How ya goin mate!
Wow- these past weeks have been so crammed. Missionaries getting sent home, missionaries coming back out after health reasons, two zone conferences... Basically I'm in charge of everything from mail to booking flights to making orders and sending info to Salt Lake. It's been really hard to not hate being in the office. Really hard. Trying my hardest to be faithful.
Australia is awesome. Its starting to warm up so we use our AirCon at night. I have not had any native companions yet. Just Elder Nielsen, Tietjen, Prina and now Hoskins and Hurst.
I have been working out. Our flat is right next to the Assistants so we are always together and we play rugby in the mornings and every Saturday morning we play basketball with a lot of missionaries and President Richards. That was fun to see President Richards trying to step us. (juke)
We do have one baptismal date right now. His name is Marshall and he is such a good guy. Comes to church every Sunday. His baptism is in October!!! Um no! I am going to do my best at getting it sooner.
We are also working with a great part member family... the Hansens. The wife is not a member but comes to church every week and seems to like it!!
I'm giving a talk in church tomorrow. I'll be speaking on John 11:25-26 which is one of my most favorite stories of Christ's life.
We have THE MAN ward missionary leader. So bold and to the point. We make phone calls in our coordination meetings to "get it done RIGHT NOW."
I do love this ward and love learning from the Assistants.
Things have been great. Sorry if this email is so scattered. My brain is so full of things I have to do that I'm wiggin out. :)
Love you all.
Read the Book of Mormon.
-Elder Adam Hales
In response to the email:
Yea, I'm feeling fine. President Richards said I probably did have the swine flu but I had some really good, expensive medicine. I'm feeling better now.
Carly: You are an old-graduated College student... Working now! Congrats! :)
Cheri: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! One year older and wiser too... Happy birthday.. to you!
Brother: You're an old family working man! You're the man. I really like your new car.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
A mystery (or two) revealed
Dear family!!!
Wow - I don't even know where to start - so much has happened. I loved my area in Waterford. But I got a phone call saying I was being transferred. I was really cut up about that because I will miss Alana's baptism. I was able to be there for Tim's baptism though!!! His baptism was amazing. The spirit was so strong and it was so great to witness the miracle of his conversion. It had been 3 weeks from the time we met him that he was baptized!
After I found out I was being transferred I mostly visited those of this ward that I will miss the most. I almost cried when I said goodbye to our Ward Mission Leader! I love Brother Evans. I was never able to say bye and get a picture with Alana. I really enjoyed teaching her and am so sad I missed her baptism but Elder Prina is going to send me a picture. I'm pretty sad I haven't been able to stay in an area for longer than 3 months.
Well the moment you have all been waiting for ~ the place I was transferred to. The morning of transfers President Richards gets up and bears his testimony of transfers and how we go where the Lord wants us and that there are people only we can get through to. I felt the spirit very strong and I knew where I was going to be transferred is the area for me. Then President calls my name as an Office Elder. :) My area is Chermside. I will be working in the office half the day and proselyting half the day in Chermside. Not going to lie... it's going to be hard to get used to but it's an honor as well because President only puts Elders he trusts here. My P-Day will be Saturdays now. So my companions are Elder Hoskins and Elder Hurst. I'm in a tri-companionship cause Elder Hurst is training me on the duties. But really I'm kind of in a 6 way companionship because we are always with the Assistants. I really like the Assistants.
I was not expecting this calling at all but I know that I'm here for a reason and I will go where the Lord wants me to go.
1 Nephi 3: 7 means more to me now.
I have been very sick these past few days. President thinks I have swine flu. (I talk to him on a daily basis now :)
Transfers were on my birthday so later when I had to take care of the departing missionaries, President Richards, his wife and their daughter sang Happy Birthday to me. That was cool and because I'm in the office now I got my package from you on my birthday! Thank you so much for that! The assistants liked the candy too! Haha.
Well now we are not restricted to any area and we don't have a limit on kilometers so I think were going to a zoo today.
I know I'm here for a reason. I've had that witness. I know that Jesus Christ leads this church. And that's why I love this church so much. It's true.
God Speed the Right.
-Elder Hales
PS. Can you mention on the blog that now that I'm in the office I will be SO busy and won't always have time to send letters to my fans? :-)
Carly! Congrats on getting the job. I knew it would come.
