New Years approaching

Hello! Today is the last time I will be writing in 2012. A new year is approaching!

The remainder of the last week was pretty cool. Friday morning, Elder Pasina and I jumped on a plane and travelled down to Perth, to have some specialised training from President Lindsay, as well as to attend the temple.

President had some really good training, as well as some announcements!

Seeing as how the mission age has been lowered, February will see 16 new missionaries in the Perth Australia mission! Of those 16, all but 3 are sisters. March will see 12 new missionaries as well.

Where are they all going to go? (This will mean new areas opening up.)

Our mission, for the next few months, will be focusing on knowing all the doctrines of the 4 missionary lessons. To do that, we've been practicing teaching, for example, the Plan of Salvation, in 4 minutes, including all the major points, explaining clearly, and leaving a commitment. (Note: This doesn't mean we're going to be speed-teaching people from now on. This will help us to be able to know the teachings and be able to help people understand even better what's being taught.) It was cool. Right afterwards, we went to the temple. I love going there.

Then, Elder Pasina and I went to spend the night with some other missionaries. We met our new companions there! Elder Pasina will be companions with another missionary until the actual transfers day. As for me, my new companion is Elder Richmond. Elder Richmond is from Tahiti, and he speaks French! He's pretty cool. We're going to have fun together.

I've noticed that I've gotten a new companion Every Single Transfer. Hmm.

We flew up the next day, back to Karratha. Yesterday, (Sunday) we both gave talks in sacrament meeting. Elder Richmond afterwards met a member of the branch, who is also Tahitian! They spent the next little while talking in french, while I pretended to understand what was going on. It was fun. It really cheered up the member, because he's missed speaking in his language for a long time.

So that's been my week. People start coming back from holidays now, so we're expecting a good week :)

Also, we've been told it's Cyclone season! Haha, Elder Richmond actually came at the perfect time, because for the past couple of days, there's been one just off the coast. Really cooled things down to a nice 30C. But I'm excited, apparently they're pretty common, and people are starting to prepare (ie. tying down their houses, boats, dogs, etc. )

Love you all!

Elder Reeder

We all survived!

Everybody! Merry Christmas! (Oh yeah, and we all survived Dec. 21, too.)

I got to call the family! It was so great to be able to talk to everyone, and hear all your voices :) Unfortunately, the phone cut out right at the end.

So, here's a written-down version of my week. Karratha, as we came to find out, becomes a literal ghost town the week of Christmas. We spent one day knocking on doors, and I think 5 answered. However, we were able to get in to see Brother Tupou and his family! (Brother Tupou is a member, but his children aren't yet.) We've picked them up as investigators and began teaching them on Saturday. They are a really fun family to teach. They're also moving to Sydney later in January, so...

Monday was Christmas Eve! We were invited by President Pilkington (Branch president) and his family over for dinner. We had a great time. President has a lot of instruments at his house, but doesn't know how to play many of them. He asked if I played anything. (Why yes I do. Clarinet.) And he had one! And requested that I try it out, and make sure that it works. (By all means, if you insist.) Christmas day! We woke up. I thought, oh, yay, it's Christmas! Elder Pasina called his family in Tonga, got to talk to them. I opened the door to look outside and decided that someone had forgotten to order the "white" for the season. This is the first Christmas I've spent with the A/C on :D

We were invited over to a family's house for lunch, the Clarkes. I love that family as well. We had turkey and potatoes and stuffing and "fizzy drink" (soda). We chilled for a little while on the couches, and played a couple rounds of Uno with them. Unexpectedly, they gave us a gift! Chocolate and a gift card :)

So, overall, it's been a very nice Christmas. I miss getting together with the family back home, but it was nice up here as well :)

Today is Boxing day. (No, I haven't boxed yet.)

Tomorrow, is pretty much the only Normal day this week! Friday, Elder Pasina and I get to fly down to Perth, for some special mission training, and to go to the temple! Then, Saturday, I come back up. With another missionary. Elder Pasina's being transferred! We got a call a while back, telling us. He's being transferred 2 weeks early, to somewhere (unknown), with someone (unknown also) as his companion. I'll be up here still, with someone else (Also unknown also). We don't know all the reasons behind it, but the earliness has to do with the cost of plane tickets back and forth. (saving money.)

So! That's going to be fun. Even better, this new missionary who I'll be with will be giving a talk this Sunday in Sacrament Meeting. Whee! It's going to be great.

We're excited for the next few weeks, though. That's when everyone who's left town for the holidays is supposed to get back. And that means our investigators as well!

I love you all, and again, I loved being able to call :) Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Love,

Elder Reeder

The End of the World

On the 21st. Or so I've heard. I've also heard the 12th, 22nd, January 5th, and 2036. People are funny.

So, another week up here in Karratha. Elder Pasina and I are still trying to find some new investigators. We've actually had really great success from tracting these past two weeks! However, all of those that we found are going out of town for Christmas. Luckily, they come back soon :)

We go with our ward mission leader a couple of times a week and do a "bread run." A local bakery has a lot of extra bread from the day, and we take it around the community and give it to people. It really helps people to recognise us, and develop a good relationship with them. At the same time, we invite them to come to church. We've met some nice people, members, etc. Also, several members have been going around and befriending people, bringing them along as well! Yesterday, Kelvin, a recent convert, brought his father to Sacrament Meeting. He really enjoyed the service, and he's very supportive of his son. Also, we found a part-member family in the branch. We invited them, and the whole family came to church! We're going to start teaching the two younger kids this week. They're pretty cool.

It's getting to be pretty hard to stay busy all day, every day. We've just about finished tracting the entire reachable portion of this area. Things will pick up after Christmas, when all of our investigators return, but for now it's slow.

Oh yeah, on Saturday I discovered why we keep getting told to wear sunscreen up here. I was out for 30 minutes without it, and my arms Roasted.

I can't believe the year's just about over! And I've almost been out for 10 months! It's crazy.

I love you all, and I hope you're all enjoying the snow, and the 32F degree weather, back there! We get dust storms, and 32C degree weather! (I'm dreaming of a red Christmas?) We've been sharing a Christmas message with people, the past little while. What a wonderful time to reflect on our Savior's birth, and all that came with it.

Love,

Elder Reeder

Christmas Time is Here!

Hi, Family! Today is December 10th!

We've had a pretty cool week up here in Karratha, (relatively speaking...) I think the highest temperature this week was about 44C. (107F)

Elder Pasina and I spent a majority of it tracting, trying still to find new people to teach. It's pretty funny, actually, just about everyone in town is going Out of town for Christmas. WHERE DO THEY ALL GO? (Karratha is in the true outback) Anyway, we had some pretty cool things happen!

We were finishing up a street, and knocked on a particular door. A man answered, and we introduced ourselves. Then the cool part: He invited us in, right there, to talk to him and his family! It was the coolest thing; his wife and daughter joined in, and sat down. We talked to them about their beliefs. Elder Pasina was impressed, they had very strong testimonies of Jesus Christ. We taught them about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and introduced them to the Book of Mormon. The man, whose name is Joseph, said that he and his family would read it, and said that we could come back again sometime and continue to teach them.

I'm really loving this area. The branch is very much involved in missionary work. Something they're trying to make sure of is that every new convert has the support that they need, and that they are able to have their questions answered. One newer sister has been going through a rough time, and it's so great to see the whole branch trying to reach out and help her. The Christmas party for Karratha Branch was on Friday, and we had many nonmembers, investigators, and recent converts attend! There was a barbecue on, (we helped cook it), games for the kids, and then everyone went inside to sing carols and watch a nativity by the primary. That was one of the cutest nativities I'd ever seen a primary do, by the way.

Sunday, we got to see the First Presidency Christmas Devotional! Now that brought the Christmas spirit :)

(By the way, I saw Aunt Danny in the Choir! Also, in the November Ensign, Uncle Scott is in a picture of the choir singing)

Sunday was pretty cool in other ways, too. We had a Lightning storm! Usually, clouds build up in the mountain range near us, but don't actually come to Karratha. Sunday, they came all the way over, and it drizzled a bit, and started a couple fires out in nowhere from all the lightning. I couldn't believe how much there was.

We got news from the Assistants about after Christmas; we're going to be Flying again! Down to Perth, for a mission-wide training meeting, and to attend the temple! Cool!

So that's been my week. Merry Christmas, everybody! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Reeder

On the 3rd Day of Christmas

I got sent to the Pilbara :)

It's been really intense up here, so far! Karratha is the northernmost area a missionary here can go to. And the hottest. I got off the plane, and was physically slapped by it. Yes, we're wearing hats and lots of sunscreen up here. Elder Pasina is pretty cool, he's from Tonga. My first night here, we went over and met President Pilkington. Karratha is a branch, but a growing branch! Let me tell you, it was a very packed meetinghouse yesterday. (Plans are in the works to build an extension.) President Pilkington is ON IT when it comes to missionary work. Also, he has a 5 year old son who everyone, (myself included) thinks he looks like me. Haha.

