Today is a marvellous Tuesday morning here in Aussie. Sunshine, rain, wind, cold, warm, smiles, frowns, and everything! It has been quite a week! Wow!
Good news!
So firstly, as you are well aware by now, we had transfers this past weekend! And good news! Both Elder Tai and myself are staying! So Elder Tai will be the first comp that I have had for more than a transfer since Elder Cocker back in Woden! Cool beans! Missionaries that left our zone include the following: Elder Bourne, Elder Cheung, and Sister Taupau. So one from each ward. It is sad to see them go, but the Lord needs them wherever they are going!
 |
| Pho! Elder Tai and I ate at a Vietnamese restaurant. Woohoo! |
Last week was hectic for miracles, and finding new investigators, and working with the ward members. Man, it just was a really awesome week over all! As I mentioned, we had a couple trade-offs last week. The first one that I had was with Elder Semu, one of the missionaries in the Samoan ward. It was amaaaazing! I say it every time, Trade-offs with missionaries always bring miracles. Always! And I had two trade-offs this week. So yaaay for miracles!
When I was with Elder Semu, we were working in my area. We had a few solid appointments set that day, and we took out one of our priests in our ward to help us teach. We got to the first appointment, with an investigator named Armando from the Congo in Africa, but he wasn't home! Shoot! That's okay though, missionaries always have a back-up! I don't know if you remember the name "Emma" from a few weeks back, but we went to contact her, because she lives right across the street, and we got there, heard noises inside, and knocked, and her husband (Shane) came out. We hadn't met Shane before, so we introduced ourselves, told him that we had met his wife, and just started having a good chat with him.
 |
| Bankstown 1st Missionaries: Elder Tai (Hong Kong), Elder Harry (Vanuatu), Elder Larsen (Chico), Elder Abquina (Phillipines), Elder Macfarlane (Minnesota), Elder Bourne (Samoa), Sister Bushnell (San Diego), Sister Lam (Provo) |
Shane apparently used to live in Queanbeyan, and when he was there, he met with some Elders too! But it was also like 20 years ago, so he doesn't remember much. One thing that warmed our hearts was that he said that he remembers all of the Elders being really cool. Well, that is something that we can work with! We talked (on the doorstep) for like 30 min., and we eventually were able to teach and testify of the Message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Man, that was awesome!
He had told us that his faith was pretty much gone. And as we taught, you could see in his eyes that he has a desire to build his relationship with God once again. We promised him that as he read the Book of Mormon and prayed to know its truth, that he would know by the Power of the Holy Ghost that it is the word of God, and that God is there, and He loves Shane very much. We asked him what that would mean to him. He said, after pausing for a minute "....Then that would bring back my faith." Man, it was cool. It was a miracle to be placed in the right place at the right time to find Shane. We could have just gotten in the car and went somewhere else. But we didn't! How great is the Guitarist! (See Elder Cocker's words of wisdom)
 |
| Da zone! Elder Harry's coat is my favorite! (See below) another favorite smile |
Okay! I gotta learn to type faster! So my other trade-off was with Elder Harry, one of the missionaries that lives with Elder Tai and I. He is from Vanuatu (near Fiji) and is the maaaan! So funny! Gosh, we had a great trade-off. We went and visited one of the active members of our ward randomly, and this is where the miracle comes in. This member turned out to be sick. She had been feeling ill all week. We came in, and eventually just before we went, we were able to give her a blessing.
But this is the miracle. She has a husband who is not a member. Her two sons are members in young men's and YSA (Young Single Adults). Now, her husband loves missionaries, loves the church and everything, but he is devout Catholic. He has Word of Wisdom issues, and is living a hard life at the moment. Her husband and her are living separately just for the immediate future. And she is very concerned for him physically, mentally, and spiritually. And as this sister was telling us all of this, she came to realize something. She had been pondering just as we walked to the door what she could do to help her husband. She had decided after fasting and prayer that he needs counseling. So she decided that she would ask our bishop to go and try and help out somehow. That is when we knocked on the door. She realized as she was telling us all this that we were an answer to her prayer.
