
Monday, July 16, 2012
The last letter!!! July 16, 2012
SHUNNA!!! this is the last week and we are going harder than ever, i told elder seok 3 weeks ago i said listen we wont have enough time to get someone in the waters of baptism so we are going to build these people faith so they will have solid testimonies and for the miracle elder seok we are going to find 30 new investigators this is something that has never been done he looked at me and set lets do it and right now we have found 25 new investigators and we have heaps more potentials to follow up on things are sweet the spirit of the missionary work something that is different something that i will miss i gave it my best at times i wish i could have gave more but i know, i know! that heavenly father has excepted the service that i have given but now he expects me serve him the rest of my life tell everyone thank you for the support that they have given me thank you for all the encouragement and lets do this one last week. "he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it"
Sunday, July 1, 2012
July 1, 2012
Well my broseph you again suceeded to be the only one that truly loves me
this week was hektek finally the exams were over and we saw some reall harvesting
this week was hektek finally the exams were over and we saw some reall harvesting
happen it was awesome I looked at the planner on monday and it was blank monday to
sunday...and so on monday night i prayed harder that ever to be able to get a hold of
people so that we could teach the gospel and we had a miracle on our hands...we were
fortunate enough to find 9 new investigators that week it was awesome and a few of had
really spiritual expiriences at our appt. it was very good my faith has really increased these
last couple weeks as i have been reading the gospels trying to learn more of the savior and
his reallity..and my mind always wanders to the question do i have enough faith to be healed
by the savior do i really believe that his atonement can heal everything...i realized that my faith
really isnt that much its definately not the size of a mustard seed. I also pondered on the question
what thinks the savior of me? from elder andersons talk and as well as What would i ask the savior??
I have really learned in this area how delicate and what a gift it is from god but also how much we
have to nourish it.. i can see the difference in these chinese students from a 3rd person view. i can
tell if the are reading everyday and praying sincerely i know when their faith is growing because i can
feel the spirit radiate from them. we had an investigator Rick who 3 weeks ago had the faith to wrestle a bear
but this week he wimped and said that he wouldnt be able to have the courage to ask his supervisor to come to
church again. I asked him have you been reading everyday? no....maybe once. I learned a very important lesson
I must read the scriptures everyday! if i want a chance of returning to god. read pray and church with sincerity
will give me protection...now i understand why you always nagged me to read the scriptures...truth to be
told i had just never been shown how to read them so i never felt like i would get something out of it.
i have learned the importance.
I am a Desciple
Elder Stoddard
Sunday, June 24, 2012
June 24, 2012
alright well you are the only one that has emailed me for the last 2 weeks so i am going to only
email you congratulations. Well we are just pushing along trying to help these people progress
in the gospel we are working hard and having fun so we are coming close to some more baptisms
but at the same time it is a little bit hard. There are two people that i have met since i have been
here in this area One of them is helene and patrick both of them i see ocasionally on the street
sometimes they dog me and sometimes the listen. for about 14 weeks this has been going on
i am really tired of talking to the people and i am pretty sure they are annoyed with me...but on
sunday as we walked back to church i saw helene and i put my head down and thought to myself
i am tired of talking to this girl...but then the still small voice said you need to talk to her again
but i really didnt want to so against my will i submitted to the spirit and proceeded to invite helene to
hear the gospel for probably the 18th time not joking....and she agreed haha. Next patrik he always
sets up appt. and then never comes but when i see him on the street he tells me he wants to know
his purpose in life? so i saw him sunday night after he rejected our calls and failed to reply to our txt
messages and i was no longer elder stoddard i became dj stoddard and i just said patrik what is your
problem and gave him a reality check and told him how it was...and he said i want to learn right now! haha
so me and elder seok were able to talk to him about the plan of salvation. the miracles never cease in the
work of the lord even though we are not worthy for his glory he always blesses us with tender mercies every
day that keep us thriving in this work...we just gotta find the one.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
June 17, 2012
The week was good we had a baptism the dudes name was dexter
he is definately a kingdom builder for sure. we have had a very good
week lots of spiritual expirences and we have had alot of fun as well
we have alot of potential coming up we are looking to get about 5
people dunked before i leave this australian soil.. President Simmons
leaves next week its a bit stink that i will have a new mission president
for my last 3 weeks well you cant win them all right?? Elder Seok is
is really good it is amazing that you can make friends with people that
make little to no english with a completely different culture, that is the
beautiful thing about the gospel and the beautiful thing about australia.
