See You in Three Weeks

 I'm so lucky to be here in Australia turning 21, good ol' St. Patricks day, it's a great day!! The sunshine coast is Paradise!!! It's the best, the weather is amazing, and Buderim ward is the best :) It was really Lovely as Vicki one of the recent converts, well we always see her every single Sunday at 3pm, we turned up yesterday thinking it would be like a normal Visit, however when I walked in and all, there was a lovely cake with 21 on it and the Australian flag all the way around it, and there were some people hiding in the Kitchen, and in the Garage who jumped out to say Happy Birthday, It was the nicest present, putting on an awesome surprise birthday and what not, I was soooo happy :) 

It's not been easy for me lately, I have been really struggling, emotionally and really down in the dumps as well as well as really happy, like I'm not happy, then I am, but then really I'm sad but I'm not, I'm just Numb so very Numb. Like I just don't want to leave my mission and go back, i love it here being a missionary,I have mentioned and about going back so much, but I truly do not want to leave because It's amazing, I wish I could just start over and do it all again, I love the people with all my heart,!!! We had a ward activity and it was the best it was a Mexican Fiesta, it was super sweet and all, and I got to teach my last Gospel Principles class and Brother King was like that was the best Gospel Principles class I have ever been in!!!! .

 Skyping my mum was great, I Loved it, she is the best and I'm just so blessed because of her like I'm so happy to be able to see my Mum, Dad and Sister and the rest of my family, but It is so great being here, I know you always love using the words ''Bitter Sweet'', well this is the most ''Bitter Sweet'' ever for me., I was super sweet as my family sung me happy birthday, who would have thought 21 years ago we would both survive, me and mum, I know that God lives and his Only begotten Son Jesus Christ lives, I love the scripture in D&C 76 verse 22-24. ''That He Lives''. That God has been so merciful. 
It was really interesting Skyping them, just to be like, see you in 3 weeks hhaha, So I Loved that.

Marching Forward in March

 Everything is going super well lately, Wow I Just am having the best time ever here and just loving it!!! I'm so happy here, the Mission is the best and going so well. We are having lots of wonderful experiences here with teaching. This week was great,  I went to a Leadership council in Brisbane with President Henderson and all the Leaders were there, it was just incredible such a great and uplifting meeting, It was super awesome and we are excited to launch the Easter Initiative, 'That he lives'' the church will be realizing it on the 27th of March. It was so awesome in the meeting, as I was standing up and saying something, President Henderson, was like, 'I Love you, I just have to give you a hug'' His Love for me since I have been serving is just incredible, he is the most Christ Like person I have ever met. It was great in the meeting as this one comment I made he was like 'Now that's revelation'' haha, he is the man, I have been able to spend a lot more time with him, we actually went to Dinner last night with President and Sister Henderson, he took out the whole of the Sunshine Coast Zone as we were the only Zone to SMASH all of our goals and all, no other Zone came close, and this is the hardest Zone in the mission, February was a great month and we are all ready Marching forward in March. I also had my last Zone Conference, yesterday it was super intense and just such a great day, then after then when we went to Dinner with President and Sister Henderson, we ended up going to a park and smashing like 50 boxes of Cost Co Pizza and drinks and Churro's. The Zone Conference was really great, we got to watch ''Meet the Mormons'' in it and I think I was like crying for half of it haha, i was really emotional during it, It hit me like a brick wall. Then after I was talking with one of the Sister Missionaries who is in Caitlyn's ward and she said Caityln was going to watch Meet the Mormons with them. so a massive shout out to CAIYTLYN, IF YOU WATCHED MEET THE MORMONS, I HOPE YOU LOVED IT, IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED IT, YOU WILL LOVE, KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU AND I'M SO PROUD OF YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO  FOR BEING SUCH A GREAT MOTHER, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!! So all is going super well here in the best mission in the world, what ever mission you serve in, is the best mission in the world :) the Australia Brisbane Mission, THE MIGHTY ABM, ''Australia's Best Mission'' 
Toni is doing super great and all and the kids are doing really well, we are seeing them pretty much everyday and helping Toni prepare for her special day, It's also awesome and me and Bishop get on really well, and we just found we have the same Birthday, so we will have to do something then, with Toni and the family also. 