She decided that instead or along with bishop, she would send the missionaries to help her husband. She feels that he is ready. She knows we can help him. Man, it was so cool to be able to witness the hand of God in her and our lives. How great is the Guitarist! (She is now working on getting the address of her husband to give to us).
Our ZTM this past week was good. I trained on PMG Chapter 8 and taught about how we as missionaries can use our time wisely. Elder Tai trained on developing Christlike attributes. After our spiritual feast, we feasted physically as a zone on charcoal chicken and chips, and then took a zone pic! Lucky we did so just before transfers.
When we got to her house we saw an ambulance
Mom noticed that I spent some money on my card at the Hospital this week. This Sunday morning, as we were doing personal studies, we got a phone call from a woman in the ward. And she sounded in pain. She said that she had been in pain for the past 7 hours, and wanted us to come as soon as possible to give her a blessing. We agreed to do so, but we were not as fast as we could have been. We lingered a bit too long. When we got to her house, we saw an ambulance out front (Uh oh). Her husband was outside, and we asked what was going on. She was being transported to the hospital. We had taken too much time. We learned a valuable lesson: don't spend your time idly. To remedy our mistake, we went to the hospital, and eventually after waiting a bit were able to go in and give her a blessing. No hesitation from now on! Man! Poor woman!
Our ward continues to be awesome! Friday night, we had dinner with the H_ Family and the 11 year old investigator that I think that I have mentioned before, Te Auiti. Man it was awesome! We just got to know him better, and shared a short message. Last knight, however, we had FHE (Family Home Evening) with our bishop, who invited Te Auiti and his mom (Natasha W_ from Gisborne, NZ) And we had a great lesson. He is so keen to get baptised! We are excited for his future.
We also taught the A_ Family the Plan of Salvation. That was great! Naomi is in Brisbane till Thursday, so hopefully we can follow up with them after that.
Oceanly and Perlita's family came to church! They weren't able to make it, but Annie (their father's current partner) and Talia (Palu and Annie's daughter) came! Cool beans! We should be meeting with them all this week.
Do you clap for the Guitar or the Guitarist?
Lastly, Elder Cocker called me last night with permission to say goodbye for now... Man... He is wise beyond his years, that one. As he does, he taught me even in his final breaths (figuratively) by parable. He told me after I thanked him for all of his wise words and for everything he taught me as follows: "Do you clap for the Guitar or for the Guitarist?"
I replied "...both?"
He said "No, you clap for the guitarist. No matter what guitar the guitarist picks up, he is able to make beautiful music. The guitar is nothing without Him. So praise the Guitarist". The Guitarist is our Heavenly Father. Elder Cocker and all of us are his guitars. How wise! Man! He also mentioned that in his departing paragraph that I am the goldfish... Whatever that means. I will find out what he wrote next week I think. He is ready for whatever life throws at him. I will definitely miss him though...
(Parent Note: Elder Cocker was Jarrad's trainer in the Woden Ward. A truly remarkable missionary. Jarrad loved him "heaps" and will miss him. Here is a brief glimpse of Elder Cocker on their last day as companions a few months back):
Three things that made me smile this week:
- Elder Harry trying to speak Tongan hahhaahaha.
- Elder Semu telling me about how he used to beat people up before the mission :D
- Elder Tai and I doing boxing training in the morning (we now have boxing gloves and focus mitts to train with)
Favourite teaching experience: probably Shane
Hardest part of the week?: Saying goodbye to my mission dad (trainer)
I may get my package when I go to the mission office to play bball today. We will see...
Well, that is my epistle! Enjoy:) This week should be pretty hectic as well! Missionary work is amazing!
Ofa'atu!
Elder Larsen
 |
| Jarrad wearing Elder Harry's coat |
No comments:
Post a Comment