things are good i am happy
elder stoddard
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
June 12, 2012
Well well well i survived another transfer in the busiest area
of the mission one more to go ladies... Elder seok is killing
me off that little dirty korean elder. I think he is more excited
for the things i will leave for him. this week has been awesome
I have really felt an added measure of the spirit the week
because i prayed and fasted that these next 6 weeks will be ones
to remember...Elder seok and i recieved special permission to go
to the temple today, it was awesome. we both recieved some really
good answers to direct us. It look like i have time for another miracle
to share with you all. We have been teaching a phd student named rick
he is from china we have been teaching for about three months now
and he really has a testimony of revelation and the book of mormon,
he is ready for baptism right now all he is lacking is coming to church
we taught him the sabbath day holy, he was a little doubtful so he told
us that he would pray and ask god if he needed to go to church on sunday
the next lesson he explained that he got a very strong answer from god.
The only problem is it can jepordize his apprenticeship for his PHD!! that he
only has 1 more year to complete... we testified that god would provide a way
that his supervisor would allow him 3 hours on the sunday. Rick accepted the
committment to talk to his supervisor but he was very scared because his
future was on the line.. that night we got a txt...He talked to his manager and
his mananger said that it was unbelievable that he believed in god(both of them come from buddhist background)
his manager tried to persuade to stop believing in this nonsense but rick
on the otherhand stood strong like nephi and told his supervisor how he really felt
and his supervisor has given him permission to attend church yes....
Sunday, June 3, 2012
June 3, 2012
The week was good i had a lot more energy this week
we had alot of miracles we were able to get some more
we had alot of miracles we were able to get some more
people to church and i think a good story for the week is
our friend dexter. This week he came to church and he
had a new suit....dexter what kind of suit is that, dont
worry about it so i looked on the inside and it said HUGO BOSS
haha Dexter spent 2,000 dollars on a suit to come to church
in and we found out that he drives a ferrarri back home in china
as well...who says the rich dont accept the gospel...anyways love
everyone talk to you next week.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
May 27, 2012
This week has been sweet, We have had some hektek miracles this week. Miracle overload if ther is any more i may end up going into cardiac arrest. I will share 3 of these miracles with you. Dexter he is a rich dude from bejing he drives a ferrarri and he is awesome we taught him about faith and i told him that sometimes god gives us commandments and we have to show our faith and obey even when we dont completely understand...he said umm elder i completely believe in this jesus thing i have been praying and so now i know it is true so it wont be a problem for me.. we proceeded to teach him the word of wisdom and suprisingly enough he said dont worry it is no longer a problem...okay, so then we taught him the law of chastity and he said yah it totally makes sense and yes i will obey this commandment as well so now dexter is preparing to be baptized on the 16 of june.
Next Miracle is Eric Yu he was so prepared he came to our first appointment and he said i completely believe in god and these are the books i read he proceeded to pull out the bible....wait and the book of mormon? what?!!? he had been reading the book of mormon for the past 3 years hahah golden child. We were way excited and the excitement didnt stop there, i told him that we begin each lesson in a prayer and i will offer the opening pray...he said elder is it alright if i say the prayer?? sure buddy go right ahead. anyway to make the long
story short Eric will be getting baptized on the 16 of june as well.
