"Get Sacramented"

 Hi everyone!

   This week is the last week of the transfer. Crazy that this week hits my three months up in the Northern Territory. Time sure has flown by. Even though it's going fast, there has been great experiences that I'm grateful I've had. 

   Overall this week was really good. Sometimes days feel slower but that's not terrible because it makes my mission feel longer. So hey, little miracles. 

    This week was honesty pretty average. We had a couple lessons with Adam and Chelsea to help them prepare for their baptism. We had waffles with them for breakfast Saturday morning and finished up their lessons. They have their interview tomorrow then after that they're all ready. They're super excited for it which makes us super excited. 

   During the week we were able to have a lesson with Linda but then that night she went out bush for the funeral of her partner. She won't be back until November which is a bummer. But hey, at least it's finally happening. So now that most of our friends are gone, we have a lot time to work with our super progressing ones. So that's an upside to things. Because of the open time, we've been able to see Kay and her kids a couple times this last week. They are doing pretty good. Kay is doing awesome, we're still working on her son warming up to us. But there is definitely improvement. 

   So yes this email is short but has been good. Some extra things has been lots of service. Spreading rocks, cleaning up yards. Went on exchanges with Elder Kirby which went well. Found two missing dogs for people so that was exciting. Then a big miracle was we were handing out flyers and this guy said he recognized us from our service post on Facebook. Him and his wife invited us in and gave us some water and food and were interested about missionary work. We explained it to them and had a good conversation. Definitely a much needed interaction. 

   Jacob 2:19 "And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches."

Righteous desires brings miracles. God cares about our opinion and will help us get the best outcome that will truly help us.

   Well I hope you all have great week. Love you. Hopefully next week is more entertaining. 

Lizard

Selina from Katherine

Games

Service

 

KFC Feast

More and More Humidity

 Hi Everyone!

   What a week let me tell you. The good was amazing, then some parts were just slow. One thing that made if slow was the zoom meetings. Let me say, I am not a fan of zoom. We had a couple of hours meeting Tuesday for MLC. Then another few hours Wednesday for a mission tour. Not the most exciting of things. But hey, we made it.

   One major miracle this week was our friend Kay being put on date for baptism. Her son also wants to be baptized which is awesome. Their family has literally watch every video on gospel library, plus other Christian movies and shows like The Chosen. Her and her two kids came to church this week which was so great. We had three lessons with her three days in a row. Which was pretty full on but went very well. 

   An update on Adam and Chelsea is they are still doing amazing! We had two lessons with them this week and dinner which went very great. They already know just about everything we're planning on teaching so it makes it super easy on our part. They still participate the most in Elders Quorum and Relief Society which is so cool. And they are very excited about their baptisms. They have definitely been prepared and their faith is so amazing. So excited to finish up the lessons with them and get to their baptisms.

   Another miracle is we got in contact with Linda and her family! It's been a couple weeks since we last taught them so it was great to be back and get in the groove of teaching her family. We have a couple from the family that could be potentials of progressing. But it's going to take some time but it'll be worth it if it all works out.

   Another big blessing this week was being able to have a couple of lessons with Tommy and Michelle. They are so great. I'm going to miss them when they go back to Maningrida. But hey, phone call lessons aren't too terrible... haha get it, because they are terrible. Every night spending two hours just calling and teaching a bunch is not the greatest thrill in the world. But it's better than nothing so I guess I should be grateful. 

   The rest of the week was handing out heaps of flyers for service and church and then our normal member visits. We actually met some cool people from the flyers and door knocking who we're going back to see this week.

   Galatians 6:9

"9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not"

   Well I hope you all have a great week. Love you, email me or you're lame.

Tommy and Michelle

District

Croc Warning

Biggest Camping Chair Ever

93 Days Left

 Hi everyone!

   Not gonna lie, this week was just a blur. It went by super quick and nothing huge or major happened. Which isn't a bad thing but also not super great for an email. But we'll piece together some things and see what comes from it.

