Week 26

Tarneit and Werribee: July 3-10, 2016

I had to get used to mission terms.  Killing my companion means I'm the last companion; my companion will die means she will finish her term.  Can't believe I would kill my companion and she would die so soon - next Wednesday!

July 4, Monday - Had our zone P-day at the stake center.  I watched them play volleyball while eating ice cream and cake..hehe..the losing team did push-ups.  

Elder Whiting in his P-day shirt.. made brownies.

We then picked up the Tazzie sisters and slept in the Ozone flat.

July 5, Tuesday - Attended the first MLC with the Vidmars.  Pres. Vidmar shared his Olympic moment and a gospel principle.  We then visited a less-active Donna and her convert son, Lehi.  We shared the Mormon messages "Will of God" and "Continue in Patience".  She asked us why every time we visit her, the messages were exactly what she needed. It is amazing how the Spirit works that helps us choose the lessons. She said she needed to accept God's will and continue in patience as they were facing a financial difficulty.

Donna Vai and son, Lehi

July 6, Wednesday - We visited Usman whom we met last week, a Muslim but accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet and told us he would read it.  Today, he said he did not get a chance to read the pamphlet but promised us that he would read it this week and we could come back again next week.

We also visited Joshua and for the first time in 6 months, his wife, Vivian, joined in the lesson.  My comp told me that she never greeted missionaries but today, she joined the lesson and enjoyed the Gratitude game.  We invited Vivian to church, she answered someday but frankly told us that she was Seventh Day Adventist and didn't want to be baptized again. A step to the miracle is - she joined the lesson!

Vivian, Me, Joshua

We then visited Lana from Bali.  We shared with her about Prophets and played PLATES. She was so impressed..haha.. Her son, Thomas, joined the game but left afterwards, at least, he joined!  Lana agreed to meet us again next week.  Really nice lady!

Lana and Me

We shared with Rishna and Rupesh about Prophets and Apostles but needed more understanding so we suggested more readings from LDS.org about the priesthood.  They were very good and wanted to follow Jesus Christ.

Me, Rishna, Rupesh

Also visited Jenti and her kids - Noah, Jacob, Daniel and Josephine and shared lesson on being peacemakers.  The kids enjoyed coloring the CTR logo.

We then had dinner at Nan's place, Donna behind Nan in photo.

July 7, Thursday - We met George, a former investigator and who just moved back. A miracle!  He was surprised how we knew about him.  We taught him about Prayer at the door; next time, we needed to have someone with us so we could come inside his house.

July 8, Friday - Had our zone meeting and gave training about how Atonement could help our recent converts go to the temple. Then, visited the Stricklands and shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ using the handouts.  They enjoyed the lesson.

The Strickland kids: L-R: Fine and Andy

Later, attended the Youth Roadshow.  Each youth from the different wards performed. They were really good.  We were happy Yvonne came and she enjoyed.  The last time she came to church was ages ago.  She said she couldn't come to church because her back was sore but she came today.  Miracle.

Yvonne, Me, Sister Wairepo

Youth Roadshow

Another miracle was the Leha family.  Remember them from Footscray ward?  They had family in Wyndham stake.  They invited me to their son's baptism who would be turning 8.

Leha Family

July 9, Saturday - We drove to Sunbury for the exchange with the Sisters.  I went with Sister Lammi while my companion, Sister Wairepo, went with Sister King.  We met Brother Tremor, bestfriend of President Monson...so cool!  I could see they had the same sense of humor.

Sister Wairepo, Sister King, Sister Lammi, Me

We then helped the Deep Park Stake for their Mini Mission.  We took some youths to lessons and tracting.  They had fears knocking on doors just like me when I was golden..haha..but they had great desires and the Spirit did help them build confidence.

We then visited the Vini family back in our area.  Louie turned 2 last week.

Vini Family

My comp would die in less than 48 hours.  I would be back to driving and I asked her tips about driving long hours.  I would be driving to Griffith for 7 hours and I'm scared that I might hit kangaroos on the way just like the experience of President Maxwell.  But all will be good..I was excited - challenge accepted!

Week 25

Tarneit and Werribee: June 27 - July 3, 2016

Bye for now to my first mission parents - President and Sister Maxwell! 
Hello to President and Sister Vidmar! 

June 27, Monday - Today is the last mission fireside with President and Sister Maxwell.  We were not able to join because of other appointments but we heard it was great, a video timeline was shown from the time they got here.  The ZLs came to our house and left this letter and pasta. (Photo.)