Next Amy and Serena, we were outside one of the classes at 830 and we asked this girl amy hey are you waiting for our appointment? completely knowing that she wasnt but it was a good way to not scare the little chinese girls at night time. she said no, then i told who we were and she said i am jehova witness. i asked if she was baptized she said no i asked how long she had been learning with the witnesses she said a year. I told her about the importance of baptism, i asked her if she wanted to be baptized?? she said that the jw's wont let her
i told her that god wants her to be baptized so he can bless her and he is not going to let the Jehova witnesses get in the way, she agreed with me and was interested to learn..the next morning she came with her friend and we taught them the restoration and really focused on praying and the told us that the jehova witnesses wouldnt let them pray i said well the jehova witnesses is a false church and our heavenly father wants and commands us to pray to him. I asked them what this message meant to them and they explained that they have been looking for the truth for a year now and the finally feel like they are getting close...She asked how do i know if the is true?? Pray, and god will give you your answer and both of them started smiling and they explained that this was much simpler and more logical than what they were taught before. and they said a prayer and we left. we will set a date with them this week for the 30th of june. June is on firrrrre
Saturday, May 26, 2012
May 26,2012
yah im undercover no badge no book of mormon just backpack and my planner it is sweet i have never taught so much on my mission yet. I have fire bum from all the korean food my comp is cooking. He took me to a thai restaurant and it was so hot i almost threw up my eyes were crying i am weak sauce now ya all we teach is students we just teach and if we dont teach we just find on the university we are finding alot of people it will just take some time to baptize them because they had no beliefs before. Its funny sometimes when i talk to the aussy girls, and i ask for their number then they get all flirty with me and i have to set them straight" mate im a missionary, so i can only teach you not go out with you..." yah i got some funny stories anyways i will go hard.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
May 20, 2012
Hey my fellow homies we had a baptism yesterday it was
awesome he is from bejing we have been teaching him for
about 8 weeks he was atheist at first...wow. i really didnt
think it could happen i cant tell you how many atheist people
i have taught here.. the spirit really can change you it was
great i was lucky enough to be able to confirm him a member
of the church. i remember the first time i met him on the street
he said, um ya i will learn but i have no desire to come to church
i said ah well give it a go see if you change. and the first lesson
we were able to invite him to pray and after he felt peace and
it was all gold from there it was an incredible expirience...we 3 are
from different parts of the world different backgrounds, But all met
up in the same country to follow the same gospel. the true and living
gospel.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
May 6, 2012
yah all good, with the school thing... i feel really stupid now because
i havent done any school work for the past 2 years. i am pretty sure
that i failed some classes at slcc...woopsies haha i dont know what
i have to do now or if i just make them up again. i am not sure how i
figure that out. the mission is going sweet we will be having a baptism
in about a week with our good friend shimo..he was atheist before but
now he is stoked for baptism. i am still with elder seok and we are kickin
it real good. we have about 5 people that will be baptized in the month of
june probably... what the freak no one said anything and i just remembered
it is mothers day this coming week! so i will call you guys. on your sunday
it will pry be 5-7 sunday pm for all of you okay sweet i will talk to all of you
then.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
April 22, 2012
yah things are great we are just teaching teaching teaching finding finding finding.
Im still with my korean tae kwon do master ehhh im going to make him teach me
that and also how to cook delicious korean food. the time just flys in this area
there is so much work to be done that you cant really think straight. this week was awesome
we had elder pearson from the 70 come and give us a training and during his training he gave a
deep as doctorine of prayer and how it is supposed to be done, and then said? who wants to now
come up here and teach me how to pray....? silence... I say lets go elder seok daddy!
we walked up there and he just stared at us hahaha it was nerve wracking he gave us a scenario
and said teach me i looked at elder seok and he said i no understand his words out his mouth...
