Time flies when your having fun and I'm having
the time of my life in Australia.
Good-day Mates how you all goin? HI mum and dad love
you!!! Happy Halloween eat some lollies (candy) for me. This past
week has flown by just like that and now I'm sitting here typing another
email. Once again this past week we have worked very hard.
These past few weeks we haven't really had anybody to teach and we have been
praying hard and working hard to find those people that are ready to hear our
unique message. The Lord answered our prayers. Me and Elder Leal
had the idea to go through our area book and go through all of the former
investigators. We went and stopped by each of them and all of them had
either moved or were not interested except for two people. The Lord has
answered our prayers and we have already started teaching them. I have no
idea what the Lord has in plan for these people if it is there time to be
baptized or not but I am so grateful that he has trusted me with a few of his
children to teach the gospel to. I like this saying I can't remember who
it is from but it says, "if you do your best the Lord will do the
rest." This is so true all we are asked for in this life is to do
our best and if we do that it will all work out the way the Lord wants things
to work out. It might not be the way we want it to work out but God has a
plan for each and everyone of us and our plan is different than anybody else's
plan. So hold on to the rod and be willing to go whichever way the Lord
wants you to go because he knows what will make us happy.
.2%
The Mudgee branch is pretty small about 20-25 active members
which is a drastic change from Utah where that's how many deacons we
have. It has made me realize how elect we are that know the fulness of
this gospel. There are roughly 16 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints. In the world of roughly 7.3 BILLION people. That means
that roughly .2% of the world have that eternal happiness. How lucky are
we to be that .2% that have that knowledge. God has entrusted us with
that knowledge and it is our job to go out and share that message with the
world. This past week on Saturday night because it was Halloween night we
weren't supposed to go tracting at night so we went to dinner with E___
P_____. As we sat in the restaurant people stared at us and some
people laughed at us. It was a very humbling experience. If people
knew who we represented and the message that we share they wouldn't be doing
these things. For a few minutes it made me look in the eyes of the Savior
how he was mocked, ridiculed, spat upon, and treated. I thought to myself
I don't care what others think of me I am standing up for what I know is
true. I am making my family and the Lord proud and that is all that
matters. I challenge all of you guys to do the same. I know it is
hard sometimes to get out of our comfort zone and share the gospel but all of
us have family, friends, we all know people that are lost and confused and we
have that answer in our lives and it is our job to share it with those around
us. People are so much more willing to listen to there friends or family
members about the gospel then two strange boys in white shirts and ties.
It says in Preach My Gospel that investigators progress so much better when
those friends around them are encouraging them. The members of the church
are the best way to progress this gospel. I challenge all of you to
introduce the gospel to one person in your life this week and see what
happens. The worse they can say is "no"
Wise Words from the Elder!
Another amazing experience I had this week was we went
down to Orange on friday for a training. I have been trying really hard
to be an exactly obedient missionary and when I mess-up to repent and try again
but this past week I have been really trying to find ways to have the spirit
with me more constantly and I have been praying for ways to do this. On
Friday at our training it was about little things we can do that can allow us
to have the spirit with us more strongly. I was so grateful this is what
I have been praying for and my prayers were answered. I know that the
Lord answers prayers so I challenge everybody to get down on there knees and
pray. If the Lord answers the prayers of a missionary in Australia then
he can answer your prayers. Just like it says in 1 Nephi 17:50-51
"if the Lord has wrought miracles among the children of men..." if
the Lord has answered other people's prayers then why can't he answer our
prayers. The one thing that we have to remember that I have to remember
is that the Lord answers our prayers in his timetable not ours. We must
learn patience and be willing to act through our faith even if we haven't
received an answer yet. Haha before my mission I thought I was a pretty
patient person because you have to be as a golfer but I have learned that I am
not very patient. Why does the Lord make us wait to receive answers to
prayers? For us to learn, the whole purpose of this life Alma 34:32
"For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea,
behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors."
The whole point of this life is to learn and one of the biggest ways that
we learn is through patience.