We visited Rishna and Rupesh at 6pm and shared more about the Priesthood.  We also gave Rupesh (engineer by profession) something to read about priesthood because he wanted to study more while   Rishna liked to read from the Book of Mormon.  

We also got a call from the Assistants to pick up the Craigieburn Sisters (Sister Cruz and Sister Bajamere) from the mission office while Sister Triptee would stay at the mission home with Sister Maxwell as companion, then to her flight to MTC Provo tomorrow.  In the mission home, Sister Maxwell served us pumpkin pie and strawberry cheesecake.  They would be leaving Melbourne on June 30 to go home to Utah.  The Maxwells told me to inform them if I would ever visit Utah, maybe they could meet me. From mission home, we drove the Craigie Sisters to Craigieburn for 50 minutes, then back to our house for another 50 minutes. Fun drive.

Also today, I cooked chicken liver.  My comp was too afraid to try it.

June 28, Tuesday - District meeting today, also visited some, including Sister Tuitupou, Maori/Tongan, LDS and very nice, and willing to set goals for family.  After a long day, we decided to treat ourselves with sundae and mcflurry.

June 29, Wednesday - We went on exchanges with the Sunshine Sisters.  I went with Sister Tau'a'alo to visit Yvonne and Jean.  When we tried to walk to the Dah family, I got lost..haha..so we walked to the Strickland's home instead.  It was great working with her. She had trained 2 goldens.  She gave me few ideas on asking people questions to build relationship of trust with them.  We also visited Sister Rai and she prepared us dinner.  Tau family then picked us up for a second round of dinner.  The Polynesians just fed missionaries all the time.  We shared with them PLATES magic.

At 9:30pm, we had conference call from the Maxwells for the last time. They bore their testimony.

June 30, Thursday - We drove the Sunshine Sisters back to their flat, then we went to the dentist for follow-up check up.  Dentist said gums was fine and no infection.  Yeay. We then visited Jenti and Zafrinia (role-played missionary discussions with her); met some during tracting.  At night, we did the weekly planning.

July 1, Friday - Had our DLC meeting and planned goals for July. Craigie Sisters asked us to pick them up from the station; Heidelberg ZLs called us if we can pick up the City Sisters from the station.  Now, we are officially the Tarneit Taxi Service. We then met President and Sister Vidmar.  They were full of energy and fun.  I told President Vidmar that today was Canada Day and he said 'no holidays' in this work and we both laughed.  I also found out that Sister Vidmar's parents were born in Montreal.  

July 2, Saturday - We visited a lot of people today especially less actives in the ward list. When we visited Yvonne, we found her weeding so we helped her and planted this rose. She named it after our first names, Norreen, in memory of us..that was cute.

July 3, Sunday - Today, we taught Primary about Jesus Christ, being the good shepherd. When we showed a picture of the sheep and asked them what it was, one kid said that it's a whale, such a funny kid.  






We then had dinner with the Tupou family who had 2 kids currently serving missions.  Then we attended the combined youth devotional and mission fireside at the Fairfield Stake Center, 7pm, as part of the culmination of a weekend basketball tournament. Speakers were professional athletes such as Jason Smith (champion NBL basketball player), Tim Smith (champion rower and member of Victorian Legislative Assembly) and Pres. Peter Vidmar, new mission president and a gold Olympic medalist in gymnastics. They all shared their formula for success and counseled the youth in having balance in physical, emotional and spiritual endeavors in life.  

News covered in:

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.au/article/youth-basketball-tournament-and-devotional-with-sports-heroes 

    Tupou Family

      Photos during Devotional

ZLs Elder Bennion and Elder Whiting

I had to get used to mission terms. Killing my companion means I'm the last companion; my companion will die means she will finish her term.  Can't believe I would kill her and she would die so soon - next Wednesday!

Week 24

Tarneit and Werribee: June 20-26, 2016

Many individuals and families taught and visited..and the "great and dreadful day" for my wisdom tooth!

June 20, Monday - We went to the home of Julie (whom Sister Cruz and I met on our last exchange) around lunchtime.  Her son, Anthony, opened the door and told us that his mom was not home. We would try again next time. We also visited Rishna and Rupesh, investigators, recently accepted Christianity after being Hindu. They were attending another Christian church and studying a book about baptism (good book but doesn't say anything about authority to baptize.) They loved to have us over because they wanted to learn more about Christ, the priesthood and why the need the Book of Mormon in addition to the Bible. We would meet them again next Monday to share more about the priesthood, and the power and authority to baptize. For dinner, we went to the Tupou's home; Sister Tupou was the Relief Society president.