i said we just teach him how to pray.. and we did our best elder pearson looked at me and said, when
you elders speak to me i feel the faith in jesus christ that both of you posess great job then we gave
each other a hi five... it was awesome. Later we had a meeting and he was role playing with one of my old
companions elder watkins and me and elder watkins were like brothers we know each others stories. and
elder pearson looked at him and said elder watkins i know that you have a life changing spiritual expirience
and i need you to share it with me right now.... elder watkins looked straight at me because i was the
only one that knew...but elder watkins wouldnt share the story. elder pearson began to basically read elder watkins
thoughts...it was a bit creepy i was just like wow this guy is leggit it was hektek. a sweet miracle this week was our
investigator jerry an atheist kid from mainland china...he had been praying all week and explained
that he still had no belief in god..we asked if when he prays he listens? and he said no. so we got him to pray and
ask if god was there and to listen....after a minute he said in the name of jesus christ amen...he looked at us
and said i felt it! he was dumbfounded it was a miracle haha, his desire changed instantly and now from being one
of our toughest investigators to one of our best it was awesome, this are going great im loving this things are really
good right now.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
April 8, 2012
this week was swell we had a baptism this weekend,
and on saturday the baptism was at 600 and we had
already called colette that afternoon, but i had the
impression to call her again... and when i called her
she told me that her sister just called her and informed
her that her grandmother died....what an exciting day
to be baptized...? we asked if she still wanted to do it
she said yes and we were very impressed with the faith
she exercised. instead of anger at god she wanted to
come closer. It was a very nice expirience. Elder seok
confirmed her in his broken 3 month english...i havent
heard a better confirmation. Later in the week on sunday
we taught this chinese hard case william and we shared
with him miracles and the restoration... he felt the spirit
when we asked him...he was silent. he said, " I didnt feel
anything." we stared at him and i said i know you did.. elder
seok says, dont you lie william because spirit of god tell
us you feel god... william put his head down and accepted the
invitation to read and pray everyday. It has been great with this guy
we have been really patient with him really taking time and it is working.
anyways i dont know what i need to do for school all i know is I want to go
but i dont know where and i dont know what i want to learn i dont want to go
to slcc i just want to start over. we can talk more about it on mothers day.
Monday, March 26, 2012
March 26,2012
yah im undercover no badge no book of mormon just backpack and my planner it is sweet i have never taught so much on my mission yet. I have fire bum from all the korean food my comp is cooking. He took me to a thai restaurant and it was so hot i almost threw up my eyes were crying i am weak sauce now ya all we teach is students we just teach and if we dont teach we just find on the university we are finding alot of people it will just take some time to baptize them because they had no beliefs before. Its funny sometimes when i talk to the aussy girls, and i ask for their number then they get all flirty with me and i have to set them straight" mate im a missionary, so i can only teach you not go out with you..." yah i got some funny stories anyways i will go hard.
Monday, March 19, 2012
March 19, 2012
it was a long journey but yah i got transferred to the university of new south whales to go hard for my last 3 transfers, it is hektek we wear our normal clothes? yep that right shorts and t shirt all day every day haha its almost like a vacation my new comp is a freshie from korea he is cool as though we will make for good friends. the work is very different here, we teach heaps and find heaps...no more member feeds dam im gonna miss that tarro. it is completely different way of doing the work so it will take me a while to adjust but it like its gonna be fun as. it was hard saying bye to everyone in the mt. druitt, i was there for about 7 months almost 8. i said by to all the fob islanders and say hello to all the chinese..i mean ni how. yah i have never seen so many chinese people in sydney the whole time that i have been here. things are really good and i am ready go hard these last 3. as for school i just want to start over i dont want to go to slcc. i dont know where i want to go i want to go but i want to start from scratch and build a good foundation i havent looked into universitys' because i didnt know how to do any of that. but i do need to go to skool i dont know if that helps everyone but yah. things are sweet i hit 20 months today wow look at that haha, keep it real back home catcha
> elder stoddard
>
> elder stoddard
>
Sunday, March 4, 2012
March 4, 2012
Howz it goin mateys, well god really is testing the patience again we
> have been struggling to find some new investigators were doing heaps
> of finding but nobody will take the bite. We are in the gold mine
> "henrys lake" but were getting skunked it will happen we just gotta
> keep doing our thang. oy the summer here has been hektek it has only
> had 4 hot as days the rest has been bucketting down rain nothing feels
> better then knocking on those doors in the pooring rain. I have been
> losing heaps of weight i have lost 15 lbs since last month oh yeauhhh.
