The Fire is Burning

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, that's been my week!

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

Also, congratulations Peggy on getting a master scriptorian award!

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

Love you all!

Elder Reeder

Your area is being transferred: please hold...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elder Reeder

The Things They Say

Hi there, it's me again!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love, Elder Reeder

ANZAC

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All right! Have a good week!

Elder Reeder

Missionaries Ho!

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

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

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

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

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

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

WHUT.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until next time,

Elder Reeder