Darwin!! (Week 51-53)

Hello Everyone,

51(12/10) I can not believe another week is over and we are already in the final week of the transfer, so crazy.  We had a huge miracle this week! Elder Li and I taught a former investigator, Anthony and we lost contact with him.  Monday night of last week we found him on the street and he wanted to meet with us again. His exams are over and he has met with us pretty much everyday.  We are seeing him again tonight! He is on baptismal date for December 23, which will be super exciting because he is a great person!  

Our mission is participating in a world wide program called Light the World.  We have signs all over the city, with displays that are 2 meters wide. We have different shifts and during that time we just blitz contact as many people as we can. I have been talking to more natives than usual.  We have been giving out a ton of referrals as a zone so far. Light the World has gotten so many people's attention with the different things they can do to help others. It has been a great message to share with people.  I invite all of you to spread this message with your friends at school or at work. I challenge you to give out Light the World information and calendars to at least 3 people before the end of the year! I promise you that you will inspire your friends to participate.  It will help them feel the spirit of the Lord in their lives and draw them closer to the message of the restored gospel.  I hope you all have a great week and continue to spread the good news of our Savior's birth and life! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

52 (12/17) Well we just had transfers and I am............transferred. This transfer I will be serving in the Darwin zone with the new assignment of Zone leader!! My area name is Nightcliff. I must say that it was a very big surprise and shock to me to be leaving and serving in the assignment that the Lord has given me! One of the hardest things I would have to say about transfers is packing and fitting everything under the weight limit ha-ha, just kidding, that is one of the tough parts. Of course I would say leaving all the people behind that I have served for this past year! I will miss them a lot, but I am excited to see what new adventures await me in Darwin! 

This week was a tough week with trying to find new people to teach as lots of people were traveling to China for the holidays.  Sunday was great though, because our recent convert Rocket taught a short mini lesson in Elders Quorum class and he did a fantastic job! He talked about the reason why we go through trials and how obedience will bring us blessings from God.  He shared his experiences which were very recent. He has only been a member for 3 weeks, which is crazy to see the growth and his progress! 

Today will be a very busy day as I leave at 5 pm for Darwin, it is a 5 hour plane ride.  It will be an interesting transition.  I hear that Darwin is a very beautiful place, but that it is also the wet season and it rains like almost everyday. Hopefully my clothes last while I am in Darwin ha-ha! I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas! I hope that you all enjoy the holidays and have an amazing week. Always remember Christ's birth and the many blessings that come from Him in our lives! 
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! 

Christmas Skype

53 (12/26)  Merry Christmas!!!!!!! I hope you all had a great Christmas this past week! It was great up here in Darwin! It was so busy with so many meetings and so many things to do. I don't even know where to start! The first day after I arrived in Darwin we did a cool service project.  We went toad busting. We spent time catching kain toads in the botanical gardens at night.  As a zone we caught around 150 toads in about 1.5 hours which was cool! We then hosted an activity at the YMCA in the city.  It was a big Christmas special, we sang Christmas songs, watched the Nativity and had lots of food! There were a lot of people, mixed both members and nonmembers.  The people at the YMCA loved it and want us to host activities once a month for all the people that live there! We also went to a barbecue as a zone. We watched some mission skits and photos from the year which was fun! 

On Sunday we went to church, watched the devotional and had a big lunch which was cool! We also went to visit people. On Christmas day we got to open presents. I got a nice neon orange and black rugby ball, some pancake mix and maple syrup. Elder Dickson's mom got us a drawing board that we can write notes and pictures for lessons. She also gave us some candy, Nerf guns, and a tie which was super nice of her! We then ate breakfast at a members home and had scrambled eggs, hash browns, pancakes and it was very good!

Later that evening we watched, The spirit of the Game. A movie about Mormon missionaries in Melbourne who were a part of a basketball team called the Mormon Yankees. They were there to help the Australian Olympic team train to become good.  It helped remove barriers from Mormons and Australians which was cool.  A fun fact, is they faced the Olympic basketball teams and beat all of them in a exhibition match, except the Russians, which was cool!

 The next day we went to do a service project at a members home to help them clean up their rescue farm and clean out their shed, which was fun. We were able to see a lot of different animals.  I was able to hold baby Joeys, which are baby Kangaroos, that was super cool. The senior couples have a picture of me holding one, but I haven't gotten it from them yet.  We also went to the territory wildlife park and saw a whole bunch of Northern Territory animals which was super fun! 

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week and Happy New Year! I Love you all!!!

Sincerely,
              Elder Ethan Salcedo