June 21, Tuesday - An achievement! We ran 4 laps today in the park. Next week's goal is 5 laps and so on. We then drove to our dental appointment, then back to Werribee for our district meeting. We learned more about how to study effectively, ask inspired questions, and use the Book of Mormon to answer questions of investigators.  

                Wyndham Zone

Today, we also visited a former investigator named Celia whom my companion (Sister Wairepo) met last year when she served in Werribee.  The record was marked 'not interested', but she welcomed us and still remembered my companion.  We talked to her and she wanted to meet us again and commit to baptism if she finds the answers to her questions.  We planned to meet her again next Tuesday.  Miracle, it is important to be persistent and not give up.

We also had dinner with the Ciseau Family.  They moved from Brisbane 3 months ago.  My comp told Sister Ciseau that I would have my wisdom tooth pulled tomorrow and she assured me that it would be fine, that if we needed soft foods or medicine, just ring her.  The family was great.  They served us pumpkin soup, yummy on a cold night.  We shared with them about how the Spirit works and about a game called Black Magic. 

We then drove to the Phillips but the mom was not home.  While we were knocking on the door, we saw a man walking.  We greeted him and he greeted back.  When we were about to drive to visit Rey, my comp turned back and we talked to that man.  The man said that we should not talk to people just like that, especially ladies like us, because we never know that we might be in danger.  His name was Darren, been through a lot but still had a smile on his face.  He invited us over to his parents' house where he was staying at the moment.  We said we would come back this weekend.  We proceeded to Rey's place and met his friend Mark.  We shared about making the right choices.  Rey invited Mark to church this Sunday and Mark said yes.

During our planning tonight,  my comp gave me a heart sticker saying #painistemporary in preparation for my wisdom tooth surgery tomorrow.  She's funny.  The ZLs also knew about it and they texted us #miseryisoptional.  They were funny, too.  Sister Maxwell texted if we had yogurt and soup and would be praying for me..hehe.. Apparently, if you get your wisdom tooth extracted, everyone would know about it..haha..

June 22, Wednesday - the great and dreadful day for my wisdom tooth!  We also met the Footscray Sisters on our way to the dentist.  Sister Santos handed me some letters.  We then drove them back to their flat.  They just finished a lesson with Stephen.

The dentist prescribed me codein and ibuprofen for the pain.  My comp made me mashed bananas and mashed potatoes.  I slept for 2 hours in the couch; we stayed home today.  I updated my journal as well while watching some Mormon messages.

June 23, Thursday - I craved for Filipino foods so we went out and bought some.  Even though I can only eat soft foods, I went for rice and 'sisig'.  We then visited Zafrinia around 4pm; met her, her sister and their new husky dog.  We role played missionary discussions with them.  We also met Bro. Brown, the ward mission leader.  He served us corned beef and potatoes.  We then had correlation meeting with him.  The family would be away for the holidays (to Sydney) so that we could not meet with him next week.

June 24, Friday - Today, we vacuumed the chapel and had our DLC.  The ZLs were joking about my wisdom tooth and were surprised that I could talk.  Then we visited Selena and her son, Caleb, (baptism schedule on July 9) and played PLATES with them.  Though they go to Tongan ward, we taught her because she lived just across a recent convert, Monica.  Then we went to see Joshua and shared with him the talk "Choices" of President Monson  from last conference.  We also invited him to read another talk from President Monson "A sacred Trust" and he said yes.

June 25, Saturday - My comp ran around the park 5 laps.  She exceeded our goal while I just walked 2 laps.  My face felt sore but apart from that, everything was fine. We met Rey today, also Judy.  We shared the Restoration with her, invited her to be baptized and she accepted July 30th.  We then walked to Yvonne and Jean.  While walking to Jean, we met this man and talked to him a bit.  He said we look familiar and accepted the pass-along card that we gave him.  When he asked about the church and we said 'Mormons', he returned the card, said he didn't want to do anything with us and walked away..that was interesting.  We then had dinner with the Taula family.  They're from New Zealand and served us NZ chop suey, chicken and cup cakes.  Remember Mandy Fuatimau who made cakes and desserts? She brought the cupcakes.

June 26, Sunday - Today, we attended Tarneit ward only.  By the way, the ZLs were assigned to Werribee, but since we covered only female investigators and there won't be sisters in Werribee for a while, then we could focus in Tarneit now.  We taught Primary (CTR 5 and 6) today and for the next 3 weeks.  

Sister call conference - we called the Sisters we covered and prayed with them

MORE PHOTOS:

On our way to the Dentist: