Just keep finding...just keep finding... (March 23)

G'day g'day! How ya goin??

This week was awesome. It was filled with many opportunities to talk to wonderful people because... well... we don't know anyone!! The ward is awesome have taken us in straight away. So far, one of my favourite families is the Kwong family. They have 5 siblings who all served missions, and one of them is the Elder Quorum President. He served in a tiny island near Fiji where apparently he never had a solid toilet experience... poor guy. 

Elder Newell and I have had some fun times talking to various people and one of the biggest miracles we saw this week was how we would just go out with faith knowing that Heavenly Father would lead us where His prepared children were. 

Well... Thursday morning we decided to do some finding of potentials that the other missionaries gave us. Within 20 minutes we contacted 1 of those potentials and were able to get 3 return appointments. HOW LEGIT IS THAT!? It's amazing how exercising faith can bring those blessing.

We also found a Kiwi family where the husband was born into a half LDS family half Catholic family. His mum was less active but he grew up going to church. He said we could come back and see him and his family... with 7 kids! WHAT?!?!

AMAZING!!!!!

The best part of the week, in my opinion, was going to the Melbourne Temple for the first time, and it's been about 11 months since I last went in!

The spirit in that place just electrified me. My goodness, there is no greatest place on earth to be than the Temple of the Lord, His Holy House :)

I came out with a buzz to do missionary work like Never before! It's amazing.

I've learned heaps lately about Charity, and it's effects. To me, I learned from Paul in 1 cor 13:  

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor , and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Basically... without Charity in our hearts we profit nothing. As a missionary I've learned that really going out with the intent to serve and bring others to Christ helps my heart to change. That commitment to Him and His work has enabled me to put aside all fears, struggles, and problems and know that I can do it with His help.

Sorry for the bold...

Anyway, we get to go to the City for Zone P-day next week so I'll attach heaps of photos. So far... the only animals we've seen that are remotely interesting are possums! They crawl all over our fence at night and in the morning.

Shout out to my Brother ELDER C. GISH!!! Smashing it in NZ! Love ya heaps bro.

Well, that's it for the week. All is well and we're seeing miracles.

The Church is true. :)

-Elder Sargeant

The Bendigo Bros: Elders: Hirata, Tojong, Sargeant, Worsencroft

Waverly Week of Wicked Whacking...CULTURE SHOCK!

Well, G'day, Nihao!

 

I've been assigned to serve in the Waverly ward!! It's 10 minutes from the Melbourne Temple which is quite legit :)

 

Things have been hard to adjust to because literally my new companion and I are fresh to the area but we've been SMASHING through the lists and keeping ourselves busy as. We met a lot of the ward on Sunday and they are awesome. What's cool is that my ward is half Chinese and half English. There is a Chinese Translator that does every talk, testimony, and word spoken in Chinese for all those that can't speak English... yet. It's AWESOME TO BE HERE!!!

 

Well, some cool experiences we had so far this week were that.... It's FINALLY FALL!!!!! You know what that means?! Breaking out the sweater Vest! ;) Also, since we've been here we were able to meet with this awesome as Chinese guy named Wei (William) Chung. He's such a cool and humble guy. He is one of those people that is less active but doesn't realize it... so we invited him to come to church and he was excited as about it! Elder Gish... you watch out bro, I'm going to come home speaking some Chinese ;)

 

We've been able to see a few more less active and My companion Elder Newell is a solid as teacher. He's very precise, clear, and full on when it comes to going off the needs of those we teach. That's always good for a trainer to see. He's been out for almost two months so he's not quite as fresh as others which is good too! The best part is that we live in a flat that's close to everything! There are heaps of shops and malls and stuff so we can talk to a fair few people. Miracles will come, I can feel it ;)

 

 

Some insight on the new Comp. : He's from Alpine, Utah. He served in Houston South waiting for his Visa. His dad is a professor at BYU. He's the FLIPPIN MAN! He's extremely knowledgable about the Gospel, and his dad does the announcements from General Conference and Music and the Spoken word! "This is the 187th Semi-annual...." HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?!?!

 

This one is a bit boring, but I'd like to say a special shout out to my wonderful third family in Bendigo!

