Tassie Times
I can't believe it's been another
week! Time seriously goes by so fast!
Monday after we emailed we went with
our district to a place called Marakoopa Caves. :) It was so cool. Absolutely
beautiful caves underground. It was amazing. And there is a part of the cave
that is filled with all of these glow worms. It was so cool. Heavenly Father
sure does have some beautiful creations here in Tasmania. After that we hiked
up Alum Cliffs (the cliffs sister R and I went to before) so that everyone
could see. They didn't really know exactly what to expect but they all loved
it, especially Elder P. When he got to the top he said, "Oh my gosh. This
is amazing. It's a good thing this isn't in my area or else I would never get
any missionary work done." Haha it was pretty funny. He didn't want to
ever leave. Monday night after p-day was finished we had a good lesson with S.
We taught her the apostasy using a picture that the APs showed us at our Zone
Conference and it worked really well. It really helps people to understand the
need for a restoration and the importance of the priesthood.
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| A weird long-haired freaky cow we saw driving out to the caves. |
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| Our district on P-day |
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| Marakoopa Caves |
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| Me and my companion! |
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| Alum Cliffs |
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| At top of Alum Cliffs |
Tuesday morning we had our last
district meeting of the transfer. We had a really good training on obedience
using the story of Samson in Judges. Read it and notice how his small actions
of disobedience ultimately caused his downfall. It was really interesting.
After our meeting we all had lunch together. Sister R and I brought the
American Pancake mix from our flat and everyone else brought toppings. It was
really fun. That afternoon we went to our regular Tuesday appointments. We had
a good lesson with Nana Trixie and a good lesson with the less active family.
That night we had dinner with a part member couple in the ward. She is a member
and he is not. We showed them the Mormon message Earthly Father Heavenly Father
and the spirit was so strong. I hope we can get them both coming to church
soon!
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| Last district meeting of this transfer! |
Wednesday afternoon we had lunch with
our new ward mission leader. He is so wonderful. He really has a vision for the
work and wants to be really involved. He is what every ward needs. A good ward
mission leader helps the work so much. After that we stopped in to see C and
her kids. We keep just having to stop by when we are in their area because they
are so busy that we can't really set appointments. They were getting ready to
leave so we didn't have time for a lesson but it was good to be able to
contact them. That evening we went to G and L's for dinner. They are
investigators that I told you about my first week here. We haven't been able to
have a lesson with them for a long time. But a member works with him and they
talk about church things almost every day. We had a really good lesson
Wednesday night and he had a few light bulb moments which was really good. And
she is getting more involved with the lessons which is awesome.
Thursday morning we were at the
family history center and I've been able to connect a few more dots in my
family tree. I am falling in love with family history. For years I have felt
guilty during general conference when they talked about family history because
I wasn't doing it. But now I love it and I wish I could do more of it. It's
addicting. I've been studying the Doctrine and Covenants this week and in
section 127 I noticed that as Joseph Smith is giving instructions he doesn't
say baptisms for the dead but he says baptisms
for your dead. Also this morning I was reading
Elder Cook's most recent general conference talk about family history. He also
talks about the obligation we have to not only do temple work but to do temple
work for our own ancestors. I don't want to be a preachy, soap-box missionary
but I'm going to be a little bit. If you're not doing family history work, do
it. Go to a family history library, watch the online tutorials and get involved
in it. I can promise you that it will bring you so much joy.
Thursday afternoon we were going to
do some tracting. The second house that we knocked on a woman said from behind
the door, "who is it?" we said it's the missionaries! And she opened
right up. Turns out that she has been taught before and knows a lot of the
members well. She invited us right in. She's from Nigeria. We were able to have
a really good lesson with her and we have a return appointment for this week
which I'm really excited about!
Friday morning we got up at 6:00 to
go walking with S. She really needs to get out of her house more so we are
going to walk with her about once a week in the morning. We had a flat
inspection by the real estate people that day so we got the flat nice and
clean. When the lady got there, she came in for all of about 2 minutes and said
that it looked good and then she left. I didn't know that qualifies as an
inspection but whatever. That afternoon we did some more tracting with a little
bit of success. Funny thing though-- we talked to one guy who was wearing a
Yankees hat and a Dodgers shirt. And he didn't even know what either of them
were. Haha.
Saturday morning we had another
lesson with S. She had her two little kids there so it was a bit crazy but we
were able to read a chapter of the Book of Mormon with her. Sister R and I both
had terrible colds on Saturday so we were at the flat for a bit of the
afternoon trying to get feeling better. Good news was by yesterday morning I
felt pretty much as good as new.
Sunday was really good. G and L both
came to church for the full three hours. I love Fast Sundays and hearing people
bear their testimonies. I wasn't at all planning on bearing my testimony but
when the spirit prompts, you have to follow. I am so grateful for the many many
opportunities I have as a missionary to bear my testimony and share the things
that I know with others. As I share simple truths that I have known my whole
life, my own testimony is deepened and strengthened.
Another thing, we got transfer news
on Saturday night. I didn't know at all what to expect. They called and told us
that Sister R would be leaving and I would be staying. AND that I will be
training again. I was shocked. I didn't expect at all to train again. But I'm
looking forward to it. In a way, training is like a fresh slate. You get a
brand new missionary who knows nothing about you and I get to show her exactly
what kind of missionary I am and want to be. I am really looking forward to
digging in with my golden, being exactly obedient and working hard.
Sister R flies out tonight and my
golden won't get here until Wednesday night so I will be spending the next few
days with the Launceston sisters which I'm looking forward to.
I love being a missionary. I want to
use every second of the time that I have left to its fullest. Time is going way
too fast. I love it here. I never want it to end.
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| Even though they scare me, Australia has the most beautiful birds! |
Love you all heaps!
Sister Baker xxx
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