Monday 30 June 2014

Hastening the Work

 So the last few day were great, Stephen, got baptized, yesterday, it was so lovely he also got confirmed a member afterwards, we had a goal in this mission to get 100 baptisms in June, and It has never been done before, like not even that close, but guess what this mission saw 100 convert baptisms this month, the first time ever in the history of this mission, so it was super exciting and guess what Stephen I'm pretty sure was the 100th one :) The Lord really is hastening his work, in this part of the vineyard. :) I was able to speak at the Baptism, about Baptism and I'm speaking again in sacrament, in a few weeks :) So it was awesome, as last week on emails, my companion's Dad emailed him giving him a referral in our area, you see my Companion's Dad served in this mission as well, the same years as when your Dad was serving, he told us to go and check out this house, and we went there and it was still the same guy who lived there :) It was super awesome, and the stories he was telling us Was great and I thought that was super awesome how his Dad served here. So the mornings here have been so cold lately like crazy cold I have been freezing my Balls off haha, So I have like an extra duvet cover on and I have my bright pink fluffy socks on keeping me warm, It's honestly been so cold, I hate it :P  I some times wake up and just think am I serving in Antarctica or Australia :P  So this week we are excited to help Steven prepare to receive the Priesthood this coming Sunday, So we will be working with him and hopefully he will be able to email you some pictures of us at the baptism. So these last few days, I have actually been getting phone calls from my old companion, he is really struggling, and he really misses me, He is having a pretty rough time, his new companion apparently does not say anything like ever, and he is finding it really tough, he was telling me that the flat miss me and it is different not having me there!! We are also excited for this coming week because we are going to go and see this Irish woman and her partner he is from England and there little kid, and she was telling us how her Dad used to be a Bishop back in Ireland and how her Partner is not a member, and she called us back setting up another time, which is also great. So i feel pretty good this morning, as I smashed Mt. Gravatt and run up it, and down, it was intense, but it was so worth it. :) I have probably have not been this fit in my life.

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Tour De France

 P-day came so late, I have just got back from the temple, it was awesome and was a really nice time, it was the first time I have gone in a while, my new companion is great, I Love the new view of Brisbane city, honestly every time I see it, it makes me happy, especially in the sunny weather :) how is the weather in Spokane??? also the view of the city at night is amazing, I would Love for  you to be hear with me and see it, also we run up Mt. Gravatt yesterday morning, going through all these bends to get to the top, I think it is in the area Holland Park, but the view is amazing at the top and my new companion he is from Two Rocks, a Beach town in WA (Western Australia), you can stalk it for me and we will have to go there one day, the last week was great and all, i gave a talk at church to introduce myself and they want me to talk again already hahaha! I love my new ward, full of good people, I also gave a few training this week, I trained on 'Conversion' and I came up with another training yesterday 'How does our attitude, towards the Book of Mormon, affect, us, others and our Investigators' :) I have also been smashing it on the bikes, but this area is super hilly, no surprise in the name camp hill ;) I cycled 50 + miles just on Monday, i have never cycled so much up and down the hills I thought I was in the Tour De France ;) everything is going really Great, we have a baptism coming up this Sunday of Steven, he is from Uganda :) we are super excited and have been seeing him every day preparing him for his special day and all :) Also Taught this really great lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I felt prompted to set a baptismal date with the man, his name is Warren, this thought just came into my head, commit him to baptism on the 14th of July, I was like 14th of July why hahahh :P but I just went with it, and committed and him and he asked why I said 14th of July, and said I not to sure why, i just know that is the day because of the Prompting I received, he said well the 14th of July is my Birthday :) It was awesome, so he said yes, and we will do are best to work with him, he has a few things he needs to sort out and all! 