Two very, very exciting news:

   1st, Chelsea came to church and brought her little daughter Indiana, and then Kay also came to church and brought her daughter Zannie. So Indiana and Zanny went to primary together and had a blast. Zannie is literally my favorite. One day we were having a lesson with Kay and Zannie walked through the gate all mad because her brother left her at school. Kay tried to talk to her, but she just stomped her way inside. Then she saw us, she ran up yelling "The Jesus People!" She was so excited. She was telling us all the videos she has watched on gospel library. 

It was such a miracle to have them come to church, as well as Chelsea and Indiana.

   2nd exciting news, Tommy and Michelle are in Palmerston for the week! For those who don't know, Tommy and Michelle are from Maningrida. They are two of my favorites (don't tell the other members) and honestly it was a big answer to my prayers. Maningrida is a very special place and since being back to Palmerston I've just been missing it and the people there. So I was very happy to find out they are staying a 45 second bike ride from our flat. So of course we visited them. We had a great lesson with them and Betty, who is an extremely sarcastic old Aboriginal lady. So all things said, it was an amazing visit and I left being so happy. 

   Something unfortunate this week was we went door knocking and of course locked the bikes, but when we came back someone stole one of our bike tires. Who steals someone's tire?! So the senior couple came to get the bikes to get a new tire, and so we walked 30 minutes to our next appointment. It was with Nancy, Dwayne, Stacy and their family. It was a good lesson and the senior couple was able to drop off the bikes to us. But again, who steals a single tire off a bike? 

   Later in the week we had zone conference which was pretty good. It was just like our MLC meeting with the things President brought up and the things we practice. But still good, can't complain.

Spiritual Thought:

Helaman 14:29-30

"29 And this to the intent that whosoever will believe might be saved, and that whosoever will not believe, a righteous judgment might come upon them; and also if they are condemned they bring upon themselves their own condemnation. 

30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free."

   Well now is time to lose in Ping-Pong and eat KFC. I love you all and hope you have a great week.

District Dinner

Lesson at Caroline's

Baby wallaby at church

Got Swooped

 Hi Everyone!

This week was definitely a week. Safe to say, it did not go to plan. But that's ok, we have God and things should work out. Sadly, a lot of our friends are still out for funerals and what not. So we've been working with the ones that haven't left yet. 

But first things first, the flight back from Maningrida was absolutely amazing. The sun was setting, and we flew over a few bush fires which was pretty cool. Then during the week we were able to visit with Agnes a couple of times and did some service cleaning her art corner. Then we'll be going tomorrow and she'll show us how to paint. So we're pretty excited for that. We also did lots of service for other members and friends from the Branch. Australians do love their service. 

The biggest miracle from the week was definitely Adam and Chelsea. They are our two friends who came to church and then that evening, prayed and received an answer that the church was true. They want to get baptized as soon as they can. So we set a date at the start of October to help them work towards. They already know so much and are already like members, so we are very excited to help them progress on their path to God.

Other than that, the week was mostly normal. Just lessons with those still here, member visits, and service. We also spent some time with the district to knock the sister's area to help build up their teaching pool. I've missed door knocking so it was good to be out and doing the work. Then of course with the title of my email, while biking, a Magpie swooped down and smacked me in the head. So yes, that was just, the greatest...

Spiritual thought: "As true disciples, our primary concern must be others’ welfare, not personal vindication." -Elder Robert D. Hales

A lot of time we think "What about me?" But that's not the example Jesus Christ showed. It's all about others. When our focus is on others, God will bless us because his focus will always be us. 

Love you all! I'll talk to you next week. Don't forget to email.

Lizard

Sunset

Throwback Maningrida because I took no photos this week

Birthday in Maningrida

Hi everyone! What a roller-coaster of a week. It started with us having an amazing lesson with Derek and Mavis, and then the next day their family kicked them out, so they moved back to community. We'll see if we can teach them over the phone. Then Elwin and Polly got back but they moved to Darwin, so sadly we won't be teaching them. But enough of the frustrating things. 

