Weekly Update 26 May 2013

G'day everybody

Another week has flown by here in the Isa. On Saturday I hit my 10-months mark. I didn't even realize it until somebody I met asked me how long I have been on my mission. Crazy how fast time goes when you aren't paying attention to it. 

This week was full of ups and downs. I had a couple of bad days this week, but I won't bore you with the details. I feel very blessed that there are members here in the branch that we missionaries can turn to when we need some support. I would just like to express my thanks and gratitude to those branch members who were there for me. What a blessing.

Despite how slowly our efforts seem to be producing results, I am very optimistic about what will be occurring here in Mount Isa over the next couple of months. Our teaching pool is starting to slowly expand, but those who we are teaching the gospel to I feel are quite genuine about it. These are people whom the Lord has prepared to accept the gospel. The one thing that they all have in common is that they were all found by the efforts of the branch members, which just goes to show that we all know someone who will be receptive of the gospel, we just need to have the courage to say something. One of these is a girl named Hannah. She is the fiance of a less-active branch member. She has already made up her mind that she will be baptized when she and her fiance, Marley, get married. In her case, her fellowship from Marley and his family has been the biggest influence on her. We just recently began meeting with her, but over the last 4-5 weeks has come to church each week, and participated in activities.

This week we plan to challenge the 9 year-old boy we're teaching to be baptized. Fingers crossed!

I hope everybody has a good week. Thank you for your support!

Love,

Elder Rosier

Weekly Update 20 May 2013

G'day everybody! 

What a week! What a looooooong week! Elder T and I have been busy as this week! All very positive experiences, however.

During our Tuesday night trade-offs, Elder T and a brother in our branch went to go meet with a less-active member. He was not home, but his fiance was. They had a good conversation with her where they discovered that she has been wanting him to bring her to his church for a while. We're unsure why he is inactive. Apparently he was pretty active in the branch for quite a while. She asked if Elder T and I could come around and teach her about the church. We're following that up this week. He came home during the meeting, and he is apparently supportive of us teaching his fiance.

While Elder T was off on his adventure, I went with Brother J (don't know if I've mentioned him by name before or not. He's the 1st counselor in the branch presidency/young men's leader) to knock the doors of a couple different people. The first place we went, the man we came to see was not home. Our second visit was to a former investigator I was told we ought to go visit. He was home, and invited us in. He's an old bloke from Melbourne, England. He's lived in Mount Isa for quite a long time. He has a daughter who live is Cardston, Canada who is a strong member of the church. He was taught by the missionaries quite a bit over the last number of years. He was supposed to go to Canada last August to be baptized by his grandson who recently returned home from the Sydney mission. We are the first missionaries to meet with him since that was supposed to happen. He was unable to make the trip, most likely due to his health. He is a story teller, and reminds me a lot of Grandpa, particularly in the way he tells stories. Elder T and I mowed his lawn for him on Thursday. We hope to start meeting with him regularly.

To top off our week, Brother J took us out to Cloncurry so we could have to opportunity to look up the less-active members on the list that live out there. None of them live there any more. I am glad that Brother J was going to Cloncurry for a land auction because I would feel bad about wasting his time for the 240Km round-trip. We did have the opportunity to meet with the tenants of the house he owns out there. It was a really good visit. It's unfortunate we cannot meet with that family regularly, because I reckon they would be very receptive to the gospel.

Lately we have been receiving heaps of referrals from branch members, more than I've ever had in the entire 10 months I've been on the mission. I cannot begin to express my gratitude toward the Mount Isa branch for it's assistance in missionary work here. It is very difficult to be a missionary in Mount Isa, mostly because of the mines. We can only proselyte around the shiftworkers' schedules, which is very challenging. I am grateful that the branch is so willing to give us the hand that we need.

This morning Brother H (2nd counselor in the presidency. Former branch president) took us out on another 4wd adventure. This time around he took us out to Lake Julius, which is the largest body of fresh water in Queensland (or maybe just north west Queensland). It is a large man-made lake that is as large as the Sydney harbour. After checking out the lake, he took us to a little town called Kajabbi. The population in Kajabbi is roughly 15-20. It was a nice little bush town, but I'd never want to live there! Too remote! I'm really becoming a big fan of Land Rovers.

Anyway, that sums up the week quite nicely I believe. I hope everybody has a great week. Thank you once again for your love and support!

Elder Rosier