My new Chinese name means "Thunder Shock"

Gday family!

What a week! Phew! It was quite busy as missionary work usually is.

They wished that I could stay longer on my mission. Can I? :)

So, I'll just jump right into it. My favorite moment with the Spirit (closely rivaled by my studies) was yesterday, an experience that emphasizes the power of fasting and prayer. President and Sister Back had stopped through Wollongong briefly on their way back to Mortdale, and they wanted to meet up and talk briefly with us and the other Wollongong missionaries. It was a great chat. A lot of the conversation was kinda laughing at old mission war stories (a lot of them that I was involved chasing missionaries or babysitting haha). They are so awesome. They expressed that they wished that I could stay longer on my mission. Can I? :)

Two years ago...

Anyways, all yesterday, we had been struggling to contact anyone that wanted to have anything to do with us, because it was Aussie Father's Day. It was kinda frustrating. Basically all afternoon after church we had zero luck. We both had faith in the power of fasting and prayer, but nothing seemed to be happening. Finally,  after the uplifting experience of talking with the Backs, the thought came to mind to visit someone that we wouldn't have the obstacle of Father's Day to work around. A Chinese student named Tom that we had tracted into previously came to mind, so we decided to drop what we were doing and try and contact him.

My new Chinese name means "Thunder Shock"

When we pulled up to his house, I had the impression that we should say a prayer, just for a bit of extra spirit "juice", or guidance from the Holy Ghost. I offered the prayer. We got out of the car, and knocked Tom's door. Another Chinese brother answered. He was very nice. He welcomed us into his home while he went to check and see if Tom was home. It turned out he wasn't. We spoke with him briefly, and the opportunity presented itself to use some of the Chinese that Elder Tai and Elder Wu both taught me when I was companions with them. He was shocked and delighted that I was saying those things. He invited us to sit down, and then excitedly proceeded to give us new Chinese names. My name means "Thunder Shock". It's pretty cool. Elder Hayward's is confusing hahaha.

Anyways, it turns out that this guy's wife is super curious about Christianity. We invited them to come to the Baptism we are having on Saturday, and they asked us to come back and teach them a bit about it on Thursday. They also asked for more material to read, and are really hyped up to learn. Thank goodness for language! And for my past comps! I learned, or rather it was re-emphasized, that there is great power in combined fasting and prayer, for I had fasted that day to be led to those whom the Lord had prepared. And I definitely feel that the extra prayer had everything to do with our experience!

My mind and heart are wide open, waiting for revelation

I also have made some changes to the format of my studies. I have observed that when I study, I have gotten into the habit of always starting with reading the Book of Mormon. I'll have really uplifting prayers, and then because the reading I do is pretty low maintenance, not always too keyed in and focused, sometimes I will lull myself into a state where I am still feeling the Spirit and learning, but not at the same level as I should, and I find that even after I change gears and start studying something that requires a bit more thought that I still am in that mode where I struggle to learn much. So to change it up, I have decided to first do the "heavy lifting" so-to-speak, meaning search the scriptures for answers to questions, study things by topic, or do whatever it is that I would previously do at the end first, and I have found that not only is that part more enlightening, but also my Book of Mormon reading is more productive, because my mind and heart are wide open, waiting for revelation. For example, I found some really neat scriptures that really touched me in D&C 75:2-5, as well as Alma 5:49 and D&C 67:10. Really neat scriptures!

A missionary and his spear gun.....

My laughs for the week would have to be first, my companion's first driving experience here, and second, a missionary and his spear gun.....

President told me to get Elder Hayward to start driving, so we got him behind the wheel. What was funny to me was just that the exact same things came out of his mouth that came out of mine my first driving trip. "There is way too much car on the left side, and way to little on the right." Hahaha it brought back fond memories. No one died (our neighbor's car almost did as he reversed). That was good. The other funny was that a missionary from Tahiti bought a spear gun here in Aussie (Pres Back took it away, and just gave it back) and he showed me it. It is pretty sweet. He is sending it home now, that's why he has it back. The thing is like 6 feet tall. And looks dangerous! A great toy for missionaries!

And yes, Pres did end up calling me to be a zone leader, so this coming week we get to go to MLC (Mission Leadership Council), then do ZTM (Zone Training Meeting) on Friday. Sunday night we are driving down to Elder Rose and doing a trade off with him and his companion till Wednesday morning. So basically things just got 12 times busier! And Elder Janes' and my greenie companions are going to be together, trying to figure it out by themselves. Woohoo!

Okay, I gotta go now, that's my week, Love you heaps!

Elder Larsen