Finish Line

 I have just got back from the Australia Zoo!!! I Loved it there and had a great time Anthony came with us and all. March is already here it is going to be the most exciting month on the mission, a lot of great things happening :) So my travel Itinerary is all sorted, I got 2 different copies for some reason, But I will be back on the 8th. I get to Skype home in 2 weeks time, as it is Mother's day in England :) So that is pretty sweet I get to Skype just before I come back, not long just under 5 weeks, and Toni did not get baptized on the weekend, but is getting baptized this coming Saturday on the 7th of March at 7pm, so 7 for 7. We also set another 2 more baptismal dates, for both on the 21st of March and they are friends they are called Amy and Nikhil, they are friends of a member's daughter :) It's also crazy to think that I baptized Chelsie Coalfax a year ago, on March the 1st and she is going really great in the church and lives with a member family, I'm excited to be able to get in contact when i get back :) The work is going amazing here!!!! I Love it, and I'm going as hard as I can, running through the tape. Going to run through that Finish line, we hope to set a few more Baptismal dates this week, we are pumping this area!!!!! Buderim's just incredible. Sorry, I could not write more this week, We have to go in just under 30 mins to a lesson!!!!But i will write much more next week. Elder Samuel King

Cyclone

So I don't know if you heard but the weather here the last week or so was was crazy there was an Earthquake further up North, then came the Cyclone,and luckily we were quite south of it, but still got hammered and there was quite a bit of flooding, I don't know if you saw the picture of me standing under the massive whole in the roof, that was in the chapel, the roof caved in and got destroyed!!! It was pretty intense, the last week was a really tough one, not just with all the other things happening, but also, that Toni, did not end up getting baptized, but we have reset the date and she will be getting baptized next Saturday, the 7th of March, the other dates we has with Gary, for the 28th, we got dropped by him and he is not interested any more and with Jacqueline for the 28th we are going to have to move her date back to sometime in March, but she is still going really well and wants to get baptized,  but still we have already seen a lot of blessings come despite these things happening, we were able to set another baptismal date with Skye for the 4th of April, and have been able to teach a lot more as well. I was also able to interview 5 people last week, the Keech family, they are from the States, and when they were living there, they moved to Utah, to St.George, and went to church for a year and no one checked to see if they were members or not, they just assumed they were and all, so they would go every single week, then they moved here to the Sunshine Coast, and they were driving in their car and saw the elders on the street and pulled up next to them and said, hey we were living in Utah for a year and no one taught us anything about the gospel, we want to learn as a family, so they started being taught, then they all got baptized, the Dad got baptized on Friday, and he was baptized by my south African friend and he has a daughter who is serving in the England London South Mission,  So i think it was super sweet that he was able to baptize him!!! :) , then he baptized his wife and their 3 children on Sunday, they are called, Edward, Maribel, Travis, Ty and Arriana Keech, the wife is from Panama, so i got to practice speaking in Spanish to her :) They are just an incredible family and I love them dearly, i met them a few months back when I first came to this area, but know they are ready and all :) and They are going to meet Toni and her kids properly, they met briefly but we will try to get them together for an activity. I also get to interview another 2 people this week, one Tomorrow and one on Friday :) It was also Elder Derhak's Birthday and all and it was a super sweet Birthday the ward was amazing and he was really looked after as well, so I was just super happy for him!!! We also should be going to the Australia Zoo next P-day, to celebrate Elder Derhak's Birthday, he just turned 19. Also It's funny as when we are teaching people we show people a picture of Jospeh Smith, and we have had a few different people say, is that 'Captain Cook' haha, it's definitely put smiles of our faces :) Well I hope you have a wonderful and great week and that all goes well.

Hello Elder King..... and Elder.....

