Weekly Update December 31, 2013

Hello again everyone!

Happy New Year! (Almost.) Today was our transfers and I now find myself in the Capalaba ward in the Cleveland stake. My new companion is Elder Iongi, from Auckland, New Zealand. He is my first Tongan companion. He has been out 3 months longer than I have. I am looking forward to the new area, but I am very sad to have left Toowoomba so early.  I am going to miss that town.

Nothing too much to report on since I last wrote. All that has happened since then and now is heaps of tracting by me and Elder McIntyre.

I hope that everyone has had an enjoyable New Year's Eve!

Love you all!

Elder Rosier

Ross indicated during our Christmas day conversation that he suspected that he and his companion, Elder McIntyre, would both be transferred, and they were. There are a lot of Chinese students attending the University of South Queensland and there had been talk about sending Chinese speaking missionaries to the area.

Here are pictures I downloaded from the Australia Brisbane Mission website from their Christmas Eve party. Ross is in all of them--I'll just let you find him!

Kathy

Weekly Update December 26, 2013

Merry Christmas! 

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas. This has been my second Christmas away from home, and it was a rather eventful one. As many of you may recall, I spent last Christmas in Mount Isa, where my companion and I were the only missionaries for hundreds of miles and the temperature was up in the 100s. I am grateful to be in Toowoomba for this Christmas where I am surrounded by 7 other missionaries and the weather is heaps more mild than it was up there. 

Our Christmas festivities in Toowoomba began last Wednesday with our district's "Christmas party" after our district meeting. We had previously assigned names for secret Santa, and at our little party we gave out our gifts. I received a hot wheels car from one of the sister missionaries. After handing out our gifts, we went carolling at a few of the retirement homes here in town. 

On Christmas Eve, all the missionaries in the mission, from Bundaberg south were able to attend the mission's Christmas party. President and Sister Henderson made sure it was a good time for all of the missionaries that were able to attend. We were able to do a  service activity for some foster children, we had a devotional, we watched "It's a Wonderful Life," and we were able to just enjoy the company of all the missionaries in attendance. We had a massive lunch, provided by members in the wards down around the Karawatha chapel in Logan. I was able to catch up with a couple of the members of the Springwood ward who volunteered their time to serve us. We were all very grateful for everything provided for us there. After the party was over, they handed out all of our packages and mail that the mission had been collecting for us over the last month or so. It was really nice to finally receive some mail from home.

Christmas was a lot of fun for us as well. We started the day having breakfast with the Edwards family in Toowoomba ward. They had all the missionaries in town over. Next we had lunch at the Allen's home. Brother Allen is a member of the bishopric in the ward. After lunch with them, we had a massive feed at the Ngahe's. The Ngahe's are a Tongan family, and they had quite a massive meal for us. After our time there we went to the Dixon family for "dinner." After our meal with the Ngahe's, it was difficult to eat much of anything else. Thankfully, the meal at the Dixon's was very light. 

I was grateful to be able to talk to my family over Skype today. While I do miss everybody, I am grateful to be where I am right now. Thank you all for your love and support. I love you all!

Elder Rosier

Ross wanted to share the following message with family & friends. Merry Christmas!

O Come, Emmanuel

Weekly Update December 16, 2013

Hello again everybody!

Pretty generic week this week. Elder McIntyre and I spent a lot of our time out tracting and doing service for people. This week we made up our minds that we would make it a point to go on splits with the young men, or YSA men about to serve missions at least once a week. We started this week with 2 YSA boys, Sam and Jon Poole. We took them tracting with us for 2 hours on Wednesday. It was fun working with them because they are both about to serve. Jon just received his call to serve in the Australia Perth mission. For those of you not familiar with Australia, Perth is a city on the south-western tip of Australia. Yesterday we attended the young men's class in the Toowoomba ward to invite the young men to come out with us during the school holiday. We are looking forward to working with them, since our ward doesn't have any priest-age young men. 

We weren't able to have a discussion with Candice this week. The family that is fellowshipping her is doing a fantastic job though. They seem to have made good friends.

Tuesday night, the all 8 of us missionaries here in Toowoomba started a scripture study class. We had 3 members from Toowoomba ward show up for the first class. Hopefully we will start to see more people show up. We're hoping to attract less-active and non-members to the class. I think it will be a great opportunity to teach and also show how the Bible and Book of Mormon correspond with one another. I will be teaching it this week. Wish me luck!

On Thursday night, the sisters, McIntyre, and I attended the lights display in Queen's park--the main park in town--to do some contacting. It was a lot of fun to look at the lights, and a good opportunity to share the gospel. However, one of the sisters made a comment about how it reminded her of Temple Square, and since then I've felt a little homesick. I am grateful this is my last Christmas away from home! It is hard to be so far away for this time of year.

Saturday was the ward Christmas party. It was fun, and there was a lot of good food there. The 4 of us--Elders McIntyre, Palemene, Low, and I--sang "O Come, All Ye Faithful" for everyone. 

Thank you all again for your love and support!

Love,

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update December 8, 2013

G'day everyone!

Busy week for us here in Darling Heights! I am grateful to continue to see miracles each day as we go out to work. 

We had our first discussion with Candice on Thursday. We invited Brother and Sister Rota--two of our ward members who are very anxious to do some missionary work--to come with us. I have to admit that they are probably the best members I have used to fellowship investigators on my entire mission! We had a  very good discussion with Candice about how the gospel blesses our families. We invited her to start reading from the Book of Mormon, and invited her to attend church with us on Sunday. She wasn't sure if she could make it to church. However, she and her children were able to attend the Toowoomba ward on Sunday afternoon. They had a good experience there. We are looking forward to meeting with her again this week.

