Look Forward With Hope!

 But Christmas I learned a really valuable lesson hahaha.... So first off it rained the WHOLE day.. so we stayed inside the church and the Branch BBQ ended around 3.... from 3-9.... I kid you not.... I played a little ninja and ping pong for about an hour... so actually 4-9.... I just watched mormon messages..... We had nothing to do so I watched those all day.... And I could care less how unproductive my Christmas was.... but I realized the best gift I had.... (obviously besides all of you, family, friends etc.)... And that was a testimony of this gospel... as I watched each one I felt the spirit confirm to me what I was hearing was true... So It was a pretty sweet Christmas I would say.
Now let me tell you about my New Years Eve..... So I remembered I was thinking... What did I do this time 1 year ago?... And we were in the house in Cashmere playing farkle and I remember mom and dad kissed and Jared was like "gross" Or something mean and I laughed super hard...... And now.... let me tell you about my lovely new years eve for the finishing of 2012 :) .... We had to be back at our flat at 4pm and once we got in... we were told to make the flat "Temple Clean"..... And so me and Elder J live in a 4 man flat.... so me and Elder J had to clean a huge flat with the 2 of us.... we cleaned 5 hours straight until 9.... planned for tomorrow for like 5 minutes and then cleaned til 10:30... we didn't even have dinner..... And then this morning we cleaned another 3 hours!!!!!!!!!!!! So we finished the new year cleaning and started the new year cleaning.... I kid you not... we were in a state of wearyness where you're laughing for no apparent reason and yet you still wanted to just hit someone.... And there were tons of party people (we live by a ton of clubs) and I was so angry hahah.. we were just yelling "REPENT! REPENT!".... oh my goodness.... I was thinking the whole time... "this is so dumb.. I didn't come on a mission to clean... I hate my life".... pretty dramatic right? hahah but if you would've seen how dirty it was, you would've said the same hahah. And so this morning for personal study I came across some revelation that slapped me in the face... First I'll give you some background... My zone leader Elder A... always has the most intense and revelation flowing studies in the world... and he says every morning he prays for it and opens up the scriptures randomly... and comes to his revelation... so this morning I did the same.... I prayed and opened up randomly.... I was in a pretty bad mood due to the most stupid new years eve I've ever had and it just so happened I landed in the bible.... where it speaks of the first and great commandment... Love one another... And I thought... "love one another?... more like hit someone".... And as I read it said a phrase with Jesus speaking "Because I live.. ye shall live also..." And it popped in my mind the talk given in General Conference which was titled that... So I flipped that open... and read.... and there's this little strand of light that comes from my window.... and it landed exactly.... perfectly..... on this sentence in the story.... "look forward with hope, rather than look backward with despair"... And that just dumbfounded me for real.... I was so shocked that I underlined and marked it and even took a picture that you can see..... With such simple words.... brought a great peace to my mind... mostly because I was pretty angry I had cleaned my whole new years eve hahah and started off the new year stupid as well... So I thought to myself.... from now on... I'm not going to dwell on the bad things this past year such as yesterday.... instead I'm going to look forward with hope.... And I think the same can apply with EVERYONE.... often when the new year comes everyone thinks about all the bad things that happened to them and just hope for a better year.... so what better way to live by... than to look forward with hope, rather than looking backward with despair.... (there's my over exaggerated story for you hahaha) So now I've typed too much and I shallst be on my way now... Just remember that and have a happy 2013!

Best Christmas Present EVER!

This week was seriously fair dinkum aussie!... aka sweet as. We did a TON of teaching and found a TON of new investigators... To put it in short we saw miracles for days!.. We went from our area being pretty close to dead... to setting 4 baptismal dates this week alone!... It was INSANE!... And I found a Brazilian!!!!!... It's been my goal to baptize a Brazilian on my mission hahah, and he came in for a lesson and is keen as!.. He's gonna get baptized for sure. But really the most craziest thing was when we went on trade offs with the assistants... I went with Elder U..  He is seriously the definition of a machine.... And he shared an experience where him and his companion made a promise to the Lord.... They weren't going to care about food, sleep, or anything.. They were just going to dedicate their time to work... And he said it was seriously the most borderline thing between hard working and just absolutely crazy... And they set a pretty high baptismal goal for the next 3 months.... and at the end of that 3 months they had achieved it all except 1... And they were pretty pumped but they still knew this goal was inspired of God... And the week before reporting ended... one of their investigators ran out of Sacrament meeting crying.... and they got a text a little later saying "I felt the spirit so strong.. can I be baptized next Saturday?"... And so she was baptized and they reached their goal for baptisms in that 3 months!... And he said "I could honestly tell you Elder Ball... I couldn't of gave any more in that time than what I gave.."... And then he asked me to think about a question but I want to change it a little.... "At the end of my mission... How do I want to account to God?"... And think of that question as you read Alma 26.... This is Alma's homecoming talk after his 13 year mission.... So that definitely boosted me up another gear to work harder.
At the beginning of my mission maybe when I was out like 3 months.. I was having trouble finding.. like I could get phone numbers from people easy... but finding solid people was hard.... So I prayed real hard one night... and the next day I found this Chinese guy named L.... who will be getting baptized this week!!!! Best Christmas present EVER!... And then that same week I found this Japanese girl named N.. she was for real hard hearted hahaha... Like she straight up told us she didn't want to learn about God at first... but then she started opening up about her past and how her grandma died recently... and she wanted to know where she was now.... And so then she softened up to learn about the gospel which is miracle as!!... And something even cooler... my Zone Leader Elder H.. in his Patriarchal Blessing it says he will serve in his native tongue.... yet on his mission he barely has spoken Japanese... and so now he sees it being fulfilled.... and so he'll be teaching her now and I'm sure she'll get baptized soon :D... MIRACLES!

BOOM! ...SPIRIT IN YOUR FACE!

But this week was pretty crazy hahah...  I'm still in the City.. just different Area and different district.... Oh my goodness though... It broke my heart... all my investigators... I won't teach them anymore..  :'( ... But it's algood we've had some miracles this week....The area was basically dead when I came Friday.. like no investigators... but one night I just sat down and made a billion calls and we set up seriously like SO MANY lessons with potential investigators for this week.... EVEN!.... This girl named M from Mexico....  And I met her 2 months ago but she never answered... but that night she answered and we were on the phone like 10 minutes just trying to convince her to come in... cause I still remember she told me all the churches are corrupt because there's no authority on the earth anymore... And I almost had a heart attack... (RESTORATION)... So finally she agreed to come in and listen to what we have to say... So Wednesday shallst be our make or break lesson... I'm scared as hahah.
This morning for about 4 hours we moved 7 girls' stuff to their new apartment.... K so just imagine how much stuff 1 girl has.... and times that by..... 7!.... It was so heavy hahah. But it was AWESOME!.
This week was sweeet as... I'll share one really cool experience... So we were teaching one of our investigators... (she'll be baptized this week).. And at the end of our lesson she just bore her testimony to us and basically shared her conversion story with us and just started crying... For real the spirit was so strong... like... the only description would be like BOOM!... SPIRIT IN YOUR FACE!...  She's got a super cool conversion story too... but I'll tell that when I get pictures of her baptism as well :)
And another super cool thing... It was an Arizona invasion this Sunday!!! A ton of guys from Arizona came for business and 2 of them went to Mesa High.. and 1 of them grew up in Kingsborough Park ward (which was 52nd ward at the time).. And he knew everyone... Pyles, Robinsons, Favreuas etc... But unfortunately... I didn't catch his name -_-... so sorry bout dat hahaha. But he was super cool. 

