers this past week and they have been answered so fast and I am so grateful for that.  There are still some prayers that have not been answered yet and I don't know when they will be but If we keep exercising our faith our prayers will be answered when we most need them.

 

Tidbits

Mum and dad this past week has been another great week I look back at every week so far on my mission and I love each week and I grow and change so much each week.I can't believe my 3 month mark is this week how crazy is that?  I have always wanted to serve a mission and now that I'm here serving it, it is crazy how fast time goes by.  Haha Christmas will be here before we know it and then we will get to skype I'm so excited that'll be so fun.  Ya a week from today is transfer day again.  Man this transfer has flown by it literally seems like yesterday Elder Leal and I became companions.  We'll have to see what happens I'm really excited to see what happens.  I hope I get to stay in Mudgee I love it here but if the Lord calls me to serve somewhere else I will be happy to go where he sends me.  Man Elder Leal is an awesome friend.  He has taught me so much this transfer and he really has been prepared by the Lord to serve a mission I'm excited to see where he goes this transfer or if we get to be companions again.  People absolutely love Christmas here because there is no thanksgiving :( people are already putting up decorations and stuff is for sale in the shops and stuff it's pretty crazy.  I'm excited to spend Christmas here it'll  be different but cool at the same time.  Sadly I haven't gone golfing with Brother P______ yet but he gave me a set of golf clubs so if I stay next transfer I'm sure will go for sure.  Me and Josh have been emailing back and forth almost every week and man it sounds like he's really smashing it over in Canada he is an awesome missionary and an amazing friend.  We get as long as we want for emails but we usually take 2 hours and then go do some other stuff for P-Day.  Were doin good on food two nights ago we made this chicken stir-fry which was really good and I'm startin to kind of learn my way around the kitchen.  Haha we make chicken nuggets and chips a lot in the oven or the classic meat pies.  We have this sweet sandwich toaster maker thing and so we make cheese sandwiches a lot.  We also have a rice cooker so I'll make so rice cuz I love rice and put some chicken on it or something.  I'm doin pretty good on money I try to only buy things that I need and  try to eat out only a few times.  Thanks mom and dad for all your questions and everything just like I talked about before about how everything is God and we have to be grateful well the two best things that God gave me were my parents.  Thank you so much for everything I cannot express how much I love you guys and how grateful I am for all that you do for me.  I am doing awesome it has been hard but I love my mission it is so much fun.  Thanks Dani for your awesome emails John is startin to become quite the stud can't believe when I get home he will be 4 crazy?!?!  How is Patrick goin? Hope everything is good.  Love you guys till next time maybe it'll be in Mudgee maybe it will be somewhere else :)

 

Wise Words from the Elder

Elder Hales said in this past conference, "you are rich if you can live comfortably within your means."  This is so true I will admit I take a lot of things for granted and I always want nicer things a nice car nice clothes but that is not what matters.  This quote is so true and it's not saying that it's bad to have nice things like a new car or a big house but we have to be grateful for what we do have because everything we have is from God.  

Love Elder Stott