Hello again everyone!
This was a very long week for Elder 'Iongi and I! Nothing slows time down like throwing you into a new area where you know nobody in the ward and have no idea who you're suppose to be teaching. Fortunately, we're up for the challenge.
The first major obstacle we had to get over this week was the area book we received from the sisters. For those of you who don't know what an "area book" is, it is the book that missionaries keep all of their records from time and all eternity in. This includes the teaching records of the investigators. Obviously, this is the first place you look for your teaching pool when you come into an area. The obstacle we've had to tackle was this: the area book was unorganized, and the sisters we took over from didn't keep the last three months worth of records in the area book. So now we have no idea who we are teaching. Fortunately, one of our investigators came to church on Sunday. Her name is Lynne. We don't know anything about her, but we are seeing her this week. I am grateful that the other sisters in the ward pointer her out to us.
The second obstacle we have to overcome is not knowing any of our members. We're tackling this one this transfer. That will be taken care of as we meet with the members and talk to them at church.
I am liking the Clevland ward. It's a much larger ward than Capalaba. It's also much more social. The members are really friendly, and I look forward to working with them. (Ross told me in my letter that the Capalaba ward was formed out of the Clevland ward.)
Aside from going over the records and meeting members, we spent most of our time tracting this week. We found a lot of people who have invited us back. No doubt in a few weeks we'll have much to do.
I love you all!
Elder Rosier
Monday, March 31, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Weekly Update March 25, 2014
Hello once again, friends and family!
Today is our transfer day. It's been a bit of a shock. Elder 'Iongi and I are still together. I will be finishing him off. We have both been "transferred" to a new ward. We are in the Clevland ward now. The swapped us with two of the sister missionaries serving in the Clevland ward, so now Capalaba and Clevland wards each have a set of Elders and a set of Sisters. I am excited for the new areas, but gutted that I didn't find out until today that I was being moved. We have formed some really good relationships with many people here in the Capalaba ward, people who were really helping us out. I am sad to be transferred so suddenly.
That's really the biggest highlight from this week. Elder 'Iongi and I had a rather generic week. We were able to have lessons with Maria and Amy. They're both reading the Book of Mormon and praying. I think that they'll do well with the sister missionaries working with them. It will be interesting whitewashing an area now. That's not an experience I've had on my mission. I hope that we're able to work well alongside the members in the Clevland ward.
We took Paul his large-print Book of Mormon this week. He was very grateful for it. He said he'll read it for sure. He wants to start in 3rd Nephi because that's where Jesus Christ appears to the Nephites. I hope that he is able to continue to feel the spirit testify to him that the church is true. Fortunately, one of the sister missionaries coming to the area is American. That will be good when it comes to working with Linda. She does love the American missionaries she's met, even if she's not too fond of the church.
I hope you all have a good week. I love you all!
Elder Rosier
Today is our transfer day. It's been a bit of a shock. Elder 'Iongi and I are still together. I will be finishing him off. We have both been "transferred" to a new ward. We are in the Clevland ward now. The swapped us with two of the sister missionaries serving in the Clevland ward, so now Capalaba and Clevland wards each have a set of Elders and a set of Sisters. I am excited for the new areas, but gutted that I didn't find out until today that I was being moved. We have formed some really good relationships with many people here in the Capalaba ward, people who were really helping us out. I am sad to be transferred so suddenly.
That's really the biggest highlight from this week. Elder 'Iongi and I had a rather generic week. We were able to have lessons with Maria and Amy. They're both reading the Book of Mormon and praying. I think that they'll do well with the sister missionaries working with them. It will be interesting whitewashing an area now. That's not an experience I've had on my mission. I hope that we're able to work well alongside the members in the Clevland ward.
We took Paul his large-print Book of Mormon this week. He was very grateful for it. He said he'll read it for sure. He wants to start in 3rd Nephi because that's where Jesus Christ appears to the Nephites. I hope that he is able to continue to feel the spirit testify to him that the church is true. Fortunately, one of the sister missionaries coming to the area is American. That will be good when it comes to working with Linda. She does love the American missionaries she's met, even if she's not too fond of the church.
I hope you all have a good week. I love you all!