This week we made a proposal to go out to an Aboriginal community called Maningrida. They have about 50 members and President wants us to strengthen the members and support them. And we have heaps of friends we teach over the phone. We put the date for two weeks but the office couples misunderstood and got our plane tickets for Thursday to Monday. So we quickly got permits to go on Aboriginal land and packed. 

Before Maningrida we had MLC Wednesday. Northern Territory had to zoom which was ok. Would definitely prefer to be in person but we work with what we got. But it pays off because of Maningrida!

Our flight was Thursday morning, so we got dropped off at Darwin airport and we got on our bush plane. We made a stop at Elcho Island and then flew to Maningrida. We stay at a lodge that provides breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food was pretty good. We went out the first day to visit Tommy, Michelle, Pansy, grandpa Jackie and then Lyle and Mia. So they are family and the super strong members (except for grandpa Jackie, but I'll make sure he gets baptized soon:)). Lyle is the unofficial group leader and then Tommy is the other Melchizedek priesthood holder with Lyle. This trip we were focused on getting the members focused on church. So that's what we did as we went out.

We went one morning fishing with Lyle and Ben. They speared a stingray and a crab. We went back to the lodge for lunch and next thing we know they're pulling up in a car with a pot. They saved us some stingray to try. It was pretty good. On Friday we were able to visit Ezekiel and his family. They're doing pretty good. Their dad is bringing up a bunch of anti questions to them so we spent a while clearing those. After that we visited this family who aren't members but came to church with Lyle a little while back. The parents are Sam and Carissa and they are all super keen. We then visited heaps of members like Barnabus, Carol, Matilda, Latisha and her family and so many others. 

A couple of friend visits I was stoked for were our friends Patricia and Ziggy, then Beth Stewart, and also Sharona. We were able to watch the zoom for church in the morning with Patricia and Ziggy. They absolutely loved it. Then we were able to have a couple of lessons with Beth. She is doing amazing. She loved watching church and our messages. She is very humble and really wanting Jesus to help her life. Then Sharona is the daughter of Dennis back in Palmerston. We had a message with her and her partner. She's doing good and she has a pet pig. So that was cool. 

So, every other week here they have a shipment of alcohol get delivered Saturday. So, Saturday and Sunday are drinking days. What's nice is the whole shipment of alcohol is gone by Sunday. A lot of people hate these days. While we were leaving for a movie night some people at the lodge didn't want us to go because it was unsafe. But everyone here knows the missionaries and would never mess with us. So, all was good. 

Sunday we had Sacrament at Tommy's house. We had 17 there in person. Carissa, Sam and their family came and then also came to movie night. It was a very special sacrament meeting. Seeing Lyle and Tommy bless and pass was just amazing. The saints here are like none other. There is no greater faith out there. They are truly blessed and prepared. Another amazing experience was being part of a blessing that Tommy gave to his wife Michelle. He did the start in English but the blessing part in their language. We couldn't understand the words but the spirit was so strong. It was so amazing. Maningrida is such an amazing and special place. 

A spiritual thought comes from the talk by Elder Donald L. Hailstorm titled: "I Am a Child of God." The part I liked was, "A correct understanding of our Heavenly heritage is essential to exaltation." Knowing we are a son or daughter of. Heavenly Father is one of the most important truths for us. It's been one of my favorite things as a missionary is to share that with people.

Well today our flight is in the evening, so we've been at Tommy's with his family just sitting and sharing stories. This morning Lyle wanted to say goodbye, so we went to his place and walked to his work with him and talked a bit. What a perfect way to end a trip to Maningrida. 

Well I love you all and I'm so happy to spend my birthday in Maningrida. It'll definitely be one I'll never forget. Well, I'll talk to you all next week!

I found the Garden of Eden

Maningrida

Church

Lyle

Maningrida

Lyle and Ben

The ocean

Elcho Island from plane 

Sharona's Pig

Matilda

Barnabus and Andrea

Maningrida Airport

Plane