Week 61

Hello all

This week was great. 

We had a coordination meeting with the bishop and ward mission leader. It was really great to see that the bishop and the ward want to work with us and help others come into the gospel. 

We got to share the Restoration on Sunday with the YSA. One of our investigators, Kalen, is progressing really well. He has read to Alma in the Book of Mormon. He came to the YSA fast breaker last night and we taught about Joseph Smith and how the gospel had blessed the lives of many. He is starting to have a different countenance about him, you could say he is starting to "glow". Don't know if it's just me, but he does seem a lot happier the last time I saw him. That's what the gospel does to you when you live it. So that's great. He's doing awesome. 

One funny story. Right before we were going to the fast breaker, we shared a quick message with a family about Lehi's dream. Their son was trying to remember what the fruit represented, he said" doesn't it represent... the flesh of God"? All of us just burst out laughing. He meant to say the fruit represented the love of God. 

That's all folks

Love Elder Westbrook

week 60

Hey Everyone!

The lesson with Kalen went really well, he has read a lot of the Book of Mormon so that's great. 

Bishop came with us to a lesson with a lady named Sarah. It didn't go as well as I thought, we could have planned better.

We met with all the bishops in the stake and talked to them about missionary work. The wards are doing ok, but they can do a lot more with missionary work. 

Not much time today. See you next week!

Love Elder Westbrook

Week 59

Hello All

I wrote down some things this week so I can remember to share it with you. 

It was an amazing week. The most amazing part of it was when Elder Nielsen of the Area Presidency came to our Zone Conference. That man is truly amazing. We mainly focused on Alma 17-24 during the conference. We talked about helping people awake from a spiritual sleep through the Holy Ghost. As missionaries we help people awake from that sleep and remember their first lessons in the Pre earth life. We help them to wake up to the reality of the Saviors plan. 

Also, a fun fact of the day... We were talking about repentance at the conference. In Hebrew, the word for repentance is Shub. It means to turn from or to change. In Greek, in means Meta neoa. Which means to become a new Creature. That's where the work metamorphosis came form. So in the Bible when it talks about repentance, it merely means a change from something. When the Bible was translated into Latin, it was paenitentiam. That's where the word penitentiary came from, to mean like punish, or prison. Repentance is supposed to be joyful, it's not supposed to have the negative vibe to it as the word has today. When we repent, we become a new creature in Christ, just like when a caterpillar changes into a butterfly. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

We also had a fun experience door knocking. This street we knocked was probably the most prepared street I have ever knocked. We knocked in to at least 3 - 5 homes that had a family member pass away, and about 3 houses with new born babies. Each time we would knock into one of those houses, they would politely ask us to leave. It is rather sad that they weren't receptive to the very message that would give answers and help them in their situation. One lady lost a son and blames God for all her hardship and wonders why he didn't take her instead or why these things happen. We started to teach her the message but she kept cutting us off and won't allow us to answer her questions. We tried the best we could to answer her questions and give her an opportunity to learn. 

Another lady just had a baby, so I ask the question of " How did you feel when you were holding your new born?" I was expecting something like" I felt so close to God" or " It was a really precious moment for me to hold something so innocent", but instead we got " oh... it was nice. Look, I'm not interested, bye." Just a another day in Aussie land.

Love Elder Westbrook

Week 58

Hello All

This week was pretty amazing. Elder Ray and I didn't do much proselyting. We spent most of our time meeting with the auxiliaries of the Redland Bay Ward. The Ward mission leader is wonderful. He is genuine and committed to his calling. He is the definition of one who magnifies their calling. The Bishop and Ward mission leader work together in doing missionary work. This is the first ward I have been in where the whole ward, Bishopric, and Auxiliaries are united together. We received more referrals from members the first week here than I had my whole mission. The Ward loves and is not afraid of missionary work. The ward hasn't seen any baptisms for almost 2 years. I believe that the ward is a the beginning of a harvest, as the ward mission leader says. The members are excited to invite their friends to church. Never have I seen a ward so excited for it. 

Elder Ray and I are grateful to be apart of this Ward and apart of hastening the work in the ward.

Elder Westbrook