On Friday, the four of us missionaries went and tracted a neighborhood together. (we called it j-dubbing since you always see them out door-knocking in packs of 4 or more). We did a trade-off, and I went with Elder Palemene while McIntyre and Pickett went together. They were let into the first house they knocked on to teach about the gospel. Elder McIntyre told me that the couple they met were very receptive, and invited us back. We will seeing them this week as well.

I am grateful for the blessings that we are receiving each week. Thank you again for all your support. 

Love,

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update December 2, 2013

Hello once again everybody,

I hope that everyone was able to have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I must admit that I really missed it this year. Fortunately for us Elders in the Darling Heights ward, we were able to have a Thanksgiving dinner with a family here who has lived in the States before and knew what it was all about. The feed was fantastic: they pulled out all the stops for us. Along with the usual Thansgiving spread we had a couple of Australian additions. It was a good time.

Elder McIntyre and I had a good week this week. We had some pretty big miracles this week. On Wednesday night, we received a call from a man named Shaun. Shaun is a less-active member from the Gold Coast, but his wife (I think they're separated) and children live here in Toowoomba. He was working for a couple of days up here when his baby daughter got really sick, so he called the missionaries in the Gold Coast for a number to contact missionaries here. He asked if we could come give his daughter a blessing. We came to where he was staying right away, and gave her a blessing. After we gave the blessing, we were able to talk to the family he was staying with. They were Sudanese. They asked us if we would bless their house for them, since we were servants of God. We did, and they were very grateful. We asked if we can return to visit them another time, and they said yes. We left them our number, and a flier for our ward Christmas party. We will hopefully be seeing them this week, if not next. We also left Shaun with our number, in case he or his wife needed a hand with anything. The next morning, Shaun's wife, Candace, called us and asked if we could help her get ready for a housing inspection she had coming up. We went over and spent the morning helping her. While I was mowing the lawn, she chatted with Elder McIntyre. Candace isn't a member of the church, but has been exposed to if for a long time. She said she would like us to come back around and teach her more about the church. The, before we left, she said she knew people who needed the gospel in their lives as well.

On Friday, the sister missionaries in Toowoomba ward referred us to a group of Sudanese refugees who said they would like to hear about the church. We saw them Saturday, and we are going to acquire some materials in Arabic for them, and then visit them in the next week or so.

Sunday night, the town had a big carol sing-along in the park. It was a blast! We went and attended with some of our ward members, and it was a fantastic opportunity to talk with people about the gospel. It was fun to hear everybody singing along to the Christmas carols. It is fortunate that religion plays such a major role here in Toowoomba. The concert last night, while it had some commercial Christmas songs, had a big focus on Christmas being a celebration of Christ's birth.

After Santa made his appearance, the program became very focused on the nativity. I honestly dont believe that would have been a big part of a program like that if it had happened in any other part of the mission. It was really awesome.

Well, that was our week this week. Love you all!

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update November 27, 2013

Just a little background to Ross' update. One of the first investigators Ross ever worked with was a woman named Sue Percival. Ross formed an instant connection with Sue, because many of the questions she had about the gospel were centered around having a special needs child. Ross was able to share with her how the gospel has brought comfort and insight in our lives, as we have traveled the path of caring for Kristen, and his message resonated with Sue. Sue's husband, Ken, was already a member and Sue was scheduled to be baptized in January 2013, but Ross was transferred to Mt. Isa just before Christmas last year, and Ross never knew if the baptism had taken place.

G'day everyone!

What a long week this one has been! the new transfer really got off to a slow start for Elder McIntyre and me. We spent most of the week out tracting and visiting with less-active members in the ward. It wasn't too bad, as we were able to find a few people who invited us back. However, the only teaching we were able to do was a brief lesson we had with the family from Papua New Guinea that we have been meeting with for the last few weeks.

Friday was the day that stands out from the rest. In the early morning, Elder Pickett, one of the other missionaries in the ward, received a phone call from a member who said she needed help. Her dog had gone into labor, and she needed some help assisting the dog. Pickett and I were the only ones who were up and dressed at the time, so off we went to help. We were there most of the day helping mostly with cleaning up after each pup was born. It was an interesting experience, but definitely one I hope I don't have to participate in again!

Saturday and Sunday were stake conference. The stake president requested all the missionaries be at the Saturday night adult meeting, and we attended on Sunday. The conference was in Ipswich, which is on the west side of Brisbane, over 120 km (75 miles) away. Despite the long drive, the conference was really good. Completely focused on members and missionaries working together. I hope that we see a lot of good things come out of it. Sadly, one bad thing came from conference.

One of the speakers was President Jon Glass from the Brisbane temple presidency. He lives in Springwood ward, my first area. He mentioned in his talk that someone int he ward had recently passed away. I was able to catch up with him after the meeting, and asked him who had passed. I was sad to learn that Sue Percival--one of the investigators I had while in Springwood--was the one who had passed. I am deeply sorrowed by her loss. I was very close with her and her husband, Ken. Unfortunately, Sue had not yet been baptized.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would just like to end this email by saying how thankful I am for a merciful and loving Heavenly Father. I know that a part of his plan includes the temple, and the opportunity for saving ordinances to be performed because God loves all of his children, and wants to afford all of them to opportunity to come unto him. I know that Sue can still be baptized, and I have no doubt that she will accept when someone does her work for her.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love you all very much.

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update November 19, 2013

Hello again everyone!

Today is our transfer day. No changes here in Darling Heights ward. Elder McIntyre and I are still companions, and are looking forward to another transfer working hard here in Toowoomba.

