O a mei oe? It has been a fun week! That's for sure! Definitely a lot of change!
Standing off to the side, sneaking glances at us missionaries
Alrighty, so my favorite Bankstown Missionary Moment of the week would have to be a miracle that we had while on a trade-off. So, I was with Elder Hall, working in our area one day last week, and we were at a train station, talking to someone, when there was a person standing off to the side of us, sneaking glances at us missionaries, and looking like they wanted to talk to us. The person we were talking to eventually got up and left, following which we were approached by a young woman named....Moana (Jarrad's younger sister has this same name)! Hahaha funnily enough! She was born and raised in Aussie, but her family is from the Cook Islands, hence the Cookie Maori name. She told us about how her boyfriend who lives in Melbourne and his fam are members, and how she used to go to church with them all the time. She also told us all the stuff that she knows about the church. She was so excited to meet us here at the train station that she just had to come and talk to us. We asked if she met with missionaries before, to which she replied, "No, but the missionaries would come over and teach her boyfriend." She was always cooking or something when they came. We asked if we could meet up with her throughout the week sometime, and she said "Of course, I don't have anything much to do anyways". Cool!
So, the very next day, we met at a park and talked more about her knowledge of the Church and whatnot. Turns out she had heaps of awesome questions. She asked about baptisms for the dead. We helped her to understand the doctrine behind it, and now she is pretty keen to do baptisms for her ancestors! (She of course needs to be a member first). She has also been approached by her boyfriend's grandmother about marriage in the temple, which she is keen for. Wow! So keen! She will do well in the future!
Help him to stop smoking
Another highlight of the week was a trade-off with Elder Mariano, the other Filipino elder who lives in Bankstown. It was fun because it was soooo hot! And we were on foot. The Lord placed some people in our path, we met a less-active guy not on the ward list that wants the elders to help him to stop smoking. The Lord definitely knows where we need to be, when we need to be there. Trade-offs always bring miracles!
Facing prison time, and he is only 18 years old
A favorite teaching moment was when we taught J*hn and M*l. M*l was pretty hysterical, because her son is in such a bad place. Essentially, he will be facing prison time, and he is only 18 years old. Her health doesn't help. She has stomach ulcers as a side effect of some other health problem she faces. The poor thing. We tried to get into a lesson situation, but being missionaries who understand the importance of adjusting our teaching to meet needs, we decided to teach about the priesthood, specifically about priesthood blessings of comfort and healing. We offered to give her one, which she accepted. The Spirit entered the room as Elder Wu and I laid our hands on their heads. She was so much more peaceful and calm after the blessing. They are recognizing the Spirit for sure. We gave them a Restoration DVD to help them understand where our authority comes from. It was a great experience!
Y*n is doing well! The Ward knows who he is now, so he was invited to come to a service project with a family in the ward, where he was able to meet members of the Ward Council and Bishopric, critical to the process of handing recent converts over to the Ward. So he is doing well! Unfortunately he was unable to make it to church, but that's okay! Maybe next week!
Zh*ng apparently went back to China for a month.... Sigh... So close to his date!
Oc*an and P*rlita have indeed dropped off of the face of the planet again. They are officially less-active investigators!
How do you feel about speaking Samoan?
Okay, so transfers..... Would you like to know what happened? I am sure that you do want to know! Dumb question. Okay, well I will tell you how I found out about what was going to happen for transfers.....
It all started on Saturday evening. I had conducted a baptismal interview for a guy named D*nie in Mortdale ward, so we attended his baptismal service on Saturday (which was awesome by the way). President Back was also there. Before the Baptism, he said "Ah Elder Larsen! You are one that I need to talk to. We will talk after the baptism."
Sure enough, President pulls me aside after the baptism and takes me to the chapel, where we sit down. Here is something like what our conversation consisted of:
"Well, Elder Larsen. How long have you been a zone leader now?"
"Ummm, just under 1 year."
"And how much longer do you have to go on your mission?"
"Till October of this year."
"Wow, you still have a long time to go! That's great! You must have been called early in your mission. Would that have been your 6 month mark?"
"Yeah, it was."
"Cool! Are you ready for a new assignment?"
"I think so hahaha. Do I get to go to the Spanish ward?"
"Well.... No. We would have really liked to get you there, but unfortunately that is going to be impossible.... (he continued to tell me all of the problems with the Spanish ward, how they struggle to find things to do, how there are so many missionaries that are called to speak Spanish that have yet to serve there etc.)
"Darn, President. That's okay. Am I getting released at least?"
"Well, yes. How do you feel about speaking Samoan?"
...................
"Really?" (massive grin on my face)
"Yep!" (He then told me all of the reasons that he would like to send me to a Samoan ward. The main reason was that the mission has put palagi (white) missionaries in other Islander wards, and miracles have come from it. They know how strong of a desire that I have to learn Spanish, and thought that it would transfer to Samoan. He also gave me a few additional assignments concerning missionaries I will be working around.)
So, I got transferred! I am currently serving in a Samoan ward in Campbelltown, Campbelltown 3rd ward. Yes. Samoan speaking. I talked to Elder Tito quite a bit about my assignment. History is repeating himself! I think that my dad serving in the Samoan program had an influence on them choosing me. Well I will take it!
My comp (soa)'s name is Elder Tuua. He is the man! I will have to tell you more about him next week. But it is sooo fun working here in this ward. I don't know much of the language. Any tips by the way on how I can learn it faster? I know it will be difficult, but I am excited for the drastically different challenge. The Lord will help me as I rely wholly on him. I must have been in need of some humbling or something hahaha!
Well.. That's my week! This week will bring something new! I am happy to not have the same responsibilities as before, but I have some entirely new ones at the moment.
Much Alofa!
Elder Larsen
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| O Le Tusi a Mamona - The Book of Mormon |
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