Christmas Bells are Ringing

G'day, everybody! Today is Monday, December 23rd, 2013, and it's a beautiful sunny day here in Rockingham. It might get a bit warm later on in the day, but oh well, it's summer. :D

Apparently, back home, it's exactly the opposite. Lots and lots of snow, cold(ish) temperatures, etc. etc. And it's Christmas! The best time of the year.

This week has seen some blessings happening here in Rockingham! We have four new investigators to work with! On Saturday, we went on exchanges with the zone leaders. I went with Elder Bunda, down to Baldivis, and Elder Patuaka came up to Rockingham with Elder Liehr. During the day, they tried a few former investigators. One of them, named Paige, answered the door. Turned out that she hadn't really been taught in the first place, but had listened in a couple of times when missionaries had taught her sister. They shared about the Restoration with her, and she really wants to know more! She asked for them to come back this weekend, after Christmas.

We've been trying to meet with Darrel, Brother Lolohea's friend, but it's been difficult. We had an appointment with him on Friday. However, Darrel has been looking for a house, and found one the day before, so he wasn't able to meet with us. He's still interested, though. Hopefully the missionaries in his new area can get in touch with him soon.

This upcoming week is going to be interesting. Today is our P-Day. Tomorrow morning, after district meeting, we've been asked not to go tracting, and same with Christmas Day. We'll be spending a lot of time with members, I suppose.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Although I'm out here, and won't be able to talk to you all on Christmas Day, know that I love and miss each one of you! Thanks for your support and your prayers, they really do help out from day to day. This work is amazing.

Love,

Elder Daniel Reeder

On the...16th? day of Christmas

I think I got mixed up somewhere along that line...

Anyway!

How is everyone going? I'm excited for Christmas. Last night, we all were able to watch the first presidency Christmas Devotional. Personally, I think this is one of my favourite parts of Christmas. I love hearing the songs by the choir, as well as the messages from those who spoke. It always helps me feel more like it's really Christmas :) I really liked Elder Rasband's words on remembering the reason for the season: "How will we worship Him this season? Endlessly shopping? Hustling about and adorning our homes? Will that be our tribute to our Savior? Or will we bring peace to troubled hearts, good will to those in need of higher purpose, glory to God in our willingness to do His bidding? Jesus put it simply: “Come, follow me.”

Elder Liehr and I have been working more with the members in the ward, this week. Christmas is coming, of course, and so people are out of town. One of the best ways that we've found to help members share that love and spirit they have, is sharing a Christmas message with them, and inviting them to bring a friend by for Christmas, or to an activity. This week, we also had our ward Christmas party. One of our investigators, Darrel, came along as well! We're meeting him later this week, and we'll be able to start properly teaching him. He really wants to learn, I think.

The weather's been truly heating up. Today it's supposed to be 39C (102F). Woohoo. I'm relieved, however, because one of the young men told us there was a heat wave headed this way, and temperatures were going to be in the 50's! Fortunately, this was a joke, and we will not be melting after all.

This week is looking up. We have a few appointments with investigators, and I'm looking forward to it. I love you all, have a great week and a merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Daniel Reeder

Ps: By popular demand (mom), here is the other 11 days of an aussie Christmas:

On the First day: An Emu, up a gum tree!
On the 2nd day: 2 Pink Galahs
On the 3rd day: 3 Jabirus
On the 4th day: 4 Kookaburras
On the 5th day: Five Kangaroos!
On the 6th day: 6 Platypuses
On the 7th day: 7 Koalas Climbing
On the 8th day: 8 Dingoes Dancing
On the 9th day: 9 wombats working
On the 10th day: 10 Lizards Leaping
On the 11th day: 11 Numbats Nagging
On the 12th day: 12 Parrots Prattling
Have fun!

On the 9th day of Christmas!

I'm sure you'd all love to read 9 days worth of that song :D

Hi! How's everyone's week been? Here in Rockingham, things have continued to move forward, despite the confusion of transfers. I'm here with my companion, Elder Leihr now. Elder Leihr's from Sydney. He's been out about 4 months, and is a very social guy. He's already gotten to know a lot of the ward here :) Elder Tipene is up in Karratha now. He called us the night he got in, it's already close to 40C up there! He loves the branch, though.

So! Elder Leihr and I have continued work down here. It's been a little tough this week, with Christmas coming near. I think more than a few people have headed out of town to visit their rellies. We decided to start going through the now Updated ward list, and visit members that no one knew about. Awesome experiences: Met a man named Richard at one door. He was incredibly friendly and social towards us. We also had our ward mission leader with us. He's got a son with a disability. Mentioned that he's been looking for activities, sports, or Anything to bring his son to. Coincidentally, our ward Christmas party is this Saturday! As well as a very special sacrament meeting the day after. (not that sacrament meeting isn't special in the first place...) Richard was very keen to come along. And said that we could come by again and visit him and his son sometime!

Sunday night was pretty fun. The Tini family, from the Cook Islands, had an early Christmas dinner. And they invited their whole family along, many of which aren't members yet. They invited us over as well, and we shared a Christmas message from the book of Mormon with them all :) There are some nice people in that family.

(Also, I'm pretty sure I'd like to return to Australia someday, for the islander parties. Kiwis, Tongans, and Cook Islanders have some of the best feeds Ever. :D)

So! I've received some more questions from some people, wondering what's up. Here are the answers to said questions :)

1. What is the thing you get fed the most? Usually something involving steak, here. And rice.

2. What is the WORST thing you've ever been fed, that you had to stuff in your socks rather than eat? Oyster cakes.

3. Do you have to shave every day? Well, yes and now. Yes, because I have to as a missionary, but I'll bet I could still get away with it for a day. ;)

4. You know those flipflops you had to take with you? Have you ever actually used them? Flipflops are referred to as shoes, thongs, or jandals here. I like Jandals, but I haven't actually used my own, due to the fact that a certain companion of mine was in need of a pair, having no shoes. You can get some really good ones here.

5. Does anyone ever get sent into the outback? to teach the Aboriginals? Yes, yest they do. The outback would be considered Karratha and Port Hedland. There are a few aboriginal members here, too.

6. Are you glad you went on a mission? Why? What would you say to someone who isn't sure they want to go? I am SO glad I went on a mission! I have learned so much about who I am, and about the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are so many people out here that I am happy to have met, and been able to help them strengthen their own testimonies. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that His Plan of Happiness is for each and every one of us, that we can Do it, if we do our best, and rely on Him. If there was someone who wasn't sure, or having doubts, I would say Just go for it! Missions are hard. They can be tough on everyone. But the feelings you receive when you're working hard and you see people begin to make those wonderful changes in their lives, there's not much that can replace it. We've only got these few years to help participate in such a way, and I can Promise that anyone who goes on a mission will never regret having done so.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Daniel Reeder

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Especially one with lots of snow!

Except we're here in Perth Australia, and Santa Claus wears swimming trunks and lots of sunscreen.

G'day, everybody! How's life? For me, this week has been very awesome.

First of all, we have two new investigators!

One, named Metala, is the friend of a recent convert. She actually called us, as a prank at first. But then it turned out that she actually had questions for us. Elder Tipene and I taught her over the phone, and she came to the baptism of her friend Taylor on Saturday, and we taught her a bit more. She's pretty solid in her own church, but she is curious about how the church works. Cool.

Our other new investigator is named Darrell. He's a friend of a member in the ward named Leka. We've met Darrell before, and talked with him, but on Sunday, out of the blue, he showed up at church with Leka! After sacrament meeting, he asked us for a quick rundown of the basic beliefs of the church. We taught him the Restoration right there, about the Book of Mormon, and he said he'd like to read it! He stayed for the whole meeting, and afterwards said that he'd like to meet with us again later this week. He told us that he'd grown up in another church, but hadn't been in a long while. He'd decided it would be a good idea to have God more of a focus in his life. He lives up in the city, but he usually comes down to Rockingham during the weekend. He is Golden!

Saturday was the baptism for Taylor. She brought her whole family along to see. The spirit was very strong during the program, and her mum cried. Taylor was so happy to be finally taking that step. She was confirmed a member on Sunday.

(Incident during the baptism- The person who was in charge of filling the font forgot about it, and left it running. It overflowed again.)

Thanksgiving is this week. I hope you're all prepared. I will be having a chicken. Possibly. :) I knew this week would be different! We really got into it, and we've been blessed with these two new people to teach.

So, I've been asked questions, and requested to do this questionnaire of sorts. :) Behold, here are the answers.

1. What is your favourite food in Australia? My favourite food? Well, I've discovered the wonderful world of curry out here. Mmmm, Curry... Red curry, green curry, chicken curry with rice...

2. Do people feed you? If so, what and how often? Well, that strictly depends on where I've been. Rockingham ward is amazing, probably because the majority of members are Kiwi or Tongan. We get fed ~4 times a week :)

3. Have you lost/gained/maintained weight? I am proud to say that I have only gained 3 kilos! Having been on a bike my whole mission, I can definitely see the perks, compared to missionaries who've spent their whole missions in a car. (makes it easier to talk to people, too.)

11. Are the bugs bothersome? Holy cow, yes. Mostly just in the spring, though, which is better. Right- so, Flies, yeah? little black things that fly around, occasionally land on your nose, etc? Not here! I think they have some sort of targeting strategy, going for your mouth, ears, trying to go up your nose, etc. etc. In movies about Auz, you sometimes see people with hats with little corks around it? Those can be useful. (except for the corks bonking your face all the time, too :D )

A Day in the life of an Aussie Missionary: We get up at 6:30, exercise (pushups, situps, etc. maybe running, too.) Showering and getting ready at 7. Breakfast. I usually have cereal, sometimes we make pancakes. Elder Tipene's a cook so he can make good pancakes. Personal Study at 8, Companion study at 9, at 10 we pack up and walk out the door of our flat. In the morning we usually work to contact potential investigators, former investigators, and find members on our ward list that we don't know (Member Locators). Lunch at 12, then back out at 1, with more of the same, some tracting, appointments with investigators and less-active members. Sometimes when we have a dinner appointment we try to work nearby their house. Depending on whether or not we have a dinner appointment, Dinner is sometimes 5 or 6pm, and sometimes 9pm (Last night we had roast steak with vegetables, pasta, and chips (Like big French fries). We're back in our flat at 9, plan out our next day, (usually half an hour or so), and then prepare for bed, and write in journals, or just talk. 10:30, Bed. And then, we get up and do it all over again!