Starstruck!

And to answer your question haha... I'm still in the City.... still with Elder A.  But this week was a super exciting... yet sad week :( We lost a lot of great missionaries!... Even Sister Wolfgramm :( But they will all do great in their new areas... But enough sad news... now for the exciting stories!

 

But anywho.... Brace yourself.... for the most insane things ever....... are you ready?!>...... MUTE SPITTAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FAIRFRIGGINDINKUM!!!! I MET HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..... And not only him.... but a bunch of those dudes from those youtube videos!!!!!!!! AND!!!!!!!!.... Victor Kim!!!!!!!!..... He's from Quest Crew that won ABDC in season 3!!.... I was so hyped!!.... We just finished finding and I was standing on the corner of world square and I was waiting for my companion and I saw this huge as group of people that looked familiar walk by from a distance.... and then it clicked and I was like OH SNAP!!!!!!!!! and I ran them down and talked to them for a little bit... it was so crazy!!... I tried to get a picture with all of them but they had a dinner reservation so I only got one with Victor.

 

... My goodness.... It sucked though... I was so starstruck I couldn't focus on missionary work the rest of the night hahaha, but I'm algood now.

 

 AND!..... It was super cray.... We were on trade offs and we were just doing daily planning then all of a sudden (FVDFGDRBHGSDFGAAAAAAAAAAAAFSEDFSARFSF).... This LOUD AS noise came by and our windows were shaking like crazyyy!,... So we ran over to the balcony to see what was happening and this military helicopter flew by our window... I kid you not... like 100 feet from our window( on the 27th floor) ... and started lowering like 30 guys onto this building across from us!! Then a 2nd one came and lowered another 30 and then the flew off.... and it was quiet for a bit... and we couldn't see much... then all of sudden we saw inside the building like 30 lasers all pointing at one way... We were like OH SNAP! CALL OF DUTY@ SHOOT! SHOOT! Fair dinkum... It was sweet as though... had a lot of action this week haha.

 

So I think I told you last week about the Chinese investigator that texted us wanting to meet.... So we had a 2nd lesson with him the beginning of this week... and we just finished teaching him the First Vision and we were about to finish the lesson... then he was like "Guys... I have some good and bad news....".... And so we were kinda skeptic... not sure what he was going to say hahah... But we told him to say bad news first... "I can't come to church this Sunday cause I have to study for my exams..." Then we were like.. ahhh alrighhttt :/ ... Then I was like... well whats the good news?... "I have been praying and I got an answer... I want to be baptized...".... I was like....Uhm... Excuse me?... hahaha, I wasn't even expecting that at all... But I was super excited!!!.. WOO!.... So we set a date for December 29th! He's so prepared though.. it was ridiculous!... 

So we were on trade offs and it was a complete opposite... me and Elder S were teaching most the day... and Elder A and Elder Sh did finding the entire day!.... So at the very end of the day they were coming back... And probably quite discouraged cause I don't think they had much success.... But along the way.. some guy stopped them and asked where an ATM was... then they turned around and he saw 'Jesus Christ' on the badge and was like WHOAAAAAAA!!!..... Then just explained to them that before he came out... He was praying for guidance in his life and needed someone to turn to and when we was praying he felt this warm tingly sensation come over him and he got freaked out by this feeling hahah, so he was like... "I'm hungry... I'm gonna get some food".... And then that's when he met them!.... And then the next day we had a lesson with him and he has had SO MANY spiritual experiences and is so super prepared.... And it's miracle enough for you to find someone to teach.... but even more when they pray and find you to teach them...! Miracles! But yeah it was a super good week!

We even had an American Thanksgiving on p-day last week with the senior couple Elder and Sister B from Washington State.... IT WAS SO GOOD!!!.

It's A Small World After All

This week was definitely awesome blossom... mostly cause I'm a missionary... obvi... but I had a super insane experience that I shallst share... So twas a fine day in the city of Sydney... and we were in Chinatown doing some finding and I felt prompted to talk to this girl... so I start trying to catch up to her and then this Russian lady from Moscow stopped me and asked where this book shop was.. and so by the end of our conversation I had lost this girl... So I ran to the corner I had last seen her and started walking around for a while trying to find her.. but it was like impossible in the city with so many people... But as I was walking I had a distinct prompting "Turn Around"... So I turned around and started wandering around looking for her... and after a while I was like... So what now?... So I was at this stoplight kinda discouraged that I missed that prompting when this guy with headphones walks straight past me into the street and this car was coming about to hit him.. so I grabbed his backpack and pulled him onto the sidewalk and he just looked at me like o.O ... Then I started talking to him and ended up getting his number because he was interested in church!.... :O ... And so I kinda evaluated the situation after, like what the heck just happened hahah... But I came to the conclusion that the spirit prompted me to follow her to lead me to this guy to potentially save him from harmful injury!.. And I was just super humbled that I was able to receive such a critical prompting and follow it... Otherwise... who knows what would've happened.

So like a month ago I met this golden as Chinese guy on the street.. and he said he's always wanted to come to church forever but was afraid his english wasn't that great and he wouldn't understand... (his english is real good though.. he's just humble)... And so he texted us out of nowhere on Friday and said he wanted to meet!! And that may not sound like a big deal... but when we meet people and give them our number... 100% of them NEVER contact you... and so we were like WOOOO!!! And so we met him at 3:30 right?.... We had a crazy lesson and committed him to baptism (1st lesson) and then he enjoyed being with us so much... we then went out to dinner and he stayed for Game Night at the church until like 8:30 hahahah. He just stayed 5 hours at the church that whole afternoon... Even when we had another lesson at 6 we didn't know what to do with him and he was like.. Oh it's fine.. I feel really warm in the church so I'll just wait for you here!.... o.O GOLDEN AS!.. Hahaha I was so pumped!...

And then another thing which was RIDIC!.... ANDRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was Mormon Security for church.. which means I had to stand outside and greet people and let them in etc. And I'm blind obvi... and saw some people I didn't recognize and was like who are they?... And Elder H was like "Ah some people from the Stake"... And so I go to open the door and wait... and then I see Andres walk up.... I was like WHAT?!?! NO WAY!!!! Hahahah he had come to our branch to see his cousin give a talk hahaha. It was so awesome!!! Such a small world!

