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