Elder Pasina and I are on Bikes! And no one really knows why. Our area, if you look on Google Earth, covers a chunk of WA visible from space. And we're on bikes. But we're making the most of it. The members in the branch are very nice, and help us out when we need a lift somewhere far. It's going to be really fun here :)

We're spending a lot of time tracting right now, trying to find some new investigators. There were a lot of baptisms happening here recently, and so the area is definitely "ripe for the harvest." We've just got to find them :) The majority of the people here are workers, out on the mines, industrial area, or building homes for those working in the mines. There are a Lot of company trucks driving around.

Christmas is coming! We're preparing and inviting people to come to a branch Christmas party at the chapel this Friday. This is definitely going to be the most interesting Christmas I have ever seen in my life.

Well, that's been my week. I love you all! And Happy Birthday to Scott! 18!

Love,

Elder Reeder

I'm Leavin' on a Jet Plane!

So, you'll never guess what's happened. This week is Transfers! But before I tell you that, I'll say other stuff first.

We had a really great week :) Elder Segi and I got to see Jady baptised! It was really cool. His whole family turned up for it, and several families in the ward as well :) Everyone loves him.

Hahaha, it was a really bizarre morning, though. We got to the chapel to get the font ready, and guess what was inside? The Rockingham Clogger's Association, with their annual get-together in full swing. Who approves stuff like this? Our jaws just about hit the floor. Same with the bishop :D Luckily, they weren't using more than the cultural hall, so we went to the other end of the chapel for the program. It was all good.

There were 7 baptisms in the mission this weekend!

We also were able to get in contact with Jules again! He's been really busy with job training, and forgot his phone. We brought him to church this last Sunday. That guy is Amazing. He was singing the hymns, he took notes during class, asked questions, Seriously got into it :) He loved being there, made some new friends, and wants to come back next week. We're going to set a new date for him next time we see him.

Guess how far we biked in one day? 72 k's. (That's 45 miles.) We found out there are some families living way out in the country, and we decided to go visit them. And then we had to bike all the way to the other end of our area for an appointment. What a day. Allie, I saw a statue of a pink elephant, and thought of you ;)

So, back to transfers. *Drum-Roll*

I got a call yesterday from the Assistants. I have a Plane Ticket to Karratha! I'm leaving today sometime, and taking a plane tomorrow, up to the near-northernmost part of WA. IT'S HOT UP THERE! But exciting :D I'm packing my one bag, and leaving everything else (bike, etc.) at the mission office for storage. It'll be cool. And kind of sad. It was becoming really fun here in Kwinana! My new companion will be Elder Pasina, and he will be the District Leader. Elder Segi is going to Train now :) There are 12 new missionaries coming into the mission tomorrow!

(Oh yeah, fun fact: The mission HQ in Salt Lake City usually gets around 500 requests a week, average. The week after General Conference, they got 7,000. Is missionary work increasing? I THINK SO.)

Yup, that's what's going on this week, down in Oz.

Random event of the week: One of our recent converts, named Kevin, was driving up to Kalgoorlie last week. He hit a kangaroo. Apparently that's a pretty common thing to happen.

Hey! It's the Christmas Season! I hope? Happy Holidays :) go ski!

Love,

Elder Reeder

Nearly There!

Good morning, good morning! Today is Monday, and I am still alive and well :) Why do I say this, you ask?

Elder Segi and I had the privelege of experiencing an early summer heat wave! It was 34C on Friday (93F).

Anyway. The week. We've found out that there are a few members and potential investigators in a suburb called "Casaurina." Casaurina is about 10 kilometers from Anything, except the highway. But we biked it, and found a guy named Richard. He's pretty cool, from South Africa. He's studying Theology at the university. He had a lot of questions. We gave him a book of mormon before we left. Cool.

JD is doing awesome. We set up a time for him to be interviewed this week, and he'll be baptised this Saturday, by Elder Segi. Still excited as ever :) Unfortunately, with Jules, we've run into some difficulties. We haven't been able to get in contact with him for about 2 weeks now. We've no idea what's happened. Hopefully he's all right.

We've had some really odd things happen this week. One: We were biking down the street, when we were stopped by a very drunk man, who asked us if we had some money. He then started asking us why we were "terrorizing people on our fancy bikes, where did we get them bikes anyway," etc. etc. And then, a guy comes riding past him, on a UNICYCLE. Wow, that was pretty random.

We also ran into a former investigator, at a less-active member's home. Her name is Tamara. The family was really nice, and said we could come back again sometime :) Apparently, she's visited the US before, specifically Utah. And she couldn't get over the fact of how many different kinds of jello salad people can make. She went to a family for a lunch, and there was a whole table dedicated to the stuff :D Marshmallows, carrot, pineapple, and on and on and on. She's amazed it's a "salad." (here, it's a dessert only.)

So, this week is the last week of the transfer. Holy Cow, it's really flown by! I can't believe it. And we've gotten some rumors from the zone leaders that we might be training this next transfer... D:

The district is ON FIRE! During correlation last night, I figured out that between our district (4 companionships), we have 8 baptismal dates! That's got to be some sort of record. And 4 of them were set this week! Everyone's pretty happy right now. The Rockingham elders had a cool experience with the family that they're teaching.

Of random note: I got a haircut.

Sorry if there's not much here this week, I can't really think this morning :P

Love you all! And Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elder Reeder

Sunshine!

Another week in Australia!

Elder Segi and I have probably ridden 200 k's this week, all over our area. A lot of people have suddenly come down with illness (again?). Elder Segi caught it, too, and conked out Monday evening. He's determined not to let it get the better of him, though. He bought some tablets and we were out and about again. (This was Monday. He's feeling better now.)

Also, apparently the nearest bike shop, to buy tube replacements from, is about an hours walk away. Yup, we found this out the hard way. Very long story short, We're borrowing another missionary's bike for a while. :P

We've been working a lot with our two investigators with baptismal dates. I'm so excited! Our whole district is on fire, actually. There are 4 dates right now :) The gospel is really reaching the people in Western Australia!

JD is really excited. Every time we go over, the tv goes right off, he gets his scriptures, pen, and notebook and sits right down with us. He's determined to remember everything. His younger siblings as well, are starting to get into it! What an example he's setting for the rest of his family.

Jules (We found out it's spelled that way, not 'jeas'). is getting there as well! We reset his date to the 1st of December. He agreed with it, and wants to make sure that he's ready when he's baptised. We had a wonderful lesson with him on the book of mormon. We gave him a copy in his language. He got really emotional, and told us that he would give it to his wife. He and his wife had been going to different churches for 26 years, but he is certain that this would bring them together at last. We love meeting with Jules, and he loves us as well. We just need to get him to church, something's keeping him from coming right now.

We spent Friday out in Rockingham, on the Foreshore, contacting people with the other elders. THE BEACH IS SO BEAUTIFUL. I seriously wanted to go down to the water. But we can't. Darn. Elder Segi and I found some pretty cool people that day, including a man from Egypt! We also got very sunburned. Not so cool.

Yesterday was Remembrance Day. At 11AM there was a moment of silence to reflect on those who died in WWI, and for the signing of the Armistice, which ended it.

Well, that's my week. It's been pretty spiritual for us all. We went tracting and were actually invited inside a house, and able to share a lot of our beliefs about after this life with an older man. We helped him to see that he Did have a faith. It was really cool.

Love,

Elder Reeder

Mo-vember

So, sounds like people were having a blast at Halloween? :D I like the idea of donuts.

We actually had a Halloween activity down here! It was a trunk-or-treat as well. We all had some investigators attend, which was cool. I shook hands with a little kid, not realizing it was covered in toffee. Cute.

Friday and Saturday were pretty hectic. We spent much of it in the sister's area, helping to get the work going there. It was actually pretty fun, and we did get a few potentials for them to work with :) They were grateful. Then Elder Segi and I went with the Zone Leaders to our Ward Mission Leader's home, to meet with him for the first time. He's a good leader. Right afterwards, he came out with us and we visited some people we'd been working with.

Saturday was cool, though! Guess what? We have a baptismal date! We met with Jeas in the morning. I was so impressed with his faith. He wants to do all that he can to be with God again. We invited him to be baptised, and he accepted! We set a date for November 17th. He told us that this week, so many people had been calling him and inviting him to things, all on the 17th. But he knew what was most important, and he'd be there for that date. :) He didn't make it to church yesterday, though, so it's going to be set back a couple of weeks so we can help him be prepared.

The other date that we set was for a kid named JD. He's 10, and his grandfather is a recent convert. We went by last Saturday and taught him for the first time, and this time, we went by and talked about baptism with him. He's all set to do it, and his mother is supportive of him. JD will be baptised on the 24th of November! He's an awesome kid.

We've been really blessed, lately. We went tracting, and met a guy at someone else's house, named Jamie. He invited us over to his house. We taught him the Restoration, and about the Book of Mormon. He told us "Yeah, I will read this, and I'm definitely going to pray about it." Hahaha, he was thinking of getting his bike and riding with us over to some friends of his that he thought would be interested as well! Holy awesome. We're going to go back over tomorrow and follow up with him :)

So November is actually Mo-vember. I'm not exactly sure what it's all about, but there's a big emphasis on facial hair this month...? In any case, thank you mom for the halloween costume! I got it the day After Halloween, but we got together with the zone leaders and had some fun wearing them. Perfect timing :D

Thanks for the package! I loved it. And the pictures were awesome ;)

It's been raining for the past two days. Whee!

I love you all!

Elder Reeder

Lots of almosts

Hi there! So hopefully everyone has calmed down by now, :D I hope we have out here, too.

Tuesday we spent probably half of on a train, headed to Perth. Again. Whee! We had to go talk to the church attorney so they could put a statement together for us. The goal of that is so that we don't need to be brought in a bunch of times to talk to the police, they can just go get our statement. Hopefully this is the end of that particular chapter.

The rest of the week, we spent on our bikes! Elder Segi and I realised, for the first time, how big this area actually is. And why there was a car. In one day we biked 43 kilometers! (almost 27 miles) Now that's a lot of biking. However, we have been getting good results from it! We have found two new investigators this week! One is named JD, he is the grandson of a recent convert in the ward. He is 10. Actually, we had quite the time finding him. We went over originally to the grandfather's house, in a very far corner of this area, to Meet him. He invited us inside, and called JD over, "Time for a lesson." JD comes over with his scriptures, and sits down. Now, we had no idea what was going on, but we rolled with it and taught him one of the lessons. Turns out that he'd been a little a while back, but something came up and they had to stop. Now he's decided on his own that he wants to learn them still! Cool! Elder Segi and I are excited about that.

We looked it over, and have realised that we have 3 ALMOST baptisms! We just need to set a date :D

Friday we had Zone conference! President Lindsay came down to Rockingham, and the Rockingham, Bunbury, and Southern River Zones came to receive training, instruction, and Sister Lindsay's brownies. One highlight from the conference: In regards to sharing the gospel: "Be a little Boulder." We all got little boulders to carry around.

I saw a lot of missionaries I knew :) My trainer and my entire intake were at the conference. Cool.

I can tell that it's becoming a lot more like summer now. A member described what happens pretty well. It'll be pretty warm most of the summer, and then you'll get some days where it shoots up to the mid-30's. And then there's about a dozen or so days where it's around 40. (40C=104F) We experienced that this week. I have an awesome tan line where my watch is.

Oh, hahaha, I just remembered- Saturday was Sister Parson's birthday. The zone leaders and I and my companion got together, They took the sisters out to dinner, and we went to their flat and redecorated the ceiling with christmas ornaments. And put chocolate coins everywhere.

The sisters loved it when they got home. And Sister Parsons still has no idea who did it. ;)

So that has been my week. It's been pretty fun! And I can't wait for this coming week, we're expecting some great things to happen.

So I hear there's snow in Utah right now? Someone had better go skiing pretty soon.

I love you all, and miss you! Have a happy halloween!

Elder Daniel Reeder

PS-By the way, Daylight Savings does not exist here.

Accidental

This week. Wow. Where to begin.

So I spent Monday and Tuesday with the Dianella elders. We went into Downtown Perth on Tuesday, and did some city contacting! I love doing that. We met some really nice people, and had some really interesting discussions with them. Sister Parsons and Elder Gardner found a random piano on the sidewalk, and began singing hymns with it. We got some good contacts out of it. The last guy I talked to, I didn't get to talk with him, unfortunately. He talked at me about meat pies and scuba-diving for about 20 minutes. Then right before we left for the day, we passed a magician doing tricks. he pulled oranges and coconuts out of a really small hat. We're not quite sure how.

Wednesday, we had transfers meeting! My new companion's name is Elder Segi. (pronounced sehng-y). He is from Samoa. He's a really great missionary, and I've enjoyed being with him thus far :D We had a lesson right on that first day (Wednesday), with the couple we did service for. He was really open, and bold when he talked with them. We had a long discussion about the Restoration, and we gave the lady a copy of the Book of Mormon.

The two areas have now been combined into one, and it's a REALLY BIG AREA. And lots of people in it! It's going to be really fun to get to know all these members, as well as the investigators. One investigator in particular, is named Jeas. (pronounced "joose"). He is from the Congo. The other elders actually committed him to baptism the last time that they met! We're going to meet with him again hopefully tomorrow and set a date with him. I talked with him on the phone, and he is Super keen to meet with us.

Saturday was not good. We got into an accident.

Basic version:

We went out in the car that morning, to visit some members that lived a ways away. Around 11, we had an appointment with a new potential we'd tracted into the day before. We stopped at the intersection, and when it was clear, I pulled out to get into the median. Suddenly a motorcycle came at us (blind spot?) and we collided. The police were called, and we got out to help the biker. A nurse who'd been passing stopped to help, as well as a few other people. The biker wasn't badly injured, and the paramedics said he'd be ok (whew). We called President Lindsay and our Zone Leaders, and they came down to help out. Elder Segi and I are ok. We got the car towed back to our place and it's being taken up to the smash repair place today. Still turns on, just not road-worthy anymore.

So we no longer have a car. And, unfortunately, I will probably no longer be able to drive, out here. Which will be really interesting, considering Elder Segi doesn't have a licence, and our district and chapel are about 15 minutes away by Car... Everyone is safe, though.

It was a good opportunity for my companion to meet the zone leaders, too. They brought him a boxing bag (Elder Segi is a boxer. I don't know where the bag came from.) President saw it later in the day, got excited, and punched it. It fell down.

Hey! Next week, we will be having at least one new investigator! A couple is moving into the ward this weekend, and the wife wants to be baptised! It's really cool. The husband was less-active for many years, and they're coming back Together. Woohoo! Elder Segi and I are really looking forward to meeting them.

And so, that is my week. This Friday we will have a Zone conference. Everyone's excited for it, apparently something is going to happen.

It's been pretty unbelievable. But we've still been working hard on our bikes. We Still want to be out here, serving. I love doing this, and I know the church is true!

I love you all,

Elder Reeder

Here, There and Everywhere!

Hi, everybody! This week... Man. It's been busy.

A couple of weeks ago, we'd gone "service tracting," to see if we could get any potentials through that. We found one older couple, but they told us to come back this week. So Wednesday, we went over and mowed their back lawn for them. The man was so impressed and grateful, he said that no one had ever offered to help like that before! They were so nice, and we ended up having lunch with them. They said we could come back this next week to share our message with them :) This is the first time they've ever payed attention to missionaries, they said. Wow!

This weekend was the busiest, though. Friday, Elder Ariki went home! And then, Elder McNamee, who was his companion, went up to Queen's park until Transfers. Elder Bangerter and I helped them pack and move all their stuff out. Then, Friday Night, Elder Bangerter gets a call. He's being transferred! To Albany, which is about as far south as you can go in Australia before you hit ocean. He's excited! Albany, I've heard, is awesome. So he started packing.

General Conference was incredible! I absolutely loved it. I'm so excited to have 18-year old missionaries coming out! :D I think my favorite talk was by Jeffery R. Holland. Priesthood session, however, I have no idea. We had issues with the disc that it was on, and so we ended up hearing about every 5th word. And a frozen picture. President Uchtdorf was saying something about a piper cub plane... That's about all I got. Darn. Thank goodness for the Ensign.

And, as always, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was beautiful.

Sunday, we get a call from the Assistants. Elder Bangerter is actually leaving Monday Morning, from Perth! So that means that I have to pack a bit, too, because I can't be here alone, I'll have to go up to Perth with him. Hahaha, ironically, Sunday was the one day that we had completely booked. Some other elders in the district went on splits with us, to go to a couple different people.

So we get all packed, and leave Sunday night. We stayed the night up with some elders in Dianella, near the mission office. I still had to get sunday corellation done up there. Monday morning (today) Elder Bangerter left on a bus, for the ~5 hour trip down to Albany. I'll be spending the next few days here, in Dianella, with the elders, until Transfers. As I write this, I'm still waiting to hear from the zone leaders as to who my new companion is. What a weekend!

Because Elder Ariki and McNamee are no longer around, we've inherited their area as well. Suddenly we have a whole bunch of new investigators! Whee!

So I'm kind of a mental mess right now, trying to get a hang on everything. I should be getting used to this kind of thing by now, hahaha! Hope you're all doing well!

Love, Elder Reeder

The week in review

Happy Monday, everyone :)

So Elder Bangerter and I have been trying to contact our potentials this week, without much success. Nobody's home. So, it's back to tracting. And contacting. Still trying to work hard.

Our appointment with David and Lisa fell through, unfortunately. Something came up, and they had to cancel.

On the plus side, some fun new finding ideas came into play this week; One, I went on exchanges with another missionary in the district, Elder Rigby. He's from Idaho. We had a fun time out and about. We found some really cool people, and he is really good at starting a conversation with them. We were contacting people on the train, too! (Right now there is a carnival thing going on up in Perth, so the normally empty station has people getting on the trains this week.) I think one of the nicest responses there is to hear when you give them a passalong card, is "I'm definitely going to look this up!" So it's a positive contact :)

Second, This Friday was pretty fun for a lot of the district; Elder Ariki, who finishes his mission this weekend, went down to the city center, and Soapboxed! President Lindsay gave him permission, and he taught the missionary lessons to everyone in earshot. Then another missionary was singing some hymns in between, and about 4 other missionaries were contacting everyone nearby. I think there were actually a few referrals that came out of it.