> Our flat in cockroach infested, wasp infested, and spider infested it
> is great. My companion snores so loud i am about ready to slap his
> face. Im starting to only get about 4 hours of sleep because of it. im
> gonna give em a hiding. the area is still sweet im still in the dirty
> ghetto of sydney but president told me in the interview that i will be
> moving this transfer. We had some of our recent converts go through
> the temple and do baptisms for the dead it was awesome. the savusa
> family i dont know if you remember but it was the samoan family we
> found, well anyway, saifitti read the whole book of mormon he is a gun
> as member I realized that the mission is teaching me more than i would
> have learned in my lifetime. I always wondered who i was and who i
> was supposed to be...i finally figured it out. i am a servant of our
> heavenly father. the best way to send me funds is to just mail it
> because i have no debit card but yah ill pry talk more about it when i
> call in may for mothers da
> have been struggling to find some new investigators were doing heaps
> of finding but nobody will take the bite. We are in the gold mine
> "henrys lake" but were getting skunked it will happen we just gotta
> keep doing our thang. oy the summer here has been hektek it has only
> had 4 hot as days the rest has been bucketting down rain nothing feels
> better then knocking on those doors in the pooring rain. I have been
> losing heaps of weight i have lost 15 lbs since last month oh yeauhhh.
> Our flat in cockroach infested, wasp infested, and spider infested it
> is great. My companion snores so loud i am about ready to slap his
> face. Im starting to only get about 4 hours of sleep because of it. im
> gonna give em a hiding. the area is still sweet im still in the dirty
> ghetto of sydney but president told me in the interview that i will be
> moving this transfer. We had some of our recent converts go through
> the temple and do baptisms for the dead it was awesome. the savusa
> family i dont know if you remember but it was the samoan family we
> found, well anyway, saifitti read the whole book of mormon he is a gun
> as member I realized that the mission is teaching me more than i would
> have learned in my lifetime. I always wondered who i was and who i
> was supposed to be...i finally figured it out. i am a servant of our
> heavenly father. the best way to send me funds is to just mail it
> because i have no debit card but yah ill pry talk more about it when i
> call in may for mothers da
Sunday, February 12, 2012
February 12, 2012
D&C chapter 11 verse 7 powerful today in my personal study i was
reading this today and spirit hit me really hard. I love the first
hour of my studies, i am starting to know how to study the scriptures
and it is a big help i dont know how i survived 19 years of my life
without doing it. We have implemented this new plan to help with our
unity and our companionships and it is to share spiritual expiriences
with each other in our companionships and it has put the work on
fire!!! we had call ins last night and we have set 11 baptismal dates
for february and march that is unbelievable! there is a really good
spirit about the way we are working and communcicating it is awesome
and I know god is blessing us for doing this. Revelation is real i am
seeing it occur more and more with the missionaries and the
investigators that they are teaching this gospel is living it breathes
it is insane what has been happening. I will tell you of a cool
expirience we had this week. so a month ago we were visiting the
pules' a less active family, who is now going to the temple to be
sealed, they brought they cuzzy over and we taught and that was pretty
much that. Then 5 nights ago a missionary called me and said "elder
sto ee, you need to go and ask the pules about mele again..." i put it
passed me. the next day all of our plans fell through and we were next
too the pules and i said lets stop here and ask about mele... we went
in and of course they fed us. and i asked sam "hey where does mele
stay?" he put his food down and looked at me and said "who sent you
here?" he looked like he was going to smash me! then in his broken
english he said elders, you follow the spirit. Mele had just moved
into there house that week, she had family dramas because she wanted
to be a member.. we were able to teach mele soon after and set a
baptismal date for the end of this week. God leads us every day and
sometimes we dont even recognize his promptings things are awesome, we
also set a baptismal date with lana and she said yes to march 17
please pray for these souls. mele and lana. thanx heaps love you guys
hope the wedding goes well.