Changing Gears

 We were walking to Hungry Jacks and they had this whole street blocked off so I was like what the heck?... So I go up to this guy and ask what's going on and they were filming the Wolverine movie!!! And we got to see Hugh Jackmans stunt double, I was like whaaaaaa?... It was sick as... I never seen a movie set before so dat koo.

This week was one of the best weeks in my mission... I think this will be where I can trace all the success that will come to me in the rest of my mission... I had always felt ever since I came out I had been improving and improving.. but recently this past transfer I was stuck like in between 5th and 6th gear... Like I was so close to just shifting up to just smash missionary work... but it was like a struggle within myself.... And the question I've asked the most since I've been out is.. "How do I fully lose myself in the work?"... And that's what was keeping me from hitting it into 6th gear... And it was a combination of things this week that got me into 6th.... First.. the main reason.. I talked to this LEGENDARY returned missionary that served in the City here for a year... and I was asking him like how he did it... and he just said "I just put everything I had into my mission and there came a point where everything clicked... the gospel.. the atonement.. everything.. And I remember my family wasnt doing very good and I prayed and let everything out to Heavenly Father.. and I felt a burden just lifted off my shoulders and I think that's why I loved missionary work so much.. because I knew how great it felt so I just wanted to share that with others".... And that right there just smashed me... And then to add onto that... a friend sent me a letter saying how he's turned his life around and he's now going on a mission... and that just motivated me to do even better in the work... and THEN!... I was able to have my first baptism.... which was a ridiculous experience... That not only changed her life forever but changed my life forever as well!... And with all these experiences and so much more... My whole mindset has just changed.... I feel like now that I'm in 6th gear... A lot of things are going to be happening... So this week was incredible..

The theme for this week is Virtue for the Christlike attributes and I couldn't study it very much! It's super dodgy!!... Virtue is like one of the most mysterious attributes!!.. If you go to Luke 8:46 it talks about the woman touching Jesus and he says "Virtue went out of me"... And in the Bible Dictionary there is no Virtue!.... But something interesting... in the Spanish version... virtue is translated as "Power went out of me".... hmn... something to think about... But here's a good description I like about Virtue....

Virtue originates in your innermost thoughts and desires. Virtue is the prerequisite to receiving the Spirit's guidance. What you choose to think and do when you are alone and you believe no one is watching is a strong measure of your virtue. Your mind is like a stage in a theater. In the theater of your mind, only one actor can be on stage at a time. If the stage is left bare, thoughts of darkness and sin often enter the stage to tempt. But these thoughts have no power if the stage of your mind is occupied by wholesome thoughts such as memorizing a scripture or church song. You can call upon such in times of temptation to keep your thoughts always clean and virtuous... And the only scripture I really liked was D&C 25:2 and the 13th Article of Faith... And if you notice in the 13th Article of Faith is mentions Virtue twice... hmn?... hmn?... It must be pretty important... or as the Spanish say... importanté.

Zombies and a Stunt Man

And nah we didn't do anything for Halloween.... finding was dodgy as though hahaha... we did 5 hours finding on Halloween and I think I talked to a billion zombies.... Like really?... Be original... zombies are lame... haha. But I got a super cool story....:
So a couple of weeks ago we taught this Less-Active. He's a Japanese Stunt-Man and lived in L.A. for 4 years and did movie shoots there! But this lesson he set up with us... just called us one night and said "I want a lesson tomorrow"... So we met with him and he asked a TON of questions!... And it was super cool... we were able to answer every single one of his questions with the Book of Mormon... and then we felt impressed to dwell on this topic and focused on the Book of Mormon the whole lesson.... then by the end of it he was like "You know, both of you impressed me very much today... I actually scheduled this appointment today for the sole purpose of returning this... (pulls out the Book of Mormon)... I never opened it or had any intention to read it... even when I was baptized I didn't see much importance for it..... But now you have motivated me to read it now!!".... I was just like.... uhum.... uhum.... and screamed to myself a little silent "WOOO HOOOOOOOOO" And then just as we finished the lesson he got a call... and then he went and took it... then came back a few minutes later and was like "ELDERS! ELDERS!!!..... Ever since I've been coming to church and you've been telling me to pray... I've been praying I can get a job opening for a movie shoot because I haven't had one in forever! But I just got a call from some people who need me tonight to shoot a scene for a movie! God has answered my prayers!!! Thank you!!!!" And then he invited us to come and watch hahah, I was so cut we couldn't go hahah but we were super happy that things were going good for him now!... All because he was coming back to church. So that was a really cool experience... I have no doubt in my mind that the Book of Mormon can change lives.... even for this man.... it didn't play a part of his conversion... thus the statement by Jeffrey R. Holland... "One cannot come to full faith in this gospel without embracing the divinity of the Book of Mormon"... And so even though this guy has been baptized.... as he reads the Book of Mormon... he's going to be fully converted :D.... WOO HOOO!!!!
I don't have much time to write like I did last week. So I'll just give you scriptures to ponder on hahaha, much easier... So this week is "Charity and Love"..... And as you read the following scriptures just think "How did Jesus Christ demonstrate Charity?".... Ether 12:33-34....Alma 7:11-13..... Luke 7:12-15.... 2 Nephi 26:24-28........ Then....... Mosiah 28:3.... if we have enough Charity and Love and fully realize what Jesus Christ has done for us we can come to be like this and want to spread this Gospel to EVERYONE... Then my all time favorite scripture relating to helping the poor and being charitbale.... Mosiah 4:15-26..... WOOOO!!!.... The more you love your Heavenly Father and your Savior Jesus Christ... the more you will look on those perishing souls with compassion.... you will feel you will want to take them upon your shoulders and cast their sins and burdens behind your back..... So try to focus on that this week! :) 

An Arm and a Leg and a Challenge

I'll tell you one really cool story... Me and my companion had been teaching the whole day and he felt too drained to teach the last lesson so we went on teaching trade-offs with the Zone leaders and so me and this other Elder taught the last lesson to our investigator..... I don't think I've told you haha.. His name is "Arm" haha. We always made dry jokes like... Hey is your brothers name Leg?... lolz we're so sad... but anyways I was pretty mentally drained as well from like 6 hours of teaching haha... but this last lesson was THEE BEST of the day hands down.... we taught the last half of the Plan of Salvation and we set his baptismal date and he eagerly accepted! And once we finished the lesson he prayed on the spot about his baptism.... he asked if this date was the best for him and then paused for a long time in silence.... and then he started thanking heavenly father for giving him this warm feeling and said he knew this date was the best for him! Then he closed and me and the other Elder just looked at each other like...... what. the........ WOOOOOO HOOOO!!! hahahah. It was so cool!