Wow - I don't even know where to start - so much has happened. I loved my area in Waterford. But I got a phone call saying I was being transferred. I was really cut up about that because I will miss Alana's baptism. I was able to be there for Tim's baptism though!!! His baptism was amazing. The spirit was so strong and it was so great to witness the miracle of his conversion. It had been 3 weeks from the time we met him that he was baptized!
After I found out I was being transferred I mostly visited those of this ward that I will miss the most. I almost cried when I said goodbye to our Ward Mission Leader! I love Brother Evans. I was never able to say bye and get a picture with Alana. I really enjoyed teaching her and am so sad I missed her baptism but Elder Prina is going to send me a picture. I'm pretty sad I haven't been able to stay in an area for longer than 3 months.
Well the moment you have all been waiting for ~ the place I was transferred to. The morning of transfers President Richards gets up and bears his testimony of transfers and how we go where the Lord wants us and that there are people only we can get through to. I felt the spirit very strong and I knew where I was going to be transferred is the area for me. Then President calls my name as an Office Elder. :) My area is Chermside. I will be working in the office half the day and proselyting half the day in Chermside. Not going to lie... it's going to be hard to get used to but it's an honor as well because President only puts Elders he trusts here. My P-Day will be Saturdays now. So my companions are Elder Hoskins and Elder Hurst. I'm in a tri-companionship cause Elder Hurst is training me on the duties. But really I'm kind of in a 6 way companionship because we are always with the Assistants. I really like the Assistants.
I was not expecting this calling at all but I know that I'm here for a reason and I will go where the Lord wants me to go.
1 Nephi 3: 7 means more to me now.
I have been very sick these past few days. President thinks I have swine flu. (I talk to him on a daily basis now :)
Transfers were on my birthday so later when I had to take care of the departing missionaries, President Richards, his wife and their daughter sang Happy Birthday to me. That was cool and because I'm in the office now I got my package from you on my birthday! Thank you so much for that! The assistants liked the candy too! Haha.
Well now we are not restricted to any area and we don't have a limit on kilometers so I think were going to a zoo today.
I know I'm here for a reason. I've had that witness. I know that Jesus Christ leads this church. And that's why I love this church so much. It's true.
God Speed the Right.
-Elder Hales
PS. Can you mention on the blog that now that I'm in the office I will be SO busy and won't always have time to send letters to my fans? :-)
Carly! Congrats on getting the job. I knew it would come.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
A quick note
Dear Family-
Things sound amazing up there and things are going awesome down here in Australia!! We have been sooo blessed. Things are a little hectic and this week is going to be incredibly busy. I'm starting to doubt we will have time to tract this week! Our days are already booked!
Alana is doing amazing! She is so awesome. She has now had her baptism interview and everything is going amazing.
Tim is the man. His baptism is Sunday at 3:00 since its Stake Conference.
We have one more lesson with Alana and two more with Tim. The spirit is so strong whenever we teach them. We do have the best fellowshippers in the ward. The Evans' and the Bray's are so cool. Just awesome families.
Well, we didn't have much time to write today. We have a lesson with Fiona in a few minutes.
Our ward leaders are so awesome and such a big help. Transfers are coming up this next week and I'm nervous cause I really don't want to leave... but there are 24 new missionaries coming so a lot of areas will have changes.
There are so many blessings from this gospel. I know it's true. I know that. Love you all.
God speed the right.
-Elder Adam Hales
Things sound amazing up there and things are going awesome down here in Australia!! We have been sooo blessed. Things are a little hectic and this week is going to be incredibly busy. I'm starting to doubt we will have time to tract this week! Our days are already booked!
Alana is doing amazing! She is so awesome. She has now had her baptism interview and everything is going amazing.
Tim is the man. His baptism is Sunday at 3:00 since its Stake Conference.
We have one more lesson with Alana and two more with Tim. The spirit is so strong whenever we teach them. We do have the best fellowshippers in the ward. The Evans' and the Bray's are so cool. Just awesome families.
Well, we didn't have much time to write today. We have a lesson with Fiona in a few minutes.
Our ward leaders are so awesome and such a big help. Transfers are coming up this next week and I'm nervous cause I really don't want to leave... but there are 24 new missionaries coming so a lot of areas will have changes.
There are so many blessings from this gospel. I know it's true. I know that. Love you all.
God speed the right.
-Elder Adam Hales
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The First Law of Heaven
G'Day Mate!
Mitchell Giles is already leaving!? Far out -- that came quick! Good on him. He is going to be a powerhouse.