Elder Rosier
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Weekly Update March 17, 2014
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
To be honest, not a whole lot has been going on since I last wrote on Thursday. Elder 'Iongi and I have spent most of the last few days focused on tracting and looking for new people to teach. Our teaching pool isn't progressing at the moment, so we're hard at work looking for more to teach. We've been fortunate that we're still welcome to visit Paul. Linda enjoys us visiting, but doesn't want us to teach anything. We'll be making occasional social visits to them in hopes that perhaps that will be the key to softening her heart. We'll see how that goes.
The temperatures are (finally) starting to cool off a bit as it's starting to turn into "autumn" here in Brisbane. They claim to have four seasons here, but in reality they have two: Hot summer and cool summer. I have been fortunate to spend the remainder of the summer near the coast where it is cool. I am looking forward to some actual cold this winter back home.
We are starting the last week of the transfer today. I am a bit anxious for Sunday to roll around to find out who is getting transferred, and who is staying. I have a hunch I might be being transfered, since Elder 'Iongi and I have been together for two transfers already, and he is finishing at the end of the next one. I doubt he'll be transferred to a new area for this last 6 weeks. It could happen though. We'll see.
I hope you all have a good week!
Love,
Elder Rosier
To be honest, not a whole lot has been going on since I last wrote on Thursday. Elder 'Iongi and I have spent most of the last few days focused on tracting and looking for new people to teach. Our teaching pool isn't progressing at the moment, so we're hard at work looking for more to teach. We've been fortunate that we're still welcome to visit Paul. Linda enjoys us visiting, but doesn't want us to teach anything. We'll be making occasional social visits to them in hopes that perhaps that will be the key to softening her heart. We'll see how that goes.
The temperatures are (finally) starting to cool off a bit as it's starting to turn into "autumn" here in Brisbane. They claim to have four seasons here, but in reality they have two: Hot summer and cool summer. I have been fortunate to spend the remainder of the summer near the coast where it is cool. I am looking forward to some actual cold this winter back home.
We are starting the last week of the transfer today. I am a bit anxious for Sunday to roll around to find out who is getting transferred, and who is staying. I have a hunch I might be being transfered, since Elder 'Iongi and I have been together for two transfers already, and he is finishing at the end of the next one. I doubt he'll be transferred to a new area for this last 6 weeks. It could happen though. We'll see.
I hope you all have a good week!
Love,
Elder Rosier
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Weekly Update March 13, 2014
G'day all
We had a good week here in Capalaba. It was another week with a lot of teaching opportunities. I enjoy teaching so much more than tracting! I am sure all missionaries feel that way.
I was able to spend Saturday on trade-off with Elder Brown, one of our Zone Leaders. I enjoyed spending the day with this mountain of a man. Elder Brown's a big Moari boy, about my height, and weighs 50 to 60 kgs (110 to 132 lbs) more than I do. He's a kind hearted guy, though. We were able to have a successful day finding and teaching.
Tuesday this week was our Zone Conference. We spend the day at the chapel on the temple grounds in the city. I really enjoy learning from President Henderson. He's a very inspiring man. (Today they had a temple trip and a P day.)
Last night, Elder 'Iongi and I experienced a setback with Paul: He cannot meet with us anymore. His wife is very against it at the moment. Paul still plans to read the Book of Mormon though. He told us that he feels that if God wants him to join the "Latter-day Saints' church" that he will provide a way for it. I find that faith very inspiring.
I love you all very much. Have a great week!
Elder Rosier
Monday, March 3, 2014
Weekly Update March 3, 2014
Hello again everybody,
I cannot get over how fast the weeks are going by. Seems like yesterday I was sending my last letter home to you.
This week was pretty similar to last. Elder 'Iongi and I have been working very hard to find new people to teach, which we have found some success in. We have a good teaching pool, and have been able to teach a lot over the past two weeks. Hopefully, we will start to see progression in our investigators in the near future.
We had dinner at a member's home last night with Paul, his wife, Linda, and son, Andrew. It was a very good experience. The two families were able to get along very well. We shared a message about how we find direction from studying the scriptures. The member family invited them to come back for a potluck they are having at the end of the month. I do hope that experiences like this will soften Linda's heart.
Thank you all, once again for the love and support. Have a great week!
Elder Rosier
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This is the picture Ross promised us a few weeks ago about this favorite service project, where they cleaned up dead palm fronds from a sister's yard and got to set them on fire. That's Ross on the right. They certainly sent the right missionary for the job.
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This is a picture of Ross with Elder 'Iongi. I'm so glad for their companionship--they've developed such a wonderful working relationship.