 

Mumma Bowley, you have NO idea how hard it was to leave. I shed a tear or two on my way to transfers and I hope you know that you and your family have become like MY family. Never have I had an experience like that before and I think it's because I didn't let myself. KEEP BEING AWESOME AND MAKING THOSE MISSIONARIES IN THE BENDIGO AREA LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!!!!

 

 

Well...that's about all I can think of to say. Next week will be legit just you wait! >:)

 

The Gospel is true! Love every second of it, and the happy life it brings.

 

LOVE YA HEAPS, MATE!

 

-Elder Sargeant

THIS WILL BE SHORT!!!!!!!!!! (March 9th)

G'day all!!!

You're going to hate me but... THIS HAS TO BE SHORT! We had some unexpected visitors come into church while we were doing emails and we got caught off track and all that jazz.

Here is the news:

I'm being transferred AGAIN TO TRAIN!!! I'm keen as about that!!! :D Another son to add to my family tree.

This week was legit. We had some amazing miracles and experiences that I'll have to tell you about next week. 

However, one thing I'll say is I'm grateful for the truth. I'm grateful for that undeniable understanding that I have of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, and Christ's Church. We were able to teach a member lesson to the Rechter family, one of my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE FAMILIES, and they had a mate over named Gabbie. She is close with Kelsey, the daughter of the Rechter family, and we taught about how God is our Loving Heavenly Father. After, she asked heaps of good questions, we taught her the first lesson IN THEIR HOME, with 4 friends of hers there and Kelsey's dad to testify as well, and she accepted every commitment. SHE WANTS TO KNOW THE TRUTH adn WE HAVE IT.

I loved the way that Brother Rechter put it about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He said, "Other churches have 90% of the truth. They have 90% of what God wants and what Jesus Christ wants... we have that last 10% that makes up for the lack. We have the fullness, the last page of the book that puts everything together." That just hit me. 

Gabbie is GOLDEN AS! Stay tuned for what happens as I get upsets. LOVE YOU ALL HEAPS!!!!

Check out this blue tongued lizard we kept and named President Maxwell :)

Wrestle Mania (March 2)

G'day all! 

Owyagoin mate, aright? On ya! 

Aye, well this week has been quite a good week. The ward has just caught fire and everyone is seeing the missionary spirit rage throughout the area. We've had heaps of people bring friends to activities, invite them over for tea appointments, and allow us a chance to meet them. What a blessing it is to be so trusted, support, and loved by the members here. Makes me realize just how much it means to utilize the members and rely on them as well as our own efforts.

Some cool things have happened this week. For starters, we had Zone Conference which was quite a good experience. I always come home feeling on a massive Spiritual Buzz. It's amazing how being around so many missionaries just changes your heart, and softens it. I love that feeling. It was mainly focused on us as missionaries, how we are yoked with the Saviour and how we can rely on him to be our strength and guide. We really are never alone in this or any work. Love was also mentioned as a theme throughout the conference. Everything...has to do with love.

We share the gospel because we love, we serve because we love, we have faith and grow our faith because we love. Everything in this world has to do with love. If you don't have love then you don't have anything!

So, many are probably wondering about our investigator named Emma Wilson and how GOLDEN she was! Well, just as cake doesn't last forever the sweetest experiences don't always seem to be endless. 

Basically, she dodged us the last three times we tried to see her. For whatever reason, she wasn't wanting us to come round but that's okay because when you work hard, are obedient, and just go out with the faith to succeed then everything is made up.

We received a referral from a member this week of her beloved friend named Harry. Apparently this guy was supposed to be full on about the church.... little did we know what to expect.

Imagine to yourselves a 5'5 white man with glasses, a full on lumberjack beard, longer slicked back hair, and the heart made of gold. Well, you have Harry. This man met missionaries 15 years ago and completely shut them away but with persistence they eventually taught him a bit. After years of no contact he met Sister Baker who became very good friends with him and shared her example and love to him. He fell in love with conference talks. Every morning this bloke listens to Dieter F. Utchdorf... EVERY MORNING! He knows more about the Gospel and Church than most life long members do.