I'm really excited for this weekend, We've all been hearing about General Conference from the members and emails and such! Lucky you all, getting to see it a week earlier :D

So the mission age has changed... Wow! Mind blowing! It's going to be so cool in the next while. Plus, General conference is just awesome! I love hearing the apostles and prophet speak. And I think it's good for investigators as well, to "come listen to a prophets voice."

I'm pretty sure that the weather is broken. I'm not sure if it's fall, spring, or summer! (The leaves are coming off some of the trees, the flowers are blooming, and some days it's really really hot.) Right now, happily, it's nice. Sounds like things are seriously cooling down in Utah, though!

Transfers is next week, I'll probably be staying, though. But will I still be in a 4-man flat? Tune in next week to find out.

I love you all :) Have a good week!

Elder Reeder

Potential

Good Morning, everyone! Today is Tuesday. Yesterday, Monday, was the Queen's Birthday. So it was a public holiday. So P-Day is Today.

This week has consisted of more tracting! (Can you believe it?) We have had some very long discussions with people at their doors, and a few angry faces, mixed with dogs and locked gates and funny children. However, we have 3 new potentials from it all! And one new investigator!

Actually, the new investigator has a fun story;

We were tracting (yep) a couple weeks back, and came across a young lady. She told us to come back later, when her partner was home. So we came back that evening, and met with them in front of their house. We taught them a bit about the restoration. She asked us a bunch of questions about our beliefs. We weren't sure of their interest level at that time, and it was a bit of an awkward lesson, standing right there. But they said that we could come by again, if we wanted.

Sunday, we decided to introduce them to the Book of Mormon. We knocked, and the lady was on the phone. But she heard us, and said "Oh! I've got to go! I've got Christians at the door!" She came over, said "I was hoping you would come back!" No way! Awesome! So we taught them about what the Book of Mormon was, and she accepted it, and said "I'll read this if you promise to come back!" And her partner invited us to dinner this coming Friday, so we can share more with his kids and her.

That was seriously the coolest moment I've ever had tracting.

Also, another story; We knocked on a door, and a lady answered. We shared how the gospel blesses families, and how families can be together forever. She agreed with it. We asked if there was a time we could come by to share more, and she said yes, how about Tuesday? :O We're going by tonight.

Wow! I've never seen this much success from Tracting before! Elder Bangerter hasn't either. We nearly started dancing on the way home.

In other news, it was 34C yesterday. Which equates to about 95F. IT WAS ROASTING. Also, spring means pollen! Apparently I have hay fever out here. Bad. Bought some Claratyne, and nothing happened. So we had to spend the evening indoors so my nose didn't run away from the rest of my face. Ugh, not a fun night. A couple other missionaries are having the same problems. Whee!

Aaand, that's my week. Lucky you all, General conference is this weekend! For me? Next weekend. (I can't wait!)

Cheers! Elder Reeder

The Long Walk

The Long Walk" is a pretty cool book. It also accurately describes this week. We pretty much spent it tracting. And Tracting. And then, when we had an appointment, it'd fall through, and we'd tract some more, because that's really all there is to do.

The whole district is really needing new investigators. We've been going all over our area, trying different streets, and talking with everyone as often as we can. There have been quite a few interesting experiences we've had while doing this, too. We went past a house with a trampoline in front. There were two small kids, about 6 years old. They started talking to us, something like this;
"Hey, what are yous?"
"Missionaries!"
"Oh, ok. Well I'm Brian, and this is Jayce!" (Jayce is eating the foam from one of the poles.)
"Hi there."
"This is my house, and I have a trampoline!" Then Brian does a superman jump onto the ground and runs over to his dad, who just came out.

I love little kids :D

We've made some really good, postive contacts with a lot of people. Nobody to teach yet, but we're still working on it.

Friday, during district meeting, it was us, the Kwinana elders, and the Rockingham West elders. Really small meeting. One of the sisters hurt her back from a bike crash, and the doctor told her to stay home for a while. The zone leaders went and heart-attacked their house, just to cheer them up :)

Saturday, I went on exchanges with the zone leaders. Elder Reid and I had a good day together, and we got some good work done in their area.

Aaand... Yep. That's pretty much how my week has been. On the plus side, in a bizarre turn of events, it is currently quite cool during the day. (Cold front). Oh yes, Tuesday and Wednesday, we had the storm of storms! Elder Bangerter and I found that we could lean our whole weight into the wind, and stay upright. Boo yah. And then the clouds dumped. And Dumped. Kwinana actually had a flood warning going on for a few hours.

So, I hope everyone is doing well :) Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Reeder

Things are heating up!

Literally. It was about 27C yesterday, with warmer weather in the future. And it's barely spring!

Elder Bangerter and I have been doing a lot of tracting lately. And contacting. Mission President came up with a new key indicator to report how many people we contact each day. (Basically, anyone that we talk to, and try to share the gospel with, whether or not they accept, is a contact.) I think everyone's really excited for it, one- it's a really big number, and two- the more people contacted, the more new investigators will be found to teach! Elder Bangerter and I have already seen some cool things come from this. The first day we found four people who were interested! Two were at bus stops, and the bus came before we could get their names, but still! It's awesome.

We came across a less-active member this week, as well. Guess what his name is? Daniel. (Serious.) He's nice. Originally from NZ. He wants to get himself sorted out, and regain his faith. We're going to meet with him again this week :)

District meeting went pretty well. It was a bit of a shock, though, when President Lindsay showed up and said, "Mind if I join your district this morning?" O.o He sat through the meeting, got involved in our discussions, and gave us some great training as well. We all enjoyed it. President is awesome.

This week, hopefully, we'll have more work to do. The whole mission is focusing on finding new people to teach this week.

I love you all!

Elder Reeder

Kwinana Banana

So here I am now, in the town of Kwinana, in Western Australia. More specifically, in Leda suburb. Leda is a very quiet place. And I mean QUIET. Right now, we have I think 3 investigators.

Our area is actually split into two areas right now (due to a lot of new missionaries coming in a while back), so I'm in a four-man flat. With me are Elder Bangerter, Elder Ariki, and Elder McNamee. Elder Bangerter is my companion. He's pretty cool. Very quiet. He's been out just longer than me. Also, this is Elder Ariki's last transfer.

And I'm district leader. So far it's been ok. Kind of a trial-by-fire thing. The zone leaders came by and explained how to do some things, and what my responsibilities are. Then, last night, I did correlation with the district. Ouch. It's pretty tough if you don't know everything you're supposed to be getting. It's all good, though. All figured out.

There is a lot of responsibility involved in this. I need to be an example for the other missionaries in this district, and to be able to help them in their efforts as well.

This coming week we're going to be working a lot on finding new people to teach. Our goal is to make this area "where it's happening." ;)

So, new week, new place. I hope you're all doing well :)

Elder Reeder

A New Horizon (for everyone!)

Guess what? This week has been AWESOME. Mostly.

So, Tangate's boyfriend from QLD flew out on Tuesday. His name is Pat. Long story short, he is a new investigator! We've been very careful to make sure that he wants to be baptised for the right reasons. He does. Yesterday everyone came to church, including Pat. He really enjoyed it (Fast and Testimony Meeting. Very good), and then we went over after church, and taught the restoration to him. He prayed for the first time there, too!

Also, Leon received the priesthood! And Tangate, Leon, Alisha, and Sis. Hembrow are all going to the temple on Wednesday to do baptisms! I think everyone's on a spiritual high right now, it's great.

We've been working a lot with less-active members this week, too. One story- We ran into a lady at the train station, who'd been in the area for 2 years, and didn't know there was a chapel around! We got a ride for her and her son, and they stayed for the whole 3-hour block. She seemed pretty happy. And the son loved having sunday school with us. Cool.

So. in other news, This past week was my 6-month mark! Wow!

Also, this week is TRANSFERS. I think the whole district was pretty excited for it, seeing what would happen, who's going where, etc.

And pretty much everybody is going everywhere!

Elder Beck and Elder Evans are being doubled out, both going to Kalgoorlie! Elder Templeton, a Zone Leader, is going to be training, with another zone leader as well. This means there will be a 4-man companionship! Holy Cow! Elder Iumalo is staying in Kelmscott.

Guess what's happening to me?

I'm going to Kwinana! (I have no idea where that is. Near Rockingham?) And not only that, I got a call from President Lindsay. I'm going to be in Kwinana, serving as District Leader. :O

Wow. I'm excited, and nervous.

Man, I've been in this area for 6 months now! I'm going to miss it. But There'll be some good work to do out in the new area, as well :)

So that's the week out here :) Still working hard! Happy Fathers Day! (It's this week, here.)

