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