Well, things have been going so amazingly well with us. I can really feel your prayers! Our whole district is improving! A lot of missionaries in our district have been having a problem with faith and I'm not sure that all of them are 100% obedient. But at zone conference, Sister Richards talked about faith and obedience. Obedience is action and Action IS FAITH! We will have 3 baptisms in our district. Our District leader, Elder Nelson, and his companion have one baptism scheduled for August 15th. Alana is still doing amazing for August 14th and there is one more miracle that Elder Prina and I stumbled into.
His name is Tim. This is the best ever. I don't know how it could be more golden! Tim is from the U.K. He is 21 and such a genuine guy! He is basically good at everything too! He can throw a rugby ball farther than anyone I've seen. That's beside the point. :) On Wednesday night we get a call from a recently married couple that live RIGHT ACROSS the path to get out of our complex. They are the Bray's. They are awesome! Brother Bray served his mission in Hong Kong and is such an amazing guy. So he calls us up Wednesday night and says, " Hey Elders! I have a guy at my place right now that wants to hear the discussions! Can you come over tonight?" So we decided that it would be great to go teach him. :-) We had a dinner appointment already with a family, the Faleafulugogo's. They had a non-member that we were able to teach and get a return appointment with and after that we went and met Tim. They had already watched the Restoration DVD and Brother Bray had answered most of his questions so we really just taught "Pray to know" and sealed it with our testimonies. Tim went to our sports day on Saturday and came to church yesterday. He said that Fast and Testimony meeting and the sacrament was powerful. It's a long story but Tim is living with the Bray's so he has "continual fellowship" and Tim said he would like to be baptized. We had Brother Carter (1st councilor to the Bishop) pull him out of class and interview him and they had a good long interview. Brother Carter walked up to Brother Bray afterwards and Tim was right there as Brother Carter said, "I want him baptized by Tuesday!" Haha -- I LOVE BROTHER CARTER! Tim knew it was a joke but we want to shoot for Tim's baptism on August 14 in the afternoon. Alana's is in the morning.
I LOVE THIS WORK!!!! I'm so lucky to be a missionary for Jesus Christ. I know He lives!!!
Elder Prina and I were lucky enough to teach seminary this morning! Waking up super early again. I love it. We were assigned to teach from Romans 8. It's such a great chapter about our Savior and the Atonement. We did the analogy of doughnuts. We put a doughnut in front of everyone and told them that they couldn't eat it yet. We asked who would like to eat it... NO ONE PUT UP THEIR HAND! UGH dang ... but Elder Prina was playing the part of the Savior. A Doughnut cost 10 push ups. So I turned to Elder Prina and said...Alright no one wants a doughnut. That will be 10 push-ups per person. Elder Prina stopped after every 10 push ups and asked who it was for. Made it more dramatic! :) By the end the kids got the point. The spirit was strong as we talked about the Atonement. If you get a chance- read Romans 8 and look for how Hope is a Christlike attribute! It's great.
Well thank you for your prayers. I love you all and pray for the best for you.
God speed
-Elder Hales
Mitchell Giles is already leaving!? Far out -- that came quick! Good on him. He is going to be a powerhouse.
Well, things have been going so amazingly well with us. I can really feel your prayers! Our whole district is improving! A lot of missionaries in our district have been having a problem with faith and I'm not sure that all of them are 100% obedient. But at zone conference, Sister Richards talked about faith and obedience. Obedience is action and Action IS FAITH! We will have 3 baptisms in our district. Our District leader, Elder Nelson, and his companion have one baptism scheduled for August 15th. Alana is still doing amazing for August 14th and there is one more miracle that Elder Prina and I stumbled into.