Love, Elder Reeder

Oh, by the way, I got a new camera. I actually found the exact same one at the store. So. :)

The Missionary Evening Post

Hi there, it's another week in the world, and I'm still here :)

We have 3 baptisms coming up now, this Sunday! Tangate Green, and her two youngest children, Leon, (15) and Alisha, (13) are totally excited! We began a "Stop Smoking Program" with Tagate on Wednesday, and she's completely committed. She goes around the family and makes jokes about it sometimes. "Oh, I going to go have a smoke," etc. It's funny. Leon wants to serve a mission when he's 19, too! President Lindsay said he'd try and be at the baptism as well.

Daniel, the oldest, hasn't been to church yet. So he can't be baptised yet. We're trying to figure things out for him.

It's amazing, the faith that they have. They've been having a bit of a rough time at home, with their dad. But they're determined to see it through. Sister Hembrow's been a big help in fellowshipping and teaching. Honestly, we've seen a few small miracles during the past few weeks.

On Tuesday, we had a visit from President Hamula, area president for Australia. He had some really cool training and things to say about finding people. Pretty soon, we're going to be working a lot more with the part-member families in our area. There are a lot of families out there with nonmembers in the family. And a lot of success comes from working with these families. We've seen that a lot so far :)

In other news... Guess what? I don't have a camera anymore... it's my fault. I opened it up to try and clean inside the lens (dirt? inside), and the power/shutter button snapped. So... I'm trying to superglue it back together right now. Wheee... I sent my camera card home this past week, though! Expect it within a few days :) Also, Elder Iumalo and I decided "Hey! Let's write to each others parents!"

The mission-wide prayer is showing really cool results, already! We've been getting lots of referrals and work to and from other places, all over WA! It's exciting.

And that concludes the Monday Morning edition of the Missionary Evening Post. (I'm running out of funny email subjects now.)

Love,

Elder Reeder

Kirribus

I'm really quite happy right now. And my companion is, too. In fact, you might say we're really excited. Guess why?

Remember that family that we met, from Kirribus? (near Fiji)

They're getting baptised.

on August 25th.

Woohoo! We've had a very busy week with them, going over to teach them about the gospel. The mum, Tagate, wants to quit smoking, so we're going to help her start quitting tonight. They all came to Stake conference yesterday, and really enjoyed themselves. They got to meet the bishop, and President Lindsay, even! (Or I guess you could say that President Lindsay got to meet her.)

All sorts of small miracles have been happening with this family, helping them out. We've all been blessed by them. Thank you all for your prayers! They help so much you don't even know :)

Yep, so Stake Conference was this weekend. We were privileged to have our mission president come and speak to everyone, along with his wife. They were awesome.

Grandpa Roberts, in answer to your question, YES. It is Indeed Rainy Season. Perth is not getting hardly Any of the rain that it needs this year. But it's bucketing down often, so I don't know what they're talking about XD Sunday was pretty funny, though. It was pouring Sunday morning, but stopped during conference. Then one of the speakers said that she was really grateful for the rain they'd gotten, and it began pouring again immediately after.

So, yes. It's raining here.

This month, the entire mission is kneeling down at 10 Pm, every night, in prayer, to have the opportunities and faith to find new investigators to teach. It's pretty cool, all 117 of us missionaries at the same time, praying.

So that's my week. It's been busy. and hectic. And fun as! Boo yah.

Until next week!

love,

Elder Reeder

Once there was a snowball

Hi, all!

So apparently in parts of Perth, it actually frosted over last week! Some other missionaries managed to make a single snowball out of the frost on their car.

How cool is this? We have 4 new investigators. Yes. 4! Sister Hembrow is an awesome missionary. Remember that lady from Fiji I mentioned last week? Her name is Tagate, (pronounced "tahng-ah-tay"), and she is from Kirribus. She has 3 children, Daniel, Leon, and Alisha. They are all Totally eager to learn about the gospel, and come to church, and everything! Elder Iumalo and I will be going over tonight to teach them again :D Tagate is so funny, she has pretty much adopted sister hembrow as her daughter. And she'll threaten to "get the stick" when someone doesn't do something right. She loves being with the missionaries, she says that she doesn't feel worried or as stressed when she's around us. The spirit is a wonderful thing.

So, interesting experience. Elder Iumalo, the armadale elders, Daniel Luland, and I went to do some service for a lady on Saturday. We were cleaning up her yard, clearing away the weeds, debris, etc. Did you know that Palm Trees have really spiky bits at the base of the leaves? They do. So we had to be careful. One of the leaves I picked up slipped, and jammed right into my finger. And broke off. Today is Monday, I still have that thing stuck in my finger. Last night sister Hembrow (who is a nurse) tried to get it out. After an incredibly painful 20 minutes, she put some stuff on it that would help work it out, bandaged it up, and told me it would be out tomorrow. Oww... It's in really Deep.

So how's the Olympics going? All I know is that the Queen jumped out of a helicopter with James Bond, and that Australia has 1 gold. :D We might be organizing a sports night, and inviting people to come and play rugby. Members could invite their friends, and get to know the missionaries, ask questions, etc. And play rugby (which everyone likes. Or AFL.)

Happy Birthday, Dad! And Happy Birthday to mom, on the 9th! Did you do a nice barbecue? In the summer evening? Was it good weather? Did it rain? I wish I could've been there for that Pie you made, it sounds delicious. If it didn't rain, I think it came here instead. We got DRENCHED. Again. We had to wring out our socks every so often, it was that wet. I loved it.

So that's pretty much my week! We had a Lot of biking involved. Lucky for us, it's a flat area ;) Hope you're all having a great week as well!

Love, Elder Reeder

Woohoo!

Good evening!

I don't think transfers had anything to do with it, but this week has been pretty slow. a LOT of people we visit and teach weren't around. Or cancelled appointments. So we did a lot of tracting. We met some interesting people though.

Elder Iumalo is awesome. He came out at the same time as me. We've had a lot of fun teaching lessons together so far, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the transfer. He is originally from Samoa, but grew up in New Zealand. He joined the church about a year and a half ago, in Sydney, and gave up playing Rugby there to come on a mission. He has an amazing testimony of the gospel, that we've shared with some of the people we teach. He's one of the overall happiest people I've met here. Part of our studies in the morning includes language study, so he can improve his English. It's pretty fun, and I now have sympathy for my English teachers :D

Tatiana was baptised! It was such a great evening. Elder Iumalo and I biked up the hill to the chapel (this was a Serious hill) to start the font. I turned on the water, and suddenly there was a BANG! and a spark. I called the ward mission leader, he didn't know what it could've been. Turns out the water heater gave up. Whee! It was a very spiritual experience, though. We even had a couple of nonmembers show up! I got to baptise her. She was really happy. Afterwards, they went to dinner at Sizzlers.

And then the whole family showed up for church on sunday, for the confirmation. Even better :)

I'm so excited! I had my first baptism!

Oh! Last monday we went to a Dairy farm! and got to milk cows. Really! We got to milk cows. And drive a quad (four-wheeler.) and drink REALLY FRESH MILK. In Australia. It was awesome. A couple of ward members work there, and invited us over.

Hmm. Yeah, so that's pretty much this week. The Flu has hit Perth, officially. 3 of our investigators, and a lot of ward members caught the bug. Really slowed us down. But we're pushing for a great week this week! We have a Family Home Evening lesson tonight, with Sister Hembrow, her children, and a friend she just met, from Fiji! Sister Hembrow is totally into missionary work now :)

All right! Hope you all have a great week as well! Love yous :)

Elder Reeder

Good Morning Australia

G'Day, all! it's a beautiful sunny morning in Armadale! Mixed with the usual transfer's week activities!

Yes, that's right! This morning we got our Transfer calls! Elder Naruo is being transferred to Bunbury, to be a Zone leader! And I'm still here in Armadale. My new companion will be Elder Iamalo, who actually came into the mission at the same time as me.

Elder Naruo is sad to be leaving the area, he loves it here.

So this week we had a lot of things going on! Elder Naruo spent two days down in Albany, doing baptismal interviews with the zone leaders. 6 baptisms happening in the next couple weeks, in our zone! Woohoo!

Tautiana's baptism: It's actually happening THIS Friday. She was Not feeling well last friday morning. ITS SO CLOSE THOUGH.

We've been having some pretty cool experiences out on the streets! We ran into a guy named Sean, walking around. He loves God, and wants to share that love with everybody he meets. We are certain that meeting him, and giving him a book of mormon, was meant to be. He asked us to come by to share more with him later. He seems totally for real! I can't wait.

We also found some former investigators! Their names are Brendan and Catherine. Brendan was being taught by the missionaries last year, but stopped investigating. He invited us over for dinner last monday, and told us that he wanted to quit smoking, and hear the lessons again.

This weekend was the Ward Conference. Saturday, we had an awesome ward activity at the chapel- Minute to Win it, and Fear Factor games, by the different groups/quoroms, and a barbeque! The turnout was great, and everyone had a blast. My favorite game was an egg roll: place an egg on the ground, and blow on it until it reaches the finish line. Some of the contestants got a bit dizzy :D

Also, apparently I am on tv! Daniel Luland told me that a friend of his had asked him "Hey, when's your friend that looks like he's from arrow computers coming by?" Daniel thought immediately of me. There is a commercial with some guy with red hair getting all excited for computer deals- he showed it to me, and seriously, if I had red hair, that would be me. Hahaha!