However, the best part was he was humble as. He was always thanking us, and telling us how much he appreciated us. He manifested the meaning of humility. He wants to be baptised but he hasn't received that testimony. We liken it unto mining for gold. Someone can tell you that it's their, but you gotta dig and dig until you find it yourself. You cannot rely on others testimonies forever. It doesn't work.

He came to church and LOVED it! How legit is he. Skux!

Anyway, on to Sunday night. Elder Worsencroft and I were able to go to the Rechter's home, *our ward mission leader's parent's house* and share a lesson with them and some of their less active friends and non member friend. It was an awesome experience...especially after. 

So about the Rechters. First they have 3 sons aging 27, 25, 22, and a couple daughters 19, and 17. Basically they're legit as. The 27 year old is named Steven. He's 6'6 and works at the Prison. He's ripped as!

So, one of the members is named Brother Casanova. He's the MAN! He is 25 and loves us so we always muck around with him. Basically, he talked Elder Worsencroft and just leveled him on the ground. I stood back and just laughed because it sparked that fire inside of Football >:) Anyway, Steve comes up from behind... grabs Elder Worsencroft by the back of the pants, and throws him over the couch... WITH ONE HAND. IT was SO FUNNY watching his face turn bright red as we got a massive wedgy ;) Funniest experience of my life. Luckily and unfortunately I did no join in the fun....

It happened so fast that I couldn't even do anything.

Ah the mission... what a wonderful experience :)

Well that's all for this week. Stay tuned for next weeks adventures. WE FIND OUT IF WE GET TRANSFERRED!!!

Love ya heaps!

Elder Sargeant

"And My Father Dwelt in a Tent" (Feb 23)

G'day!!!

Who would have thought... one simple phrase like "And my father dwelt in a tent" could change my entire view of missionary work!

I'm just grateful for tents... or OUR HOMES!!!! :) I'd explain more but... too many stories to tell.

Our home was broken into!! (But not by people..... by insects)

Well, to start out, we had to bomb our flat this Sunday. Literally, we got cans of "ANTI BUG" stuff to spray while we were gone so all the bugs would die. Summer in Australia means... Redbacks (Black Widows), White tails, Bull Ants, flies, beatles, and anyhting else you can think of... COMES INTO THE FLAT.

Elder Tojong got bit on the finger by a bull ant this week too! He woke up at about 5:35am and was walking around. Then we shook his mattress and all the bedding on top of it. I woke up a bit annoyed but soon watched as we looked around. I thought to myself  "Oh dang.. if he got bit by a spider I'm flipping out of this bed." However, he shined his torch around the place and went to the bathroom to investigate his finger. Turns out, it was just an ant, no spiders... BUT THE ANT IS MASSIVE AS!!! It has pincers about 1/4 the size of it's entire body, which spans about 2.5-3cm or 1-1.4 inches or so. Thing is massive. WE found it on the curtain right above my bed. Luckily, we snipped it in half with some scissors.

THEN, we found that there was a White Tail on our ceiling. That thing is one of the most deadly spiders in Australia. It's Necrotic, meaning it eats flesh with it's poison if not treated quickly. Far out... I beat that thing to a pulp on the ground. THEN, near the Air con there was a red back, ANOTHER MASSIVE AND DEADLY SPIDER. When I say massive, it's like the size of a half dollar basically, but it's just nasty looking. We smashed that thing to pieces as well.

Boom.

Well, Elder Worsencroft and I got a bit discouraged one day, or maybe it was more me. We tracted for about 2 hours straight before our tea appointment because we got pants by our investigators, (meaning they just dropped us or dodged our appointments) and every...single...person... slammed doors in our face. We didn't give out a single thing. However, the way back up the street we talked to this guy name Adrian. He was kind, not interested... but he took a Restoration Pamphlet and let me tell you that made such a big difference. That gave me hope for the next time we went out.

Sunday came, we had some time after church to either sit around before tea, or go tracting. We decided to go tracting. Of the four houses we went to... two of them weren't home, and the other two were KEEN AS!!!! One is named Emma Wilson. She, that day, had read her scripture readings for the first time in over 2 years. She said she wanted to find God again, and that her other churches weren't for her. Boom we talked to her about what we believe, shared some laughs, and next thing you know she says what we LOVE to hear "Well, I was reading this morning... now you're here. Right boys, sign me up. Where's your church?" 