And that's a day in my life. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me!

I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Elder Reeder

The week in review

Hi, all :)

This week has been a bit of a wake-up call. Things are starting to wear out on me, hahaha!

Saturday, Elder Tipene and I went on exchanges with the District Leader and his companion. I was with Elder Mason in Rockingham West, which was fun, seeing as how I'd served there before. Unfortunately, not much happened, as my body decided it was going to be sick that day. Not going into details, I'm not too keen on bacon right now. :) Elders Mason and Tipene gave me a blessing, and I'm feeling much better today.

However, that morning, We had a wonderful lesson with an investigator of the sisters, Taylor. She was interviewed, and she's going to be baptised this Saturday! (Remember, Taylor's the girl who went on the mini-mission a while back.) She's got amazing fellowship with another young woman, who is also a recent convert.

This week we managed to get in touch with another one of our investigators too, Jason Teatonga. Jason's been meeting with the missionaries for a long time, and has a pretty cool story. He knows the Book of Mormon is true. He has a very strong testimony of the gospel. We're trying to help him act on it now. He has a problem with smoking that he has to overcome first. But he's a really nice guy, who loves the missionaries. We talked with him about baptism this week, and he agreed that it was something he wanted to do. Hopefully we can get him to that point soon :)

Talking of things wearing out, my bike has just about had it. 6300 k's of riding later, and suddenly the chain just bends. I took it into the bike shop, and they were pretty impressed by the mileage. They also told me it'd be $176 to repair the chain, chainwheel (next to the pedals), and rear sprocket (gears on the back wheel). Ha. In the end, I became proficient at using pliers to bend the chain back again. Lucky there are lots of bike parts in the shed at our flat.

I had a temple recommend interview on Tuesday. It was good to meet with President for that :) We also discussed a bit about the work in this area. He gave some good ideas to follow, to help us try and get things happening in this area.

Aaand, that's pretty much been my week. I'm actually looking forward to this week more than others; I don't really know why. I just think it's going to be better :) I love you all! Have a great day! The church is true!

Love,

Elder Reeder

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

es, indeed, it's coming to that wonderful time of the year, once again, when everything begins to melt. It actually got up to 40C yesterday! Not a cloud in the sky. I feel sorry for Karratha, they've been hitting 40C already, and it's not even January yet. (If you remember, record high last year up there was 47C.) Apparently, since it was such a record-breaking rainy winter this year, it's going to be a record-breaking hot summer.

Elder Tipene and I have been continuing in our efforts to find and teach, which has been a bit difficult lately. We had a wonderful lesson, however, with an older man this week, named Peter. When Peter invited us in, he showed us a copy of the Book of Mormon, that he'd been given back in 1987! That's a while ago. And although he hadn't seen any missionaries in 10 years, he'd read the book of Mormon, and he believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet! He isn't at home this week, but when we next go visit him, we're hoping to be able to commit him to baptism.

We've got some seriously awesome members here in Rockingham ward. Manaaki Walker, and Sam Peihopa are two elders in the ward, both getting ready for their missions. Oh! Sam just got his mission call on Saturday, too! He's going to be serving in Auckland, New Zealand! (fyi that mission also covers the Cook Islands, now.)He's leaving March 31st. Manaaki is about ready to put his in. We've been taking them out with us a couple of times to teach and meet with members and investigators. They're really eager to get out themselves.

Well, I hope everyone has a great week! I'm hoping to get a lot of good things done here this week.

I love you all!

Elder Reeder

What do we do in the summertime?

When all the world is green? (or brown)

We can't fish in a stream (except on P-Day)

or lazily dream... (haha)

You know the rest.

Anyway. It's officially summertime here in Perth! Today's forecast is supposed to be around 30C. It's getting hot.

Elder Tipene and I have been doing a lot of service for people around the area, trying to pick up some new investigators. Saturday was good as well- Our district had a blitz in our area. Us, the other elders, and the sisters, came in to our area and did some tracting for a while to help out. We saw some good success come from that. Cool story about it- The sisters brought some young women along as well. One is Toree Ngatai, a recent convert whose dad is a reactivated member (he's awesome), and the other was a girl named Taylor, who isn't yet a member. Taylor came on the mini-missions a while back, and gained a testimony and wants to be baptised now! The sisters are teaching her and she has a date set for December :)

So these two girls came along with the sisters to go tracting. They ended up finding a new investigator together! He told them at the door that he believed it was true already, and we have a return appointment later this week. Woohoo!

We had a zone conference this last Friday. We had some good training from President Lindsay, on inviting people earlier on to be baptised. There are a lot of new missionaries in our mission lately, so it was also a great opportunity to go over our purpose again, and for some, to refocus.

Well, that's my week here. Hope yours is great!

Love you all!

Elder Reeder

Halloween

G'day, everybody :) Elder Reeder here, with another report from the outback.

So I'm in Rockingham again! I have officially been in every area in this district, now. Kwinana, Rockingham East, and Rockingham West. (I think I know the ward pretty well now :) ) Elder Tipene is a cool guy. He's Kiwi, living in NSW. He's a chef back home, so he knows his food.

We've already gotten off to a good start this week, with a baptism! Elder Iumalo and his companion were actually the missionaries who first began teaching him, and Elder Tipene and I were the missionaries that got to be there for the baptism. His name is Jackson Enua. He is from the Cook Islands. His family are all members in the ward, so it was really great to see him make the decision for himself as well.

I'm really hoping that I remain here for the remainder of my mission. Rockingham is an amazing place to be in. Hahaha, everyone remembers me, too! Several people came up and said, "Welcome back!" So it's been pretty easy this time to get to know the new area :D

The only difference about Rockingham East now, is that it's been split. We used to cover Rockingham, Cooloongup, Hillman, and Waikiki suburbs. Now, sister missionaries have been brought into the ward and they've taken Waikiki. Which is great, they've got some great investigators there. But they've gotten All of our investigators. Our teaching pool has suddenly been emptied of everything. Bummer. Fortunately for us, the ward's been great with referrals lately. So we'll still be working hard finding and teaching.

So, halloween is this weekend! I was here last year for the ward activity, a trunk or treat. It's amazing every year :) Lots of nonmembers show up to it too, so it's a good chance to chat with them.

Well, I love you all! Hope everything is going well back home.

Love,

Elder Reeder

Rocking the boat again!

Hi there, everybody! Have I got news for you!

This week has been great! I've been really getting to love this area- Us and the sister missionaries have been working together, as well as the zone leaders, and suddenly we've got more people to teach coming out of the woodwork! I think there are serious miracles beginning to happen here. Let me give you a few things that have happened:

1. We have A BAPTISMAL DATE! David Tanenui, Ella's husband, is going to be baptised on November 2nd! We met with him and his wife, and told him that we really felt that he was ready for this. He's got a strong testimony, and he is SOLID on keeping commitments. He's been taking his book of mormon to work to read every day, etc. Coming to church each week. We also told him that once Edward and Vitania were ready, he would have the priesthood by then and would be able to perform their baptisms. He asked us, "Well, can we set a date then?" He told us that this had been on his mind for quite a while now, and he was really eager to go through with this.

I'm so excited!

2. We've been able to get in touch with Teresa again! We've got an appointment with her this Wednesday. Solid, this time.

3. We've got two new investigators! Almost. A lady named Suzy, who has been taught by the sisters for 2 years, is finally being baptised! She and her husband have a marriage date for the 7th of December. Here's the cool bit- one of her good friends, named Elizabeth, is a nonmember, and the mother of a less-active member in the ward. Since Suzy has been coming to church more often now, and is progressing, suddenly Elizabeth has started showing up as well, with her children! The sisters went and talked with her, and she wants to be taught! Referral!

4. A girl named Mica, (pronounced Meesha) is good friends with a member in the ward. A couple of weeks ago, she talked to the bishop and told him that she really wanted to be baptised! She hasn't been taught by missionaries much yet, but she already has a really strong testimony that the Book of Mormon is true.

And all this, happening in our areas! Woohoo!

Now, a bit of sad news;

Today is Transfer calls! And guess what? I'm being shifted out! Elder Iumalo is going to be the new district leader, and training. I am going down to Rockingham East! Where Iumalo was before! (I swear, I've spent so much time in that district. Kwinana, Rockingham West, and now the other half! Woot.) Rockingham is awesome, though, so that's all good. I'll be with Elder Tipene.

So yes, that's an update about what's happening with me. Hope everyone's doing well back home! Love you all! Stay safe, stay happy! I know the gospel is true :)

Love,

Elder Daniel Reeder

Exclamation Point!

Wasn't Conference just awesome?

I think some of my favorite speakers were Elder Bednar, on Tithing, and Elder Scott, on the Atonement. Then again, all of the things that were spoken on were very powerful. I liked what President Monson mentioned at the end, that he'd never been in a more inspired conference.

I took lots of notes, and I hope you all did too! Exclamation Point!

This week, we've been working with the members! We've got a new thing the mission's trying this month, called an MLX, or Member Lesson Xtreme! Exclamation Point! Basically, a lesson at a member's home, but in and out within 20 minutes, having shared a gospel principle, two scriptures with it, left a commitment, and asking who they know that could benefit from the message that we've shared. They're pretty cool. We've gotten a referral this week, too! His name is Tony. He's the husband of a member in the ward. Nice guy, loves to laugh. He hasn't been religious for a very long time, and has been having a bit of a hard life. But in recent months, he told us, he's been thinking that he should be paying more attention to God. So we've begun teaching him :)

Me and Elder Iumalo are still working hard with the Turners and with Teresa as well. The Turners came to Conference Sunday Morning, and really enjoyed it! We went over that evening and taught Vitania the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is really interested in learning, and has had some really good insights into what we've taught. We hope that the spirit will touch her and Edward and they will take the steps neccessary to be baptised.

We're a bit baffled with Teresa. We haven't been able to see her in a month. Appointments keep falling through, etc. Hopefully we can get in touch with her soon.