This last week was a good one. We didn't have a lot of time to work at all. We spent two days out of our area. Wednesday we were able to go to the temple. I am very happy that I am in an area where I get the opportunity to attend. We spend the day with our zone in the city, and then spent the night with the missionaries in the Somerset ward, which is about halfway between Toowoomba and the city (Brisbane). Thursday we had a zone conference in Brisbane where we were able to have a long training on the Book of Mormon from our mission president. It was very insightful.

Unfortunately, that's about all I have for this week. it was a pretty dull week. We didn't have much time to work between the trip to Brisbane, and other things we had on our plates. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Love,
Elder Rosier

My letter from Ross had a little more detail and I had a chance for a brief email chat. Here are a few excerpts.

A few weeks ago, Ross asked me to send him the book "The Great Apostasy" by James E Talamage. He received the book last Thursday when he went to zone conference. Ross has always been a voracious reader, and he has expressed to me in letters, how hard it has been to not go into bookstores while on his mission, so he was quite excited to get this book. He wrote the following in his letter to me and during our email exchange:

Mum, (He has always called me that.)

Thanks again for the book. It's a good one. I'm now reading three books by Talmage: Jesus the Christ (almost done). The Articles of Faith, and The Great Apostasy. One thing he notes in the Apostasy is the Great Apostasy occurred on both sides of the world (both the bible and the Book of Mormon lands). That is one thing that, though it should have occurred to me I had never realized before.

Me: I'm smiling. When you were a little boy, you always read three books at a time. Still my little boy. : D

Ross: Ha ha. The other day, Elder Picket commented on how he has no idea how I can possibly read so many books at one time. I just laughed and said I didn't know how I do it either! When you think about it, I'm really reading five books right now: Bible, Book of Mormon, and the three by Talmage.

From my letter:

I hope you all enjoy Thanksgiving. I am going to be sad on Thursday that I am missing it again. Fortunately, the Bolands will be doing an American Thanksgiving for all the missionaries in town next Thursday. We are all very excited for that!

I am doing really well here in Toowoomba. I really enjoy the town. The weather is fantastic. It's cool and dry. When we went to the city last Wednesday, I couldn't get over how hot and humid it was in Brizzy (Brisbane). It was bad! I was sweating like a dog!

Today is our transfer P-Day. None of us Elders have been transferred. One of the sister missionaries is leaving the area. The most exciting thing, though, is we are getting a second car here! Now we will have a car for the sisters and a car for the elders! Up until now we have been sharing one car between the 8 of us...that means you'd get it maybe twice every fortnight.

Weekly Update November 12, 2013

G'day!

Much better week this week for Elder McIntyre and myself! We are really starting to see the work progressing in our area. Our week started out pretty slow, and we were afraid that we were going to be having a repeat of last week. Fortunately, mid-way through the week our luck changed and we were fortunate to see a lot of miracles.

Saturday was especially exciting for us. We started out the day by visiting our investigator, Sophie. After seeing her we had lunch and then went to our appointment with the family from Papua New Guinea that we met a fortnight ago. We went over the Restoration discussion with them, and invited them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We will be seeing them again this coming Saturday. After our appointment with them, we went tracting. One of the first houses we knocked on was the home of a Muslim family from Iraq who invited us in. we had a discussion with the father, Saddam, who is studying engineering at the University of Southern Queensland. We were able to learn quite a bit about Islam, which I found fascinating. He then asked us to share our message with him so he could learn more about Mormonism. It was a ver fun experience, and we were able to leave him with a pamphlet. After our meeting with Saddam, we talked with a fellow who told us he is an atheist, be really feels like there has to be something out there. And a little while after that we found a family who said they are looking for a church to attend. They invited us back this week.

That was all just on Saturday. We had a lot of little miracles scattered throughout the week.

Well, I think that's all I have for today, Unfortunately, I am out of time. I love you all!

Elder Rosier

Ross indicated to us that they will be having a temple p-day tomorrow, and since they will be spending the day traveling, they decided to quickly send some emails today.

Weekly Update November 4, 2013

Hello again everyone!

What a week. This week was one of those weeks where nothing seems to work out. Every lesson and appointment we had set up fell through. So what can you do when that happens? Look for people to teach! And we did. All week. Everyday. It was a very long week. However, it was not a bad week, nor were our endeavours frutiless. We were fortunate to find a number of people who said we could come back around. The remaining two weeks of this transfer we will spend sorting through them.

This week Elder McIntyre introduced me to a family from the Congo that he and Elder Pickett had found last transfer. They have given the father, Mishack, a French Book of Mormon and he has attended church once or twice before. He hardly speaks any English at all, but was very happy to see us. We only visited briefly to invite him to come to church on Sunday, and he came! Ironically, we had found another Congo family last week who invited us back to teach them. When I went there on Saturday with one of our Zone Leaders (on trade offs), they weren't home. We found out that Elder M and the other ZL went to visit Mishack and found that other family visiting there. They were only there to tell Mishack who would be picking him up for church. However, McIntyre and I feel like we have a really good opportunity to teach the gospel to these families.

I had a good time on our trade-offs with the Zone Leaders. I went with an elder named Elder O'Connor. I had a fun time with him. It was good finally meet him, since he and I were both trained by Elder Stevenson. I had heard a lot about him, so it was great getting to know him.

Anyways, I think that's all I have for this week. I would like to say Happy Birthday to my grandfather whose footsteps I am following in here in Australia, and to my father who will be turning 50 this week. I am grateful for both of their examples to me in my life.

Love you all!

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update October 28, 2013

Hello again!

What a fast week this was! It went by in the blink of an eye! Months are getting shorter and shorter it seems. This week i hit my 15 month mark; I'm now down to single digits left.

Elder McIntyre and I spent most of this week tracting. I'm not the biggest fan of it, but you need to find people to teach. Fortunately, people here in Toowoomba are really kind. Most are usually willing to have conversations with us. At the very least they will hear us out before they tell us, "No thanks, mate." This week we were able to find two families that have invited us to come back and share our message with them. One family is from the Congo in Africa, the other is from Papua New Guinea. The PNG family has apparently met with the missionaries before.