BOOM!!!!! What a wonderful thing to hear!!!!! Man, I'm so grateful for diligence. Heavenly Father just flippin provides a way. When you work hard, are obedient, He always makes up for our faults and our hardships.

It was an awesome week. I'm out of time... but LOVE YOU ALL HEAPS.

By the way... here is a bull ant 

White Tail and... Red back Spider

Go Australia! Love a little bit of danger. Live Life on the edge mate.

-Elder Sargeant

Fast weeks... slow days (Feb 16th)

G'day all!! 

This past week was intense and wonderful, and it went by QUICK AS.

Well, last Monday was a bit depressing... my companion and I were muckin around after emails. We found a gecko in the chapel so of course, being the goofy Elders we are we decided to take photos of it on our faces (or attempt to). I think Heavenly Father must have been angry because we, I'm sorry to say, trying to take pictures of it in the chapel. ( I KNOW I KNOW STUPID.) So, why do I say that?? Because... as Elder Hirata put the gecko on my face to take a photo, it jumped off, Elder Worsencroft smacked my camera... and it broke :(

Sad day. I love that camera...still do. However there is more to the story.

The week has gotten less hot, and the miracles just keep on a coming. We've had some pretty intense fasts in the mission, and in our Zone. We fasted for miracles in our areas, and a mighty change of heart. I've come to see these happen so evidently in our areas. They haven't come in the way I would have imagined, but they are what Heavenly Father wants and what I believe he wants for Elder Worsencroft and me.

For me, I've always wanted to be a good teacher. Since the beginning of my mission, I learned obedience, work ethic, and diligence. I've come to love the scriptures, but teaching was something I needed help with. The Spirit is always the way so we had success, but I wanted to change.

Let me tell you... the Lord provides a way. Our ward has 5 Return missionaries that usually give us advice. Our Ward Mission Leader (WML) is a LEGIT teacher. He has been teaching us HEAPS and helping us learn how we can do so. We had mission prep yesterday and he taught us how to teach to active members to build their faith.

We took his advice, and it WORKS. We shared a lesson that night at the Rechter family home, house has 2 RM's including our WML, and three sisters two of which are going to be serving missions. They are LEGIT. There were about 15 people there total, including Declan our recent convert, and a non member friend named David. 

We taught about prayer. How we prayer, why we pray, and then finally... How does GOD want us to prayer? We talked about how we need to wrestle with ourselves, like Enos in the Book of Mormon, to find what God really needs us to pray for. What he NEEDS us to Need for ourselves. Not just our selfish desires, though He is mindful of those desires.

The Spirit was strong as. Everyone shared uplifting and amazing stories of the power of prayer saving lives, granting hope, and lifting pain. Tears were shed, and everyone felt good... at least I know Elder Worsencroft and I did!

IT WAS AMAZING. Learning to teach better, and more simply pays off. 

I promised I'd share about my camera. To me this was the most legit answer to a prayer I've had. After my camera broke I was a bit peeved, but I reckon it passed. I knew it'd be okay. I had really wanted to have it get fixed but I didn't know how. That Thursday we were informed that it could be fixed without paying but they weren't sure how to do it anymore.

So, Saturday came... we were at a family's house. The mum is named Pauline, they have two kids named Tanica and Haiden, and the husband is named Robert. They let us in straight away after two weeks of not seeing us (because they were on Holiday). Finally, we went for a tour of the place because members used to live there. We saw her HUGE rose garden and her little areas where her kids keep their rabbits. It was awesome. I took out my camera knowing it was broken. I had a thought come to my mind to push the lens (because the lens was stuck out and wouldn't shut.) As I did so, I turned the camera on... and next thing you know IT WORKED! Not even a dent or scratch on the lens. It works as well as it did the day I got it! WHAT AN AWESOME ANSWER TO A SIMPLE PRAYER IN MY HEART.

Prayer is power. God listens. I know he does.