So I hope you have been able to see the pictures from Mooloolaba beach last week when we were there and we found 'The Loo with the view'' and how there was the perfect rainbow there, like I have never seen a more perfect rainbow, it when from the sea into the sand and looking at it through some palm trees it was just amazing. So I found out some more about why this was a 8 week transfer for you, so the reason is they are trying to get all the transfers in all the missions across Australia in alignment with one another so they coincide one with another :) So this week my companion's Birthday is coming up and all, he is still only 18 at the moment!!! but it will be awesome as his Birthday falls on the Sunday!! and we have some great news!!! We moved Toni's baptism a week forward from the 28th to the 21st next Saturday at Noon, and she has asked me to Baptize Her!!!! Yay Yay Yay!!! It will be an amazing day and everyone loves Toni, so there will be heaps of people there!!!! Then Elder Derhak, will give her the Holy Ghost on Sunday, so it is awesome as he is giving her a gift on his Birthday and it is a great start to his mission and all. We Love Toni and the kids, we are actually all seeing them today at Cotton tree park at 4.30pm to play sports with them!!! The work is going so well here, we also moved Jacqueline's baptism up from the 14th of March, to the 28th of February, so a week after Toni, and we will then probably Move Gary's baptism from the 28th of February to the 1st week in March as he needs that little bit of extra time and all. And Yesterday evening we had a Pacific Wide Area Broadcast, and that was super great we had Anthony with us for it and all, I found out that, at the moment in the South Pacific, there is 127 Stakes and 35 Districts :) So the work is definitely hastening for sure in this part of the vineyard!!!! So it was also funny in the week, I was out playing some Basketball in the morning and all, and this random woman approaches me and was like can I put this Sling on you, and I was like Yea go for it hahah, I was thinking what the heck hahah, so I get this sling put on me, so was going around trying it on people as a prototype and getting there feedback on it, that same day my companion ends up with a different sling given to us by Toni for his shoulder!!! So the work is going super well here, I was on trade-off on Forest Glen on Saturday, Valentine's day and it was a great day, we just done heaps of Door knocking and all, and I ended up being able to teach with the missionary who was with my parents back home, so that was awesome being able to teach with him in a lesson together, it was an awesome experience, I don't know if you have seen the picture of us together on FB, I'm holding up a Book of Mormon next to him :) I also on Trade-off for the first time in ages so long was able to practice speaking some Persian (Farsi) This man from Afghanistan came to the door and he said to me after we had been speaking for a while, you would not be able to speak my language at all, I said try me I want to see if I can, he said you won't be able to hahah, Then he says do you speak any Persian, Next Sec I'm spitting out some Persian to him and he is so happy, I then asked him for a glass of water in it, it's a useful line as a missionary, and as soon as i asked him no hesitations or anything he just goes to the tap turns it on, and pours me a glass of water, I was so happy to at least now that it worked!!! :) Then he invited us in and we taught him :) I have also been setting other goals as well for when I get back, another one of my goals is to become a better cook :) So I also had interviews with President Henderson on Friday, it was my final interview with him and I have some exciting news for you to tell you when I get back, it is really good news :) So it was also awesome as when we were out knocking doors we met this awesome elderly couple, she had her 89th Birthday and they were so happy together it made me smile!!! and I thought of us :) It was also sweet as we got a card given to us and a big block of chocolate :) in it the card said " To Sam (Elder King) and Elder Derhan I hope you like chocolate! Thank you so much for stopping off that day to help me with my car, from Trish'' It's funny because everyone always get my companions name wrong, Derhan instead of Derhak, in fact Australians do not even try to pronounce my companions name, they are like Hello Elder King....... and Elder how are you!!! me and my companion always joke about it, these our some of the different names he gets on a daily basis ''Derhan'' ''Derhank'' ''Durbar'' ''Burhar'' That one was not even close :P ''Dererk'' just ''Dur'' and DurHawk :P we just call him elder Burhar now as that has to be the most random one!!! So a lot of great things are happening here though and all It will be a hectic and exciting week!! 