But this week was ridiculous... I don't even remember what happens anymore... We've been the busiest we've ever been... We had like 4 days where we didn't even go outside haha... we just taught the WHOLE day... It's a really good experience though.. we're seeing our investigators increase their desire to come more often to learn...  I'll tell you the challenge I have for everyone who reads this email or my blog etc. So our mission is working on a Christlike Attribute every week until Christmas... So what's gonna happen is... 1. I will give you something to read from Preach My Gospel.... then 2. I'll give you scripture references to study and link together.... and you better do them cause I spent a while finding scriptures that could tell a story hahah. Then 3. Pray every morning for help to use this attribute in your day... then at night report to the Lord on your progress.... And 4. Ask others around you to join in on this..... So for this week it will be "Hope"..... So here we go.... Read this:

"Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you. It is manifest in confidence, optismism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. It is believing and expecting that something will occur. When you have hope, you work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that all things will work together for your good. Hope helps you conquer discouragement. The scriptures often describe hope in Jesus Christ as the assurance that you will inherit eternal life in the celestial kingdom... President James E. Faust taught: "Hope is the anchor of our souls..Hope is trust in God's promises, faith that if we act now, the desired blessings will be fulfilled in the future... The unfailing source of our hope is that we are sons and daughters of God and that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, saved us from death."

Now scripture study.... 

1. Romans 8:24-25... Definition of Hope... 

2. Jacob 4:4... Example of those who had hope... 

3. Moroni 7:40-41... What do we hope for... 

4. A blessing of Hope in Atonement... 

5. Alma 30:13,15,39-44.... There will always be opposition against our hope...  

6. 2 Nephi 31:20... Blessing of enduring opposition with hope.... 

7. D&C 138:14.... What we all hope for... 

I put this together in like 30 mins so don't judge me... I'll try to make a better one next week... But your commitment for the week is to do these things! Yayyyyy! Love you byeeee! 

So Solid!

I had never been so excited or ever understood the importance of watching general conference until I came on my mission haha, sad. But goodness, there were so many great talks. But my absolute favorite was Jeffrey R. Holland... I won't even try to quote it cause it's too good, just watch it! And something super super super cool! We had one of our investigators, she came on Sunday to watch the 2 sessions and she didn't really understand much... but after she said... "I didn't understand really anything from there.... but I could understand 1 sentence that the prophet said.... love those that hate you.... so I want to make that my goal because the prophet told us!" THEN!.... She said "My 2nd goal... I want to serve a mission now.... I really want to serve a mission now!".... :O .... Our investigator..... who hasn't even been baptized yet......  what. the. swag ........ mind. blown.

 It was another super busy week of teaching... But I'm super sad, one of our golden X1000000 recent converts, she's moving back to Thailand this Saturday.... Her story is just amazing... she really only came to Australia for the sole purpose of meeting missionaries and joining this church.... she planned to stay for a  long time but now has to go back for some reasons... she's super super awesome though I'm going to miss her! 

But this week was pretty crazy.. things are picking up like crazy! In the past 2 weeks we set 5 baptismal dates with our investigators and they're all SO SOLID! It's gonna be so awesome. And even this past Friday... our zone had 5 baptisms all at the same time... so we got to see them all get baptized... I hadn't felt the spirit so strong in a baptism before.. (duhh cause it was 5X the spirit) lolz.

But I have to go now... but before I go... Read this... Alma 36:3... And apply it to yourself... so for example it starts "And now, O my son/daughter (insert name),.... And then think how you can apply the counsel in your life..

Yelling out from the 27th floor!

(In response to the news about the lowering of the Mission age....) YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so so so so so excited!!!! Obviously we're like you in NZ, we have to wait til next week for General Conference... but someone texted us last morning and I read it and literally screamed, I was like WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! For real, you probably already know this but this is going to be a milestone in church history.... This is a sign of the second coming for real... I'm no prophet but now we're going to have more missionaries that will be going forth spreading the truth til it has penetrated every continent and ear... And this is especially huge for girls... for example... Remember that member I met from Taiwan that was looking for the church? Well she's 18... and I was talking with her and she started crying cause she was so happy she didn't have to wait 3 years to serve, she could now go in 6 months!  And tell all my friends Ash, Tiffany, Callyn etc. that they should go! :) YAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! So happy! Hearing that makes me want to serve a mission then I'm like... PSYCH! I'm already serving!!!
There's a quote that goes something like... "It is true intelligence of a man to unfold something so great and mysterious so that a child can understand" <-- it's in PMG chapter 10 'teach for understanding' I think... but meaning that the better you get at teaching simple doctrines so that people can fully understand... that's when the spirit can more easily come in and smash them.. Anywhoooo... This week was pretty dang awesome! We did SO MUCH teaching... and thats every missionaries dream to just teach all week haha. We got to resovle a bunch of our investigators concerns so say hello to entering into the covenant with the loorrrrd :)  Here's a simple but powerful quote... "It may be small, but if it's your all... It's enough" Something I learned on my mission super quickly.... is this right here.... when I came out I was super focused on smashing numbers and baptisms etc... but then being disappointed when you put in so much effort and receive little results.... The Lord won't base the success of your mission on your numbers.... but more importantly on your sacrifice... "It may be small, but if it's your all... It's enough"
(In response to me telling him that people in 7 countries read his blog)
And goodnessssss... So many people reading my blog... welp... might as well do some good with this opportunity as they're reading.... REPENT.... REPENT!!! REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED!!!!..... hahaha we live on the 27th floor and some nights I just open the window and yell that out to the city...  But for this weeekk..... This week was a super cool reminder of how fortunate we are to have this priesthood restored to the earth once again.... So far on my mission I haven't given many blessings really... maybe just to my companion but that's it.... this week out of nowhere.. everyone asked me for a blessing it seemed... I had really cool experiences but I'll share one.... It was Ray.... It was preparation day and we were out shopping (I needed a shoulder bag)... And he calls us and says he's really sick and needed a blessing... And he has heart problems so his health is up and down a lot... So we ran over to the chapel to give him a blessing and we get there and his face was super pale and he was just out of it... I even questioned if he should go to the hospital... But we went in and got ready to give him a blessing.... and 2 things I was grateful for at that time... 1... being a worthy priesthood holder capable of giving a blessing.... 2.... having consecrated oil on me... But we gave him a blessing and it was just super spiritual.... by the time I finished he was crying and we just hugged... We then left to go home and change back into proselyting clothes... and came back like 30mins later.... we then saw him and he was 100% normal.... And the only thing I remembered saying in the blessing was that he would be "restored and made well".... And what do you know... he was.... And that makes me think of D&C 121:36.... "The rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness"... We are entitled to the powers of heaven if we exercise our priesthood in righteousness... it's just up to us if we want to rob ourselves of those blessings or not... Anywaysss I have to go!! Love youuuu! Bye!

Awesome Blossom!