Glad America is basically covered in SNOW! Better than ice I reckon...

Well, Love you all heaps.

( This photo was at that family's house where my camera was fixed miraculously. They invited us back to teach them the Gospel :))

-ELDER SARGEANT  

The Church is True, the Sea is Blue

G'day all!!!

Things here in Victoria are going quite well. The HEAT IS UPON US... you know what that means?! Sweaty as shirts and lots of socks to change. Far out, it's crazy how much a body can sweat in one day! Luckily, we've been blessed with our Car which makes these days much more bearable. 

The blessings of the heat though, what are they you ask? Well, tracting is heaps of fun! You talk to a lot of very kind and loving old ladies that give you icy poles and glasses of water. Kindness makes the heart grow softer. 

Despite the heat we were blessed with some miracles that stick out in my mind. The first one is this:

Declan, our recent convert, came out teaching with us! He is so willing to teach with us and go out with us and share is growing testimony. This was evident in our Chapel tour we gave on Thursday to our investigator named John! John was told and under the impression that we were, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Cult. Far out mate.... you for real? That's the first time on my mission that has been a problem. Luckily we were able to convince him to go on a chapel tour with us. Now, prior to this tour we were under the impression that we needed to ask him to be baptised. We had a goal we wanted to reach, we had feelings that he was prepared, but something was in the back of my mind that caused me to doubt a little bit. 

However, there came the time to show John our meeting house. We walked in with Declan trailing behind a couple paces, and first were able to say a prayer. In my mind, I ran through quickly what we would do and the order it would happen in. As we made our way through the foyer, the Chapel, and finally to the Baptismal font, my fears and doubts ceased. I knew, with a certainty that we needed to invited John. Elder Worsencroft, Declan, and I all taught the first lessons, told experiences, and bore testimony. Hesitantly, Elder Worsencroft looked at me as if with his eyes to say "Should I say it?" I simply stared back into this eyes without moving or saying a word. That was my way of saying... "OI MATE GIVE IT A GO!" 

With those warm feelings surrounding our hearts, the invitation of extended.... and was accepted as well! WOO!!!!!!

My faith grew HEAPS from the experience. Those doubts and fears were quenched. I knew that the Spirit was able to let us know what we needed to do! No doubt when we listen to what we know to be right, despite what seems to be improbable, when the Lord wants something done he will give us the opportunity to do it. IF we don't someone else will, and THEY'LL get the blessings.

What a wonderful experience :)

COOLEST THING EVER HAPPENED YESTERDAY! We were driving home from Stake Conference, which was legit by the way, and we were informed that the main highway back to Bendigo was closed. We were a bit puzzled and asked why. The response from our Bishop was this:

"Oh, basically there are Bush fires over the roads and around Bendigo so... yeah. I reckon they're out by now but just thought we'd let you know."

For someone who has never seen a bush fire I was STOKED! As horrible as it sounds, I was excited to see them.

We made our way home and saw black land cover the rolling hills that surrounded the road. There was a plume of smoke probably 200 Meters long (600ish Feet) or longer over the horizon with Helicopters flying over head spraying water and other things onto the flames. We were put on a detour and were able to see first hand a house burning to the ground.... it was insane. We felt bad  but were quite aware that these things happen and we simply cannot do anything about them.

What a cool thing to see though aye? I'll never forget seeing black hills of wasted trees and crispy grass. Far out..

Anyway, for some other exciting news... I bought some Brown pointy shoes at Salvos for $10! WHAT A BARGAIN! Far out Mum, your bargain skills have obviously rubbed off on me. Now I'm going to church with shoes that don't look like a rapid Kangaroo has chewed on them and spit them on the asphalt. ;) Naw my shoes aren't that bad, but they are getting their scuffs. 

Well, Letters are always loved, and TIES are always as well! I'm going through a bit of a phase. I like the fat ties with cool designs on them, or skinny ties to add to my collection. 

However..... all goods with emails and letters if that's all that can take place ;)

LOVE YOU ALL!! STAY WARM!!! ENJOY THE SNOW!... Really... enjoy it. Aussie Sun burns your lips! 

-Elder Sargeant