We had one of our investigators come to church yesterday. Her name is Sophie. She is 15, and is very interested in the gospel. We're planning to set a date with her this week.

I hope everyone enjoys Halloween! Thank you for your love and support!

Elder Rosier

I pulled this photo from the mission blog. It is spring time in Australia. Ross said in his letter to me that Toowoomba is quite beautiful and the weather is perfect.

Weekly Update October 21, 2013

G'day everyone!

What a week this has been! After two weeks of spending most of our time tracting, Elder McIntyre and I are finally reaping some of the rewards of our efforts. One of the biggest miracles that we have witnessed this week was the last 3 days of the week, we didn't tract into anyone who was very rude to us! This week we were able to find 2 people to teach, and we also found a less-active member who isn't on our records.

The first person we found is an elderly lady named Maggie. She is in her 80s, and is active in the Uniting Church. She is mostly interested to learn the differences between our faiths. She is very kind a sweet to us.

The second one we found was also a miracle. While we were out tracting yesterday (Sunday) evening, we found a lady named Kayleen. She was the last door we knocked on before going to our tea appointment. When she opened the door she immediately said "It seems every time something goes bad in my life, somebody from a church knocks on my door." We were able to share with her about the book of Mormon and the power of prayer. She accepted a Book of Mormon and said she will read it. We see her again on Wednesday.

On Saturday, the two wards in town (Toowoomba ward, and Darling Heights ward) sponsored a community family activity. It was a lot of fun and gave us missionaries a good opportunity to talk to people about the church. Unfortunately, Elder McIntyre and I didn't get any teaching appointments from it.

On Sunday I had the opportunity to speak in church. Elder Pickett (one of the other missionaries in the ward) me, and the ward mission leader spoke on missionary work. When I was preparing for my talk I felt prompted that I needed to focus on encouraging the ward to focus on the Work of Salvation, rather than encourage them to tell their friends about the gospel (as is the usual talk you hear from missionaries). I was able to share with them personal experiences I have had in participating with wards in focusing on the work of salvation. I honestly can say I have never felt myself speaking so powerfully to a group of people as I did yesterday. 

Well, that is all I have for this week. Once again, I love you all!

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update October 14, 2013

Hello again everybody!

This week was kind of a slow one for me and Elder McIntyre. We've spent the week just trying to get the area up and running and figuring out the best way to split the area with the other 2 missionaries. We've finally got it all down and we should be up and running this week. So far it appears we have 5 investigators. One of them has a baptismal date set for two weeks from Saturday, I believe. I haven't met her yet, but we have a lesson with her tonight. I cannot recall her name. 2 of our investigators are university students from China. We had a good lesson with them this week. We won't be able to see them until their final exams are over. 

This weekend we had the opportunity to view General Conference. I really enjoyed hearing from the Prophet and the other general authorities. My favourite talks were given in the Priesthood session by Bishop Causse and President Uchtdorf. Bishop Causse emphasized the importance of making sure that nobody feels like a stranger in the church. Even those who walk in off the street should be able to feel welcome in our meetings. We need to be sure that all members in the church receive fellowship from one another. Being in the mission field has taught me how crucial that is. I also enjoyed all the talks on members assisting the missionaries. I hope we'll see a world-wide effort of members and missionaries working closely together.

Well, I believe that is all I have for this week. Love you all!

Elder Rosier

In his letter to me, Ross wrote:

I have enjoyed Toowoomba so far. It's a beautiful town. It really reminds me of home...well, more so than anywhere else I have served! The bishop of the Darling Heights ward is the brother of the bishop in the Redcliffe ward (Bishop Thayer. I'm not sure if they told you, but Bishop Ziesel was released just before they left on holiday), so I am excited to work with him. I'm hoping that they are like-minded, because Bishop Thayer was the best ward mission leader I have worked with on my mission.

Weekly Update October 9, 2013

Hello again everyone! 

Transfers have struck again, and I am now serving in a town called Toowoomba! It is a town high up in the "mountains" west of Brisbane--about 190 km away from the city. I am excited to serve here, as I have been hoping for the opportunity for most of my mission. There are two wards here: Toowoomba ward and Darling Heights ward. I am serving in D-Heights ward. My companion's name is Elder McIntyre. He is born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, but has lived in Orem since he was 13. So I guess you could say he is my 1st Aussie companion, and my 3rd American companion.

As far as missionary work goes, the past week was pretty uneventful. Much of the same for Elder Tobe and I. On Monday we attended a festival in Deception Bay celebrating the cultures from the Pacific islands. It was a blast! Lots of food! And there were performances from groups from all over the islands. It was a really great opportunity for Elder Tobe and myself since we were able to talk to heaps of people about the church.

I had a couple of miracles this week. First was a while back, Elder Sualevai and I met a girl who hadn't attended church in a long time. A few weeks after he got transferred, I received a call from her saying she wanted to come back to church. She came that Sunday, and said she was going to come every week. Then I never heard from her. I wasn't able to contact her. She didn't respond to phone calls or anything. I figured she changed her mind. On Monday, I ran into her at Pacifika (the festival). She had moved out of her boyfriend's house, and was living with her family on the Gold Coast again and attending church with them! And she seemed like she was heaps happier than before! 

The second miracle happened on Monday as well. If you remember Sebastian, I was hoping to be able to say goodbye to him. I was told he was at his father's house, which is a long drive away. I figured I wouldn't be able to see him before I left the area. On Monday evening, I went to a basketball court in Redcliffe to say goodbye to another ward member who was there playing ball. When I arrived, I saw Sebastian shooting hoops with some people there. I was really happy to be able to see him before I left!