His name is Tim. This is the best ever. I don't know how it could be more golden! Tim is from the U.K. He is 21 and such a genuine guy! He is basically good at everything too! He can throw a rugby ball farther than anyone I've seen. That's beside the point. :) On Wednesday night we get a call from a recently married couple that live RIGHT ACROSS the path to get out of our complex. They are the Bray's. They are awesome! Brother Bray served his mission in Hong Kong and is such an amazing guy. So he calls us up Wednesday night and says, " Hey Elders! I have a guy at my place right now that wants to hear the discussions! Can you come over tonight?" So we decided that it would be great to go teach him. :-) We had a dinner appointment already with a family, the Faleafulugogo's. They had a non-member that we were able to teach and get a return appointment with and after that we went and met Tim. They had already watched the Restoration DVD and Brother Bray had answered most of his questions so we really just taught "Pray to know" and sealed it with our testimonies. Tim went to our sports day on Saturday and came to church yesterday. He said that Fast and Testimony meeting and the sacrament was powerful. It's a long story but Tim is living with the Bray's so he has "continual fellowship" and Tim said he would like to be baptized. We had Brother Carter (1st councilor to the Bishop) pull him out of class and interview him and they had a good long interview. Brother Carter walked up to Brother Bray afterwards and Tim was right there as Brother Carter said, "I want him baptized by Tuesday!" Haha -- I LOVE BROTHER CARTER! Tim knew it was a joke but we want to shoot for Tim's baptism on August 14 in the afternoon. Alana's is in the morning.
I LOVE THIS WORK!!!! I'm so lucky to be a missionary for Jesus Christ. I know He lives!!!
Elder Prina and I were lucky enough to teach seminary this morning! Waking up super early again. I love it. We were assigned to teach from Romans 8. It's such a great chapter about our Savior and the Atonement. We did the analogy of doughnuts. We put a doughnut in front of everyone and told them that they couldn't eat it yet. We asked who would like to eat it... NO ONE PUT UP THEIR HAND! UGH dang ... but Elder Prina was playing the part of the Savior. A Doughnut cost 10 push ups. So I turned to Elder Prina and said...Alright no one wants a doughnut. That will be 10 push-ups per person. Elder Prina stopped after every 10 push ups and asked who it was for. Made it more dramatic! :) By the end the kids got the point. The spirit was strong as we talked about the Atonement. If you get a chance- read Romans 8 and look for how Hope is a Christlike attribute! It's great.
Well thank you for your prayers. I love you all and pray for the best for you.
God speed
-Elder Hales
Monday, July 27, 2009
The best job in the world
HOW GREAT IS MY CALLING! Sometimes when I'm studying I just think about how awesome it is to be a missionary. I love it.
This past week has been so great I can't put it into words. We had zone conference and that was so amazing! Our zone conference theme was Teaching Skills and we have this new thing where we focus on 4 types of questions and they work so well. The first is a Search question. So say, after we read a scripture, we ask a question that causes them to search. The second is Analysis. This question causes them to have deeper thought on it. The 3rd is Application. A question that causes them to apply it. And the 4th is a question that "leads to testimony" so ask them if they have had any experiences with this. I'm really excited to start applying these questions. I know that they will be WAY more effective.
We also had interviews yesterday with President. I always love that. President has such knowledge about the scriptures. Elder Prina asked for advice on getting investigators and less actives to church and he whips out John 7:17.
Our top investigator is still doing great!!! The best part is I can tell she is going through the repentance stage so she seems a little sorrowful. That's one thing our zone leaders addressed. Our first purpose is to help people gain a faith in Jesus Christ.. then Repent.. and THEN Baptism!! Our next lesson we are going to address that sorrow feeling she has and apply the 4 questions heaps of times! I'M SO EXCITED!
Lately more then ever I have gained such a love of the scriptures. They are so amazing and especially as I teach about them and from them I have grown to love them to the point I just love to hold them!! I know that they are true.
O man! Dale Ford is going to be an amazing bishop!! He is the man. I have so much respect for him! He taught the pre-MTC class one time on obedience and it was so good I can still remember it!
It has been FREEZING at nights! O man its cold! But during the day it is starting to warm back up and I sweat a little.
Love,
Elder Hales
This past week has been so great I can't put it into words. We had zone conference and that was so amazing! Our zone conference theme was Teaching Skills and we have this new thing where we focus on 4 types of questions and they work so well. The first is a Search question. So say, after we read a scripture, we ask a question that causes them to search. The second is Analysis. This question causes them to have deeper thought on it. The 3rd is Application. A question that causes them to apply it. And the 4th is a question that "leads to testimony" so ask them if they have had any experiences with this. I'm really excited to start applying these questions. I know that they will be WAY more effective.
We also had interviews yesterday with President. I always love that. President has such knowledge about the scriptures. Elder Prina asked for advice on getting investigators and less actives to church and he whips out John 7:17.
Our top investigator is still doing great!!! The best part is I can tell she is going through the repentance stage so she seems a little sorrowful. That's one thing our zone leaders addressed. Our first purpose is to help people gain a faith in Jesus Christ.. then Repent.. and THEN Baptism!! Our next lesson we are going to address that sorrow feeling she has and apply the 4 questions heaps of times! I'M SO EXCITED!