Ross sent the following pictures without any explanation. It looks like he and Elder 'Iongi went on an adventure with some youth. The one thing I know for sure is that it is killing Ross not to get into the water. He has mentioned more than once to us how much he misses swimming on a hot day. He is hoping our stake president will meet him here at the house when he gets home, so that he can be quickly released and jump in the pool!
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I cannot get over how fast the weeks are going by. Seems like yesterday I was sending my last letter home to you.
This week was pretty similar to last. Elder 'Iongi and I have been working very hard to find new people to teach, which we have found some success in. We have a good teaching pool, and have been able to teach a lot over the past two weeks. Hopefully, we will start to see progression in our investigators in the near future.
We had dinner at a member's home last night with Paul, his wife, Linda, and son, Andrew. It was a very good experience. The two families were able to get along very well. We shared a message about how we find direction from studying the scriptures. The member family invited them to come back for a potluck they are having at the end of the month. I do hope that experiences like this will soften Linda's heart.
Thank you all, once again for the love and support. Have a great week!
Elder Rosier
This is the picture Ross promised us a few weeks ago about this favorite service project, where they cleaned up dead palm fronds from a sister's yard and got to set them on fire. That's Ross on the right. They certainly sent the right missionary for the job.
This is a picture of Ross with Elder 'Iongi. I'm so glad for their companionship--they've developed such a wonderful working relationship.
Ross sent the following pictures without any explanation. It looks like he and Elder 'Iongi went on an adventure with some youth. The one thing I know for sure is that it is killing Ross not to get into the water. He has mentioned more than once to us how much he misses swimming on a hot day. He is hoping our stake president will meet him here at the house when he gets home, so that he can be quickly released and jump in the pool!
Weekly Update February 24, 2014
G'day friends and family!
What a fast week this was!
Elder 'Iongi and I were hard at work this week as we worked to follow-up with many of the potential investigators we have found over the last few weeks. We taught a lot of lesson, but unfortunately, not many people were interested in learning much more. I guess that's what happens. Everybody has their agency.
We are continuing to work closely with Paul. I must say that he has been my favorite investigator I've had on my mission. He's a goofy guy, but has a big heart. He is very Christ-like. He tries very hard to live his life in a manner that he feels Christ would be happy with. I wish more people in the world were like that. I enjoy teaching him. The questions he asks us really challenge the knowledge of the gospel I have gained over the last 19 months.....and 20 years before that! I almost feel like I've been prepared over my mission to teach him. I wouldn't be surprised if Elder 'Iongi felt the same way. We are still trying to find a way for his wife's heart to soften. We have come to find that some members in our ward know them, and they would like to get involved in teaching. This will be a big help to us since we'll now have fellowship with us who they relate to.
This week Elder 'Iongi's bike broke down. We spent most of the week walking everywhere in our area. That's normally not an issue, but this week was exceptionally hot. I wonder if God's trying to teach us a lesson in humility or gratitude here......no dramas. He'll be getting it fixed this week, so we should be alright.
Well, I reckon that's all for this week. It was all pretty generic, for the most part. I love you all. Thanks again for your love and support.
Elder Rosier
What a fast week this was!
Elder 'Iongi and I were hard at work this week as we worked to follow-up with many of the potential investigators we have found over the last few weeks. We taught a lot of lesson, but unfortunately, not many people were interested in learning much more. I guess that's what happens. Everybody has their agency.
We are continuing to work closely with Paul. I must say that he has been my favorite investigator I've had on my mission. He's a goofy guy, but has a big heart. He is very Christ-like. He tries very hard to live his life in a manner that he feels Christ would be happy with. I wish more people in the world were like that. I enjoy teaching him. The questions he asks us really challenge the knowledge of the gospel I have gained over the last 19 months.....and 20 years before that! I almost feel like I've been prepared over my mission to teach him. I wouldn't be surprised if Elder 'Iongi felt the same way. We are still trying to find a way for his wife's heart to soften. We have come to find that some members in our ward know them, and they would like to get involved in teaching. This will be a big help to us since we'll now have fellowship with us who they relate to.
This week Elder 'Iongi's bike broke down. We spent most of the week walking everywhere in our area. That's normally not an issue, but this week was exceptionally hot. I wonder if God's trying to teach us a lesson in humility or gratitude here......no dramas. He'll be getting it fixed this week, so we should be alright.
Well, I reckon that's all for this week. It was all pretty generic, for the most part. I love you all. Thanks again for your love and support.
Elder Rosier
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