Well, seeing as how our Zone has achieved the standard of excellence for last month for baptisms, and beat it, President Lindsay is taking us all to a place called Nando's. Nando's is like Maddox Chicken, but Australian. It is AMAZING. Exclamation point! But we have to be there very soon, so I will be signing off for this week. I love you all! My prayers are with you :)

Love,

Elder Reeder

Exclamation Point!

The temple and other things

Hello, all :) Elder Reeder here again, reporting fresh from the bush.

Sorry for the lack of newsletter last week. The queen had another birthday, and our P-Day got moved. And then it got moved again! So we ran out of much time to email. But I'm still alive :)

Last Thursday we had the opportunity as a mission to go to the temple! It was the first time I've been able to see the new temple film. It was wonderful, and I really felt the spirit throughout it. Some of the recent converts in the ward, Tom and Myles, are really wanting to go to the temple to do baptisms. they are such solid members, I'm happy for them!

Our investigator, Teresa, as well, wants to go to the temple. She just needs to be baptised first :) Which we're working on. We haven't been able to meet with her in a long time, which is sad. We keep seeing her at church, though. I'm also excited for conference this week! General conference is always something to look forward to. I love listening to the Prophet and Apostles, and their counsel.

This week, Elder Iumalo and I have an addition to our companionship! Rockingham Stake is doing Mini-missions again! We've been joined by Sam Peihopa, who is actually waiting for his own call! It was pretty cool, Sam's been with Elder Iumalo on a previous mini-mission, and since we both served in Rockingham recently, we already knew him really well. Whee! so we've been having a good time serving with him. He's a great teacher already.

Well, we're running short on time again this week. I love you all, and pray that all is ok. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as well, they do help.

Love,

Elder Daniel Reeder

Spreading Out

Hi, Family and friends! this week has been pretty cool, in some ways!

First of all, it's been raining all week! That keeps the heat away. (I'm pretty sure that constant rain has ceased to be news to yous anymore. hahaha)

Second, the zone is doing awesome! Dianella zone has had 5 baptisms this past weekend. We're planning for another one in our ward this weekend, an investigator of the sisters' named Tom, from Thailand. He is so cool. I had the privilege of interviewing him yesterday, in preparation for his baptism. When the sisters began teaching him, he had no knowledge of who Jesus Christ was. Their first lesson focused on Faith in Jesus Christ, and really hit him. He has an amazing testimony now, and is very excited for Saturday.

We just had an amazing ward council, too! We brought up that we need more people to teach. So what's in the plans now is the ward is going to work together with us to fill our days up. We had some really good ideas brought forward, and I'm excited to see what happens in the next few weeks.

We had a great lesson with the Turners this week. We taught them the Law of Chastity. We're working with Edward, who has decided he would like to get married. We also taught his girlfriend today, and she found it interesting as well! We may have another baptismal date soon. But for now, they're postponed until the marriage. :)

Teresa is doing pretty good as well. She came to Myle's baptism on Friday, and was really impressed with it. she's gaining courage, and told us that she feels like she's really ready this time, now that she's seen a baptism.

Well, we've got 5 months left, and Elder Iumalo and I are going to be working really hard to get things moving in this area! I love seeing the gospel in action. Seriously, I can't describe in words what's going on with these families. It has to be seen, and experienced, what changes are going on in their lives.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Daniel Reeder

Another week :-)

Hello, family and friends, it's another new week here in Perth, Australia. This past week went by pretty eventfully.

Normally, Transfers are on Wednesday, but due to some miscommunication of sorts, our transfer was Today! Elder Iumalo came up from Rockingham and spent the night with us, and this morning, Elder Swoboda departed on his bus to go down to Bunbury.

Iumalo and I are excited to be together again. We all went over to the Turner's home last night to have a family prayer with them. David and Edward are really going to miss Elder Swoboda. But they like Elder Iumalo now too, so that's good :)

We've been having a great time with them! David and Edward are solid investigators. Edward, especially, has made a huge change in his life. They're so willing to live the gospel, and do whatever it takes.

Sunday we had Stake Conference! All 5 wards in Dianella Stake gathered together at the chapel next to the temple. We seriously had a convoy going on on the way to the chapel- Us, the Turners in their two cars, then our Ward Mission leader got behind us, and then a couple other families as well! It was awesome.

There were some really good talks during the conference, including from the stake patriarch, and the temple president and matron :) Really cool. Edward was really struck by how important marriage was in the church. :)

Teresa is doing good. She knows the church is true. She's just got to make that step, have the courage to go for it despite her family. We're continuing to encourage and support her. She'll get there.

Guess what? There were 10 baptisms this past week. Barriers are being smashed here. :D It's so awesome!

I love you all! Thanks for the prayers :) I love being out here, I'm happy to be able to share this wonderful gospel with the people around me. I love to see the change it's making in so many people's lives.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Daniel

Woo Hoo!

Hi, fambly and friends! Today is Monday, 9 September, 2013. It is a new day. It is a new transfer. I'm feeling happy! Guess why?

First off: We have 2 baptismal dates! It was so cool, we went over to Virginia's family on Sunday. They're doing so good. I love them. We shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them as a family. It really made sense to David, especially, what it means to repent. After we'd finished, Edward asked us (no prompting from us) "Who do I have to talk to to get baptised?" Holy Cow! He really wants to be baptised. Ella was in tears, he's becoming a new person ever since he began coming to church, etc. David, too, committed, but wanting to continue learning first :) We set a date as a goal to work towards with them, the 28th of September.

The whole zone is doing awesomely- Right now, there are 12 dates! Miracles are happening in Western Australia. Wednesday evening was good as well. The sister's investigator, Miles, had been telling his mum about a blessing we'd given him earlier, to help him with some challenges he was having. She became interested, and long story short, we were able to give her a blessing as well, and she wants to start taking the lessons as well!

Sister Jeffrey is very sad, because she goes home tomorrow. She and her companion have been doing great things for their area, and she doesn't want to finish.

Teresa is doing ok. She's still having struggles. We're trying to help her through them. Her date's postponed.

Now, for the other awesome part of today!

We got our transfer calls this morning. Elder Swoboda is going down to Bunbury. I'm staying here, as District Leader. But I'll be with Elder Iumalo! Again! Hahaha, he called me last night to tell me the news. We're both really excited to work together again. :D

So that's the news of this week :) Today we're planning a zone pday, we're all going to hike up to the waterfalls and have a barbecue.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week.

Love,

Elder Reeder

18 Months

Can you believe it?

I can't.

This week, we've had some progress occurring in the district! Right now there are 4 baptismal dates. I'm excited!

Elder Swoboda and I went over to Teresa's on Wednesday. We taught her, fully, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit was really strong in that lesson. Afterwards, we set a date with her, for the 14th of september! It was pretty cool, actually. We wanted to help Her come up with a date that she felt comfortable working towards. When we suggested the 14th to her, she told us that that's the same date that she'd been feeling as well. She's had some real hard times making it to this point, but it's helped build her faith along the way. She came to church sunday, and another sister mentioned to us "She takes notes during relief society! Who takes notes?" (She was joking, but wow, she's really solid!)

Virginia and everybody are awesome. They've been coming to church the last two weeks now, and they're committed to continuing. We went over on Wednesday to teach them again, and straight up, before we could ask, they told us that they've been doing their best to read scriptures together, and to pray individually and as a family! Molly's partner, Pita, has been coming to church along with everyone, and he has been showing a lot of interest as well. We hope he becomes an investigator soon.

President Lindsay came to our district meeting this Tuesday, and joined in. It was good. Afterwards he took us out to lunch, and had a chat with us :) After he dropped us off at our flat, and had a quick look around (never been to this one before). Apparently it's been used by the mission for a VERY long time, and it's getting pretty old. So the next day the senior couple that does housing came by and said "We're moving you to a new flat in a few weeks!" Sudden. It's probably for the best, though, since our plumbing just quit working this morning. Anyway.

Saturday we went on exchanges with the zone leaders, Elders Hall and McNamee. I went with Elder Hall in their area, and elder Swoboda stayed in Greenmount with McNamee. It was a lot of fun, and Elder Hall and I got a lot of good work done in their area.

Hahaha! We were talking to a less-active member, and one of their kids came up to us, (about 8 yrs old) and asked us where we were from. I told him I was from America, and he seriously said "You're not from america! You're not black!" This, from an 8 year old. XD

So, it's the last week of the transfer! Suddenly, more and more missionaries I Know are finishing. Scary.

I love you all! Please stay safe, and everyone gets a hug from me :)

Love,

Elder Reeder

Spring has Sprung

The grass is ris..(our grass has definitely "ris.") I wonder where the flowers is?

Yep, so it's another week here in Greenmount, WA, and it's turning to Spring! Our lawn needs a mow. (but someone else takes care of it, apparently.)

It's been a good week here, especially during the weekend!

Elder Swoboda and I were able to meet with Virginia and her family again on Thursday. We shared the Plan of Salvation with them, and they really enjoyed it. They asked a LOT of questions, and ended up asking us to teach them about the 10 commandments as well :D We also found out that there is another member family living there! They all came to church this Sunday, the whole household. It was amazing to see, they took up a whole row in the back. It was the first time they'd been to church in 15+ years, and they really felt the spirit as they attended. They're definitely solid, and very committed to coming back to activity.

Sunday night, we had a "Cottage Evening" at our ward mission leader's house. It was a wonderful night, mostly socialising and food, and we shared a short spiritual message as well. The purpose of them is to help investigators and less-active members make friends with the members, get to know one another better. Purpose accomplished. They really help the work along. We're hoping to have them about once a month.

Teresa is doing great as well! We weren't able to see her during the week, due to her busy schedule, but the sister missionaries ran into her, and had a good chat. She mentioned that she knows that the adversary has been working on her, and she's been having a lot of trials, but she feels that she just needs to go ahead and be baptised, sooner rather than later. We're going to set a new date with her this week :) She is so awesome.

Saturday was fun. So, in the US, the youth have a program known as Especially for Youth, aka EFY. It's fun! However, out here, due to bizarre legal complications, they just changed the name this year. For a while it was going to be known as SMYC (Special Multi-stake Youth Conference), but now it's called FSY (For the Strength of Youth). Needless to say, it's caused the ward a lot of confusion in remembering the letters. ("We're getting ready for the, uh, EFS...SYCM...QZX...")