Lately more then ever I have gained such a love of the scriptures. They are so amazing and especially as I teach about them and from them I have grown to love them to the point I just love to hold them!! I know that they are true.
O man! Dale Ford is going to be an amazing bishop!! He is the man. I have so much respect for him! He taught the pre-MTC class one time on obedience and it was so good I can still remember it!
It has been FREEZING at nights! O man its cold! But during the day it is starting to warm back up and I sweat a little.
Love,
Elder Hales
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Another plug for the Book of Mormon
Dearest Family!
That is sweet that Kyle is doing surf camp. He is going to be the stud of the century.
Well, once again the blessings have been flowing. Things have been great! I think about half the missionaries in this mission are sick. I am still sick. I have had a cold for the 3rd time in 2 months. Ugh- but I've called Sister Richards and she didn't say I'm gunna die so things are lookin up!
Things have been great with our investigators. Alana is still doing awesome! She went to church yesterday ...as usual. We had 2 lessons with her this week. I love teaching her! We teach in the Ward Mission Leaders home, who are the most perfect family ever... and Dalin is there with her helping us and the spirit is so strong. I LOVE the experiences when I walk out of a lesson and could hardly tell you what I said cause I wasn't speaking! This week we taught the Plan of Salvation. Before we left I just asked her if she was excited or nervous about her baptism and she said "EXCITED!" And then Dalin was like "and a little nervous too!!" That was funny. Hard to email the way he said it. :) We called them last night and she said that she would love to get baptized on her birthday! Which is August 14th. We are a little nervous and sad to move it from the 2nd just cause it makes it feel "unstable." But things are still awesome. Her Book of Mormon reading is AWESOME! She is at Alma 15 or so.
Lance, the paralyzed man, is such a good guy. I love this bloke! We got him the Book of Mormon on CD so hopefully he starts progressing. We were not able to have a lesson with him this week. But we need to get him those CD's soon because it is through the Book of Mormon that our investigators will be converted.
Elder Baxter- one of the Area Authorities- spoke to us the same time Elder Holland did. He showed us that of the recent converts that don't continue their scripture study- are the ones that go less-active and I see that so much. Every less-active appointment we ask them if they read the Book of Mormon and every single one says no.
Elder Prina and I had an awesome appointment with a couple that live in our complex. It was soo good. It started out weird... they expressed a desire to come back to church so we asked why... and they said something like "Because we have really been reading into how to become wealthy and everything points back to church." I was kind of laughing in my head.. but then we talked about the Book of Mormon and the husband said that it just clicked to him that he has been reading heaps of books on how to better himself when the Book of Mormon has been sitting there the whole time.
I know that the Book of Mormon is 100% true. I know that it is the book that we can grow closer to God than any other book and that by it we can improve ourselves more than through any other book. Elder Holland said that it has such great power even if it just sits in a house. That is why Elder Prina and I have one sitting in Lance's house.
I love you all and keep you in my prayers!
God Speed
-Elder Hales
That is sweet that Kyle is doing surf camp. He is going to be the stud of the century.
Well, once again the blessings have been flowing. Things have been great! I think about half the missionaries in this mission are sick. I am still sick. I have had a cold for the 3rd time in 2 months. Ugh- but I've called Sister Richards and she didn't say I'm gunna die so things are lookin up!
Things have been great with our investigators. Alana is still doing awesome! She went to church yesterday ...as usual. We had 2 lessons with her this week. I love teaching her! We teach in the Ward Mission Leaders home, who are the most perfect family ever... and Dalin is there with her helping us and the spirit is so strong. I LOVE the experiences when I walk out of a lesson and could hardly tell you what I said cause I wasn't speaking! This week we taught the Plan of Salvation. Before we left I just asked her if she was excited or nervous about her baptism and she said "EXCITED!" And then Dalin was like "and a little nervous too!!" That was funny. Hard to email the way he said it. :) We called them last night and she said that she would love to get baptized on her birthday! Which is August 14th. We are a little nervous and sad to move it from the 2nd just cause it makes it feel "unstable." But things are still awesome. Her Book of Mormon reading is AWESOME! She is at Alma 15 or so.