This is is, my last Transfer!!!

So today is Transfer day!!! This is it, my last Transfer!!! It's going to the be the best one ever!!! I'm excited to let you know about it, I'm so happy I'm staying on the Sunshine Coast and all and Finishing here, the work is going actually amazing, Toni, the single mum is just loving the church and cannot wait to be baptized on the 28th of this month Ahhhh  so exciting, I Toni and her kids got to watch another baptism of a members child in the ward and all the kids over the age of 8 want to get baptized :D There is Flynn age 12, Jed age 10, Matilda age 8, Millar age 6 and Olive age 2. :D The Best family, Love them so much, They are so happy here and we went to Lions Park again on Sunday after church had a kick around with the kids, some soccer, then got to teach Toni and then got to teach her yesterday and we are going to arrange to go to Cotton Tree Park and play some sports with the kids and teach her, we are trying to see her as much as possible. We Also have started to teach another woman called Jacqueline and she is in her late 50's we got a phone call from this member saying, My friend she wants to learn about the gospel, we went taught her  the Restoration and committed her to baptism for the 14th of March and she said Yes, but we are going to move the Date forward as we feel she will be ready before then, we also had this same member bring another friend to church, got a phone call on Sunday morning saying my friend Carmen and her son Dallas have been wanting to come to church for ages, I should have invited them sooner, but they are coming today about 10mins after the phone Carmen rocks up to church in her red Hummer, she wants to be taught and we know she can be Baptized soon as well, We also had some 14 and 15 year old girls come to church who our friends with that members daughter and they want to start being taught and so do there parents and grandparents. We are also teaching a woman called Natalie and she came to church the other Sunday, she is doing really great. We Know this will be a smashing Transfer, going to go as Hard as I can here in the Sunny Coast!!! I Love it here in Paradise!!! when the members found out I was staying here, they were cheering and shouting with Joy, I know a few our going to come to the Airport and see me off!!! It was also funny as well as after the Super Bowl last week, I got back after emails and checked the mail in our box outside our apartment and I got my USB back from my friend who was borrowing it and on the Letter to me it said to 'Elder Go Hawks' the return address 'The Superbowl' Then he was also borrowing a not pad of mine in with some info and I got in back and it said 'I Love you man, from Elder E, I'm two down from the Water Tower at Rexburg, here's , my number call me hun ;) So I will definitely catch up with him after, it was funny as remember last week how I said I'm going to go call my boy and he will be so upset the Sea Hawks lost, well this was all from him :) One of my close friends Elder Ly Waut from Tahiti, right now as I email this to you, is on a plane heading back home, He is finished already, he called me last night to say goodbye and we just had a crack up time on the phone just messing around, I'm definitely going to hit up Tahiti. I also got to Interview someone this week called Joy from India, I interviewed his wife for baptism a while back, well he passed ;) and got baptized on Saturday morning and now there daughter is going to be baptized, it's so exciting, we had the best Curry after the interview, I smashed it haaha, then after we had Toblerone chocolate. It's crazy to think there is less then 2 months now!!! and that Valentine's day is coming up. I have heard back home that it is really cold and the snow has came!!! I hate the cold hahah, loving this weather for life!!! So Also I have to tell you about this awesome experience we had, we got a phone call to help with service moving people's furniture for them as we were coming back after helping out we see a woman standing on the road and that her car has just stopped, in the middle of an intersection and no one had helped her, so we pull up and get out and push her car for ages for her as there is no where we can place it, we pushed for a long time until we could get it into an appropriate place and all and we parked in the spot so well, we had no idea how we done it for her, but she was so grateful got out, and was just thanking and was so appreciative of the situation, we were in our own clothes in our sweatpants and my panda t-shirt ;) with our name badges on and she knew who we were she was like do you know this family and we were like yes we had dinner with them on Monday night, she was like I used to take the missionary lessons, my husband at the time now my ex was about to get baptized but when we got a divorce, she was close to baptism and wanted to repay us so now we are going to her house this Saturday for a Pancake Breakfast!!! And we will teach her also, I know it was not by chance that we happened to be driving down that road at the time and I know that we meant to help her and meet her and all I know the Lord's hand was in this work, I know it's unfortunate she had a falling out with that member we had dinner with because of something in the past, but we spoke to that member about how we met her and we know no matter what regardless of what has  happened in the past, everything will be ok and that is why we have forgiveness to move on together so the member said as she started to cry I have been praying for her for ages I'm so happy for this experience I will contact her and sort out everything it was a great experience. :D Know I have to give a massive shout out to CAITLYN FOR A HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS COMING VALENTINE'S DAY!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAITLYN HAVE A GREAT DAY!! I LOVE YOU AND THE KIDS!!! It was also funny this week as I went on Trade-off and we got locked out the bathroom from the outside, no one was in the bathroom, but we were locked out, it was crack as we all needed to go, we were like what do we do haha, then got a clothes hanger and unlocked the door lock, like a sneaky secret agent or something!!! I also got to teach these incredible Chinese people on Trade-off as I was in the Nambour area, It was the best to teach them as they came straight from mainland China, have never heard of God and it was so sweet to hear them tell me, they are our age, she says 'I Never knew there was a Purpose to life, but know I do and that changes everything'' I will prayer tonight she also wants to get baptized and we will make that happen back in Hong Kong, a few calls and she will continued to be taught out there and all :D I also Loved just chilling at Coolum Beach on Saturday Arvo, just eating some good food and just soaking up the sun and loving it.  Well that was the week!!! It was Boss, just making the most of it and all, I hope you have a great week!!! 

