Royal Adelaide Show (Week 37 & 38)

Hello Everyone,

(Week 37)

It has been a while since I have last written a letter, but that is because I was able to attend the temple today so my P-day changed this week. I was able to do an endowment session for my great grandfather and it made the experience very memorable and a much greater experience as well! It is very special to be able to do temple work for those in your family. It helps you grow closer to them. We also celebrated President Monson's birthday last week by buying a cake and singing happy birthday ha-ha it was fun.

 Sunday was the baptism of two of the investigators I had the pleasure of teaching Felix and Max. They both had come a long way on their journey to Christ, especially Felix. He was a non believer who only took science as a fact and would not admit the promptings he had for the spirit. It was a big struggle at first because his language was not the greatest (Chinese). As we invited him to more baptisms, church and to write down his feelings in a journal every time he prayed, or when he read and came to church he was able to recognize the spirit touching his heart. He overcame a smoke addiction. He stood up to his group of friends and said no when they offered him to smoke. He is such a testimony to me, that no matter who we meet in this life through Jesus Christ anyone can change and come unto Him! 

 

Felix and Max baptism

On Monday we also spent the whole day tabbing book of Mormons for the Royal Adelaide show tomorrow. We did 250 of them.  It took ages to get them all done even though we had like 22 missionaries helping ha-ha! It will be exciting as people will receive these book of Mormons at the show this week and next.  The book contains questions of the soul, such as what is the purpose of life.  It will be great to see all of the miracles from it as well. It has been a very busy week, but I do have a few pictures. We went out to eat with our recent converts Jim and Felix and we had hot pot and it was very delicious and spicy. I hope you all have a great week and I love you all!!!

Eating Hot Pot with Jim and Felix

(Week 38) 

Hello everyone just a quick update for the week. This week was pretty cool because we were able to go to the Royal Adelaide Show. The elders have to act as bouncers, so if someone was trying to cause trouble at our booth or mess with the sisters, we can be there to stop it.  Elder Li and I have been there a few times already this weekend on our shift and it is a really popular community event. There are heaps of people and lots of food, rides and booths around with different information and products being shared. We are there sharing information about the church, family history and the Book of Mormon as well!  It goes the whole week, so we will be there all week. 

6 Baptisms in one day!

We also had a fireside last night about the Restoration of the church.  Jim our recent convert shared his testimony and experience.  It was really good to be able to witness that last night. The spirit was so strong as many people testified of the truth of the Book of Mormon and how the church has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. It means so much that we have a prophet that lives today, President Thomas S. Monson. I am grateful that Joseph Smith restored lost eternal truths for us as well as the restoration of the priesthood. The priesthood allows us the privilege to be baptized and participate in many other ordinances and receive the blessings and promises that God gives us. These ordinances can now be performed by someone holding the priesthood authority of God.

Beautiful Australia Rainbow

 
 I encourage everyone to read the Book of Mormon because it is evidence that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that the church has been restored through him. It is also evidence that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the World and it is also evidence that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Jesus Christ's church on the earth. I know that these three simple truths are true because I have read the Book of Mormon myself and most importantly I have prayed to know if the message it contains it is true. I have been able to receive a witness through the Holy Ghost that it is true. I encourage you all to read the book if you haven't and ask God if the book is true. I know that God will answer you through the Holy Ghost and for those who have, I encourage you to keep doing it because I promise you that your testimony of it will continue to develop and grow. I Hope you all have a great week and I love you all!!! 

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Sincerely,

               Elder Ethan Salcedo

Met Elder Stevenson (Week36)

Hello Everyone,

This was a very great week for me. Elder Stevenson came to Adelaide and I was able to meet and shake his hand. We had a small mission conference and Elder Stevenson talked with us.  Elder Cardon of the Seventy was there as well as our area seventy Elder Lekias. The spirit that he carried was so strong and it felt so purifying to my heart and brought so much peace to my heart as well.

Elder Li & I and the Zone

Well my first week as district leader was very good. It went a lot better than I thought. With more time and with more help from the Lord, I have started to get comfortable with the responsibilities that I have. I had a lot of meetings to attend this week and I drove the car a lot ha ha. It is good because I missed driving. I still prefer driving on the other side of the road and plus you can drive faster in America, but it was still good to be driving again. It was also raining a lot this week and was very cold! After stake conference yesterday it was raining the entire day. It was so cold that my face was numb and trying to type numbers in the phone was tough, ha ha! 

 

Zone Conference

Haigh's Chocolates

The work has been great here on the mission. At the beginning of transfers we get a newsletter with all of the baptisms of the mission and it is always exciting to see all of the baptisms. We have already surpassed the amount of baptisms the mission had all of last year and we are only at the beginning of August!!!! We also got a lot of new elders and one of them is 6'9, he is really tall and they had to order a special bed for him ha ha! This week elder Li and I are preparing for two of our investigators to be baptized Felix and Max! Please keep them in your prayers as they prepare for baptism!  Some elders in my district let me know about the Haigh's chocolate factory. They give free tours of the factory, so it might be a future district activity this transfer, since I get to plan those :) Well I hope you all have a great week and I love you all!!!
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> Sincerely,
>                Elder Ethan Salcedo

Still Strong (Week 35)

Hello Everyone,

So we had transfers again this week and........ I am still in the city, which is fantastic! I am so glad and excited! I am still with Elder Li and that is great.  This transfer I was called to serve as District Leader!  Yes, I get to drive the car and that will be interesting. I have already gotten use to driving on the opposite side of the road. It wasn't too hard to get used to it. I am now also responsible to do the grocery shopping for the flat. All I'm going to buy is cereal and skittles, the sugar will fuel my energy. Ha! Ha! Elder Li cooks and he knows what we need to get, so it's all good. Living with two elders from China gets me plenty of authentic Chinese food. Elder Chen moved over to another flat to be the district leader of the other district in our zone. It will be different because I have been with him for almost 9 months, but we will still be in the same zone.  Elder Maddock from England moved back to my flat. It will be good to be able to see him more often and be his district leader!

This week went by really fast! We were just building up our area finding more people to teach as well just preparing to see how transfers would go. Elder Koch who has been my zone leader since the beginning of my mission goes home tomorrow and I am happy for him. That it is crazy how fast the time has gone! The weather has started to warm up, but it is going to rain all this week, so it might cool back down, maybe. Its cold and warm and all over the place. It will be an interesting transfer to say the least, since being district leader will be a new experience. I also found out that my MTC companion will be serving out bush in Alice Springs, that is in the heart of the Outback. He has served outlying his whole mission so far and I have been in the city the entire time.

Yes dad, I'm still considered the strong man here! The other day at Family Home Evening we had a competition. It was who could plank the longest and I won! It's funny how somethings don't change!We then had a pushup competition to see who could do the most, I was not allowed to compete because they all said it would be an easy win for me and not fair! ha ha

I am also super excited because Elder Stevenson is coming this weekend to Adelaide!! He will train the whole mission on Saturday and will speak at stake conference on Sunday. It will be a great opportunity and spiritual experience! I heard that he was in Tuscon for the dedication last week  and and I heard the temple there looked beautiful. Temples are the best place to be.  Elder Li and I are going to help our recent converts go to the temple next month! Well my time is up and I hope you all have a great week, I love you all!!!

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Sincerely,

               Elder Ethan Salcedo