I think that's all I've got for this week. I love you all! 

Elder Rosier

In his letter to me, Ross wrote:

As you are aware, I was transferred yesterday. I am serving in a ward called Darling Heights in a town called Toowoomba. It is in the middle of the country, but the town itself is probably the size of the whole of the Ogden area. It really reminds me of home. I am excited to serve here. There are two wards in the town: D-Heights and Toowoomba. There are 8 missionaries serving in town, 4 elders and 4 sisters. The 4 sisters are in Toowoomba ward, but we are trying to get president to approve having 2 of each--Elders and sisters--in both the wards. As you are aware, I was transferred yesterday. I am serving in a ward called Darling Heights in a town called Toowoomba. It is in the middle of the country, but the town itself is probably the size of the whole of the Ogden area. It really reminds me of home. I am excited to serve here. There are two wards in the town: D-Heights and Toowoomba. There are 8 missionaries serving in town, 4 elders and 4 sisters. The 4 sisters are in Toowoomba ward, but we are trying to get president to approve having 2 of each--Elders and sisters--in both the wards. 

We had the wonderful opportunity to meet Bishop Louis Ziesel and his lovely wife Connie over conference weekend.  Ross worked very closely with Bishop Ziesle while serving in the Redcliffe Ward.  Bishop Ziesel said that all missionaries are special, but there are a few with a "little extra something", which Ross definitely has.  He told us that Ross was mature, hard working, and well organized.  Sister Ziesel was very impressed with Ross' knowledge of knots when she witnessed him secure a refrigerator while helping to move a ward member. You just never know when the stuff you learn in scouting will come in handy!

Kathy

Weekly Update September 30, 2013

This week has gone by pretty quickly! Time is just passing by faster and faster!

This week was pretty similar to last. Mostly spent time out and about tracting and talking to people on the street looking for people to teach. We had the opportunity to teach a Filipino man named Dado this week. He says he meets with the Jehovah Witnesses every now and them and that he enjoys learning about religion. When we first met him, about a fortnight ago, we left him a pamphlet about the restoration. He read it. He said that he has had the Mormon missionaries around before to talk about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. He says they gave him a Book of Mormon, and that he reads it from time to time. He also said that that was all that they shared with him in the past. We started talking with him about what he believes God's plan for us is. He started talking about things that we teach in the Plan of Salvation. I think he's met with missionaries more than he lets on because things he talked about are things I know the JWs don't teach! It will be exciting to see where things go with him.

On Saturday afternoon, the Redcliffe elders, Powelson and Grayson, had a baptism. The man they baptized, Alex, is a really great guy! Powelson and Lao started teaching him about 3 months ago when he just showed up at church one Sunday, looking for  a change in his life. He has really changed a lot in these last 3 months. I have enjoyed hearing from them about Alex's improvement, and seeing the change in his countenance at church every week has been awesome. I had the opportunity to teach him with one of the Redcliffe elders a couple of times, and his knowledge and understanding of the gospel is amazing! It was also really great to see him overcome his very strong addiction to smoking.

Well, I hope everybody has a great week and enjoys conference!

Love,

Elder Rosier

In my letter to Ross I told him how fall weather had finally arrived here in Utah.  Of course, for Ross the opposite is true.  He wrote me the following:

It's starting to heat up here. Temperature each day varies, but it's been getting up into the low 30's (High 80's to low 90's F) most days. And it's super humid. I am not looking forward to summer. I'm kinda hoping for a transfer to somewhere further south of where I am right now. I think we have two areas down in northern New South Wales....maybe there would be cooler? Fingers crossed. After last summer in Mount Isa, I think I've earned a cool summer.

Weekly Update September 25, 2013

Hello again everyone!

What a long week! This week our P-Day was moved to Wednesday so that we could attend the temple. While I do not at all complain about attending the temple,  not having P-day on Monday sure makes for a long week!

Well, to be honest I cannot say that anything super exciting happened to Elder Tobe and me this week. Mostly we spent time tracting and looking for new people to teach the gospel to. On Sunday we had the opportunity to teach a brief discussion to a family from Zimbabwe that we found. They were very kind and friendly to us. After presenting to them a brief message about the restoration of the gospel, they asked us for information on where our church meets and what time. We gave them a pamphlet for the restoration of the gospel, and they said they would read it and contact us after they had read it. While I would normally feel like that was a bummer, I really felt strongly like they are looking for the fullness of the gospel in their lives. Elder Tobe and I are going to follow-up with them this week, rather than wait for them to contact us.

On Thursday evening, one of the oldest members of the Redcliffe ward--Sister Nana Aiono--passed away. It seems like about half of the Polynesian members in the ward are in some way related to her. Last night we had the opportunity to attend her funeral service. I must say I have never been to a funeral like it! Elder Tobe and I had to leave after about 2.5 hours of the service, and they weren't quite done with all of the speakers! However, it was really cool to see the island traditions mixed in with the service.

Well, I hope that everybody has a great week! I love you all!

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update September 16, 2013

Hello again!

This has been a really exciting week for Elder Tobe and myself! After a long week of knocking on who knows how many doors, we were able to top it all off with Sebastian's baptism! I was happy to see that we had a very good turnout for the baptism. Sebastian was baptized by his best friend, Tupou Lea'atoa. And on Sunday morning, I had the privilege to confirm him as a member of the church. At the baptism on Saturday evening, you could really feel the spirit very strongly, especially when Sebastian bore a very simple and powerful testimony. I don't think I will ever forget it. This was the first time--to my knowledge--that somebody who I participated in teaching the gospel to has been baptized. I feel very blessed to be a part of that. I have attached a photo of the baptism. Sebastian is standing next to Elder Tobe, and Tupou is standing next to me.