Lance, the paralyzed man, is such a good guy. I love this bloke! We got him the Book of Mormon on CD so hopefully he starts progressing. We were not able to have a lesson with him this week. But we need to get him those CD's soon because it is through the Book of Mormon that our investigators will be converted.
Elder Baxter- one of the Area Authorities- spoke to us the same time Elder Holland did. He showed us that of the recent converts that don't continue their scripture study- are the ones that go less-active and I see that so much. Every less-active appointment we ask them if they read the Book of Mormon and every single one says no.
Elder Prina and I had an awesome appointment with a couple that live in our complex. It was soo good. It started out weird... they expressed a desire to come back to church so we asked why... and they said something like "Because we have really been reading into how to become wealthy and everything points back to church." I was kind of laughing in my head.. but then we talked about the Book of Mormon and the husband said that it just clicked to him that he has been reading heaps of books on how to better himself when the Book of Mormon has been sitting there the whole time.
I know that the Book of Mormon is 100% true. I know that it is the book that we can grow closer to God than any other book and that by it we can improve ourselves more than through any other book. Elder Holland said that it has such great power even if it just sits in a house. That is why Elder Prina and I have one sitting in Lance's house.
I love you all and keep you in my prayers!
God Speed
-Elder Hales
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Things are so great!
Hey everyone!
Wow- I love my area right now. It is definitely one of the best in the Australia Brisbane mission!
Our Bishop got out of the hospital yesterday. It was a miracle to see him again! He shook our hands but they were in a hurry. We wrote him letters updating him on our work so he thanked us for that and drove off. They are moving and won't live in our complex anymore.
Our 1st councilor in the Bishopric I LOVE too. His name is Bob Carter and he is a temple worker. We saw him this morning at the temple. He is kind of like me. Just very blunt and to the point. I love him!
The 2nd Councilor is Tongan and just the man. We ate at his house this week and we gained some kilos from that meal.
And our Ward clerk is practically our best friend. He is in the YSA and just a funny true Aussie!
Our Ward Mission Leader is amazing!This week we had our lesson with Alana at his house. That was this Monday night. We set the baptism date for August 2nd and Elder Prina and I are SOOO EXCITED! As was Brother Evans, our Ward Mission Leader.
Alana is Aussie and 19 years old. We are hoping her boyfriend will baptize her! He will be serving a mission sometime soon. But it is such an honor to be able to teach her!
I have really gained a love for this area and the people here.
Yesterday one of our Assistants to the President, Elder Olsen, came on trade-offs with Elder Prina and I. It was more of a 3-way for the day. It was so great to have him come because he served in this area about a year ago and had heaps of success here! There are 3 AP's right now so often one of them will go traveling to areas and do training. I know I gained so much from having him come. It was great to have training! He was pretty happy to see his area and some of the members he baptized.
We taught Fiona yesterday too. We watched the Testaments with them and both Fiona and her less active boyfriend, Junior, felt the spirit. Their eyes were sweating but she calls the times she feels the spirit the "wanna have a cry moments." New Zealand people talk like that. Haha I love it.
We gained a couple of new investigators this week and the work seems to be picking up heaps!!! Its amazing! I don't realize how much I'm being blessed!
Thank you all for your prayers! Pray for Alana and August 2 please! We are so excited and that's what missionary work does to people!
The Church Is True!
Love you all
-Elder Hales
Wow- I love my area right now. It is definitely one of the best in the Australia Brisbane mission!
Our Bishop got out of the hospital yesterday. It was a miracle to see him again! He shook our hands but they were in a hurry. We wrote him letters updating him on our work so he thanked us for that and drove off. They are moving and won't live in our complex anymore.
Our 1st councilor in the Bishopric I LOVE too. His name is Bob Carter and he is a temple worker. We saw him this morning at the temple. He is kind of like me. Just very blunt and to the point. I love him!
The 2nd Councilor is Tongan and just the man. We ate at his house this week and we gained some kilos from that meal.
And our Ward clerk is practically our best friend. He is in the YSA and just a funny true Aussie!
Our Ward Mission Leader is amazing!This week we had our lesson with Alana at his house. That was this Monday night. We set the baptism date for August 2nd and Elder Prina and I are SOOO EXCITED! As was Brother Evans, our Ward Mission Leader.
Alana is Aussie and 19 years old. We are hoping her boyfriend will baptize her! He will be serving a mission sometime soon. But it is such an honor to be able to teach her!
I have really gained a love for this area and the people here.