But gahhhhh.... Tell Ashley, Callyn and Tiffany I'm sorry for not writing yet... Next P-Day I'm seriously planning the WHOLE p-day to do nothing but just write so I can reply to them... and Sundays... pfft... You wouldn't believe it... That's supposed to be the most relaxing day of the week right? For missionaries it's the most hectic/stressful.. I barely get to enjoy sacrament meeting haha. We have to call all our Recent Converts and Investigators for church and have fellowships for each of them then some fellowships dont show up so you have to take care of like a billion people... Then we have Missionary Coordination meeting, then district evaluation, then weekly planning, then calls for setting lessons during the week... and down time doesn't exist here... they give you 9:30-10:30 to unwind etc. but in the city we have to keep making calls and planning... It's tough work but I love it... we have more miracles with the more work we do. And I was reading in Preach My Gospel this morning and found something hilarious I've never seen before! Hahaha, "The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hands. Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we may not feel it at all. (No wonder that the word of wisdom was revealed to us, for how could the drunkard or the addict feel such a voice?)" BOOM! I LOLed when I read that.
This week was super awesome though... we got this AWESOME investigator... she's a referral from one of our golden recent converts. But we were meeting with her on the 3rd visit and she pulls out her Book of Mormon all marked with notes everywhere and bookmarks and came willing to learn... She even told her mom in China she was learning about our church and so her mom is going to go to Hong Kong to pick up a Book of Mormon to read!!! MIRACLE! And we also met this awesome girl  from Norway but her mom is from Philippines so she visits every year... and her uncle is the Bishop there, so she's learned before and willing to learn again! So cool! We also have this super cool golden awesome blossom amazing golden member who said he will give me subway for free for a whole year when I visit him in Guangzhou after my mission, I'm essited! We got a lot of good things happening right now so we're trying to keep it up! We're so so busy though! Usually we struggle to get our investigators to church and baptismal services etc... but this week we had 7 investigators come to the baptism and church! o.O And we broke a zone record of investigators who attended sacrament meeting! It was 28 before and we got 30 yesterday! BOOM! Love you byeee!!

The Train Miracle.....

Anywhooo, I got some good stories this week and  many many humbling experiences... I'll tell you each one... For the first one I shallst tell you..... DUN DUN DUN... (horror music)....
#1  The Train Miracle..... So I had my first Zone Conference this past Tuesday... we were on our way back to the city on the train... Me and Elder V were talking about a whole bunch of random things the whole way like how we've grown on our missions, miracles we've seen etc... Then we arrived in the city... as we were all getting up to leave I felt impressed to take out a pass along card and I just chucked it on the seat next to me as I was leaving and not really thinking much of it... So we were in Institute later that night... and we got a phone call... but not just any ordinary phone call..... It was some random from Zimbabwe and we were like what the heck?... How'd you get our number?... The he said "I found your card on the train and I started reading the questions and wanted to know more, so I called!" (It was a Temple Pass-Along Card that had questions like - Whats the purpose of life, what is the true nature of God? etc.) And I was like Oh. My. Goodness. And it was just silent.... then he was asking if he could meet us and learn more! So we got his details and referred him to the Elders near him and he was so excited to meet them!.... But it was absolutely insane.. Out of all the ways of contacting people... on the street, tracting, flyers, referrals etc. This guy found the church from a pass along card on the train.....
 #2... Our recent convert brought her friend S to this lunch devotional we have every friday... And we have speakers from the stake or temple presidency talk about how the Gospel blessed their life... so this lady Sister B she straight smashed everybody with her conversion story... and then afterwards... S went up to Brother and Sister B and was asking like.. I don't know if God is there... I don't know if I've ever felt the Spirit before?!... Then Brother B simply replied... " You can't focus on feeling it... if you do... you don't know what to expect... just let it flow naturally and you will feel it"... not even a second later I kid you not... she burst out crying and said she felt so happy being in the church... And then we had a lesson right after and it was BEYOND incredible... the spirit was so strong and we helped her recognize that throughout all the day it was the spirit that she was feeling... So that was super cool to see how the Spirit worked within her...
#3.. I was finding on George Street at World Square and I usually hate finding on this particular corner... because it's super busy and a billion smokers everywhere but I felt prompted to go around there... so I get there and I'm like... hmnn.... who to talk to?.... So I'm like scanning around to see some potentials and then some girl walks up to me and was like "OH OH OH ARE YOU A MISSIONARY?!?!" I was like... Yeah, why's that?.. "I just moved here from Taiwan, I'm a member!!! I've been looking for the church everywhere and I can't find it!!! Where is it?!" So I showed her where it was and then we exchanged numbers if she ever needed any help etc... then left....Then 2 days later I saw here there and she was talking with a member and I overheard him say to her, "Ah well I'm so happy you found the church!!" Then she replied.. "Ah so am I!!... I was praying and praying to meet a missionary so I could find the church and then I met Elder Ball on the street!!" And when I heard that I was like... Oh snap.... hahaha. It was super humbling to be the answer to someones prayer!... And then to connect that back to the prompting I had to go to that corner.... Every single thing happens for a reason.... MIRACLE!.
I gots another story for youuu!... And be sure to pass a part of it on to Tiffany, Taylor, Ashley, Callyn....and whoever else thinks I'm not black.... So this golden investigator we have, she's so super cool!! Like beyond cool! And we were talking and she LOVES America so she keeps asking me about it and what not... then as I was explaining something she stops and is like "WAIT!.... Why do you sound like a black guy...." I was like.... o.O excuse me?... Was I dreaming?... can you please repeat that?.... Then she starts imitating me... like "Yeah you sound like a black person!!! Like... "Yo... come to church dude.... my name is Elder Ball... I'm black!" Hahahah, so good...(so yeah tell them that story).... But whats even awesomer!!... She came to church from 10-3:30.... For the whole 3 hours... then we had a branch lunch after and then a CES Fireside with Jeffrey R. Holland speaking.... and she loved all of it!!.... And right after the fireside finished she looked at me and was like... "I've enjoyed my day so much here!!.... How do I join the church?"..... once again I was like... Excuse me?... Was I dreaming?... Can you please repeat that?... lolz... So I explained baptism to her and what not so dat pretty kooo....
And I am just so humbled to be an instrument in the Lord's hands .There's a talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf that talks about a statue of Jesus Christ in Berlin... it was being moved and the statues hands crumbled... so the sculptor asked do you want me to make another set of hands?... And one of the people said no just leave them be..... Later on that statue of Jesus Christ was set in public somewhere and the quote on it read "This statue has no hands.... because we are God's hands..." And that's the truth... goodness gracious... miracles never cease.