It was a very exciting Sunday at church. I noted that 6 of the less-active families we have been meeting with were in attendance. Along with seeing them there, the Redcliffe ward received a new bishop. The new bishop is--or rather, was--our ward mission leader who we had been working with so well and so closely. Bishop Thayer is going to be a great blessing to the Redcliffe ward. I just hope that we are able to get a ward mission leader who is just as motivated as he is!

I hope that everybody has a great week. I love you all. Thank you once again for all your support!

Elder Rosier

This is Ross and Bishop Ziesel. He is the bishop that was released on Sunday. He and his wife will be coming to Utah for General Conference and we are hoping to have the chance to meet them. I love when I get to visit with people that Ross has worked with while on his mission!

Kathy

Weekly Update September 9, 2013

Hello again everybody!

What a quick week this was! Elder Tobe and I were hard a work this week finding people to teach! We started visiting members' homes and leaving a brief message, and then knocking the doors of the houses around their homes. It worked very well for us in some areas. We were able to ask "do you know any Mormons?" and when people would answer "no" we would point to the member's house and say, "Your neighbour is a Mormon!" That got a mix of responses, but usually "oh, I don't know my neighbours very well." That's a pretty typical thing here; nobody knows their neighbours.

We were able to meet with Sebastian a few times this week. We have finalized most of the details for his baptism this Saturday evening. He is doing very well and seems really excited! We also have come to learn that his father is a less-active member! Fair dinkum! (that one's for Grandpa :))

As far as interesting experiences go for this week, I really don't have anything to report. Sorry that this is so short!

Love you all!

Elder Rosier

These are photos of Ross and Elder Lao with an old Rolls Royce. He said, "What a beautiful car.!"

Weekly Update September 2, 2013

Ross sent this picture to us with the caption, "For you Best 2 Years fans out there..." I'm curious about two things. First, do you think there are pictures of girls behind the three pictures hanging on the back wall? And, do you want to bet that Ross is probably the only one that needs to shave every day?

Kathy

G'day everyone!

Yesterday marked the end of a long week! For the first 5 days of the week, Elder Tobe and I experienced nothing but appointments falling through. Running from one place to another experiencing it again and again. It was rather frustrating! But disappointments happen. It's just a part of being a missionary. However, during the last few days of the week, we were able to make our appointments and have good experiences at them. We solidified Sebastian's baptismal date for the 14th of this month. He is doing fantastic! He really loves reading the Book of Mormon. When we met with him on Saturday he said, "I have never been able to read a book before. I'll get a few chapters into it and just lose interest. I really enjoy the Book of Mormon. I love reading it." He is really on fire. It's such a blessing that he has a wonderful family fellowshipping him. They are his best friend's family. They are very supportive and helpful to him. He is a perfect example of how sharing the gospel with our friends and supporting them works.

We have continued to tract in North Lakes this week. We are finding marginal success. I imagine as we continue here that we will find the success we are looking for. The area has so much potential. The whole suburb has come about in the last 5 years. It is beautiful! Apparently it is rated as one of the top neighbourhoods in Australia. I think it is the nicest and prettiest town I have served in on my mission.

This past Sunday was Father's day here in Australia. I would like to express my love and gratitude I have for my father and my grandfather. I am ever grateful for the example they have been for me! I love you both very much! And I am grateful to be following in my grandfather's footsteps as a missionary in Australia!

Speaking of this past Sunday, I have and experience I have to share: As Elder Tobe and I were at the beach front talking with people, we came across a little 7-year-old boy who was completely in tears. When he saw us, he waved to us, and we waved back. He came up to us and told us he was lost; he couldn't remember where his house was. He told us what street he lived on, and we had him follow us there. He only lived about 500 meters away, but I think he got confused because the neighbourhood by the beach looks the same on every street. I'm glad we were in the right place to help him. Maybe when he's older and missionaries come to talk to him on the street he will remember the help he got from us.

Thank you all again for your love and support. Love you all!

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update August 27, 2013

Hello again everybody!

Today is transfers. I am still in Deception Bay with Elder Tobe. We had a really good week this week. 

Sebastian is still progressing really well. We were unable to teach him this week, but he was participating in activities with the ward this week and I'm told he had a good time. I saw him on Tuesday night when we had trade-offs with the ward. He told me he's still reading the Book of Mormon.

Yesterday we met with a girl I found tracting with Elder Powelson a few weeks ago. Her name is Selina. She used to meet with missionaries a number of months ago. She said she would like us to teach her again, so we are going to start meeting with her on Friday. 

This week we decided we needed to work more in North Lakes, one of the towns in our area. So, after a little exploring, we found a bike path through the forest that separates D-Bay from North Lakes. It was a lot of fun! But a really rough ride! My bike as no suspension at all!! We started tracting in NL this Saturday. No success, but we were able to give out a few pamphlets. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before we find some success here.

Elder Lao is going home tomorrow! I am going to miss that guy! He is being replaced by a greenie. This morning before Powelson and Lao left for the transfer meeting, I took the opportunity to quote the Best Two Years to Powelson: "I can just see this guy now. He's 5 foot 6, fresh out of the states. Weighs a buck-twenty-five, wears those thick coke-bottle glasses, talks in a high nasily voice like this, and on P-day he's going to want to, oh, I don't know, maybe play a grueling game of chess or something." Gotta love it :)

Take care!

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update August 19, 2013

This is a photograph of Ross with Elder Lao--one of the missionaries he shares a flat with. He must be scheduled to leave soon, because Ross indicated that he is going to miss him very much.

I apologize for the late email. Today for P-Day my zone went to the Alma Park Zoo and then got lunch together. It was a lot of fun! I was able to pet a Koala, and feed some kangaroos.