There is a single mom in the ward, who was a bit less-active for a while. We started visiting her, and teaching her, every day. Sharing our testimonies with her, singing hymns together, and helping her to develop a habit of prayer. She has really opened up and she's set a goal to go to the temple, and to read the book of mormon. She wants to be able to be a good example for her children. We've felt the spirit every time we go over there, and we can tell that she has as well.

Awesome.

And that is my week. I hope you're enjoying summer over there. :)

Love you all!

Elder Reeder

A 10-minute dissertation on the Lamentations of Jeremiah

Hahaha, not really, but President Smibert would ask missionaries to do that (he was joking too)

Part 2 of the mini-missions: I really enjoyed it! My mini and I had a great time teaching Tautiana, and tracting, and contacting, and all that missionary stuff. We even found a new potential investigator, that He contacted! His name is Aiden. He likes boxing. He told us that he was nervous about death, because he doesn't want to be in a bad spot. He was totally keen to talk with us. We're trying to get ahold of him and set up an appointment this week.

The Flu has been going All Over the place here; Apparently it's the worst epedemic in 10 years in Perth. Elder Naruo had it for a few days, he's just now getting over it. Several investigators caught it. Not fun.

We met with the Bishop yesterday, to discuss some of the families we're teaching- Tautiana will be baptised this Friday! Woohoo! We just need to get everything sorted with interviews, etc.

We had to postpone Zach's baptism. We're having difficulties in contacting the family, and after discussion with Bishop, we need to hold off on it. :(

David is so close to baptism! We've been meeting with him, and he's ALMOST quit smoking! We're still helping him along with the word of wisdom, and we're reading with him from the book of mormon when we go over. I can't wait to get him there!

Also, we're experiencing the fun delights of false addresses! We had 2 this week, including Basilio. They were totally into us coming over and teaching their families, and sent us to someone else's house. Darn.

Mini-adventure: I got a package this past week! Thanks, family! By the way, just because I didn't know this either, apparently pop-its are Illegal Fireworks in Australia! Hahaha! And I have some! No one knows how they got through customs. So... yeah... The zone leaders snagged a box. I got a call from them about an hour later, asking how to use them. "Uh, you Throw them on the Ground." "Ohhh! We were trying to burn them! There's that bit on the top that you're supposed to light?" Hi five for aussies :D

So it's been a bit of a rollercoaster week. Not sure where it's going. \

But.

I still have a testimony of this gospel.

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that by following his example, through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the holy ghost, and enduring to the end, we can live with him again someday.

I know that the gospel blesses families, and helps to build them up stronger, and closer together, in love.

I am grateful for the book of mormon, and I know that it contains the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I know that I have a loving Father in Heaven, and that I can ask him for help and comfort, whenever I need it, and that he will give it to me.

This has kept me happy throughout my life, and I am grateful for the opportunity I have to share this with others.

I say all this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Daniel Reeder

March of the Minis

Wow, it's hectic right now!

This week, we have been driving all over with the other elders. First of all, President Lindsay is here! On Friday, we drove down to Rockingham and had another zone conference, in which we were able to meet him and receive training and instruction from him. Also his wife, and his son, Robbie. Totally just like on tv. We've all caught his vision for the mission :D

Saturday, we went over to Thornlie, where the stake center is, and began mini-missions! Pretty much every missionary in our zone has a mini-missionary, sisters included. My companion is "elder" Williams. He's 16, and totally excited to go on a mission when he's 19. We've had some great fun tracting, contacting, and teaching lessons so far. Tonight we're going over to Tautiana and her family and teaching them. He'll be with me until Wednesday, when we drive back down to Rockingham. Again. Whee!

Since every missionary has a mini-missionary with them, transportation is tricky. (It's a bit hard to fit 8 people in a 5-person car... With luggage...) After a short MTC experience at the stake center, we took the train back to our area. Somehow elder Williams and I managed to take a train back up to the stake center, instead of transferring to another train. Oops.

We found some really cool people this week! We ran into a man named Basilio, from the Dominican Republic. He absolutely loves families, thinks they're one of the most important things in the world. We taught him a little about how families can be together forever, and he was really interested. Elder Naruo and his mini are going over tonight. He is awesome.

On a sadder note, we lost Nathaniel. His mom called us, yelled, swore, and told us she never wants us to come back, because she got offended at the church several years ago and does not want anything to do with it anymore. We were really making progress with Nathaniel. We're praying he'll be able to decide for himself.

So, I've been having fun times with my bike this week. And several other bikes. You all know what "goatheads" are, right? (sharp, pointy plant things.) They're called "double-G's" here. Anyway, I found 5 in my rear tire. Greeeaaat. So. I bought a new tire tube. And then my front tire gave up and exploded. I'm out of patches now. Fun times. I'm so grateful for people we know around here, though! The front one died while we were in a member's home, and they gave me a new tube! And I got another one from an investigator :D

We've been doing a lot of contacting on the streets, and I'm really trying to get better at walking up and starting a conversation with people. Slowly but surely :)

So I've heard there's a lot of fires going on in Colorado and Utah! Everyone ok? Nothing bad here yet, besides a storm that took out a few sheds and roofs.

Well, have another great week! I am :)

Take it easy, Elder Reeder

July the Fourth

Happy 4th of July! When it does happen, I mean. There's no celebration here! And I'm not too sure about fireworks, either...

We had a great week! On Thursday, we had a YSA Activity at the chapel. We invited Nathaniel to it. Nathaniel is Really quiet, but he was willing to come along. The YSA here is small but enthusiastic. They played Volleyball and he got way into it. The Oldfields, (ysa leaders) told us afterwards that he absolutely loved it. Boo yah. Also, elder Beck hit elder Evans in the face with the volleyball.

Our two baptismal dates are going pretty well. Tautiana came to church with her family this last sunday, which was great progress. We're going over tonight with another ward member to teach the family about the Plan of Salvation. We finalized the date for July 20th (yes, it's a Friday, we've had to explain it several times.) when Sister King won't have to work.

Zach Jenner's baptism is coming up, but we're having problems with contacting the family lately. They haven't been to church the past couple of weeks. Gotta keep trying, keep praying.

Also, we have some new investigators again! One's name is Samantha. She is an aboriginal lady, with a small child. We met her in front of her house, and we ended up teaching her a bit about the gospel and how it can bless families. She was really into it, and thanked us for bringing it back into her life. Woohoo! There's a lot of potential in this area, we just have to look really hard for it :) On another note, we tracted into a man a couple of days ago, who was adamant that mormons are not Christian. It was a really interesting meeting with him, a very polite, calm discussion.

By the way, apparently there are mountains or something in Melbourne? Brother Nields, the ward mission leader, is going skiing this week! So awesome.

President Lindsay has arrived in Perth! We are writing to him this morning, and we'll have another zone conference in Rockingham this Friday, where we get to meet him and hear from him for the first time! I can't wait to see what he does.

Oh, I just remembered: The Chapmans, (their son Ben is in the MTC right now, heading to Washington DC) have relatives in Utah! Sister Chapman's grandmother, lives in Farmington, or Bountiful, or thereabouts. Does anyone know the Oviats? (Oviates/Ohveeits/something) Anyway, it's her grandmother. Just thought I'd let you know.

Speaking of mission stuff, Mini missions are about to start! This saturday, a lot of the young men/women in the ward are going to be spending a few days with missionaries! I have no idea if they'll be with us or not, but it sounds pretty cool!

That's my week, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. :D

Take it easy,

Elder Reeder

Today, while the sun shines.

Good morning to everybody out there in the states! Actually, I suppose it's getting to be evening for the rest of yous :)

This week has been pretty good, not too much going on.

President Lindsay comes into Perth next week! It's going to be really exciting. We had a recent zone conference down in Rockingham last Friday, and President Smibert came and spoke with Sister Smibert. He's been a great mission president and everyone is going to miss him. He really helped to turn the mission around and get it going where it is now. We got a chance to see President Lindsay's retirement from KSL as well. Impressive!

Tautiana's baptism did not happen this past Saturday. Haha, ironically, Monday night, when we went over to teach the family, we found that she was really hoping for her mother to be there at her baptism, and her mother won't be around until mid July. So, we still have a baptismal date, just not set yet. Sometime in July. She's still really excited, though! As for Zach Jenner, we haven't been able to see him for a while, due to an ear infection. Ouch.

Something really cool that's happened this week, is that we have 4 new investigators! I think that's some sort of record for a while. One is a former investigator, named Stephen Wai. He was introduced to the missionaries several years ago, through basketball (?) and learned a bit about the gospel. We finally managed to contact him this week, and taught him about the restoration. He was really accepting it, and said that he'd love to hear more, along with his family. YES. Also, we ran into a few people on the street, outside their houses, washing their cars, etc. and they said "yes, come back and tell us your message!" And then they ran around waving their arms in excitement. Not really, but we were doing that inside. You've just got to talk to the people!

So this morning, we got up at just before 5. Why, Elder Reeder? Why would you do such a crazy thing? I will tell you.