Mobs and Miracles

Hahaha owned by the lightbulbs... but no joke... my 1st week here like 4 lightbulbs blew out in our flat... satan didn't want us to have light haha. But anywhooo... this week was pretty insane... I don't know if you saw on the news but there was a riot here a couple days ago... supposedly Americans posted something bad on youtube about Muhhamed, the Muslim's prophet... so it got pretty violent here, and there were cops/ambulances everywhere... we couldn't go finding for like 4 hours til it cleared up.. and even when we were walking to dinner we had to walk without our badges otherwise we probz woulda got stabbed haha. On the bright side we had a pretty awesome miracle (actually 2)... I was on trade offs so I wasn't there for the 1st one... but Elder A & S went to help a member move some stuff... and this person had to be at the member's house cause they bought something from them online... and they came the exact time the missionaries got there... and they asked them their name... then saw "Jesus Christ" on the badge and flipped out.. like OMG! CHRISTIANS!!... IVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR A CHRISTIAN CHURCH SINCE I GOT HERE!.... But I finally got to meet them this past weekend and they are SO COOL!... And beyond prepared by the Lord... it's so insane... We got this new investigator I met them on the street last week and they had met with the missionaries 6 years ago.. So I convinced them to come and see us again... little did I know... this person knows the Bible like the back of their own hand... We would be teaching Restoration and they're like... wait wait that doesn't sound right.. then throw all these numbers and dates of history of what actually happened... like to the exact 689 B.C. of what prophet was teaching and what not.... The Lord must be testing us or something hahaha. But I'll leave you two quotes.... This is mixed by Thomas S. Monson and Robert D. Hales... " We live in a troubled world, a world of many challenges. We are here on this earth to deal with our individual challenges to the best of our ability. To learn from them and to overcome them. There is nothing however that we are enduring that Jesus does not understand. So endure to the end we must, for our goal is eternal life in the presence of our Father in Heaven. He loves us and wants nothing more than for us to succeed in this goal. He will help us and bless us as we call upon Him in our prayers, as we study His words and as we obey His commandments. Then shall our prayers be answered, our problems will diminish and we will be close to the Lord and feel of His love and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Life on earth as we know it is only temporary. And if we endure it well the Lord has promised us.. "And if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God" (D&C 14:7)...  BOOM!... Last but not least... (p.s. send me any quote you like... because I love quotes...) "Sacrifices today are in reality opportunities, the same as they have always been. Remember the promise made by the Savior: ... "There is no man that left house, or parents, or bretheren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting" Keep reading your scriptures everyday :) p.s. I had a dream I was playing song pop this week and I was like WAIT!.... I can't play this.... and I got sent home lolz... love you bye!

A Dream Come True?

fun fact:.. I'm listening to a conversation behind me like "nah dude... you know him... I know that you know him.. cause I know that he knows you... so you must know him if we both know you.." People these days... Anyways I don't have much time sorry but I shallst tell you a story... One of our investigators...  they have such a great desire to change and be with their family again... we had a ton of lessons with them this past week and each one was so powerful!.... They were scheduled for baptism... but this morning we decided they weren't quite ready... we explained how people perceive baptism as a completion... but nay... this is a door for opportunity.... to grow and learn... to ultimately reach the temple and be sealed with their family for eternity.... and so now they're scheduled to be baptized in 2 weeks so that's pretty sweet!... And about getting fed enough.. zomg Ashley's dream is coming true.. she wrote her letter saying she wants me to get fat cause "dat be funni" <- her words... I've gained like 3-4 kgs (7-9lbs) here so far... and that's bad cause I usually never gain weight.. Next week I plan to starve myself... This week was pretty dang awesome.. We had such good finding days.. So far I've found almost more potentials in the first week of the transfer than I found in the past 6 weeks.. MIRACLES. I even got into a lovely conversation with another church handing out "Jesus loves you...." Then on the other side it subtly said "heaven or HELL!!!!!!!!!!" hahaha, and they came up to me asking all these things... "what's it mean for you to follow Jesus?" "how do you know Joseph Smith was a true prophet?" but I talked with them for a while and then bore them my testimony and walked off.... like.a.boss.... It was awesome though.. as I was talking to them, bearing my testimony (and getting told if I continue to believe in Joseph Smith... I'll be going to hell) I felt the spirit so strong and it just testified to me that the church was true... This week as well was just a confirmation of how important the Book of Mormon is to our religion.. the keystone... and Jeffery R. Holland SMASHES with this quote... "For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked... denied and deconstructed.. targeted and torn apart.. like perhaps no other book in modern religious history.. perhaps like no other book in ANY religious history.. In this I stand with my own great grandfather who said simply enough- No wicked man could write such a book as this, and no good man would write it.. unless it were true.. and he were commanded of God to do so.. I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this Latter-day work and thereby find the fulness measure of peace and comfort in these our times until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ of whom it testifies".... (zomg).... I think we often take the Book of Mormon for granted too much... If you read/hear the rest of the talk he goes on to say nevermind that children would leave footprints of blood across frozen rivers... nevermind that Joseph and others left their wives and families to be widowed... all for a book that they made up?... THEY WOULD NOT DO THAT... <-- (zomg).... So yeah... go read the B.O.M :) love you byeeee :)

So much to say...so little time!

But gahh it's annoying having such little time to email.. I have a billion things to tell this week.. but I'll share some experiences with you... So we went on trade offs, I went with my DL and last time I went to his area... but this week he came to mine and I ran the area... And so we had a lesson with this golden recent convert and I based it on the Atonement off of that poem that mom emailed to me last week.. and it was a double whammy cause they are thinking about going on a mission and they have had a rough week prior to our lesson so it was just so perfect... And by the end of the lesson we were all crying.. it was ridic... and we asked them what the Atonement was to them... and when they bore their testimony... that was one of the strongest times I've ever felt the Spirit... once again... ridiculousness. Another lesson we had with a member, that lesson was beyond spiritual as well! Like it was so intense it's hard to describe... they were telling us the turning point in their life just a week ago where they decided to serve a mission... and we all went around the room right after sharing why we all went... and it was just insane... really... once again cause of time I cant go into detail but you can read it in my journal another day haha. Something I've had to learn to apply here as well in the city... we GQ all day and you can't help but have a sense to look at people here and think "nahh they wouldn't be interested".. but something that always helps me... Every single person on the earth is on this scale of 1-7.... 1 being they are absolutely not interested or ready for the Gospel... and 7 they're basically ready to be baptised... and we talk with so many people and when we get rejection or get sworn at etc... I just think... hmn... they were probs a 1... and now moved up to a 1.3 :) No matter what you do you're planting seeds when you preach the Gospel whether you know it or not. Thank you so much though for having a blog, because yeah it's impossible to write letters at the moment... I hope you have a good week, Love you byeeee!