Anyway. So in order to raise funds for the upcoming FSY, the ward had a quiz night/auction. It was fun! There were tons of nonmembers there as well, and everyone was trying to outbid each other on things such as a blender, labor hire, and tickets for the corporate box at the Perth Wildcats stadium. (Oooh.)

The YSA won a chocolate fountain table, and invited us over. Delicious. Everyone had a great time, and raised enough funds for all the youth to go.

I love this ward, everybody's so awesome, and they're friendly with Anyone!

This week I'm doing District meeting. President Lindsay called and asked if he could join in. Ah. Ok.

It'll be cool.

Hey, guess what? Today is the 26th of August.

I have 6 months left.

IT'S INSANE.

Goes by very fast indeed :)

I love you all! Have a wonderful, fun-filled week! and for those of you back in school, welcome back ;)

Love,

Elder Reeder

A miracle

Hi all,

This week went really well!

Wednesday, we had a special fast with Teresa, to help her out. She really had a good experience with it, and when she came to church on Sunday, she seemed a lot happier and less stressed. :) We'll be meeting with her this week, when she's off work.

Another small miracle that happened this week started Last sunday, actually. The sisters got a call from a less-active member in the ward. She'd been working with another family for a short time now, and they wanted to have missionaries come over! They turned out to live in our area, so we got the referral. We were on splits with the zone leaders on Saturday, and so me and Elder Hall went by to try and meet them and invite them to church. Unfortunately, only the husband was home, but we gave him our number. They called back later and set up an appointment for after church on Sunday.

Elder Swoboda and I went by after church, not sure exactly what to expect. We rocked up, and the whole family! came in to sit with us in the front room. Turns out that the mother was a member, and her daughter. They'd been less-active for many years. The daughter's two brothers and her husband weren't members. But the cool part- The daughter's been thinking for a while now, that they all should make church a part of their lives again. They really want their kids to grow up with that kind of standards as well :) Her husband, who used to be catholic, wants to learn about the church as well. We taught them about the restoration, and committed them all to read the book of mormon and to pray about it. They'll be at church this sunday as well! I was so excited about it. 3 new investigators, right there.

So that's my miracle report for this week. It's week four of the transfer already! It's gone rather quickly.

I love you all, and I hope you're all doing well! I heard there was a fire on the mountain again? Wow.

-Elder Reeder

There is a green hill far away

Hi, everyone! Elder Reeder here, with another weekly report.

It's been another up-and-down week here in Greenmount. It's a very hilly place. hahaha!

It's also been hilly with our investigators as well. We're working very hard with Teresa. She's not golden. More like Platinum. We had a lesson with her on Wednesday night, and she asked us, "What's the next step for me?" Well of course, baptism, so we reset a date for her, August 17th. We were so excited! She was excited! Her family was giving her grief for a while, but she told us that she'd had some confirmations to her, through prayer, and a dream, to just go ahead with it. Yay! We also had dinner at a member's house, with her and her daughter Madison, who's 18. Madison really opened up to the members, and to us, and we're hoping that she'll follow her mum's example as well.

Unfortunately, something came up, and we've had to postpone the date. Teresa's going through a very difficult challenge at the moment, and she can't get away from it. We went over Sunday afternoon and talked with her about it, and then gave her a blessing to help her. She wants to move forward.

We've also been working with the ward, in finding part-member families. There are a couple in our area that we're hoping to make contact with this week. We want to help bring them back to church :)

Friday was really fun. We had a district leader's training meeting, at the mission home. It was great, and we all received some very good training and counsel on helping our district. I also found out that my trainer, Elder Kerr, goes home in one more transfer! ITS CRAZY! I can't believe it. Time flies.

Well, I love you all, and I hope you're all having a good week!

Love,

Elder Reeder

The Mountains of Green

Hi there, everybody! It's been a pretty good week, here in Greenmount. It's the closest I'll probably ever officially be to the mission office :D

It's also very close to the airport, but nobody'd better be thinking of that right now.

Greenmount is really nice. And, like its name, is very green and very mountainous (relative). We're on bikes, and so now I'm really giving the gears a workout :D We've got a couple of awesome investigators, too! One is named Teresa. She's of italian heritage. She works at the library that we use for our emails. Teresa is going to get baptised soon. She has read the book of mormon, and Knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that it's true. I feel awed at her level of conversion. She is not feeling just that it's something good for her to do, she knows she Needs it and very much wants to make it a part of her life. It's awesome. Opposition is always a player, it seems, though, and her family isn't happy with it. The ward has been very supportive and encouraging, and we're certain that she'll be all right.

My district is very small! It's me and elder Swoboda, Sister Jeffrey and Sister Billy, and the zone leaders. So. Small district meetings, methinks. But they're all good missionaries. Sister Billy is fresh from Micronesia, from an island called Chuuk (pronounced Took). (For those of you who remember one of my other companions, Elder Naruo, she's from the same place as him. They know each other. Small world hahaha!)

Elder Swoboda is from Adelaide. He's been out about 6 months. We actually met about 6 months ago during a mission conference, and neither of us had any idea we'd be serving together. Cool.

Yup, so the work continues here in Perth, Australia. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers :)

Love to you all!

Elder Reeder

Everywhere at Once

AAAAAAAH!

Sorry, that's what's going on in my head right now, because today, a lot of things are happening at once.

So Elder Fowdy and I have been spending this past week up here in Noranda! Basically, we've been temporary caretakers of the area, because the previous missionaries here went home a bit early. It's been an interesting experience. Unfortunately, the flat and area book weren't left in Stellar condition... (couldn't Find the area book at first.) So it's been quite the adventure picking up the pieces. Zone meeting was fun. Nobody seems to know what's been happening in regards to these shifts.

Also of news this week is that we had interviews from our mission President. President Lindsay missed us down in Bunbury, due to our early departure, but he came by our flat Friday night to interview me and Elder Fowdy. I like having interviews with President. He's really trying hard to help every missionary in WA, and trying to make this mission better than ever.

Sunday, at church, a lady comes up to me: "Are you from Logan, UT?" No, but nearish. "Well, you're related to me!" Oh! Are you related to Brother Hancey?(Another member in Perth) Turns out they're cousins. So I've yet to work this out, (but this wonderful lady is going to bring a copy of her family history chart), but guess what, Reeders? We've got aussies in our family! At least I hope so. That would be Epic.

Elder Fowdy and I spent Sunday night with the Ellenbrook elders. Nobody knows when transfer calls is supposed to happen, because it keeps changing. So suddenly people start getting calls this morning. I've yet to receive any word on what's happening. All we know is that we'll in all probability be going somewhere else. In the meantime, I log in to email today and the whole world appears to have emailed me. Or family, at least. I love my family :)

So that's the story this week. In weather news, this week has been incredibly rainy.

Hopefully we'll find out what's going on soon and we'll be able to get back into the swing of things!

I love you all, and hope you're having a good week. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers :)

Elder Reeder

Upside Down

G'day, folks. What a week, down here in Auz!

The work's been continuing at a slow pace. Elder Fowdy and I have been having a good time going out to Collie with a member, brother Van Dijk, who is the elder's quorom president. We're organising some activities to try and help bring the members there out of the woodwork, bring them back into contact with the rest of the ward. Everyone's feeling positive about it.

Tuesday, we had a dinner appointment with an older couple in the ward. While talking with them, they told us they've been on 3 missions as a senior couple! And the husband was on the temple presidency for a while, too. It was really cool to get to know them.

So, the big news of the week: As of 3pm, we will no longer be in Leschenault! Short explanation: President Lindsay is doing some shuffling around in preparation for Transfers next week. So, Elder Fowdy and I are being doubled out, to spend this week up in Noranda, in Perth. Noranda is about 2km from the mission home. Wow! A bit sudden. I'll miss a lot of the members down here, seeing as how I already knew half of them and their families from other areas. Noranda, coincidentally, is a part of Elder Fowdy's first area, so he knows many of the people there :D After this week, we're not sure what's going to happen.

So that's my crazy week. I hope you're all doing well, what with thunderstorms back home, etc.

IT IS FREEZING DOWN HERE. Like 5C at night! Lucky for us we have a heater. and jackets.

Love you all!

Elder Reeder

P.S. Just forgot to add an update about our super amazingly awesome newspaper article, that was to be published in the local paper!

We were so excited. It was going to be great! A short article about the missionaries here in Bunbury, what we do, offering service, etc. and a picture of us all. Woot!

Here's what ended up: A 1" x 2" paragraph of text, without a picture, about Elder Fowdy, from the UK, doing voluntary service as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

But hey! We got a couple comments from members.

Good Morning Australia

Hello, and welcome to this week's installment of "Missionary: Australia!"

Guess what? Our article's getting published in the paper! This week, The Bunbury Mail will have an article about the missionaries here in Bunbury (10 of us), that will go out to the 80,000 people in the paper's distribution area. We didn't get to write the article ourselves, it was written by a reporter, but it's from information that we gave him.

We're looking forward to seeing what happens with it, and we've been talking about it with many of the ward members here in Leschenault Ward, encouraging them to share it with their friends.

We also had an awesome zone conference this last Friday! President came down, along with the assistants, and two elders from up in Butler (furthermost north point in the city of Perth) to give us some aweosme training on making the most of our planning. It'll help us in the future in helping investigators progress. Heh, there was a bit of a fun side to it, as during the practice sessions, we planned to help investigators such as Frodo Baggins, the Malfoy Family, and Bruce Wayne, come to church, etc.

The rest of this week has mostly consisted of finding finding finding. :)

In an interesting turn of events I have made some discoveries this past week, such as cousin Micah Wood, in Armenia, was companions for a short time with my companion's best friend!

So yeah, fun :)

Thanks for tuning in, sorry it's such a short email. It was a short-email type week.

I love you all! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers :)

Love,

Elder Reeder

Temple!

Hi there!

This week has been a bit rockier than usual, I have to say. However, there were some upsides.