Other happenings of the week
Hi mum and dad :) this past week has been
awesome. I can't believe that this is week 5 of the transfer this week
and next week and then it's transfers again. Me and Elder Leal are
getting along great haha I hope he likes me I think he does. We are
becoming great friends its so cool that we live so close back in the states and
we are companions all the way over here in Australia. What you said about
my smile is so true. These last few weeks have been really hard for me
but this past week has been great and I have my eye smile again :) The mission
really is the highest of highs and lowest of lows your constantly up and down
and I know that I will go through many more trials and more low times but I am
growing and learning so much and I am so grateful for that. I am glad
that everybody loves my emails I really like writing them so maybe that is
something I will look into for a career when I get home. Haha it's crazy
I'm so used to saying I have 2 years before I go home but everybody keeps
telling me there like no you don't it's less then that now. Haha can't believe
I have been out almost 3 months now it's crazy how fast time goes by. It
seems like yesterday I was dropped off at the MTC curb and now it's
November. I hope that the time has gone by fast for you guys as
well. I miss you guys but I love being here and there is no other place I
would rather be. Everything that I have in my life is because of God and
one small way that I can repay him is serving for two years and yet even though
I am out here serving him he still continues to bless me.
Happy Halloween!!
So for Halloween we had a party with
the P______ the S_____ and some other people which was really fun. We
got some lollies which is always awesome. Ya so over here people call
candy lollies instead of candy which is funny they got some pretty funny words
they use over here haha and now I'm starting to use them without thinking about
it so I'm starting to become an Aussie. Next I gotta work on the
accent.:)
Whats the Weather like?
The weather has been pretty crazy lately.
It seems like it either rains all day and when it rains it dumps or it's super
hot. It's been nice and ya I don't really mind the heat which is
nice but everybody else complains about how hot it is. Haha it's weird
though having the seasons opposite and how it's going to be hot for
Christmas.
Funny stories
Um.......let's see funny things that happened this week. Haha we were tracting one day and we knocked on this door and a lady answered about mid 50's. We stood at her doorstep for probably 25 minutes while she tried to convert us to her religion and then she slammed the door in our face. Haha another one is Australia is known for the mythic creature a "drop bear" and so last transfer I got told about them from Elder Johnson and E___ P____ one night and how they jump out of the trees and night and will kill you. I didn't believe it but this past week we were talking to Ethan one night outside and so we told Elder Leal the story of the drop bear and we totally got him to believe it. Haha he was freaking out every night about how Elder Stott we got to get back to the flat or the drop bears are gonna kill us haha, Elder Leal knew we were just joking, funny things we do.
Things about the area
Most people here in Mudgee either work in a
trade so like plumber, carpenter, or something like that or they either work in
the big coal mines about a half an hour out of town. Mudgee is a mining
town so that is where a lot of people work is up in the coal mines.
There's 2-3 huge ones about a half an hour north of Mudgee in Ullan there
MASSIVE we've driven past them a few times and they are just
ginormous. Other than that just the regular jobs. Interesting facts
about Mudgee......let's see there are about 9,000 people in Mudgee. There
is not a single light but heaps of roundabouts. Um...I think I have seen
maybe 10 stop signs in Australia they are all just yield signs but instead of
saying yield they say "give way". Um...our chapel is on Putta
Bucca road it's a really nice
chapel. It's on the outskirts of Mudgee maybe you can drive past it on
google earth. Most schools in Australia and I think all of them in Mudgee
are Catholic schools. So no matter your religion you pretty much have to
go to Catholic school. People LOVE there McDonald's here Maca's is what
it is called here and there so much fancier here than in America. They
have like server's in some and IPads you can order food on and they have a cafe
inside with a bakery it's really cool. They also love there KFC as well
that's really all the fast food they have here oh and also Subway.
Minimum wage here is like $15 but everything is expensive here. Like a
meal at Maca's (burger, chips, fizzie) like between $10-15. It's crazy
our mission is the fourth most expensive mission to live in. Petrol (Gas)
is crazy expensive here like $1.50 for a liter and there are 4 liters in a
gallon so it's like $6 for a gallon of gas. Water is crazy expensive here
as well because it gets so hot here people don't water their lawns or plants or
anything because it is just to expensive.
Have a Great Week
Anyways I got to get goin hope you guys have an awesome week
because I know I'm gonna have a great week here. Thanks for everything I
love you guys so much. Thanks Dani for your emails every week they make
me so happy and nope your email wasn't to late :) Remember the Lord has
gone through anything and everything so he can help us through anything we are
going through.
Love Elder Stott
 |
| Just hanging out!! |
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