He's Been There Before

			This was Caleb's favourite Missionary Poem before he went on his mission and he asked us to send it to him so he has it to share with others. He's Been There Before The alarm rings at 6:30; I stumble to my feet I grab my companion's bedding and pull off his sheet. A groan fills the room. It's already time to arise?" It seems like just a second ago I was able to shut my eyes. The morning activities follow: study, prayer and such When its time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much "We have a super day planned," my Companion says with a grin. I lowly utter a faithless breath, "Yea, if anyone lets us in." With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street. Prepared to face another day of humidity and heat It's 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through. My companion and I are riding home, not accomplishing what we thought we'd do. We ride up to the mail box hoping to receive a lot. Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate "Air Box" We go up to our apartment; the day is now complete the only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet It's past 10:30 Pm, my companion is fast asleep. Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep In the midst of sadness I kneel down to pray; I need to talk to Father, but I'm not sure what to say. "Oh Father," I begin, "What happened to us today? I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away My hands, my aching hands worn, hurt and beat If our area was any smaller,we'd have knocked on every street." Why on missions are the days so much alike? the only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike. Will you send some cooler weather? the heat is killing me! I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes. Its very hard to see. Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't your protection enough? People always laugh at me and call me stupid stuff. Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack; I want to give them a Book Of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back. And what about my Family? They don't have much to say. I'm sick of not hearing from home day after day. Oh Father,why am I here, Am I just wasting my time? Sometimes I just want to go home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind. My Companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me? The way he rides his bicycle I don't know if he can even see! Now you have it, I can't go on. I DON'T KNOW what to do! That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I leave you." My prayer now finished I stand up, then jump right into bed. I need my feet for tomorrow; we have another long day ahead Sleep starts to overtake me, I seem to drift away. Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day. I'm standing alone on the hill, the view is very nice. A man walks towards me and says, "My name is Jesus Christ." Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet. "Arise he states, follow me to the shade, you and I need to speak." My attention turns towards my Saviour, total and complete He says, "Your Mission is similar to what happened to me. I understand how you feel, I know what you're going through; In fact, it would be fair to say I've felt the same as you. "Even know how you felt when no one listened to you At times I felt not quite sure what else that I could do. I know you don't like to ride a bicycle for a car would be sweet. Just remember the donkey I rode was not equipped with 21 speed. I understand you don't like sweating, in fact it's something to hate. I remember when I sweat blood from every pore,  Oh, the agony was great. I see you don't like your companion, you would rather have someone else. I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth. It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you. I remember when they put thorns in my head and called me King of the Jews. So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack. I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back." Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way. It's hard not to hear from home when your family was not there to see. I lost communication on the cross and cried, "Father, why has thou forsaken me?" We have a lot in common, but there is a difference between us you see. I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me." He embraced me with his arms, His light filled me with His love. With tears in my eyes, I watched as he went back to the Father above. I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head. I listened and heard the alarm, when I realized I was in my bed. My companion lets out a groan, "6:30 already, no way!" I sat up and said, "Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today!" No matter what we go through when we feel we can't take more, Just stop and think about Jesus Christ, He's been there before.
by Troy Whittle

It's all about the Attitude Dude

But yeah I'm doing good! I'm lucky I have the right sense of humor for everything... so even if its a bad week it really isn't... It's all about your attitude.. I hear stories of some elders who get transferred into the bush with branches of 15 people and just cause they have good attitudes they set the work on fire out in the middle of nowhere... so it's always good depending how you look at it... But I still haven't taught many people I've found yet... everyone in the city ARE SO BUSY! Like legitly... it's mostly students so they are either always at school or work... its crazy.. Like this week has been a good start... we taught an investigator this morning again... It's crazy seeing how much people can improve with the gospel... they used to be kinda of bitter about everything now they actually like things haha... weird... this weekkk... it was pretty crazy, up and down. Bunch of our investigators dropped us so we barely taught.. just a bunch of finding. It was ballin though, I've always had like high expectations, like YEAHH IMA GET 10 POTENTIALS EVERY TIME I FIND!.... nek minnut... only like 3... But friday I finally acheieved it!! SWAG!... So that was pretty cool... what else... I seriously can't remember anything that goes on anymore.. i have to look at my planner to know what happened this past week haha. Next monday i'll have accomplished my 1st transfer.... but since I can't think of anything I'll share with you some insights too. hahaha. Mosiah 4 is all about caring for the poor and being merciful to them... so there's a verse that says "all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give".. then it goes on to say if you have that attitude you wont be condemned :) And then Jefferey R. Holland says "The joy god has of being god is the thrill of being merciful"... So be merciful unto the beggars/poor people because in the end it is the merciful that will take mercy... BOOM!... Sorry for no stories... but next week I'll be sure to have plenty with my dandy journal :) love you byeee!

Pictures in Sydney

 View from the flat.

 There was a crack in the wall, so they got creative and put down the principles from the fourth article of faith such as: baptism, repentance etc.

 

Clean missionary flat.

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness!

But this week was super awesome!! One of the members is struggling right now and so after stake conference one night we were with a huge group out in train station in the middle of nowhere basically and it was real cool we went out into this forest type of area (felt like Joseph Smith) And we started a group fast together for them, so that was really cool! And I had my first dinner with a member, he's from NY but served in Thailand, he's so cool! We're visiting with that person I found tomorrow actually! Should be sweeet! I've actually been cleaning since I've been here believe it or not... crazy huh? It's cause we believe the more clean we are the more revelation we will receive. So yesterday was the All Mission Conference and it was so so so so good! I got like 6 pages of revelation notes haha. This week shall be a good one! And a crazy story and a photo for you! So in Stake Conference Saturday I was told there was this Elder from Arizona here so I was like saweet! Then he comes up and we talk, then we both found out we were from mesa... Then I realized, Wait I met you before!! Then he was like noooo? Then I remembered me and Chantry met him once for a job interview for AMC... And I remember when we met him he was starting his papers! It was so funny! We had trade-offs on Thursday and I went with the DL. It was cray we taught so good together. We taught this golden too... it was the 1st lesson and he was answering all the questions the way you would want someone to, so then we felt prompted to invite him for baptism... so the DL looks at me to do it and first I wanted to find the picture of Jesus being baptized in this picture book and so im flipping through trying to find it and the DL is just stretching it out as long as possible hahah like.... So... Baptism.,... is.... it's..... Elder Ball... (cough).... Then I finally found it hahaha so I was like... will you follow th- "yes yes!"... example of jesus chr- "yes!" Mid through invitation he kept saying yes.... I was thinking.... say yes one more time before i finish the invitation and ill bust a cap in yo hahahah jk, it was so sweet! Sad I wont teach him though he's in another area -_- I wish I could tell you more but I gotta go. But I love you and have a good week bye!

Finding Miracles

This week was pretty good... we did trade offs, I went with the ZL and we themed the day "Finding Miracles" because we did 5 hours of finding... there were some crazy miracles indeed.... but my favorite was after all this we were completely drained and heading back to the flat at night... but we decided to find 1 more potential... and lo and behold I found one more person... and he seems pretty legit... so it's nice to know hard work pays off.. We're going to Opera House next week, so I'll take pictures. But hopefully I'll have some baller stories next week... nothing too exciting right now... Love you peaceee!