So There I Was....

So I ended up watching some of the Superbowl because I went to the Podiatrist today, to get my Toe nail checked out hahaha, remember how I said I damaged it really bad, well it is still messed up and all :P But not looking that bad, I thought I might as well go to one and get it checked as I want to make sure it is as normal as it can be. t's ok, just ugly az haha, but it adds character right??? something like that!!! it's makes a cool story, well not really, but i will make it sound cool!!! So there I was fighting this massive Crocodile............. and then just leave it at that, adds for suspense.  But in the waiting room, the SUPERBOWL was playing it was sweet!!! The Superbowl adds are always the best!!! So this week was great as well, I actually ended up getting my eyebrows shaped by getting them threaded for free, as I was walking through the shopping mall and I got stopped by a woman who was a member and was actually in Burleigh Heads ward on the Gold Coast and I explained to her, how i served there :) She was like me and my husband have just moved in and all, he is the new bishop there!!! And then she was like, I have just opened up this business and would you like your eyebrows done for free, I was like for sure!! She asked me if I have ever had it done before!! I used to at home every 6 weeks get my eyebrows either waxed or shaped, gotta love them eyebrows.  Also I went on Trade-off this week, with a really close friend of mine, he is going to come visit me up in the Burg :) So teaching this week, has been incredible, I can't even begin, to tell you how amazing Toni is, she is so excited about getting baptized, her and her kids love church. So is so grateful for the church and we brought Anthony, to a lesson with her and he is the just the man, teaches like a boss and he is just an amazing person, I Love him so much, you would think he has been in the church all his life, but only 2 months, he has progressed heaps, it is so nice to see him just loving it!!! it makes me so happy as Anthony is one of my best friends, because it is P-day, we are going to meet up with Anthony again and we are going to all make smoothies together have heaps of ice cream. Then after we are going out for burgers, then we are going to the lighthouse down in Mooloolaba and all!!! and last nice we went to Lions Park in Buderim, you should check it out it has such a great view of the ocean, lovely little park on a summer day, we did not go with Anthony, but we went with the King family and they had some friends who I have taught once before come along, it was super great!!! had a bbq, then after I played some soccer with the kids, well with my brother Benny ;) He always knows me as his big brother :) The work is going so well though!!! It's actually the last week of the Transfer!!!