Elder Naruo organized a sunrise devotional. The whole district travelled to Lesmurdie's area, and went on a short hike to a ridge on a member's property. We had a small fire, and had a cool little testimony meeting/fireside up there. And then we roasted marshmallows. It was really fun, and we had some good testimonies given. And ironically, we never saw the sun. it was cloudy. Haha.

So yeah, another week in Perth! :)

I love you all!

Elder Reeder

3, 2, 1, Contact!

Transfer 3, Week 2, Day 1.

A Lot of changes around here. Elder Naruo is pretty cool, he's actually nearly finished with his mission. This is also his first time being district leader as well. (I seem to be getting a lot of district leaders with me). He REALLY likes his chicken and rice.)

Elder Kerr had a ~7 hour drive to Kalgoorlie. Whee! He was really excited for it, though.

We've had some great lessons and contacting experiences. Currently we are trying to set up a temple trip for David Stokes. I've taken him around the area, getting to know everybody. He's a really good teacher. He's introduced me more to contacting, which I've decided is infinitely more enjoyable and productive than tracting.

(Tracting is knocking on door after door. Contacting is talking to people waiting at train stations, walking around, sitting, etc.) We left a Book of Mormon with someone last night. Woot. Also yesterday, while biking to an appointment, we got stopped by a guy who yelled and swore right in his face. Real friendly-like. Ironically, we'd met him before...

Elder Naruo is also Very insistent on things done a certain way.

Friday, we went out of our area so Elder Naruo could conduct a baptismal interview for an investigator by another companionship. First time I've been anywhere besides Armadale or Downtown Perth. It was fun.

Saturday, the assistants called up-Exchanges! Wow, that was fun. Elder Webley went with Elder Naruo in our area. They had an interesting time finding their way around, but saw a lot of people that we've been trying for a LOOONG time to get ahold of!

Elder Robertson and I went to downtown Perth, to do some city contacting. The city is really fun! We got out of the car, and then rather than go out contacting, someone contacts Us! They had been living in the middle east, and had been taught by missionaries there. Then they'd moved, and wanted to find the chapel in the area. Boo yah! In total, we met 4 people who'd been in contact with missionaries before. And a lot of other people who were ok to talk about religion. I saw a lot of really funny stuff in the city, too. Like two hippies Elder Robertson had met before. They began playing Digeridoos right on the sidewalk. YES.

We've got a baptism coming up this Saturday! I'm going crazy trying to figure everything out. Tautiana's family missed an appointment, so we haven't been able to finish teaching her yet. We're getting it sorted, slowly. We have a lesson with them tonight. I can't wait :D

So, that's pretty much my week in a nutshell. Until next week!

Elder Reeder

Australia's built on Sand.

And the rains came tumbling down, and the floods came up, and apparently tornadoes are mentioned in that song, Somewhere, because there was a tornado in Morley (way north). But seriously, IT RAINED. Did I ever tell you all that it rains here during winter? Holy Cow, we're all still amazed at this rain. Thursday, especially. Elder Kerr and I had the car, lucky us. But we actually had to pull over, because it was Impossible to see anything. And lightning. And then suddenly, BAM, clear skies. Our minds were blown. And then it rained some more. The power skipped a couple of times, and a bus station seems to have gone missing (but that probably happens all the time ;) )

So yeah, it's been an interesting week! And overall, pretty fun. David, a long-time investigator, is totally a member of the church now, except for the baptism part. He wants to bear his testimony this fast sunday. Cool! And he has a friend in the same housing complex named Ian. Ian was given a book of mormon 10 years ago while on a train. He has just started reading it, and has a lot of questions for us. So we may have a new investigator :)

Sunday was pretty incredible too. We had Zach Jenner and Tautiana Hunia at sacrament meeting, which is great in itself, but then David showed up, and a man named Joshua too! Joshua has been investigating the church for quite a while too, but we haven't been able to see him much because of work schedules. But Joshua really wants to become a member of the church. He really enjoys the fellowship and support from other members. The only thing is, he doesn't want to be baptised yet, until he feels that he's ready to make that commitment. So we're going to try and figure things out with the bishop with him.

It's Transfers week! I'm staying here. Elders Evans and Miller are staying in Armadale. Elder Kerr is being transferred to Kalgoorlie! Waaaay out in the middle of Nowhere. My new companion will be Elder Nauro, and he will be the district leader here. Elder Nauro is from Guam, and has been on his mission for a little over a year. He's a great missionary (from what I hear), and was Elder Evans' previous companion. He likes Rice?

Just to clarify last week's email, a "Kiwi" is what aussies call people from New Zealand. A "Kiwifruit" is the little green thing. It's not derogatory or anything.

Saturday night, we decided that Westfield Road is the safest road in the whole world. (And by that I am in every way being sarcastic.) A car drove by our little complex doing about 130 km/h. And then 2 police cars, lights flashing. And then a couple choppers began circling nearby, with a searchlight. More sirens. Miscellaneous screaming. It continued from about 9-11PM. Wooo!

You know there's problems when you have a DRIVE-THRU liquor shop across the street, right next to the tavern. :D Don't worry, Grandma Roberts, we're being safe.

All right! That's my week! How's yours been? Good luck with your tests, Scott, and everyone have fun in Oregon, at Girls Camp, in Alaska, and all those other fun places! Apparently it got to 98F in Utah? Wow. Here, right now, it's getting to about... uh... 23C... No idea what that is in Fahrenheit. But it's nice and cool.

Love you all!

Elder Reeder

The Fire is Burning

Hi, everybody! It's me again, writing from a library in the middle of Armadale, Perth, Australia!

This week has been VERY slow. There is a flu bug going around. So, about half of the less-active members, active members, and investigators we usually see, we weren't able to see. Also, we have been going EVERYWHERE, trying to find new people to teach. It's not fun. Apparently the whole zone is having problems with finding. And finding members to join in on the lessons. (Moral of this story: If the missionaries come by, give them someone to teach, or offer to join them in teaching a lesson. They'd appreciate it. ;)

On a happier note, we found a new less-active member! His name is Fabian. He is from Chile, and has been in Perth only 5 months. We are 2 of the 3 people he knows in Australia. He has been a member all his life, and is a returned missionary. He really wants to get back into the church, more active in it, etc. So we are teaching him now too! In a way, he reminds me a lot of Daniel, the other less-active we were teaching. He knows an incredible amount about the church. He's even spoken with Elder Holland! :O Also, Daniel is doing ok. He had a lousy week this past week. Jobs are very hard to find here, I gather. But wonder of wonders, he got two job offers for a months work from ward members this sunday! That boosted him up.

We have a baptism coming up! June 9th, Zach Jenner will be baptized into the church! Zach is 9. His family was less-active until now. He is autistic, but really wants to be baptized. So we've been teaching him, and getting everythign sorted out with the mission president. His family is fun to teach as well.

On Saturday, we went to a bonfire mission farewell, for someone in the ward. They're headed to Washington, D.C. Believe me, this was no ordinary bonfire. We pulled into the field, and said bonfire was about 15 feet high, and included a dead tree, standing in the middle. You can't get near the flames without your skin crisping off :D It was so awesome. Australians have no idea how to make s'mores. (their version: get marshmallow, two cookies, a few m&ms, wrap in tin foil, chuck in flames. Then grab stick, cover face with jacket, and try and pull it out before it turns to charcoal.) We showed them the correct way, and they were very impressed.

Also, during the bonfire, I taught the First Vision to a catholic lady, who had some questions about the church! She loved it, and wanted to learn more. WOOT!

This upcoming week is Week 11 in my training. This is the week where I take the lead in Everything. Oh. Crud. Hopefully I make it through all of this with my sanity intact. Wish me luck!

So, that's been my week!

Hey, cousin Micah! Armenia, wow! That's going to be so Cool!

Also, congratulations Peggy on getting a master scriptorian award!

Just a quick note, I love getting all these emails from everybody! It's great to hear from you all. Unfortunately, I only have an hour to write this general letter, and to my mission president, and respond to a few other emails. So if I sound hurried, crazy, or something, I don't mean to. (letters are easier to respond to, I can sit down and write them at night. ;) ) So anyway, just to let you know!

Love you all!

Elder Reeder

Your area is being transferred: please hold...

So. Transfers week. It's completely different from any other week of the mission.

There were 10 companionships in our district. 4 missionaries went home. We gained another 8. It's pretty cool. I feel a bit sorry for the mission office, because they have to find places for all those missionaries to live :D

Among those places, we finally moved into our new flat! I am loving it. It is next to a busy road, and, for some reason, someone who likes using a chainsaw. On the plus side, it's a very new flat, and very cozy. Also very in-the-middle-of-our-area, which means we don't have to bike for 7 minutes just to get Into our area anymore! Mom, it does have a washing machine. No dryer, though. I think there's only one working dryer in the whole mission XD

On the work side of things, though, we didn't get to see many people. Apparently that's normal for this week. Nobody seemed to be home, etc. Huh. It'll pick up next week. We got one of our investigators to church, too!