Thursday we got to go to the temple! Wednesday night all the elders in the district stayed the night at the Zone Leaders' flat, (sisters at another sister's flat). We got up a bit after 5am, made a big district pancake breakfast, and drove the 3 hours up to Perth :) It was great to be able to go to the temple again.

This week Elder Fowdy and I have really been looking for ideas on finding new investigators. We came up with one particular idea that only seems to have been tried a couple of times before, by other missionaries. We called up a local newspaper, the Bunbury Mail, and now we're working on getting an article published in the weekly paper about the missionaries down here :) Last time missionaries tried this, they got heaps of phone calls from people for service, etc. So hopefully we'll get the same. We're working together with our district, so that it'll benefit all the missionaries in Bunbury.

We've got no car, suddenly! Long story short, Elder Fowdy isn't able to drive anymore, so we no longer have a car in our area. Unfortunately, it's cut out a lot of work, since Collie is only accessible by car. We're hoping to work with some of the members to get out there a little bit, still. However, we're already seeing some new progress since that Leadership broadcast! The ward is suddenly a lot more focused on doing missionary work, and I'm eager to see the results in the coming weeks and months. A lot of less-active members are suddenly being made a priority as well, including those in Collie, which we're excited about.

This Friday, we have a zone conference! President Lindsay is coming down to Bunbury, to meet with us all. It'll be a lot like a big district meeting, since the zone only has one district.

So this has been yet another week in the life of an Australia Perth Missionary. Love to you all :) and Happy 4th of July!

Love,

Elder Reeder

Hastened

Dear Family and friends,

Hi there! Today is Monday, July 1st, 2013. We have had an interesting week.

Wednesday we went to help out a member shift some sand from his yard. He was planning on replacing it with good sand from a field a short distance away. We loaded up the trailer, drove his 4WD over to the pit, revved up a hill. It started sliding in the sand, so the member backed down again, and got stuck there. At that point the 4WD got completely bogged down in the sand, and we ended up spending a while digging underneath, deflating the tires, etc. to get it out. Eventful day.

Thursday was good as well. We went out to Collie with our Elder's quorom president, Brother Van Dijk, to visit some less-active members. There are only two active families in that town, and one of them is a recent convert. The ward's focusing its efforts on re-activating more of the members out there, and hopefully one day it'll be strong enough to support a branch of its own.

On our way back, Brother Van Dijk saw this awesome sign on the road, and had to get a picture. (attached)

Sunday was awesome! For one, Jake Watson was confirmed a member, and his father was there! We're all sure that he really felt the spirit there as he watched his son receive the gift of the holy ghost.

Also, we got to see the Leadership broadcast! It was played in leu of the last two hours of the block, so most of the ward was there for it. It was very inspiring, and I'm excited to see all of the changes that will be coming here, in regards to member missionary work. I know for certain that one member, who we'd just talked to that morning, had a concern answered through that broadcast.

Heh, I'm also excited for the new changes in missionary work (namely, iPads, etc.) It'll be awesome to use that instead of trying to decipher bad handwriting. And no, my handwriting is not this bad. :D Missionary work is changing, for the better! I'm so happy to be here at such a time, to be a part of this "Hastening the Work of Salvation."

Thank you all for your thoughts, emails, and prayers :)

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Reeder

A baptism!

Hi there!

This week has been interesting. We had a great ending to it, though!

Transfers happened. Elder Fowdy and I are still in Leschenault together for another 6 weeks. Most of the district has changed around, though. We have a new Zone Leader and District Leader, among other shifts.

We've also discovered that it's the beginning of the Flu season. Unfortunately, Elder Fowdy came down with it, so we weren't able to get out much those days. It was good, though, it gave us an opportunity to plan for the weekend. Sunday was awesome! We had the baptism for Jake Watson! We were amazed at the support that the ward showed for his family. The chapel was filled, and afterwards there was a big potluck dinner. I found out afterwards from the bishop that the ward has been focusing on them for about 18 months. They're well on their way to full activity again, and we think Lee (her husband) may become a member soon as well. He's really become friendly towards the church in the past little while. Some of his friends are members too :)

This coming week will be good as well. We just found out this morning that there is a temple trip planned for the missionaries here! Also, in a couple of weeks we'll be having a zone conference up in Rockingham. I've been hearing from a couple of people that there was a really good church fireside on missionary work last week. It hasn't come here yet, but I think (I hope) it comes down here to Australia as well. It should.

We managed to get in touch with a couple of our missing investigators this week. Wendy is back in Bunbury, and we'll be able to meet with her again this Friday :) The work continues.

Love you all, and thanks for your prayers! Sorry this is another short email update.

-Elder Reeder

A report of a sort

Hey there :) How's everybody going? I hear it's getting very hot back home in Utah land?

This week is Transfers week- And again, nobody knows what's happening. I think we'll be finding out from now on on Tuesdays. Elder Fowdy's certain that he'll be staying here in Bunbury. I've no idea what I'll be doing. Probably staying here as well.

So this week has been a bit of a hard one as well, we're still trying to find new investigators. There hasn't been much success yet, but we had a tender mercy this week, in the form of a referral! The other missionaries down here have been teaching some people, and every time they go over, there seems to be a new person present as well. This time was a girl named Hagen. She's from New Zealand. She wasn't religious, but wants to learn about God, and Jesus Christ, and learn how to follow them. Turns out she lives in our area! We went over on Saturday and met her. She's very interested, and was asking all sorts of questions. We've set up an appointment to go over and start teaching her :)

Jake is ready for his baptism. however, we've been having some difficulties in meeting with them, and we need to make sure that the family is committed as well. I'm not sure what's going to happen, to be honest. We're trying to get things sorted out, so that the family is ready to go ahead with Jake.

We spent Tuesday up in Perth! It takes an incredible amount of time to travel by bus and train from Bunbury to Perth, and back again. Elder Fowdy had a doctor's appointment. We found some time to contact a few people up there as well :)

So everything is up in the air right now. Elder Fowdy and I are trying all that we can to keep the work moving up here :)

Love you all! and Happy Father's Day!

Love,

Elder Reeder

Move Out!

G'day, all! Elder Reeder here, with this week's news and events.

This week we witnessed something very much unexpected in our area. Suddenly, all but 2 of our investigators have moved away! I've never heard of this happening before. So Elder Fowdy and I have been brought back to the beginning of the pipeline again, trying to find find find.

On the plus side, it's been a very pleasant week, (albeit short) After a couple of VERY rainy days, it's cleared up and become nice and sunny again. ~18C.

This Saturday, the entire elder's quorum turned up at the Watson's home, to help them move to their new house. It was awesome, It was all put onto the truck, moved, and unloaded within 2 hours. Sis. Watson was happy, and Lee was blown away by the help that was given. He's grown really friendly towards the church lately. Also, we found out in the process that they're still in our area! So Elder Fowdy and I will still get to teach Jake and get him ready for his baptism. It'll be on June 16th.

We were out in Collie this last Thursday, and were able to meet several less-active members in the ward. They were very friendly, and welcoming. One thing that we're working with the ward on right now is to get some support for the members out there, in helping to bring them back to church :) We've found a few new potential investigators in Collie, too.

Sunday was really good- We had a missionary fireside! It was called "The Lord is My Shepherd." Some members bore their testimonies, and there were some Mormon Messages played, as well as some beautiful musical items by members and missionaries. (No, I didn't get to sing, they started before I got here.) It was really powerful, though, and everyone felt the spirit, I think. Elder Fowdy and I were really pleased when the Watsons showed up to it as well, along with Lee! They had a good experience. There were a lot of nonmembers that showed up to it, a really good turnout. One man, especially, liked the singing, and kept applauding after their performances. :)

Well, that's pretty much this week. We're getting ready for this weekend. We're hopeful that all goes well. It's the last week of the transfer, too! It's gone by fast.

I love you all! Have a good week!

Elder Reeder

Sunny days, wintery nights

Hi, everybody! It's me, Elder Reeder, here in Western Australia! Down in the city of Bunbury, where the last couple of nights the temperature has been 1C. Truly, it is chilly. Luckily, we're getting a new portable heater, so that's all good.

How's everyone's week been? Mine has been awesome. Monday was Western Australia Day (or Foundation Day), so everything was closed and our P-Day is today instead :)

Elder Fowdy and I have been doing a LOT of tracting lately. We've had some really good success from it so far, though, and have gotten many new potentials from it! Some of them are very keen to have us come back and share our message with them.

On Thursdays, we drive our car (yes, we actually have a car here!) out to the small town of Collie, about an hour away. This is a part of the ward, too! There are a few members who live out there, and some investigators as well! So we make a day of it, and get the work moving out there. It's been good so far. We're trying to help a couple of families out there as well, bringing them back to church. Our assistant ward mission leader lives out there as well. This past Thursday we had a cool opportunity to have a correlation meeting with the other elders and someone from the stake, over Skype! It was really cool.

Wendy, our investigator, is awesome! Elder Fowdy went on exchanges with her last week and taught her about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They committed her to baptism, too! June 22nd. We're excited for her, and we're doing all we can to help her make that date. She has a really strong faith.

Jake is doing great as well. He's been at church with his mum and sister the last couple of weeks. He's all set for the 16th, the week after his family moves house.

Yep, so we're all set for a good week down here. I'm hopeful that Elder Fowdy and I stay together for the next transfer (It's currently week 5 of this one.) We've had a pretty good time together.

In miscellaneous news, I just received a referral from someone who sent an email to the wrong address. How cool is that?

Love you all!

Elder Reeder

Moving Along!

Hi!

This week has been great :) I've been working a LOT with Elder Fowdy, my new companion. We've got some good things happening here in Leschenault. Elder Fowdy's from England. He's been out about 18 months, and he's very diligent.

We have/had a baptismal date! His name is Jake, and he's 9. His mom is a member who's been coming back to church. He's really cool. The family is very nice, too. They're moving to Australind, (about 10 minutes away) in 2 weeks. Still in the same ward, but it's in the other elder's area. Hahaha. It was great, his mom has committed herself to coming to church every week again. She's setting a good example for her son, and her husband as well. :)

We've also got a really cool investigator we just started teaching this last week! Her name is Wendy. We taught her about the Book of Mormon, and committed her to read it. She has a great faith, and wants to follow it. We had a good lesson with a member coming along as well, and the member invited her to church! She wants to come, and was willing, but she really wants to be able to bring her family along as well. So we're going to help her out. She's very friendly.