Monday 16 June 2014

Baptism, Skype Home, New Place, New Companion= Amazing Week

I'm in a new area with a new companion, his name is Elder Parsons and he is from Australia, he is from Perth. He is a really great guy and I'm excited to start to serve with him, he has been out 1 transfer longer then me . I'm now in an area called Camp Hill, I'm excited to start serving here and will let you know how it goes, we just got back from the Transfer meeting, it was wonderful, went super well and guess what i Live now just a 5 minute drive from Brisbane City, I get this perfect view of the city on top of the hill. It's really great as just before I left Eight Mile Plains, I met this woman, who knew some people in my ward back home and every week for 18 months went to the London Temple, she said she was from Camp Hill, so hopefully I will see her again, now that I'm around her area. I Loved my time serving in Eight Mile Plains It was amazing, I saw a lot of success in that area, people coming to follow Christ more fully in there lives by entering the waters of baptisms, being able to baptize some incredible people and reactivating people who had not been at church in a long time. I left EMP, on the best note, Georgie, got baptized on Sunday, the 15th of June and it was an incredible and wonderful service, Georgie was also confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints straight after, we got special permission to do so, wow what a way for me to end leaving that area, I'm the happiest person, that I was able to see Georgie get baptized and confirmed, I can't describe to you all, how amazing it was, she was baptized by her uncle a fantastic man, when I first got to EMP half a year ago, I met Georgie, her family, mum and Dad started coming back to church, and Georgie started taking the discussions and was amazing, soaking up every aspect of the gospel, we always had tender lessons and her 1st cousin Halen was able to come with us to attend, he is preparing for a mission, when he lives I probably would have finished. There was some things stopping Georgie from being baptized before, I remember she told me before she would love to be baptized, but it would be in a few years, I always knew when those few years would come that she would be ready, and I always had the biggest desire to see and be there to witness Georgie entering the waters of Baptism, well those few years became a few months, things happened and changed and she was able to be baptized, I so happy I could see that wonderful day, although the last few weeks have been the toughest weeks of my mission, I know that the adversary was working triple time, everything that could go wrong went wrong, but we were determined and giving it our all, we were not going to let anything stop her special day from happening as she had such a desire to be baptized, so when that day came, the Sunday just gone was the best, she is a incredible Mother, who will go on and do many amazing and wonderful things, and I'm so pleased and proud of her for the steps that she has taken in her life to get to where she is now, I'm excited to think of the steps that she will continue to take and how she will continue to grow in the gospel :) 

Also yesterday must have been one of the most craziest days of my mission, what a way to spend my last day in EMP, so the car keys ended up getting stuck on top on the roof of the house haha, which was over 20ft up...................................................Don't even ask hahahahahah. I will leave everyone guessing how my good friend from Idaho managed that ;) we were just all cracking up so much, you see in situations where car keys end up on top of the roof at night, down worry, just relax and watch 4 missionaries come up with the most ridiculous ideas to get that down....................I want you all to try to imagine some of the crazy things we done. 
We ended up sprinting to the chapel on the look out for a 20ft ladder, but when to our surprise, but a 20ft Ladder, was there in front of our eyes, we don't even know how, all I know is the Lords timing is perfect :) The man chucked the ladder in the back of the Ute and of we were to fetch the keys, eventually we got them :) 
Then after we got the keys I went and visited people to say my final goodbye, well actually just a see you later :) 
I'm excited for Amir who is being baptized in 2 weeks and I'm grateful that I was able to teach him the lessons, I'm excited for this new week with my new companion we are going to go and smash the work in camp hill and watch miracles happen. 
I also last week, had an amazing and lovely opportunity to Skype home to my family, I just Loved every second and I did not want it to end, It was so great to see everyone, and they are all doing so well, It was Fathers day, on Sunday also and It is also my little sisters 16th Birthday tomorrow, time to get the shotgun out ;) I WISHED and WISH HER A VERY HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY :) I was soooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy to Skype back home, I have the best family in the world who I cherish and love so dearly, who mean everything to me, i'm so thankful for them :D 

Tuesday 10 June 2014

Hospital Visits

So sorry I'm emailing you late, P-day was changed to today, It was a temple P-day, but I did not get to go to the Temple again this morning, instead we have just got back from the hospital, so to start this last week we have been working as hard as we can and it  has been hectic and a lot of things have happened, like my companion broke his right hand in a bicycle accident as he answered the phone while cycling and did not pay attention to where he was going hit the side of the curb and came off pretty bad, so he will need surgery again and I say again as he had another bicycle accident and a brake in his left hand at the beginning of his mission and needed surgery for that and is still recovering, so we have been in and out of hospital over 5 times this week, so I have just been trying to serve him as well and help him in any way, also all the bikes in the garage are broken, so now we are full time..........walk hahaah :P! We now have a great laugh about his hand, my companion is doing well, it has just been a tough last week and half, nothing has really been going right, but we are still high in spirit as Georgie should be getting baptized this weekend, on Sunday the 15th of June, but everything is trying to stop this baptism from,  happening, from family opposition, to a lot of other things, we are doing are absolute best to help her and to make sure that this baptism goes through for her as she really wants to, I sat down the other afternoon with her parents and had a discussion with them and things were a lot better afterwards, but please please prayer for Georgie that this weekend will go well and that she will be baptized.  Please pray for us as well :) Also this is the last week of the Transfers, so next week is Transfers and I feel that I will be moving. But there has also been a lot of good things happening this week, we taught some really great lessons, and something that I noticed that has happened to me a lot lately is that we will visit someone and I will share a scripture with them and they just start crying and say that was exactly what I needed to hear, that was perfect that scripture was just for me, and that is awesome and I know I'm being prompted share that exact one, Out of all the scriptures and it's the one they need to hear, that was awesome :) Also outside the hospital, there was this young man and I asked him where he was from he said Afghanistan and I just started speaking Persian (Farsi) with him and that was so great, after the conversation we walked away, but then later sprinted back to me and was super excited and so happy and asked with great joy, where did you learn to speak my language' he was so impressed and happy that the effort was made, he understood everything perfectly and then we just left him with a pamphlet. It helps that Amir, who is getting baptized in a few weeks in teaching me :) So even though a lot of crazy things have happened a lot of great things have as well :) and I get to Skype home this week! Super excited about that :) That will be really great, I can't wait, I wonder what they will think of my accent? Also some good news are flat is immaculate, so clean and we had a housing inspection also this morning after the hospital and he said it is one of the cleanest I have ever been in :) but he was like, your accent, are you from South Africa? hahah! I said England, but it was really cool, also I got to speak some Afrikaans at the door this week as well :) Have a wonderful week! - Elder King 