reading this today and spirit hit me really hard. I love the first
hour of my studies, i am starting to know how to study the scriptures
and it is a big help i dont know how i survived 19 years of my life
without doing it. We have implemented this new plan to help with our
unity and our companionships and it is to share spiritual expiriences
with each other in our companionships and it has put the work on
fire!!! we had call ins last night and we have set 11 baptismal dates
for february and march that is unbelievable! there is a really good
spirit about the way we are working and communcicating it is awesome
and I know god is blessing us for doing this. Revelation is real i am
seeing it occur more and more with the missionaries and the
investigators that they are teaching this gospel is living it breathes
it is insane what has been happening. I will tell you of a cool
expirience we had this week. so a month ago we were visiting the
pules' a less active family, who is now going to the temple to be
sealed, they brought they cuzzy over and we taught and that was pretty
much that. Then 5 nights ago a missionary called me and said "elder
sto ee, you need to go and ask the pules about mele again..." i put it
passed me. the next day all of our plans fell through and we were next
too the pules and i said lets stop here and ask about mele... we went
in and of course they fed us. and i asked sam "hey where does mele
stay?" he put his food down and looked at me and said "who sent you
here?" he looked like he was going to smash me! then in his broken
english he said elders, you follow the spirit. Mele had just moved
into there house that week, she had family dramas because she wanted
to be a member.. we were able to teach mele soon after and set a
baptismal date for the end of this week. God leads us every day and
sometimes we dont even recognize his promptings things are awesome, we
also set a baptismal date with lana and she said yes to march 17
please pray for these souls. mele and lana. thanx heaps love you guys
hope the wedding goes well.
Monday, February 6, 2012
February 7, 2012
um sweet no emails again thats great. jokes i know everyone is busy
> with the wedding and all that jazz we had a stellar last week for
> elder uelese he finished strong and now he is back home i have a new
> companion from america samoa, elder satele. he is awesome he served in
> the infantry and went to iraq before he came on his mission so hes got
> some good stories. we will work well together i am excited. our
> investigator lana is awesome she came to a recent convert fireside on
> sunday and then after she told us that she wants to be baptized and
> the scripture that made her want to change was Rev. 3:20 she was in
> love with it so she is making alot of progress. pray for her i hope
> everything is sweet back home everything is good over here. i love all
> of you
>
> elder stoddard
> with the wedding and all that jazz we had a stellar last week for
> elder uelese he finished strong and now he is back home i have a new
> companion from america samoa, elder satele. he is awesome he served in
> the infantry and went to iraq before he came on his mission so hes got
> some good stories. we will work well together i am excited. our
> investigator lana is awesome she came to a recent convert fireside on
> sunday and then after she told us that she wants to be baptized and
> the scripture that made her want to change was Rev. 3:20 she was in
> love with it so she is making alot of progress. pray for her i hope
> everything is sweet back home everything is good over here. i love all
> of you
>
> elder stoddard
Monday, January 30, 2012
January 30, 2012
Mates no worries i am still alive and well. I got on the emails and
didnt have an email so i decided to withhold the miracles from
everyone and go play some basketball instead. Things are hektek right
now it is elder uelese's last week right now and we are going pedal to
the metal just tracting our guttz out. We had a miracle on saturday,
Funaki was baptized he had been learning the gospel for about 4 years.
He was so prepared to make the promise. He and i have a good
relationship, we understand one another and he asked if i could do his
baptism...hmmm i think yes! the spirit was awesome and i saw some
tears as that tough az tongan walked into the water. It was just
smiles and laughs after that. he was stoked about life we just told it
was about time. Such a blessing thing are looking up. Usually with
every companion that goes home we usually have one miracle that just
tops it all off. It was monday evening 8:05 pm on pine crescent: one
of the top two most dangerous streets in new south wales. yep i felt
safe though cuz im with my big as samoan brother. We were just about
to call it quits to go to some less actives but we kept going and we
Found Lana. she asked all of the right questions, and we set an
appointment for the next day. She told us that she had been looking
for the true church for about 5 years and just completely gave up on
god. She then told us that god couldnt forgive her for the things that
she had done. We brought a member and the sis had gone through the
same expirience as lana had gone through. And gradually from tears of
sorrow to a smile of hope she said alright i will give it a shot. for
the past week lana has been praying every morning and night, and
reading from the book of mormon we will be giving her a baptismal date
at the end of this week. God still has them miracles over here in the
dirty ghetto Mount Druitt. Things are awesome the miracles are off the
hook. Ps is jacki Blonde?
didnt have an email so i decided to withhold the miracles from
everyone and go play some basketball instead. Things are hektek right
now it is elder uelese's last week right now and we are going pedal to
the metal just tracting our guttz out. We had a miracle on saturday,
Funaki was baptized he had been learning the gospel for about 4 years.