Another week has gone by. We are now entering into the last week of our transfer. Elder Tobe and I have been doing really well, and are starting to see some good things happening. First of all, we set a baptismal date with our investigator, Sebastian. We starting meeting with Sebastian last Sunday during church. He was looking for a church to attend, and decided to come along to his best friend's church. The sister missionaries in the North Pine ward had already taught him once, and told us to teach him at church if we got the chance. We taught him about the Book of Mormon, and asked him to pray about it. We met Sebastian again on Saturday at his friend's house, and asked him how the reading was going. He was already up to 1 Nephi 18. We taught him about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and we asked if he would like to be baptized. He said he really would, and we committed him to be baptized on 7 September. He is really excited, and so are we!

We had our first "Cottage evening" on Sunday night (bishop has asked that we don't refer to them as Family Home Evening). It was a blast! We had a really good turn-out. We had a couple of less-active families in attendance, as well as one of the Redcliffe missionaries' investigators. It was fun to be able to participate in that activity again. I really have missed the one we had every Sunday night in Mount Isa. I feel like it is a very strong missionary tool for us to use.

I am grateful for all of your love and support. I hope all is well with you back home.

With love,

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update August 13, 2013

G'day!

I really need to start by writing this email first. Because I am currently pressed for time, this will be brief.

Elder Tobe and I had a really great week this week. We experienced some miracles that we were in need of. Elder Tobe is teaching another exchange student about the church. It seems to be going well. This student is more talkative than the last one, so I'm under the assumption that he asks a lot of questions. We also have missionaries in our Zone that want to have Tobe come teach exchange students staying with members in their wards.

On Saturday night we had a ward talent night in the Redcliffe ward. Elder Tobe, Elder Lao, a ward member, and I put on a musical item. I picked up a violin for the first time in 5 years. It was just like riding a bike! A bike with training wheels...  I was very, very rusty (I still think that's an understatement), but after 2 days of practicing I got the hang of it again and did a decent job when we performed on Saturday night. That Saturday night, a member in our ward brought a nonmember friend with him who is an investigator from another ward in our stake. He came to church the next day, and we were able to teach him about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. It was a really good experience. He really enjoyed the talent night, and it seemed like he really enjoyed church the next day.

Well, I think that's all I have the time for. I love you all, and apologize at keeping this so short. Have a great week!

Elder Rosier

In his letter to me, Ross wrote the following:

Elder Tobe and I had a good week.  We did a lot of the same things we normally do.  Yesterday, we had a mission conference with Elder Pearson from the area presidency.  It was a good meeting, he's really trying to do what he can to show the need to align members and missionaries together so that we can work effectively together.  I'm glad I'm already in a ward that does that.  It will be difficult to leave Redcliffe Ward when the time comes because I am going to have very high expectations of the wards and branches I serve in from now on;

Weekly Update August 7, 2013

Hello again!

We were able to attend the temple this morning, so today (Wednesday) is our P-day. It's really strange how rough it is when you don't have a p-day on Monday. You wake up in the morning almost in complete denial that you have to go out and work that day. However, I am grateful for the blessing of serving in an area where I am able to attend the temple. That was one thing I really missed in Mount Isa.

This week was a good one for Elder Tobe and me. Last Tuesday, we challenged our investigator, Rahul, to be baptized. He said he wants to be, but has to wait until after his wedding in November. Though he didn't grow up practicing it, Rahul is from a very traditional Hindu family. He is currently engaged to a Hindu girl from Fiji, and the wedding will be a Hindu wedding. I wanted to suggest that as a member of the church he would be allowed to participate in the wedding, but I wasn't sure if that was true. I worry that it wouldn't be acceptable in the eyes of the families involved as well. While sad that we will need to wait for his baptism, and I am very happy and grateful that he has received a witness that the Book of Mormon is true, and that he has the desire to be baptized.

We continue to see success with our less-active families that we visit regularly. We will be starting to have a FHE, like we had in Mount Isa, every Sunday evening to invite the ones who don't feel ready to attend church to. Very excited to do this because of how successful it was in Mount Isa.

I must admit that I am very grateful to be serving in Deception Bay. The Redcliffe ward is a really great ward to serve in. The members here are so helpful to us. I really think this ward is a model for member missionary work in our mission. They are constantly trying to do better in assisting us.

I hope everybody has a great week this week. Love you all!

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update July 29, 2013

G'day mates!

What a long week this has been!! This week Elder Tobe and I set our sights on trying to find people to teach. That meant lots of tracting and street contacting (mission lingo is GQing, or Golden Questioning). Unfortunately, our efforts did not yeild a lot of results. We're going to work a different part of the area this week, and I believe we'll find more success there.

This week was a week of miracles and unforgettable experiences! Our first miracle was with two of our investigators, Rahul and Anita. Rahul, or Ray, is in his late 20s early 30s, and is Anita's son. They are Figian-Indian. We hadn't seen them for about 3 weeks, and in our last appointment with them, we challenged them to read the Book of Mormon everyday for at least 5 minutes. We had previously given them a challenge to read the Book of Mormon, but they hadn't done so. When Elder Tobe and I arrived at their home, I wasn't feeling too confident that they had been reading. To our surprise, Ray had been reading almost every day, and Anita had read a little bit, too! We read Moroni 10: 3-5 with them, and committed them to pray about the Book of Mormon. They said they would. After the lesson, Anita left for work, and we stayed behind to talk with Ray. He is really enjoying the Book of Mormon, and enjoys meeting with us. We have previously only been meeting with them fortnightly, but he wants us to come around weekly. Our next appointment with them is tomorrow. If they have prayed about the Book of Mormon and received an answer, we're going to challenge them to be baptized.