Sunday 1 June 2014

Powerful Week

This last week I went as hard as I could, All I have ever wanted to be is a consecrated missionary. In companionship study I broke down crying because I know I don't have long left and all i have wanted is to be consecrated and work my hardest and I'm finally doing that, it's been super hard for me to do this, I have had to change somethings but I'm getting there and I have had a really emotional week, but like 1 one of the best weeks I have had on my mission, every lesson I was in I cried, because it was such a powerful lesson the spirit was so strong, I noticed changes that were wonderful, I shared such a powerful thing about the Plan of Salvation, It's something I will never forget, I was teaching our investigator who lost her Baby, I was crying as I shared this tender moment with her. :) When I thought of that last week, i went so hard with work, I set another baptismal date and have been working so hard, better late then never, I set a date with Georgie. Georgie will be being baptized on the 14th of June, it also happens to be the day I get to Skype home :) I can't tell you how much joy that brings me in my life, when i first met Georgie, she said it would take her years to be baptized because she had to get married and all, a things happened in her life, and she is no longer with her boyfriend, but she is now able to be baptized, it's sad that they are not with each other especially for her baby who is 6 months old, he was born when I first came into the area, but this is the best step for Georgie in her life and also with the lesson, who did I teach with but the mission President :) So amazing, he is going around every zone, and went out with missionaries who had lessons, that day he was in the area, we scheduled a lesson with Georgie and president came :) I have taught with president before, It's funny because when I first came out to Australia, I was still so fresh in the gospel and I did not really know how to teach, but I'm so much better now and president was super impressed by my teaching and I know it made him so happy to see the progress I'm making. So the week went to fast for me with teaching with president, to having many emotional lessons, we are teaching this Muslim man at the moment, and it is going super great, we have been having some incredible lessons and he will be coming to church this week. :) The week was also great because we had an Inactive woman come up to us on the street and say hey Elders reactivate me and my family, for any one reading this who is not a member, I'm not talking about robots and because reactivating kind of sounds like I'm on about a robot or something, it's just where she has not been to church in donkey's years like soooooooo long and wants to come back, so after 5 minutes of talking to her on the street 5 minutes later we were in her home visiting with the family and she came to church this Sunday she needed the extra push, put the Lord places us where we need to be, she had just moved into the area and  she just happened to see us cycling at night, it was pitch black out and it was about 8pm but we needed to be there at  this time! and her 1st cousin goes to our church on Sunday and she did not even know it, so they got reunited :) Also Fast and Testimony meeting was great, sacrament actually went over 30 minutes longer then it was meant to as I have never seen this but 20 people all went up at the same time to share there testimony, so there were heaps of people just sitting on the stand waiting. So powerful I was paying full attention to what they shared! You some times get worried with Fast and Testimony meeting when you bring your investigators to church as you know that the 1 crazy person in the ward will get up there and say something just insane, every ward has one :) but luckily all went well for us :) The week was also great as we had a 'Come Follow Me' Fireside, with the Mission President there and 3 recent converts spoke, It was so wonderful and they were from all over the world, it's funny because none of them were Aussie, one was South African, one was from New Zealand and 1 from China, but It is so wonderful to know that the gospel is for everyone no matter what background or walk of life, or like me from little ol' England. What I Love about My mission is that no matter what door I knock on, I have no idea what kind of person they are going to be, what they look like, where they are from or there kind of personalty, all i know is that whoever is behind that door i know that the message of the gospel will bless and help them and bring more joy into there lives, I love 2 Nephi chapter 26 verse 33 and this kind of says it all! I Love that we never force, just invite :) It was also awesome last week because at the fireside, there was my old friend Elder Double' from New Zealand, he was back in OZ for a few weeks and he wanted to find what area I was in to come and say hello knew me from me being fresh on the mission or just a 'Greenie' Elder Double' now just Allan was my first Zone Leader back when I was in the Gold Coast. We had a great catch up and got a picture, it was really good seeing him, seems like it was literally just yesterday we were going on trade offs together having a blast, but that was nearly a year ago. 
Always going on in Australia right now is the biggest sporting event of the year 'State of Origin' Queensland, VS New South Wales, it's so intense and everyone gets involved. Have a Blessed and wonderful week!