He was so prepared to make the promise. He and i have a good
relationship, we understand one another and he asked if i could do his
baptism...hmmm i think yes! the spirit was awesome and i saw some
tears as that tough az tongan walked into the water. It was just
smiles and laughs after that. he was stoked about life we just told it
was about time. Such a blessing thing are looking up. Usually with
every companion that goes home we usually have one miracle that just
tops it all off. It was monday evening 8:05 pm on pine crescent: one
of the top two most dangerous streets in new south wales. yep i felt
safe though cuz im with my big as samoan brother. We were just about
to call it quits to go to some less actives but we kept going and we
Found Lana. she asked all of the right questions, and we set an
appointment for the next day. She told us that she had been looking
for the true church for about 5 years and just completely gave up on
god. She then told us that god couldnt forgive her for the things that
she had done. We brought a member and the sis had gone through the
same expirience as lana had gone through. And gradually from tears of
sorrow to a smile of hope she said alright i will give it a shot. for
the past week lana has been praying every morning and night, and
reading from the book of mormon we will be giving her a baptismal date
at the end of this week. God still has them miracles over here in the
dirty ghetto Mount Druitt. Things are awesome the miracles are off the
hook. Ps is jacki Blonde?
Monday, January 16, 2012
January 15, 2012
bro you sold out with the ipad! nice. we had a hektek week mostly
because we had 5 general authorities visit us last friday! oh cheahhh!
we had been struggling to build our teaching pool for the last couple
of weeks. but with the dilligence and the prayers and fast we were
able to find some elect souls and evena family so we are still being
blessed things are awesome. we had elder cook come to the mission it
was cool he told us a story on his mission where he went (england) he
had the opportunity to open an area for the first time and there was
zero members but on the third day they prayed for some leaders they
could find and they found six families that were all baptized and
confirmed. but the guy i really really liked was elder pearce! his was
hektek. he looked like this nerd with glasses but he threw down in our
sacrament i am always impressed at how much these people know about
the gospel it always encourages me to try to study and pray harder.
things were awesome this week. Your kids are becoming desciples its
amazing what they are becoming.
because we had 5 general authorities visit us last friday! oh cheahhh!
we had been struggling to build our teaching pool for the last couple
of weeks. but with the dilligence and the prayers and fast we were
able to find some elect souls and evena family so we are still being
blessed things are awesome. we had elder cook come to the mission it
was cool he told us a story on his mission where he went (england) he
had the opportunity to open an area for the first time and there was
zero members but on the third day they prayed for some leaders they
could find and they found six families that were all baptized and
confirmed. but the guy i really really liked was elder pearce! his was
hektek. he looked like this nerd with glasses but he threw down in our
sacrament i am always impressed at how much these people know about
the gospel it always encourages me to try to study and pray harder.
things were awesome this week. Your kids are becoming desciples its
amazing what they are becoming.
Monday, January 9, 2012
January 9, 2012
Family this week was Incredible!!! we had 3 baptisms this weekend This was the name i had to say when i baptized one of them Jessica Levaogogo Masinamua Faasavalu Tanuvasa, those crazy islanders... i guess my name is just as long though it was awesome to hear about the conversion of them and their mom. They were a part member family..
the mom sister gogokau, the one who is getting me fat didnt believe in the church until a month ago she had been a member for about a 10 years but had never prayed about it. missionaries had been trying to baptize her kids for about 5 years but she didnt want them baptized. About a month ago we set a goal for eight people baptized and a miracle...elder comfort and i fasted for 2 days just to see what would happen...that sunday sister gogokau came up to us and said i want you to baptize my kids hahaha! MIRACLES! the younger ones hated church but their cuzzin came from new zealand came to australia and taught them the gospel and got them interested.