Yesterday one of our Assistants to the President, Elder Olsen, came on trade-offs with Elder Prina and I. It was more of a 3-way for the day. It was so great to have him come because he served in this area about a year ago and had heaps of success here! There are 3 AP's right now so often one of them will go traveling to areas and do training. I know I gained so much from having him come. It was great to have training! He was pretty happy to see his area and some of the members he baptized.
We taught Fiona yesterday too. We watched the Testaments with them and both Fiona and her less active boyfriend, Junior, felt the spirit. Their eyes were sweating but she calls the times she feels the spirit the "wanna have a cry moments." New Zealand people talk like that. Haha I love it.
We gained a couple of new investigators this week and the work seems to be picking up heaps!!! Its amazing! I don't realize how much I'm being blessed!
Thank you all for your prayers! Pray for Alana and August 2 please! We are so excited and that's what missionary work does to people!
The Church Is True!
Love you all
-Elder Hales
Friday, July 10, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
4th of July in Australia
HELLO!
HOW GREAT IS MY CALLING? Aw, I love being a missionary! It has been such a great week. Transfers are today but neither I nor Elder Prina got transferred so we aren't allowed to go to the meeting.
To be honest- this last transfer was hard. We had a total of 35 lessons this transfer. Wow! (bad) But this area is so full of blessings. First, on Sunday we heard from the Sister missionaries in the zone that the investigator we handed over to them went to church on Sunday and "Loved It!" Haha - the sister missionaries even had a picture to prove it. Sister Missionaries are awesome.. you can always trust them that they will take care of your investigators.
The second coolest blessing EVER!!! is: there is a 19 year old bloke, Dalin, in our ward who has been dating this girl for awhile. She has been coming to church for about 2 years and even teaches the primary with Dalin! They are both really strong and anyway the first Sunday in this area 6 weeks ago I talked to Dalin about Alana (the girl). He said he would talk to her. So we haven't found out why she hasn't been baptized yet but we got a call one week ago saying that Alana has agreed to meet with us!!! MIRACLE! It was amazing! So we had a lesson with her yesterday where we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and committed her to baptism!!! SHE SAID YES!!! She was nervous and didn't want to set a date yet but Dalin said "Let's set a date for one month." Please pray for her.
-Elder Winder is sooo funny. I love that guy.
-Haha - Leo is awesome and Brother Westover just looks Aussie! (*we sent him a picture of both of them at the fireworks picnic.)
-You made my room all femaley! Far out. Haha. Looks really good though.
Love you all. Thanks for your prayers!
God Speed the right.
Elder Hales
HOW GREAT IS MY CALLING? Aw, I love being a missionary! It has been such a great week. Transfers are today but neither I nor Elder Prina got transferred so we aren't allowed to go to the meeting.
To be honest- this last transfer was hard. We had a total of 35 lessons this transfer. Wow! (bad) But this area is so full of blessings. First, on Sunday we heard from the Sister missionaries in the zone that the investigator we handed over to them went to church on Sunday and "Loved It!" Haha - the sister missionaries even had a picture to prove it. Sister Missionaries are awesome.. you can always trust them that they will take care of your investigators.
The second coolest blessing EVER!!! is: there is a 19 year old bloke, Dalin, in our ward who has been dating this girl for awhile. She has been coming to church for about 2 years and even teaches the primary with Dalin! They are both really strong and anyway the first Sunday in this area 6 weeks ago I talked to Dalin about Alana (the girl). He said he would talk to her. So we haven't found out why she hasn't been baptized yet but we got a call one week ago saying that Alana has agreed to meet with us!!! MIRACLE! It was amazing! So we had a lesson with her yesterday where we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and committed her to baptism!!! SHE SAID YES!!! She was nervous and didn't want to set a date yet but Dalin said "Let's set a date for one month." Please pray for her.
-Elder Winder is sooo funny. I love that guy.
-Haha - Leo is awesome and Brother Westover just looks Aussie! (*we sent him a picture of both of them at the fireworks picnic.)
-You made my room all femaley! Far out. Haha. Looks really good though.
Love you all. Thanks for your prayers!
God Speed the right.
Elder Hales
Sunday, June 28, 2009
The Candy Man
G'Day Mate!
Well, sorry for sending that email last week 15 times. My computer froze and I thought you didn't get it! So I just kept clicking send.
The house is fancy nancy!! It looks nice!