So, I've discovered that I already know several families in Leschenault ward! I've met family members from all over WA, including Karratha! Hahaha, it was so cool. I also ran into the Williams family, which was great. Cameron Williams was the mini-missionary that I spent a few days with last year. Sunday fun. We had a member from up in Heathridge (Perth) that was visiting, and asked to give the lesson in the Gospel Doctrine Class. He spoke a lot about member-missionary work. We had a good class with him, and I think he did a good job of encouraging the other members.

Well, I love you all! I hope you're all happy and such :) Happy Summer!

Oh wow, I just realised that it's almost summer vacation! And Graduation! :D

Love,

Elder Reeder

Bunbury Funbury!

Bunbury is Funbury! Or so they tell me :)

Hi, all! Sorry, this is going to be a bit of a short email, it's a busy day today.

Guess where I am? I'm not in Rockingham West anymore! Seeing as how Elder Moore is going home, I'm in need of a companion. Since the other missionary and their area has a lot of things going on right now, President Lindsay decided to send me down to Bunbury, with Elder Fowdy, from England. So one 3-hour bus ride later, I'm in a new city! It was a hectic week, getting packed, preparing the area book and area for the Rockingham East elders, Elder Iumalo and Elder Bennion, who will be taking care of the area for the next few weeks until some new missionaries can be transferred in.

It was quite a surprise, everyone, myself included, assumed I'd be staying here. But I'm going where I'm needed :) We got up at about 5:30 this morning, and went to the chapel with the rest of the district. The Zone Leaders wanted to play basketball with Elder Moore one last time before he leaves. It was fun :)

Elder Moore flies out tonight at 5 to midnight. He's staying the day with some other missionaries.

I love you all, and I hope you're all well!

Love,

Elder Reeder

How much can a koala bear?

G'day! Happy Mothers Day, to all you mothers out there! You are loved.

I got to call home today, and I was very glad to hear from the family :) Sorry I didn't get to talk to everyone. Sounds like a lot of excitement is going on, hahaha!

This week has been hectic! The weather's been a bit cloudy (read "pouring rain"), so we've been having some great adventures travelling in that. Out of it, though, We've got a couple of people we're hoping will become investigators this week. One is an older couple, from Scotland. Missionaries actually met them down south, and they said they'd be happy to have them come by their house sometime. They're a very friendly couple, and they seem to have great faith already.

In other news, I'm going to have a new companion quite soon! (Oh, I just remembered I hadn't told anything about transfers yet. Confusion.) Here's the surprising thing. Transfers happened Wednesday, I'm going to be with Elder Moore for his last 6 weeks. So that's all good. Elder Moore is really starting to get excited again about the work, really looking forward to the next 6 weeks, with teaching, finding, etc. Woot.

Thursday morning, we get a call. One of the missionaries that was supposed to come in, didn't, so there's a missionary without a companion. President asked if he would be willing to move his release date forward a few weeks. He thought about it, and eventually decided yes. When?

May 20.

So next monday, I'll be with another missionary. Where? Maybe here in Rockingham, maybe in the other area. We don't know who it is yet.

Elder Moore's now very excited to go home. We're still working hard, though. :)

We've been working with a member family, trying to help them share the gospel with others. They're inviting a friend to Family Home Evening tonight, and we'll be there as well. I'm really looking forward to it! Hopefully they'll have a good experience.

Well, I love you all! Have a good week!

Elder Reeder

Happy Star Wars Day!

May the Fourth be with you. Always.

Actually, it's May 6th, but oh well.

Hi, everyone! It's monday again, and this week is Transfers week! The only difference about this transfers week is that no one knows who's being transferred. President Lindsay decided to tell us Tomorrow, instead. So... We're all in the dark. I expect I'll still be with Elder Moore. This is his last transfer, so he probably won't be going to a new area for just 6 weeks.

So Elder Moore and I have been having an up-and-down week. We've gotten a couple of referrals, that's up. We also found out that Teak (not Tico, actually) lives in Baldivis, which is our Zone Leader's area. So that was disappointing. But hey, we're all on the same team! Elder Gardner and Elder Jordan, the zone leaders, are great missionaries, and I'm sure they'll be great for Teak as well.

We've been working with the Ward Mission Leader, Brother Cotterell, and we've gotten some new events organised! This next Saturday, we'll be having our first Cottage Evening (Members and nonmembers get together for some food, games, and a short spiritual message. Casual, friendly fun.) Also, this past Friday, they began a sports night! (Everyone's invited to gather at the chapel and play basketball, volleyball, ping-pong, etc.) These are some ways to help the members invite their friends along, and meet people from the church. We're hoping that as soon as it gets announced, then more people will come, this week we didn't have anybody turn up for it. Oops.

We had a cool finding experience, too! Two, actually. One, there is a former investigator named Joey, that we'd been trying to get ahold of. Missionaries hadn't seen him in a couple of years. We finally caught him at home, and he was super friendly! He invited us in, and told us that in the past couple of years, he still had his Book of Mormon, had read through it twice, and had been really trying to cut down on smoking and had quit drinking as well. In the past he was really impressed from the Plan of Salvation, and the fact that we can be together as families for eternity. I think he still wants that. He asked us if we could come by every couple of days again to talk with him more. Why, sure! He seems like a golden investigator!

The other one- We were meeting with a less-active member, when a lady walked up to us. We know her, she's not interested, but very friendly and social with us. She told us that she was at a friend's house, and was talking with him, and he mentioned some things that made her realise that he's a member! We asked her more about it, and sure enough, we knew who he was! We didn't know where he was until now. Cool! It's actually quite funny, this lady isn't a member, but she's been a help with us finding some other members as well.

Rocky East had their baptism on Saturday! The person being baptised was married just prior, so it was a very special experience for them. It was apparent to everyone there, and at the confirmation as well, that this was a life-changing event for them.

Heh, while the missionaries were in the chapel, Elder Moore and I were waiting outside setting up chairs. Suddenly Elder Moore noticed water creeping under the door to the restroom. The font hadn't been turned off all the way! I raced outside to open the drain while he ran to the water faucets. It turned out all right, and we got most of it mopped up beforehand. Heh.

So, fun week!

I'm excited for next Monday! (It's Mothers Day.)

Love you all!

Elder Reeder

Raining on April

This week was cool. Especially Thursday and Friday. Rockingham Zone is doing well right now. We were getting ready for the Calder's baptism on Friday, organising clothing, programs, etc. We also found out that there is only One key in existence for the cupboard to the baptismal clothing. Why that is, I do not know. But we got that sorted out. I think we rode about 40 kms that day.

Thursday was ANZAC Day. We had permission from President Lindsay to attend a Dawn Service, at 6AM. There were about 1000 people gathered around the armed forces memorial, to remember those who served and gave their lives for the country. It was a nice service.

Friday was the baptism! It was good to be there, and we were so happy for the Calders. Orlando and Mohia were both excited for it. Rachel was still a bit nervous. The whole family came. There weren't too many of the ward there, because the younger two were nervous about doing it in front of a whole bunch of people. Elder Moore got to baptise them.

Brother and Sister Calder were so happy for them! They've been making a lot of big steps, in getting back into church. Their eldest son, Sonnee, has been talking with his dad, and mentioned that he might quit playing basketball and be baptised himself! He's considering going on a mission. That is so cool. They're really hopeful that their whole family will be a part of it.

I had the privilege of confirming the three of them on Sunday, in Sacrament Meeting.

That sacrament meeting was cool, too, because our ward mission leader, brought someone to church! His name is Tico. Brother Cotterell met him at the shops a week ago, and just invited him to come! Tico told us that he had been impressed with the service, especially the last talk (A missionary just returned home), he'd be there next week as well, and he'd like us to come by after that to meet with him! How cool is that? I was excited.

This week will be great as well, because the other elders in Rockingham ward will be having a baptism this weekend. The work is truly hastening! I love you all, and I hope you're all doing well.

Love,

Elder Reeder

Nearly There

Hi there! How's it goin'?

Plans have been made, lessons have been taught, and discussions have been had. Elder Moore and I are really happy for this coming weekend! Orlando, and most likely Mohia Calder will be having their baptism this Friday! We went by yesterday, to sort out some details, make sure they were still for it. Orlando's ready. Mohia still wants to see what it's all about first. There's a stake baptism happening the day before, that they're planning on viewing.

So it's going to be a very busy week for us, getting everything ready. But worth it! Sister Calder is awesome, she's been getting right back into church, going visiting teaching, helping out with different events. The whole family is being positively affected, I think.

Friday was really great as well. We travelled up to the Warwick Chapel for a mission-wide conference. The country areas (Karratha, Kalgoorlie, Bunbury, etc.) weren't able to attend, but they were on a conference call so they could still hear. We got to meet with Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Elder Michael F. Watson, (Area Presidency) Bishop Gerald Causse, and Elder Peter Mears (Area Seventy). They shared their testimonies with us, and it was a wonderful meeting. Elder Rasband, at the end, opened it up to questions from the missionaries, too! We got some good council from him and his wife.

It's been a good week for finding. Elder Moore and I tracted into a few people who said that we could come back and share our message with them. We gave a book of mormon to one of them. Also, there is a lady from Africa who showed up at church a few months back. We found out that she's not actually a member, but she's really been enjoying coming to church each week. We went by and asked if we could teach her a bit about the church, and she said yes. Cool!

We're hoping for a good week this week, and I think we'll get it. I can't believe it's already week 5 of the transfer! It's flying by.

The season is finally changing, as well! I actually wore a jacket yesterday, partly because it started raining. A lot.

I love you all!

Elder Reeder

Conference week review

Hi Fambly!

This weekend was awesome.

Friday, we had our Zone Conference. We all got some really cool training from President Lindsay, helping us to be more effective at talking With people, rather than To them. :) Also, we'll be working with members more on inviting their friends- not to meet with the missionaries, right at first, but to ask questions, or just talk with them.

I thought it was a great idea, and then we got a second confirmation of it, during General Conference!