Heavenly Father was just waiting for the right timing...that is what i have been able to understand the last couple of months. timing that is what it is and patience on our part to wait for the lords promises to be fullfilled. Sister Gogokau bore her testimony before the baptism and she said that god answered her and she knows that our church is true and said "I will never not be straight path" in broken english. she brought the house down with the spirit it was awesome.
Next story i learned a very valuable lesson this week...I have been blessed throughout my whole life and i wasnt really grateful for it....i went on an exchange with an elder on an exchange...elder andrew from vaanawatu, an island in the pacific he grew up with nothing...he showed me his pictures from back home he was only wearing ripped munted shirts worn shorts. he was a convert the only one of his family and he served his mission and his family doesnt even write him and he hadnt called them for the past year. he speaks like they do in jamacia, and he was the humblest person i have ever met in my entire life. i spent all night talking to him and he spoke his broken english to me and i felt like crap because i had been blessed with everything i ever wanted and his family struggles for food back home he kept playing my guitar and he said ohhh dis iz de nicest guitar... I said it is your bro... He looked at me and shouted his little island yell! take it man take it. it never felt so good to give someone something so small. Seek not after riches or the vain things of things of this world for behold ye cannot carry them with you. i wont be able to take that guitar back but that memory will last for eternity.
That next morning we had the slowest morning and i remember praying "heavenly father im not one to complain but it has been a couple weeks now and we havent even taught a lesson..yah trent those number of lessons you taught make me sick! anyways i asked i said please give me and elder andrew a miracle... Stand back and watch the salvation of the lord is what i heard from the voice behind my ears.
We made a random visit to funaki a former investigator part member that was at a stand still, we went in and read Alma 34 Funaki said under his breath the time is now.. Then he said i always remember my grandpa saying this is the time to prepare to meet got. Elder stoddard elder andrew the time is now. a little more talk, and the spirit kept saying ask him to be baptized, i pushed it away about 4 times because everytime we bring it up funaki goes cold. 5th time ASK HIM TO BE BAPTIZED! okay okay Funaki do you want to be baptized??? he said, God has just answered my prayer, i prayed you would ask me that question i have been praying about it for the last few weeks. we hadnt seen him for 2 months. he said i want to be baptized on the 28th or january!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!! the spirt has cracked this nut he had been learning the gospel for about a year and now it is happening. me and elder andrew were going nuts in the car i was yelling in english and he was yelling in some language that sounds like something on star wars it was classic. I couldnt be happier things couldnt be better the lord is blessing this area the western suburbs of sydney. i dont even care how many more doors i knockthat
Monday, January 2, 2012
January 1, 2012
O geez another week bites the dust, things are going awesome we have three baptisms this weekend. It is a samoan family again. They are way cool, but the mom always feeds us a massive feed when we go over. I was depressed the other night because of how large and in charge i was getting and i told elder uelese my new samoan kiwi companion, You have to help me lose weight you have to eat more of the food...because he wants to go home fat? yah...weirdo. so we decided that i just eat a little bit but take a long as time to eat so it looks like i am eating alot. so last friday we tried it and i was feeling awesome i was full but i didnt feel like i was going to pop...then she brought out dessert...i looked at elder uelese " i hate this lady" just when i thought i had done it she sucker punched me with dessert and alot of it. hahaha. our plan failed us.
we are having a hard time finding people to teach. we are finding people but none of them want to change or do anything to recieve the blessings of the gospel. so we read in the morning alma ch. 26 and it lifted us. the power of the book of mormon, it tells you exactly what you need when you need it. "Bare with patience thine afflictions, and i will grant unto you success" i am learning alot of lessons out here in the mission that will help prepare me to endure to the end of my life. Patience was a huge weakness of mine at the beginning but now it is becoming one of my strengths. i now know that gods promises will all be fullfiilled but in his time when we have been prepared for the blessings or the answers.
We are having heaps of fun together it is elder Uelese's last transfer and i am going to help him go home strong. New Years was annoying as the neighbors didnt go to sleep at all and just bumped their dumb as music, elder uelese was going to go out and kill them haha we had an awesome week i hope everything is going well back home. keep it real i love all of you and i know god does too.
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