Doppelgangers and more

But to answer your questions, we haven't cooked yet once... I bought everything to make chili but we don't have time to cook... we barely eat even haha, we have plenty of money but we're just always busy so we skip dinner a lot. But when we do eat we just get take out.. we're pretty healthy.. nbd. But something funny I forgot to tell you guys... My companion is a doppelganger.... He looks.... no joke..... Like Harry Potter lolzlolzlolz. We haven't taken any pictures yet so maybe next week cause we've been busy... This weeks been awesome though, still trying to find some solid people to teach.. but just before we came to email... goodness gracious.... So we got a referral from Church Headquarters to see this guy cause he wanted a blessing, and our Zone leaders gave him to us cause he's sick at the moment... and it was ridiculous how it all worked out... we were definitely the missionaries that were supposed to see him... He has really been struggling. So we just taught him for a little bit and gave him a blessing and the spirit was pretty ridiculous... It's my 2nd week only and this guy committed himself to baptism, I was like.... well dat koo... hahaha. We met with a former investigator and he's like... "so yeah uhm... i just wanted to come in to see if you guys got like an update for me or anything" We were like.... yeah the Gospel is the same since you last learned.. there's no updates.... then he was just confused and wanted an update hahaha. Also another funny story... So we talked to this violinist busking on the street.... and no joke.... he lectured me.... not my companion.... me.... he started talking straight at me for 20mins... lecturing me on parental controls on computers and how useful they are.... and you know when your trying not to smile but your lips start quivering with smiling?... I was doing that... then just lost it and basically laughed straight in his face hahaha.... that wasn't too good.... Yeah a lot of weird things lately... And the weather is AMAZING here... Idk why your asking though mom... I'm sure you have a widget of Sydney weather and you just stare at it along with my picture thinking.... oh 5degrees.... he'll need a coat.... hmmm... yeah... thatll help... hahaha. And also to answer the other questions... our flat is a couple blocks away from the church.... and the teaching center is the 1st floor of this office building... and the 2nd floor is the church and it's just rented out... so yup. But hope you guys are doing good, love you byeeeeee

Life in Sydney

So the flight over was crazy, it was complete fog... when you looked out you couldn't see anything at all... and we knew we were descending but out of nowhere it was like BOOMGAHGFUFSMJD, and we had landed.... hahah it was probably the roughest landing ever... so then we got out and met President, his wife the AP's.... and they were surprised we landed cause the Provo Elders were redirected to Brisbane cause of fog so we probs coulda died... nbd.. the lords got our back.. So we had interviews with President and did role play and had to teach him in the 5 hours we waited... not intimidating at all.... Anyways we went to see the Opera House after the Provo Elders got here.... then went to mission home and met with all the trainers... then we had dinner and during that Pres and the AP's counseled and prayed what trainer/area we would have. And I met Elder A and was praying i'd be with him cause he was tighhhttttt! And when they read out the companions... I WAS WITH HIM! YAYY! It was a triple bonus... I got him as my companion, our area is the city (everybody agrees the best area in the mission) And the best flat in the mission... We're on the 27th floor and got a nice view ;) win. He's from Switzerland though and he's real cool! This week has been awesome! Despite not having barely any investigators to teach it's still good! And we serve in a YSA Branch so no members feed us, but it's alg cause they always help us with fellowshipping investigators so I'd rather have them do that than feed us. And P-day today we don't have much planned... just gonna go get lunch soon then I'm not sure... write some letters, watch some district 2 (documentary about San Diego missionaries) <- you should watch it it's awesome. But yeah they have a new thing called the 12week program so that's how long i'll be trained so i'll be in the City for 3 months guaranteed, but I hope I stay way longer cause it's awesome here... We flat with the ZL's and Elder R was born into this area and has never left since... and he's been out for 1 year now!! Cray-zee.... But yeah the mission is GREAT! This week we're hoping to pull out some miracles and get a bunch of investigators... We do finding here in the city which is the most effective by GQ'ing everyone, it was so intimidating my first time but it gets fun after a while. It's hard work but at the same time it's super fun. I got lucky being in the city though, we have a teaching center so everyone meets there instead of meeting at their homes so its pretty convenient. And the finding here is AWESOME! Elder R who's been here for a year in the city, hes never knocked on a single door on his mission... cause in the city there's hundreds of people on the street all the time so the most effective way is to just talk to them. My area is the highest baptizing for asian's in the world... and i see why now... out of the 10-14 missionaries in my district... you see them at the teaching center all the time and their investigators have never been white... so far the investigators we've has have been from, Thailand, Korea, China, Indonesia, Italy, Peru,Vietnam, Japan. So it's pretty crazy... I don't think I'm gonna pick up an aussie accent at this rate.. On Saturday we had planned to teach 5 people... each of those fell through so that day was like a failure and then I called all our other Investigators to see if they wanted to see a Baptism that night, and everyone said no, then we got down to the last hope, a potential we met on the street and she was willing to come and long story short, she's golden and her mom's looking for a church in Korea as well.... so if we teach her it's possible we convert her family... we shallst see. I'll talk to you next week, love you byeeee!

 Elder Ball with his Mission President and Wife.

Pictures from the MTC.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

When I went out proselyting Thursday this lady was yelling at me and my senior companion saying we get paid for this and we should do it for the love of the people... little did she know.. haha. I don't have much time we have to pack and clean today, but yeah I'm off to Sydney tomorrow at 4:45am and I'm the "Flight Travel Leader" so now I have to make sure a bunch of irresponsible crackheads get on the plane -_- Theres a lot of us here going to sydney, like 10, then we'll be meeting the new ones from provo at the airport as well. Not much went on this week, it's gone by super quick though. I'll email you guys Monday then if that's my pday haha, love you byeee.

Random Stuff

This past week has been pretty baller, had everything from random stuff to spiritual... random stuff example: Someone tried impersonating 2pacs hologram resurrection thing by putting a bed sheet over them and knocking on doors and rapping to people hahaha. Spiritual: Me nd my companion have the knack for "spiritually winging it, we don't make a lesson plan, just some questions in mind to ask and BOOM, it's some powerful stuff even if it's role-plays. This week Thursday we're going out tracting with the full time missionaries here in Auckland and we're only the 5th intake to do it out of like 40something, worrdd?? On Tuesday, me and my companion taught this guy. We taught him all of lesson 1 and it was like amazing, the spirit was there and we committed him to read the BOM and see him again, then our teachers tell us it's not real. We teach so good with the spirit but we know it's fake... I'm just ready to teach some real people in Sydney. Our District is like family, we eat breakfast, lunch, dinner together, hang out during breaks etc. so it's pretty sawweeettt! And some elders got a hold of my photo album and started perceiving it as a catalog and going like "OO I WANT HER"... "NO I WANT HER!" and then they start arguing so I hid it so no one can find it anymore hahaha. We're going to the temple tomorrow and today is 8 more days til I get to Sydney YAYYYY!But I'll share with you one of my fav. quotes that I found then I shallst depart cause times running out.

"Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required" Hope your have a good week! Love youuuu!

MTC

Holaaaaa, so I was supposed to email yesterday but my email account was being crazy. Anyways I barely have any time to email and they're only letting us write one person so you'll have to read this to everyone! I'm in Helaman district and we've only known each other for like 5 days or something nd we're all basically brothers. My companion is from Tonga, Elder Tu'i'onetoa, took me forever to perfect how to pronounce that. The MTC is pretty great, Sunday was ridiculous we watched a Jeffrey R Holland Fireside and the Joseph Smith story and the spirit was like.... BOOM! it physically punched me in the face. Anyways tell everyone I love them! I love youuuu bye! I love you guyssss!

Leaving for the MTC