We had a pretty interesting experience last night, too (Sunday). We were heading over to contact a referral, and as we passed a park, we heard yelling, a beer bottle smashing, and general noise you'd find in a fight. Holy Cow. So we rushed down another street, to the first house with a light on, to get the number for the police. They gave it to us, and then we discover that they're members of the church! Seriously, what are the chances? :L

So, that's my week. Nothing too exciting, besides general missionary work.

So! I love you all! See you next week!

Elder Reeder

The Things They Say

Hi there, it's me again!

Remember that time when I told you all that it only rains like 1x a year here? And the rest of the year is pretty much dry? Remember that? Forget I ever mentioned that.

IT POURS. AND POURS. And I found out that my rainjacket is water Resistant. Woohoo. But it was so awesome! We were about 2-3 k's from our flat, and it began to drizzle. Ok, jackets on. We biked a bit to another house (no one home.) It began to rain harder. Ok, this is interesting. Bike a bit more. And then. AND THEN. It really starts. (To experience what this was like, go outside to your nearest garden sprinker, turn on, and aim at your face. That's what it was like.) Incredible. And we still had about 1 k to go. So yeah, awesome.

This week we had some really cool successes! Daniel, the less-active member, has been coming to church the past 2 weeks, and he just got in to see the bishop, get ready to go to the temple, etc! Seriously, he's awesome. He can't wait. Haha, side story, he was joking about how he looks good at the gym, for girls, and Elder Kerr told him ok, so today's lesson is on Humility (haha, funny). Daniel said "Oh, well doesn't it say in the scriptures to Love thy neighbor as thyself? So I have to love myself first!" We had a short break to stop laughing. Heheh.

Also, we tracted into a guy named Ross, who has been baptist since he was married. He was really interested right at the door, and said he'd like to come to church this sunday. Sweet! We didn't see him at the church sunday, but we're going to go by again this week.

In other investigating news, you know you're in australia when an investigator can't come to the door because they're too hung over. Yeeahhh... Also, ANZAC day saw a lot of broken bottles on the sidewalks. And, for some reason, melons. We spent that day doing service for an older couple, digging a giant hole for them, where they're rebuilding their koi pond. Actually, they're a cool couple. They are catholic, and her mother is in our ward. They lived in Colorado for three years, and spent most of that time exploring church history sites, like Martin's Cove, Temple Square, etc. They've been taught the lessons before. Woot!

Today marks the beginning of a new transfer! (Transfers are 6 weeks long) I'm with Elder Kerr for at least another 6 weeks, until my training's finished. Elder Kerr, however, is now the district leader! Wow. As well as this being a new transfer, we are FINALLY moving house! The flat we've been staying in this whole transfer is not in our area, and technically belongs to another companionship. They've been staying with the zone leaders. But the church finally found us a new flat in our area and we're moving into it on Wednesday. So we've been cleaning it up, getting ready, etc. The new one is in an interesting area. Supposedly more rough than where we are right now. And it looks old, too. Hmm. Crossing our fingers!

So there are a lot of phrases I've noticed around here that you wouldn't hear anywhere else (unless the people here are there...) For instance, the word Fillet. Pronounced Fill-et, not Fillay. Or Sachet. Pronounced Sashay. What?? Also, an SUV is called a Ute. (No dad, basketball is not that big here.) Or, when you think something is , you say it's -as. "Man, that car is Sweet as." "My chicken is tasty as!" "Darn, the bike tires are Flat As!" And so on and so forth. Cool as.

So, uh, yeah! Have a good week, and I'll see you next monday!

Love, Elder Reeder

ANZAC

ANZAC. No, it's not medication. It's a biscuit (really). But most importantly of all, it's Australia's very important veterans day.

President Smibert explained it, and I got some other info about it from a member; "Anzac Day is this coming Wednesday. Anzac stands for "Australia and New Zealand Army Corp". It is a national holiday to show respect and reverence to those who fought, and to the many who died to defend our freedom." There will be lots of memorial services Wednesday, and we've been encouraged to attend one :) Cool.

So! The week! It rained. And rained. And then, for a change, it got sunny. And then rained anyway. But hey! It isn't so hot you feel like your eyeballs aren't melting! I thought it was awesome. Except on Wednesday. Wednesday we had a "Blitz" in another area in the district. A blitz is where all the companionships in a district go to one area to get the work moving, because the elders need help, etc. So we spent the day tracting, working through a list of former investigators, less-active members, etc. I was with Elder Butts, whose area it is. We were both silly and left our rainjackets at his flat, because it didn't really look like it'd rain. BUT IT POURED. Like seriously, miniature flash floods in the gutter. It was nuts. But we had fun. Elder Kerr got 15 goatheads (those little thorny things) in his tire. He used up all his patches and ended up buying a new tire anyway. Oops.

During that fun-ness, Elder Butts and I had probably one of the most unnerving/disturbing street contacting experiences ever. We met a 16-year old girl, and started talking with her. She did not believe in God, or a higher power, or anything. She was horrified at the thought of life after death, and she believes that pretty much anyone who is religious actually has a mental illness/is hallucinating, and she "can accurately pinpoint what it is." We ended up leaving her with a passalong card with the mission number on it. I felt really sorry for her.

We met with Dale again, to continue to teach him. I guess it was just beginning to sink in that he'd have to leave the Salvation Army church when he was baptized. He has a very deep emotional attachment with it. He told us that he'd pray about it, and talk with his minister. Cool.

Friday/Saturday, we did exchanges. (Two companionships exchange companions for a day, work in each other's area). It was good. When I got back, Elder Kerr had some bad news. Dale is no longer investigating the church. When they knocked on his door to see how he was doing, he was incredibly short with them, rude, gave back the Book of Mormon, and basically told them to go away. We were shocked. And disappointed...

On a lighter note, Daniel, the less-active we've been seeing, came to church for the first time in a long time! It was great to see him there. He's come so far from where we first met. He REALLY wants to be able to go to the temple, and get married. I like him. Also, last night he had us over for dinner, and we had Spaghetti Bolognese. (Spaghetti. With another word on the end.) IT WAS AWESOME. The first spaghetti I've had since... since... Forever! :D Anyway.

Sister Murray was back Sunday as well! Elder Miller and I got our packages from our families. You guys are seriously awesome, I love you! Everyone loves the cookies, and Elder Taumalolo is keeping a watchful eye for when I open the fudge (Thanks Grandma Roberts!). Also, thanks for the recipes! Now we have something complicated to cook :D By the way, mom, Sister Morrison was right, things are nearly 2x as expensive here. Food-wise, at least.

Oh! Mothers Day! It's close! I don't have 100% details yet, but here's what I have so far: Monday here (sunday for you) at some point, we will be able to go to a member's house and either make a Phone call, or a Skype call (depending on what's available). And, uh, yeah! So that's all I know right now. I'll try and figure out more before the day :)

All right! Have a good week!

Elder Reeder

Missionaries Ho!

Hello, all you americans! :D Another week passed.

So we actually did go to the koala park! IT WAS SO AWESOME. Also, besides koalas, were Emus, Dingos (YES KRIS, DINGOS.), and Kangaroos! No Way! And not just like a zoo, they were walking around the park! We got to pet and feed said kangaroos, and I paid to Hold a Koala. Yes, I Held it. and it ate leaves from my hand. Sweet. I took lots of pictures. Boo yah.

Wednesday we had some specialized training with the assistants and the mission president! All of my MTC district were there with their trainers as well. It was great to see them again. Elder Anderson's bike got stolen already. And we learned the importance of helmets. Elder Iomalu is learning how to ride a bike here. He has crashed twice, and broken his helmet. He's very lucky. The training itself was great, and we got some great tips from all the other companionships/President Smibert.

I had a really cool experience on Thursday. We had a lesson with one of our investigators, Dale. Dale has been with the Salvation Army church (Salvos) for many years. They really helped him put his life back together, and really taught him and prepared him for the gospel. The lesson was very spiritual, and we bore our testimonies to him. We talked about following the example of Jesus, and he agreed that it was something he really wanted to do. So then, I committed him to baptism :D Hooray hooray! He made our night! Dale is going to be baptized on May 12th.

Also, other things that happened over the week:
One night, we were biking towards another appointment, and apparently some guy set his dog on us. It was a bit unnerving. And then I almost ran said dog over on my bike. The dog went home.

Another investigator, Leone, always offers us a drink when we go to her house. Lemonade soda stuff with a few drops of something called "bitters." It tastes amazing. Elder Kerr and his previous companion have been having it for quite a while. I had no idea what bitters was, so this week I asked him what was in it. Stuff, stuff, 44.7% Alcohol.

WHUT.

We don't put the bitters in anymore. Leone was shocked when she read the bottle. Oops.

General conference was Great! We watched at the stake center with our stake. I Loved elder Holland and elder Uchtdorf, especially.
Here's how conference works here:

Saturday, some people come and watch the sessions. A lot of the priesthood comes and watches priesthood session.

Then we set up 400 chairs in the hall. Sunday morning, nearly everyone comes and watches the session. Then we put away all the chairs and some people stay to watch the afternoon session.

But seriously, conference rocked. I found a lot of things that might help some of our investigators/less active members.

So, all in all, a good week. ;)

Until next time,

Elder Reeder