Hello All,
My week was really good. I am really enjoying my new area and my companion
Elder Nelson. We are working hard and we are finding a lot of success. Between
the Part member families we are working with and the unbaptized children in the
ward, and the investigators we have at the moment we have set a goal to baptize
7 people next month. We have 2 on date at the moment, but this week we are
hoping to get more of them ready to set a goal for baptism! It is great to see
this much success coming. Our investigator Suzanne who will be getting baptized
on the 1st of February is getting
really excited for her baptism. She has been taught by missionaries for almost
a year now, and has now decided to be baptized. It is great to see the
excitement she has about the gospel. She is making sure everyone at church
knows that she is going to be getting baptized on the 1st of Feb. I am super excited for it. The other baptismal
date we have is for the 8th of
Feb and his name is Paul. I haven't met him yet because Elder Nelson
found him while we were on trade offs, but he said that he was already coming to
church and that everyone already thought he was a member, but he told us that he
wants to be baptized! Those are 2 great miracles for the week! We have been
finding success from tracting which is great and we have been teaching a few
people that way. I will talk more about them once they become more progressing,
but it is great! I love Helensvale a lot!
While tracting this week was had a few interesting encounters. Fun Fact:
Australia has the 2nd highest alcohol consumption per capita in the world, so
that alone makes a lot of interesting encounters with people. Most people like
to drink especially on the weekends and Sunday mornings. I thought I had seen it all until we went
tracting yesterday morning before
church since we have church at 1pm. We approached this house and it had one of
those speakers where you press the button, so we pressed it and this lady
answered it. She couldn't hear us and so she hung up. As we were walking away
from the house an older lady came running out. So I went back to the gate, and
I will just say she was wearing probably the most minimal amount of
clothing, making the situation more awkward, she tried to invite us in, I just
looked away the whole time and just gave her a pamphlet with our number on it,
so if she was actually interested in the gospel she would give us a call. So
now I have seen something I never wanted to see. That is one of the many crazy
stories of tracting in Australia.
We see much success from tracting otherwise. I love being a missionary and
I know that missionary work is one of the greatest works on the earth today and now is the day for hastening
the work of salvation. I know the church is true! My testimony has only been
strengthened the last 19 months while I have been serving the Lord. I have seen
many miracles and seen so many people change because of the gospel and I cannot
deny the witness I have received that the Book of Mormon is true. The church is
true! I love being a missionary and I hope you all have a great week!
Love
Elder Kyler Powelson