...here I am experiencing true conversion. And I love it. - 01/06/14

Melbourne Mission Moments 01/06/14

Happy New Year!! I can't believe it's 2014! I'm pretty sure 2013 was the fastest year of my entire life. The fastest and one of the best. I am so looking forward to this year and the miracles that are going to happen! We had a really good week this past week.

At the state library in the city.

Monday we went in to the city with our district and did some sight seeing and shopping at souvenir shops. That night we had dinner with the Bell family in our ward. They are so fun and really make us feel loved when we are in their home.

Tuesday we spent a lot of the day finding because we are still trying to build a teaching pool. It's been kind of hard because everyone is so busy with Christmas and New Years but now that those are past it should start getting a bit better. That night we had dinner with ward members. The wife and kids have been members for 25 years and the husband knows basically everything there is to know about the church but for some reason he has yet to join. He is such a kind hearted man though! I really felt strongly while we were there that he is one of the reasons we are serving in this area right now. I pray we can really touch his heart and hopefully find that missing piece that he needs to finally decide to get baptized.

 

We love smoothies on hot days!

Wednesday morning we had a zone meeting which was a perfect way to start off the new year. Our zone leaders are really wonderful. We talked a lot about how we can be more obedient and how we can more fully submit our will to the Lord. I felt really motivated as we left to work harder and do more. Up until this point, I have always been looking forward to Christmas, knowing that was my half way mark. Now all of the sudden Christmas is gone and the next mark is when I go home. Not that I am looking forward to going home at all, it's just the way my mind works. I always have some sort of finish line in my head that I work towards. After our meeting Wednesday morning I feel so determined to make the next 9 months even better than the past 9 months and to really consecrate my efforts here in Australia.

Enjoying the beautiful sunset!

Thursday Sister Burton and I decided to fast. We were fasting specifically that we would be able to find people to teach. We did a lot of finding in the morning/early afternoon but didn't really find anyone which was kind of disappointing. That afternoon we got to go and teach S and D which was really good! We taught them The Gospel of Jesus Christ and it went really well and we were able to help solidify their baptismal date. After the lesson with them, we had a little bit of time before our dinner appointment so we decided to visit a few members, since we are still trying to meet everyone in the ward. We picked a name from the ward list of a single woman. We drove up to the house and there was a guy sitting on the porch smoking. At first I thought, "Let's just go to another house. I don't like approaching people when they are smoking and this is supposed to be a single woman's house. She has probably moved and that guy won't want to talk to us."  But then I had the strongest prompting that we needed to go and talk to him. Honestly, I was nervous as we walked up the driveway, which is weird because it usually doesn't make me nervous to talk to people. Well, I am so glad that we did go talk to him. He and his family have just moved up from Tasmania and moved in with his mom. Sister Hadfield and her companion have been working with them in Tasmania. Brother N is a member but his wife is not. But she is really open to the church and the sisters in Tassie have been helping her get ready for baptism. It was an answer to our prayers and fasting! I know it was no coincidence that we chose that house, of all the names on the ward list that we have yet to meet. Heavenly Father definitely was hearing our prayers!

Friday we had dinner with the Lloyd's. They are a cute couple in the ward who joined the church about 30 years ago. And they are such good member misisonaries! They literally have been talking with every single person in their court about the church. I wish all members of the church were like them. They are so awesome! We visited a less active woman right before we went home on Friday night. She opened the door and nearly started to cry. She told us that she had been having a really hard day and had prayed that someone would come by. I love being able to help Heavenly Father answer someone's prayers. It is the best feeling ever!

Saturday we headed out first thing and did some tracting. We met the sweetest lady who let us in. She is so cute! We showed her a Mormon message on her iphone and she was so amazed that we could pull up the video. She kept saying, "I can't believe I'm seeing this!" Haha it was so funny. Saturday afternoon we went to a baptism of a 12-year-old boy named that the Elders in our ward have been teaching. It was a really good baptism! After that we went to the library to have a lesson with a boy who was a referral from the sisters. C is from Burma. He has been here for 10 years so his English is really good! He was so receptive and loved learning about the Book of Mormon! We invited him to be baptized on January 25th and he said yes!

Yesterday S and D came to church! It is the most nerve wracking thing ever when you're waiting for church to start and it's getting closer and closer to starting and you are still waiting for your investigators to show up. But they came! And they really enjoyed it! The members were so awesome! They were all introducing themselves and doing exactly what you hope they will do.

I hate all the disgusting spiders here!

I've been studying a lot about Jesus Christ and Christ-like attributes. I am so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and the ability it gives us to CHANGE. I truly can change and be who I want to be and who Heavenly Father wants me to be. Another thing that I have really learned this week is about testimony and conversion. Before the mission I had a testimony. But here I am experiencing true conversion. And I love it. The gospel is becoming more and more a part of me. It affects who I am, the way I act, the way I think. I am so grateful for the gospel and to be a missionary. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and his atonement. I know that he can help us to CHANGE.

Love you all HEAPS!!

Sister Baker xxx