I thought conference was Amazing. However, the chapel here needs some repair work done on it's sound system. We spent the first half-hour of the broadcast trying to get the sound working. So none of the missionaries know what Elder Packer and President Monson said that morning. We're downloading it so we can watch it.

I think some of my favorite talks were by President Uchtdorf, during Priesthood Session, President Monson on Sunday Morning, and Elder Holland on Sunday Afternoon. I took lots of notes :) The Carters really enjoyed it as well. There were so many good messages! I think a lot of them were focusing on serving one another, and on Families.

So we're still working with Orlando and Mohia, preparing them for their baptism! Wednesday we went over and taught them about the Restoration. We were hoping to focus on the Book of Mormon, and commit them to begin reading it and praying together. It went over pretty well- The kids committed their family to read every morning and night, together. We talked to their mum on Sunday, and they've been doing it, too! They are awesome. And very excited. This weekend we're going to take them to another baptism thats happening so that they know what will happen at theirs.

It's definitely starting to cool down here. It's been sprinkling rain the past couple of days. :)

Yep, so it's been pretty good this week. This weekend we will be going up to Warwick, in Perth, to have a Mission Conference with Elder Ronald A. Rasband, of the Seventy. Cool.

I love you all!

Elder Reeder

Conference Week

Hello, everybody! Bit of a short week here :)

Elder Moore and I have been having some good opportunities in teaching in the last few days. Wednesday night, we went over to the Calder family's home, to continue teaching their children. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a good lesson, and the kids really paid good attention. We committed two of them to baptism! Orlando, who is 11, is very eager to be baptised. Mohia, who is 10, was a little bit shy, but he said yes. there is another baptism happening in the stake this weekend, and they're going to go see it. Bro. and Sis. Calder are sure that once they see one, they'll understand it more. We're excited! Their date is set for the 27th of April. Bro. Calder wants to do the baptisms, which would be a great example for the whole family.

Sunday night, we had a missionary fireside! Rockingham Stake gathered together for an Easter fireside, and there were a lot of non-members that came as well! It was an amazing night. Mandurah ward (South of Rockingham) was in charge. They have an AMAZING ward choir.

I'm excited for this week for two reasons, First of all- Zone Conference is coming up! It's always great to receive training from the Mission President. I always feel inspired after them.

Also, General Conference! The Carter family, who were baptised just a few months ago, are very excited to see the prophet for the first time. We've been helping them prepare for it.

Also, this sunday, we received news that we have a new ward mission leader! This is great news. His name is Brother Cotterell. We've only met him twice, and he's only been in Rockingham about two weeks, but I already like him. The first time he met us, he told us he was working on some referrals for us. The second time, he asked us if we could get him a Box of Books of Mormon!

By the way; How's everyone's member-missionary work going? :) That is truly The Best way to find and teach. Sharing the gospel with friends and aquaintences. I can testify of the blessings that it brings, to both you and your friend.

I love you all!

Elder Reeder

Rocking(ham) around the Easter Tree (In the West)

See what I did there ;)

So, Hi, everybody! Today is Wednesday! Since it was Easter weekend, our P-Day got moved from Monday to today.

So, it's the start of a new transfer! And guess where I am?

Back in the same district I left before Karratha! I'm serving in Rockingham West, right up against the coast. It's really nice. I got off the plane Tuesday and the weather was AWESOME. Somewhere in the vicinity of 26C :) I felt sorry for Elder Richmond, still up in Karratha. He was going to wait at the airport for his new companion, Elder Shin. But Elder Shin missed his first flight, and had to get one 2 hours later.

So my new companion's name is Elder Moore! Elder Moore is from New Zealand. He's pretty cool, and we get along really well. The district is great, too! The other missionaries are Elder Hall and Elder Quaresima, in Kwinana, and Elder Bennion and Elder Iumalo in Rockingham East.

We've been having some good opportunities to teach this week, too. Last night, we stopped by a potential he and his previous companion had found. Her name is Aleda. We had a good chat with her, and found out a little about her and her family. She told us that she's really going through a hard time right now, feeling a bit like she's stuck between a rock and a hard place. We were able to teach her about God, and how He has a plan for all of us, and that he really does care about us. She was interested, and said that we could come back in a couple of days, to tell her more.

We're also in the midst of teaching a family! The parents are members, but their younger kids are not. They've been less-active for some time, but they're starting to come back again. Cooler still, the oldest son told his dad that he wants to serve a mission! We're excited. We had a lesson with them last week, and tonight we're going to meet with them again, and commit them to baptism.

Easter Sunday was nice. We had some really good talks in Sacrament meeting. This coming sunday, we'll be having an Easter musical fireside.

We're all eager for the rest of the month, as well! Next Friday is a Zone Conference, with President Lindsay. Then Saturday and Sunday, we'll get to watch General Conference. Then the following Friday, there is a special Mission Conference planned. Elder Rasband will be visiting us and giving training.

Well, I'm excited for this week! I think we'll be getting some good things happening shortly.

Love you all :)

Elder Reeder

Off into the sunset (again)

Hi there! It's a beautiful, not-too-hot day here in Karratha, City of the Pilbara.

I've been here for about 4 1/2 months now. This morning, I got a call, though. I'm being transferred!

Pretty nice happenings, though; Remember David? (Korean member) The branch has been discussing ways to help him out with English, getting more out of church, etc. There is a missionary down in Perth, named Elder Shin. He's from Korea as well! So Elder Richmond and I emailed president Lindsay last week to see if he might be able to send Elder Shin up in the next little while. So this morning, when the Zone Leaders called, they said "Elder Reeder, you're going!" Where? "We don't know that yet. Or with who." Ok. And then they told us that Elder Shin was coming up here. Cool! This will be great for David, even better since he lives with a whole bunch of Koreans, who aren't members.

I still don't know where I'm going yet. But it'll be nice to be back in Perth, I have to admit. A lot cooler. I'll miss a lot of the members up here. It seriously is like one big family in this branch! And Elder Richmond and I have begun some good things, I think that they'll bring some wonderful results in the near future.

We had our English class this week! Our very first. I was very nervous, very stressed. I've never tried to teach an English class before, and especially not to someone who doesn't know much English. (Have you ever thought about it? English is insane, with all those little rules and exceptions. "I before E except after C, and sometimes in words like neighbor and weigh.") So with all these lovely thoughts, I decided I was going to be having a hard time getting through it all. But it's amazing what prayer can do to help. I prayed, and asked for help and calmness. I didn't feel instantly confident and all that, but I did feel more like I would be able to teach and talk with them.

It was a pretty good lesson, and now we know better where they are at, and how we can best help them.

I'm excited for Easter to be coming! I love this season. And General Conference, too!

I've got to go, my companion wants to use the computer.

Have a happy week :)

Love,

Elder Reeder

Winter is Coming

Hello, everybody!

We heard from some other missionaries this week, down in Bridgetown (near the bottom of Australia) it was 6C. It sounded wonderful. With winter coming along soon, with its change in temperature, Elder Richmond and I will have some more service opportunities, as well as some upcoming branch activities, to which we can invite people to come along to. It's actually pretty cool; A recent convert in the branch began taking the lessons in the first place because a friend had invited him to come play volleyball. He was very impressed with the way the members acted (language, behavior, etc.) that he wanted to learn more.

Elder Richmond and I had a pretty good week. We were able to teach Carlo again. We've been teaching him about the Book of Mormon, and we talked about prayer, and why it's important to pray about the book of mormon. We committed him to do so. He seemed very sure, and willing to do so. He's a really cool guy, and a lot of the branch knows and likes him. We were excited to see him on Sunday, but he texted us and told us that he was going elsewhere that day.

We also had a cool experience with one of the french guys. (He's from Turkey, actually.) He is muslim, and normally he's making jokes about us, etc. But Saturday, he sat down with Elder Richmond, becuase he had some questions about what we actually believe in. It was really cool! He was very serious, no jokes or anything. Elder Richmond was able to teach him about prophets, and about a lot of the plan of salvation. Before we left, the guy told us "We will talk more about this later. I would like to know more about you guys." Wow! Small seeds are being spread here :) I'm confident they'll sprout someday, if not now. We also gave a book of mormon to a guy from Germany, named Phil. He's cool.

This week is the last week of the transfer! I wish not, but I might be transferred back down to Perth. I'll go where I'm needed, though :) Man, the time is flying by very quickly.

I love you all! Have a great day!

Elder Reeder

[Kris] sent Daniel this shirt for his birthday.

Also sent this random dragon toy. Yay!

The March on March

Hello, everyone! Today is March 11th, 2013.

So several things have happened!

This week started out rather slow. We've got a few good investigators now, and we're really excited about them. The hard part here, though, is getting in to see them. Appointments continue to fall through. Zayden and his family, especially, we've been trying to see.

On Thursday, we met with Eliezer again! (In case you don't remember, Eliezer's from Cuba.) We invited him to come to church, and he was really sure he'd be there. Cool.

Sunday, we arrived at the chapel to get ready for the meetings. Some members arrived, including a new guy from New Zealand. His name is Ammon. He served a mission in the Phillipines a while back. While we're talking, Eliezer came in, which was exciting. He was happy to be able to come. At the same time, Carlo came in as well! It was so cool. Even better, Ammon became instant friends with him, since they both speak Tagalog. I love it when that happens. It was a good sunday.

We're still working with the french guys, Kilian, Anthony, etc. We Really want to do an english class with them, and they do too, but we've got to figure out how to do it first.

I think the hottest day this week, or even this summer, was Wednesday. 47C. (116F) Nuts.

This week is going to be cool. (relatively speaking.) Elder Richmond and I are eager to meet with Eliezer and Carlo again :) The branch really liked them.

Love, Elder Reeder

One Year and Counting

Hey there! Today is March 4th, and I have officially been out for one year. Incredible! And I agree, the time is going very fast indeed. :O

We've had a somewhat eventful week up here in Karratha. Rusty, a Category 4 cyclone, sent us some welcome clouds and wind. It also narrowly missed Port Hedland, which is about an hour north.

Also, today is Labor Day. Sunday was very quiet, since many people took advantage of the long weekend and left. We almost had a lesson with Zayden and his family this week, but they had to cancel, and then left town themselves. They're coming back today, though, and told us to come by this afternoon. So we're going to go by this afternoon.