Next miracle: About a month ago, Elder Sualevai and I were riding past the bus station in North Lakes when we heard someone shout "hey Elders!" We turned around and biked over to say hi. One of them was a less-active girl named Malekai. She is living with her boyfriend in North Lakes. We invited her to come to church. She said she would text us if she had time and needed a ride. We gave her our phone number, not feeling too confident we would hear from her. We didn't. But on this past Wednesday, I received a call from her, saying she felt very strongly she needs to come back to church. We told her where the chapel was and what time. She made all the arrangements she needed to get there on her own, and attended yesterday! She really enjoyed being there and is really excited to keep coming back. She brought her family with her to our ward yesterday since she didn't know anyone there. Her mum was very grateful to us that we decided to come and talk to her when we did. This is a miracle to us in two ways: first, that she had made an effort on her own to come to church. Second, her boyfriend--Caleb--told us he would be interested in learning about the church, but we have had no way of contacting him. Now we do!

Finally, and experience I am never going to forget. A family in our ward, the Hanburys, have a Japanese exchange student staying with them for a few weeks. They brought him to church yesterday, and then invited us over for dinner. I was able to watch as Elder Tobe and brother Hanbury--who served his mission in Japan--teach this boy about the church and the restoration of the gospel in Japanese. It was a really awesome experience! They gave him a Japanese Book of Mormon which he said he will read.

Well, that's my week. I hope everybody is doing well. Love you all

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update July 22, 2013

G'day!

I'm not too sure what to write about this week. It was rather uneventful for Elder Tobe and myself. We had a lot of appointments cancel on us this week. It was a little discouraging. I'm sure Elder Tobe just loved coming into an area that gave the first impression of nothing happening.

We spent a lot of time this week visiting with the less-activie families. Last night at one of our appointments I got a little taste of what it might be like when we have the iPads to use when we proselyte. We were visiting a less-active family when a question was raised about Christ's death and ressurrection. We borrowed the husband's ipad to get on mormonchannel.org and watched a few of the bible videos as we taught the family. It was really cool! And super handy for us to use the video as we taught. Hopefully we'll have that advantage with us all the time when we receive the ipads.

We just had about a dozen new ward missionaries called here in Redcliffe ward. Our first corellation meeting with them was yesterday after church. We're going to be trailing a program a member has come up with to help us to receive more referrals from members, and to help encourage member missionary work. The ward mission team is very excited, and so are we!

I hope everybody has a great week! Love you all!

Elder Rosier

Ross wrote the following in is letter to me: "My birthday was rather uneventful. We all came back to the flat around 7:30, and made pizza and watched the Joseph Smith movie. President and Sister Henderson called me right before I went to bed to sing happy birthday to me. We had dinner with the Costellos the night before, and Elder Tobe mentioned that my birthday was the next day, so when sister Costello brought us our cherry-ripe brownies (the best brownies I've ever had, by the way. sorry mum.) for dessert, she had stuck a candle in mine and wrote Happy 21st birthday on the plate. It was very sweet :)"

Weekly Update July 16, 2013

G'day everybody!

 

Well, the last week of the transfer flew by. I have just returned from the transfer meeting today with my new companion, Elder Tobe. His is from a city in Japan near Tokyo.

 

This last week was much of the same. We visited heaps of less-active families, tracted, taught a few people. I'm really sad that I don't have much to write about this week, but nothing too out of the ordinary happened. I guess there is one thing I can mention I was really impressed with this week. The Tapuvai family's (part-member family we found tracting 2 weeks ago) oldest daughter, Aria, came to church on Sunday. She also went to youth last week. It's really awesome to see how in just two weeks time she has gotten very excited about the church again. She told us she has a friend she's going to invite to come to youth and to our lessons with her younger siblings on Tuesday and Thursday. She's also gone out of her way at school to make sure all the LDS girls there know she's a member, too. I hope that we see such excitement from her dad and her brother--the other 2 members in the family--when the football (rugby) season ends.

 

I'm really looking forward with excitement for this transfer! We have a massive ward mission now. A brand new ward mission leader, and a dozen new ward missionaries! Good things will definitely be happening!

 

Have a good week everybody! Love you!

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update July 8, 2013

Hello again!

What a long week this one has been! It seemed like it would never end!

Elder Sualevai and I were very blessed in our efforts this week. Our teaching pool, which only a week or two ago was rather tiny, is expanding rather rapidly! We figure that by the end of this week we should have 10 new investigators from over the last two weeks. This week we found two part-member families that were very happy to see us and have invited us to come and teach their families. One family--the Woodthorpes--we found through our ward list. Only the mum is a member of the church. Her husband told us that missionaires have come around for a long time teaching him and trying to get him baptized, but he's never felt like he was ready to do so. However, he said that he and his wife had recently been talking about wanting to get sealed in the temple, and that maybe this is the time for him to again be taught and get baptized. We will begin teaching him and his two oldest daughters (ages 8 and 9) this week. The other family--the Benetts--we found while tracting. They came over from N-Zed a year and a half ago, but their records are still back there. The father and the two oldest children are members. The mum and dad really want their two youngest taught by missionaries like their two oldest were. They were all really excited to have us come around, and we had a wonderful lesson with them on Thursday. We will be seeing them every Tuesday evening now.

This is the final week of the transfer. It is going to be really interesting to see what happens at the transfer next week. President Henderson arrived in Australia last Monday. We have a zone conference with him on Wednesday. We've heard rumors from missionaries who have already met with him that the ABM will be one of the missions first trialing the iPads and possibly the online proselyting mentioned in the broadcast. We also have heaps of missionaries coming in next week at the transfer; 40+ visa waiters on top of those coming from the MTC. A lot of very exciting things happening for the ABM!

I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Rosier