BYU (Weeks 88-89)

8/28/18

This past week was very crazy and hectic! We went to Mildura last week and it was a 5 hour drive and so we spent the night for a few days. We had zone conference which was the last one for the transfer and we were able to get that all finished up which was nice. We then drove all the way back to Adelaide and started transfer planning as we only had a few days left. This is where things got hectic and that is because 95 percent of the mission was transferred and we had about a day and a half to figure out all of the logistics of how it will work. Which included buying all of the plane tickets, making sure there were enough cars for all of the new areas, making sure everyone could actually get their luggage to transfers and making sure all of the SIM cards stayed in the same area and that every area had a SIM card and to make sure there are enough flats and places for missionaries to live in! So that was crazy and the biggest transfer I have ever heard of and seen on my mission.  When the day arrived it actually went very smoothly and everything worked out, so definite blessings from the Lord! We also switched our area out of the city to an area down south called Glenelg which is a beach side city near Adelaide so that should be exciting. It was funny because during the transfer phone call I had the phone on mute and did not realize until we read 90% of the transfers. Everyone was saying they were flipping out because they heard presidents remarks about all of the big changes and they didn't know what they were.  It was funny adding all of that suspense ha ha. I also found out that I was accepted into BYU Provo so that was exciting news for me!  Today all of the arrives are coming in so we are still going through week one festivities as they call it. I hope you all have a great week though and I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Me & Elder McDonald (my companion)

Mission Leadership with President and Sister Marquis

9/2/18

Hey everyone,
  This weeks update will be shorter as I wrote my last one mid way through the week last week, but we still had a busy second half of the week. We had all of the new arrivers come in and so we spent the day getting to know them and help them get adjusted and familiar with the mission which was great and they are great missionaries as well! We then had arrivers dinner and testimony meeting and we were able to announce where the new missionaries will be serving, which is always exciting to see their reactions! Then on Thursday we had arrivers training 1 and so we did the training on smartphones and that went well. Then on Friday we were able to go and proselyte in our new area which was interesting. We cover a city on the beach and so we get to contact people on the jetti and along the beach which is super cool. We then visited a lot of new missionaries in leadership and we were able to go through their responsibilities with them and it's great and feels great to be able to help them out. On Sunday we then attended church in Marion and that was interesting being in that ward again. We then attended a fireside that night ran by the mission and we helped President out with the presentation.  I was able to see some people from the City branch so that was awesome! We then helped pack everything up and we had to make a lot of car runs to the city branch and drop off all of the displays for the sisters. That took a while, but we did and that was the second half of my week so not too busy but busy enough. I hope you all have a great week and I LOVE YOU All!!! 

Netball (Weeks 85-87)

 8/5/18

Hey everyone hope you all have a great week so far! Last week was very busy with a lot of meetings that we attended! We first had MLC again this week to be able to talk about different topics that needed to be discussed and  we attended that for most of the day! Then the next day we had arrivers training 2 and so we presented a new training then what is usually trained on and it went very well. It felt very beneficial for the missionaries being able to learn more about a teaching skill that a lot of missionaries know and use in this mission! After the training we had a meeting with the city zone leadership and talked about concerns in the zone and about updating the city zone policies and procedures. That meeting went very well and the next morning we met again and wrote the rough draft of the new city zone policies and procedures and we presented it to the senior couple the Johnson's which was then presented to President Marquis. That Saturday we then met as a whole city zone and the new city zone policies and procedures was revealed and it was a great positive start to hastening the work in the city zone and  everyone was happy and excited! 

We then attended the fireside last night and it was all about the Book of Mormon and how it changes lives and I would invite all of you to read about the Book of Mormon and to pray with real intent if the book is true. This is so vital because relying on another's belief in it will only take you so far.  Please find out for yourself that it is true and if you have already that is just the beginning, keep it strong and keep seeking if it is true and the Lord will protect your testimony! We then helped the sisters take down and pack up the displays  and we locked up and it was pouring rain! It has been raining a lot recently and will continue to.  This Thursday we leave for our trip to the NT and will be there for about a week so that is exciting! I hope you all have a great week and I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

8/13/18

Hey everyone hope you all had a great week this past week. My week was extremely busy. On Tuesday we had the first zone conference and we did that all day long. the zone conference on Tuesday we had another zone conference on Wednesday and that took our whole day. All the missionaries were able to get their own smartphones and we had to do a training on that and prepare them to use them to hasten the Lord's work. On Thursday we then flew to Alice Springs and that was a pretty good experience. We had a dinner appointment that night and they were from Texas, but the wife is Spanish and we had green chili enchiladas and some grilled steak and chicken.  It was very delicious. Then on Friday we had the Alice Springs zone conference and that took the whole day, but was still fun. On Saturday we got to spend some time finding in the town and we also had a lunch appointment with the branch president's family. They own a netball court and little food shop.  They gave us food from there and we saw the netball court. Netball is a bad sport! It is like a cheap ripoff of basketball and handball. There is a rim with no backboard and it is a really weird sport.  We then visited some aboriginals in their home and invited them to church. Their kids love the missionaries and always want to play with the missionaries, it's easy to find joy around them. 

We also attended a baptism on Saturday. It was a great service and the lady baptized was baptized by someone who worked with her and introduced her to the gospel a few years prior. We then attended church in Alice Springs on Sunday and most of the people there were American. It was great to be able to be surrounded by them. Then later that evening we flew to Darwin.  Yesterday we had their zone conference which was fun. Monday is our Family Home Evening night (FHE) and we helped the branch prepare for that. We cooked a bunch of food for that event and it was good for investigators to see what a FHE is like.  We will be in Darwin until Thursday, but its been great to see the missionaries here. I hope you all have a great week and I LOVE YOU ALL!!! 

8/19/18

Hey everyone hope you all have had a great week this week. This last week was still pretty busy, but we were in Darwin for the week and we were able to proselyte some in Darwin. The missionaries are able to do finding in CDU which is a university in Darwin.  I was able to go proselyting there with some of the missionaries. Also one of my recent converts who moved to Darwin was able to meet with me and I was able to have dinner with him. It was good to catch up with him.  I was also able to see a few of the members in Darwin,which was super exciting. We then came back down to Adelaide on Thursday. We have been able to do proselyting in the city! Tomorrow we make a 5 hour drive to Mildura for their zone conference and so we we will be there until Thursday and that will be the last zone conference of this transfer and we will begin transfer planning! I hope you all have a great week and I LOVE YOU ALL!!!