We keep running into Anthony and Kilian, those two french guys Elder Richmond met. They're really cool, and I think they're interested in coming to church at some point. I don't speak french very well yet, ;) but they seem pretty keen. We're still working with Carlo, as well.

So, the past little while, we've been getting quite a few people swearing at us from their cars, telling us "Go get a real job," etc. as well as a few letters saying similar delivered to the chapel. I would just like to take this opportunity to say that I know that there is NO better place that I could be right now, than here. I Know that what I am doing is what my Heavenly Father wants me to be doing, that is, going around and sharing the truths of the gospel with everyone around me.

I love you all :)

Elder Reeder

Stormy Weather Ahead

G'day, everyone! Yet another week has gone by here Down Under, with me and Elder Richmond experiencing the fullness of an "Aussie Summer." Saturday night, at 9:30PM, it was 36C. During the days, it's been very humid this week. And yes, we're on bikes. Oh boy.

But we've had some things happening here, which is good!

We were riding around, and were nearby where Jake used to live with his friends. We thought, "Why don't we go by and say hi to the friends?" (They like us missionaries.) So we knocked on the door, and guess who? Jake, who just happened to be there for a visit, opened the door. How cool is that? He's moving to Millar's Well this week, and still wants to meet with us again. We offered to give him a hand when he does move, which he accepted.

We didn't have a chance to see Elizer, and he didn't turn up to church. But we got a call from him apologising. We're going to try and meet up again soon.

Saturday, President Lindsay, and one of his counselors, President Websdane, flew up to Karratha, to meet with the branch and us! We both had a good interview with him, and were able to discuss some of the work that's going on up here. We also found out, that apparently, this transfer is short! Since the MTC is shortening the time missionaries stay there, All the missions have to cut a transfer one week shorter to keep in sync. (So it's 5 weeks this transfer, not 6.) Wow. Also, next month, we will be having 20 new missionaries coming in. 16 are sisters, and most are 19. (Are you as excited for missionary work as I am?)

We had a branch activity Saturday night. The youth from Port Hedland happened to be down at the same time, so that was fun. We got some nonmembers showing up, too! There are a lot of French guys around here, and elder Richmond befriended a couple. They came to the activity, and really enjoyed themselves. They even said they might come to church the next day, but didn't make it. Also, an 11-year old kid named Zayden showed up with his older brother, James. They've met with missionaries in the past. Zayden came to church the next day, and told us that he wanted to be baptised! We went with Brother Otto after church to meet his mum and discuss it. Long story short, we also went by this morning. She's happy for him to be taught, and she agreed to listen as well. Awesome.

Right now, there is a cat4 cyclone named "Rusty" heading for WA. It's projected to hit somewhere between Karratha and Broome tomorrow. It'll probably miss us, (again) but we've got some nice clouds because of it :)

I love you all! I'm looking forward to this week!

Love,

Elder Reeder

Kiwis

Kia ora!

It's becoming more and more apparent that when you serve a mission in Australia, you also get to experience the culture of several other countries. Most noticeably, New Zealand. We've met a Ton of Kiwis up here in Karratha.

This week has seen some obstacles but some blessings as well!

We tried to go over to visit with Jake again, but his friends had some bad news. Details aside, he's moved out to somewhere else. However, he might soon be moving to the same street that we live on... We really want to get in touch with him again! He was so interested in learning!

We have another high point as well: We were going through our area book, and found a former investigator named Carlo. We felt that we should go and meet him, see if he was interested in meeting again. When we went over, he was tired, but let us in. He told us that he'd been meeting with the missionaries a few times before, but that he'd been very busy with work (manager at a local restaurant). We asked him a few more questions, and discovered that he had a desire to be baptised! We committed him right then! He's still a bit busy with work, but we're going to help him as much as we can, and make sure he's prepared. :) Exciting! The March on March has begun. Things are happening!

Yesterday, Sunday, Sister Pilkington approached us after church and said, "Elders, I have someone for you to teach." (This is the part where I was jumping up and down in my head.) Ok!

Sister Pilkington has a friend, whose son began asking her questions like "who was Jesus?" This led to a conversation with Sis. Pilkington, and she invited her friend to meet with some missionaries, who can help answer those questions. The friend said "ok, sure." Hooray! So we're going to go over to meet the family soon.

We had a few new faces at church yesterday, as well. A Korean man walked in just before it started; he's a member from korea, and just came over to WA to work for a year. He's learning English. It was awesome to see many of the branch come over and greet him. One of the families invited him over for FHE.

In a couple of weeks, President Lindsay and one of his counselors, President Websdane, will be coming up to Karratha for a couple of days.

And so that's my week :) It's becoming very evident that sincere faith, combined with prayer, and a lot of hard work, come together to bring blessings.

Love to you all!

Elder Reeder

Are you happy? Notify your face.

Just one of many things that were told to us by Elder Pearson.

So, I'm back up in Karratha. Apologies for not being able to write last week, by the time the plane landed and we got back home, we ran out of time.

Training was awesome, though! Sunday afternoon we flew down to Perth, and stayed the night with some other elders. Most of Monday, we were at the chapel, listening and receiving training from Elder Kevin Pearson, of the Seventy. Prior to his address, President Lindsay told us that it would be a "Pivotal point for the mission." I'm sure that every participant in that meeting received revelation and inspiration on things that we could improve, needed to change, etc. in the way we are doing our work. Also, another cool lesson: Faith comes from obedience. When we obey a principle, we receive a blessing, which strengthens our testimony of that principle. (D&C 130:20-21) So if we're continually and consistently obedient to the gospel, it will continually and consistently lead to an increase of our faith.

Coming up, the mission will be having a "March on March." We're putting our faith, And all our efforts, into setting a new standard for the mission. Elder Richmond and I are in a zone now, and our zone has been praying and asking for a baptismal goal to work towards. We're certain that if we can give it our all, we can achieve this new goal.

Last week, we found a new investigator! His name is Jake. We prayed before we went tracting, for help in bringing us to some one's door who was prepared to hear the gospel. Every door we knocked turned us down, or didn't open, until the very last one. It was already open, and Jake invited us in, right then and there, to talk with him! This week, when we went by, we were able to meet his friends that he lived with, as well. They had some questions too, and Jake had a referral of another friend who lives nearby! This was a wonderful blessing, that we really needed.

The branch is really beginning to focus on their missionary work as well. The mission leader is creating a meal roster, so that we can meet with the members more often at their homes. They'll be focusing on inviting a friend along to join them, that we can meet :)

What else happened these last few weeks... We had another "cyclone." (cloudy day)

So, yep. That's my week. As we were doing our weekly planning, we felt positive about this upcoming week.

Love,

Elder Reeder

This Week

Hello, everyone. Another week has gone by in Australia.

This week has been very slow. Elder Richmond and I spent most of it tracting again.

The rest of the Tupou family that was moving to Sydney finished packing. We went and gave Brother Tupou a hand with moving, painting, and general cleaning-up. It was actually pretty cool, he and his wife were very happy with all the help. His mum came over from Sydney as well, to keep an eye on things while they were on the road. She's a very strong member, and she's been bringing one of the daughters, Mclynn, to sacrament meeting, YSA activities, etc. Mclynn's getting back into things too :)

We received some cool news from the mission office, however: Elder Pearson, from the Quorom of the Seventy, is coming to tour the mission, and meet with missionaries. Cool! Guess what that means?

If you guessed that means I decided to have a smoothie for lunch, you were wrong. (well, sort of.)

This weekend, Elder Richmond and I will, once again, be boarding a plane, headed to Perth. Awesome!

So that's my week, all of it. We're hoping things will start happening again shortly. This weekend is also Australia Day. The branch is having another water slide and barbecue down in Dampier. Elder Richmond is organising a touch rugby game as well, that we've invited people to.

Hope you're all well :) Happy Monday!

Love, Elder Reeder

20

Hello everybody! This has been another one of those weeks :) Thursday-Saturday, we had a Cyclone!

It was really cool. Cyclone Norella was a Category 4 storm that formed north of Australia, and started heading down the coast. It wasn't a direct hit on Karratha by any means, but we saw the edges! Elder Richmond and I were tracting on the far end of our area, most of the day on Friday. Very very windy. And then it rained. Oh my, did it rain. And they all laughed when I brought my rain jacket! (except I left my rain jacket back at home that day, so it wasn't much good.) Karratha has no drainage system, so all the water just stays on the streets. When cars drive by, we got splashed. Elder Richmond and I even went swimming in the ocean! (Not really, the cyclone brought the ocean raining down on us. Seriously.) Brother Clarke loves to track them as they go by, and kept us updated on whether or not it would become serious.

I got the worst sunburn during all that rain. Can't figure out how...

It was beautiful weather outside, other than that! The rain really cooled things down for a few days.

Other than that, It's been a pretty normal week. Elder Richmond and I are starting to hit a wall. Right now, we've got 2 investigators we're teaching. The Tupou's finished moving away Saturday. They've started meeting with the missionaries in Sydney, so that's good, at least. As for us, we're spending most of our daytime hours knocking on doors that were knocked on a few months ago. When we follow up on potentials, they seem to keep falling through. *sigh* This is another part of missionary work, I suppose. A hard part. We're trying to stay focused, keeping diligent, finding ways to work, etc. A couple of members in the branch might have referrals for us, so...

Optimism! that's the key :) And perseverance.

Hey! I'm 20! What a surprise! We'd told a couple people in the branch, but they forgot. Oh well. Elder Richmond and I decided to make a cake for it. So, we got our cake mix all mixed up, and then tried to start the oven, which runs on gas. Nothing happens. Tried the stove, same thing. Our flat is connected to two big tanks out the back. Turns out that the first was empty. And the spare was empty too. So we had ice cream instead. And hopefully they'll send a new tank for us soon. What a birthday XD Oh, and then President Lindsay and family called and sang :)

And that's pretty much my week. Supposedly there's another cyclone forming up north, which would be cool.

Seriously, that last one was awesome, I don't care what everyone here thought (it was lame?).

Hope you're all well, and enjoying the >2 Feet of Snow! Lucky.

Love,

Elder Reeder