You already got the pictures I sent! That was the fastest mail has got to the USA!! Wow!
Well, this week was amazing! We have been blessed so so so much! Thank you for your prayers! This week just went so well! I'M SO HAPPY!
So Fiona and her boyfriend Junior didn't come play basketball last week but we had a lesson with them Tuesday. AMAZING!! We taught the 10 commandments and played the game Memory with the 10 commandment pictures under pass along cards. We did a quiz afterwards and Fiona remembered ALL 10 OF THEM! Junior said that he is going to church every week! He is so cool. But he is a bouncer at Clubs and all. Gotta get him a new job! So we are going to set a baptism date with Fiona this week!
Another miracle this week is Lance Gunner. We tracted into Lance last week and got a return appointment for this week. He is now an investigator. Lance is paralyzed and cannot talk. He can stand up- with Elder Prina's and my help. He can move his arms but not his fingers very well. When we tracted into him, when we asked him a question, all he did was grunt so he went in and came back with a piece of paper that was laminated with the alphabet on it. So as you can imagine it takes a long time for him to talk to us. But well worth it! He holds a grudge for the man that did that to him and I would too, but he needs the Atonement in his life so bad. Before we taught the Restoration he told us, "I will never stop yous from coming. But if you come on too strong with God I'll kick you guys out ." So we decided to commit him to baptism that lesson! :) He shook his head no. So we taught him about the Priesthood and told him that one of us could perform the baptism and he warmed up to it. But he is an awesome guy. He actually is way stronger than me. We arm wrestled and he beat me bad. Then he goes on to show us his arm wrestling medals. He has about 5. Then every time we shake his hand he challenges us to squeeze his hand as hard as we can. He always destroys us.
Well this transfer went way too fast. Only one week left. I hope neither of us get transferred. WE have work to do here. And the ward leaders are just too awesome!
I love you all and thank you for your support and prayers. There is no greater work.
God speed the right.
- Elder Hales
O yeah!!! - got the package!!! Thank you so much!!! It was SOOOO good to have American candy. Yum! Love you.
(* Reeses peanut butter cups and Butterfingers was all it took for all those exclamation points.)
Well, sorry for sending that email last week 15 times. My computer froze and I thought you didn't get it! So I just kept clicking send.
The house is fancy nancy!! It looks nice!
You already got the pictures I sent! That was the fastest mail has got to the USA!! Wow!
Well, this week was amazing! We have been blessed so so so much! Thank you for your prayers! This week just went so well! I'M SO HAPPY!
So Fiona and her boyfriend Junior didn't come play basketball last week but we had a lesson with them Tuesday. AMAZING!! We taught the 10 commandments and played the game Memory with the 10 commandment pictures under pass along cards. We did a quiz afterwards and Fiona remembered ALL 10 OF THEM! Junior said that he is going to church every week! He is so cool. But he is a bouncer at Clubs and all. Gotta get him a new job! So we are going to set a baptism date with Fiona this week!
Another miracle this week is Lance Gunner. We tracted into Lance last week and got a return appointment for this week. He is now an investigator. Lance is paralyzed and cannot talk. He can stand up- with Elder Prina's and my help. He can move his arms but not his fingers very well. When we tracted into him, when we asked him a question, all he did was grunt so he went in and came back with a piece of paper that was laminated with the alphabet on it. So as you can imagine it takes a long time for him to talk to us. But well worth it! He holds a grudge for the man that did that to him and I would too, but he needs the Atonement in his life so bad. Before we taught the Restoration he told us, "I will never stop yous from coming. But if you come on too strong with God I'll kick you guys out ." So we decided to commit him to baptism that lesson! :) He shook his head no. So we taught him about the Priesthood and told him that one of us could perform the baptism and he warmed up to it. But he is an awesome guy. He actually is way stronger than me. We arm wrestled and he beat me bad. Then he goes on to show us his arm wrestling medals. He has about 5. Then every time we shake his hand he challenges us to squeeze his hand as hard as we can. He always destroys us.
Well this transfer went way too fast. Only one week left. I hope neither of us get transferred. WE have work to do here. And the ward leaders are just too awesome!
I love you all and thank you for your support and prayers. There is no greater work.
God speed the right.
- Elder Hales
O yeah!!! - got the package!!! Thank you so much!!! It was SOOOO good to have American candy. Yum! Love you.
(* Reeses peanut butter cups and Butterfingers was all it took for all those exclamation points.)
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