Week 2 in Australia

Well this was my first full week in Australia. I drove for the first time, which actually was not too bad, I just had to focus really hard on what I was doing. I love my companion Elder Thomson, he is really great. He is really tall, he plays basketball for some college in Canada. It was also nice meeting my ward finally, and meeting the members. Everyone was really nice, and I know I am really going to love this ward. This week has been pretty good, have found a couple new investigators which is good. I learned you meet some interesting people when you are out contacting, and some really nice people. This week we have just been going through the area book continuing to contact previous investigators, and hoping that they are still interested. So far it has not been too successful, but there was one guy we found who was really nice. We taught him and his girlfriend my very first First Discussion, which was cool. This week was also a little frustrating because we had scheduled a chapel tour with an investigator who is supposed to be really interested in the church. I say supposed to be because we have not met her yet. The other missionaries taught her once, but she doesn't answer her phone and doesn't call us back. Once she did answer and we set up the chapel tour and we were excited, but right after we left our flat she texted us and told us she had a dentist appointment. Just a little frustrating, but we will keep trying. Other than that we have just been doing a lot of tracting and keep going through the area book. The ward has had 0 baptisms this year, and had set a goal for 6, so the pressure is on the ward a little, to get at least one. Hopefully with such a focus on missionary work something will be able to happen. Also the area authority came a couple of months ago, and told the missionaries something big was going to be announced at General Conference, so all of the missionaries are starting to guess what it is. Some say ipads since there are some missions who have been testing them out, but we will see in a month. Also I did have a minor bike accident on Friday, but don't worry I am alright, and it wasn't bad. I did rip one of my pairs of suit pants, so I just want to know what I need to do since they were missionary mall ones. I think I just have to take a picture, but I'm not sure. Also the other missionaries in our flat heard a rumor about the US embassy in Iran being bombed, so if you could confirm or deny that rumor, it would be great to know a little about what is happening in the world. Also what is the new iphone like? Well I hope you have a good week, and hope that BYU beats Boise on Thursday, hopefully they play better. Sorry no pictures again, not sure if it is a card reader problem, or a computer problem, but I will make sure to send some next week.

Love Elder Cook

Pictures from Perth

President and Sister Lindsay sent this picture.  It's good to see Alex looking so happy after his long trip!

Here they are again with Alex's first companion.

First letter from Perth!

Well it has been a very busy but good week. President Lindsay met us at the gate when we got off, so it was really nice to have someone to tell us where to go, and not have to worry about anything. We went straight to the bike shop, and the owner was super friendly since the missionaries have been going there for a couple of years he gave us a discount. Then we just hung out at the mission home, had a great dinner and some interviews, and then crashed. It was an amazing nights sleep, probably because I hadn't slept in a bed for two days, and the bed was way better than the one at the MTC. I have actually had no jetlag, I guess if you cross enough time zones your body just gets so confused that it adapts pretty easily. I love both President and Sister Lindsay. We were their first real intake of missionaries since six weeks ago only one missionary came in, so they were really excited to have us. It is a little weird to see President Lindsay in real life, even though I didn't watch too much KSL I still place him there. Sister Lindsay is so worried about being new, but she tries so hard to learn and be the best she can. I am in the Heathridge North area in the city of Joondalup. I believe it is about 30 km from Perth, but is suburb of Perth. I am a little sad I have not seen a kangaroo yet, but I am in the middle of a town, so wasn't expecting too much. My trainer Elder Thomson said it was a couple of months before he saw one, but there are some big cemetaries that we can go too where we can see them, so we will have to do that on a pday soon. Elder Thomson is from British Columbia and has been out for a year. He is a Zone Leader with Elder Martin in our flat, who is training Elder Evans from my MTC district which is the first time the Zone Leaders have not been companions in this mission. Good to know that I am being trained by one of the best. It has been interesting because we are both new to the area. Actually the area was just split, and it is almost like opening a new area because the missionaries did not go up here that much because it was pretty far and they were on bikes. We are on bikes for the most part, but share the car with the other companionship, but they get it most of the time. It was stake conference on Sunday, so I still have not been able to meet the ward. It is a little weird driving on the left side of the road, but I am getting used to it. I just have to remember to look right then left, which is opposite of what I have been taught, but I am learning. I have actually been surprised by how subtle the Australian accent is, it really is not that thick. We will see if I pick it up, but I will definitley come back with some of their words like "heaps" and instead of just saying "sweet" or "cool" they say "sweet as" or "cool as" and don't finish the statement, just leave it like that. I haven't started saying those yet, but I will. I will probably have a slight accent but just not realize it since the assistants did, but they nor President and Sister Lindsay thought they did, but some missionaries do pick it up, so we will see. It probably just depends on how many Aussie or Kiwi companions I have.

Love you all, hope you have a G'Day (I have not actually heard this as much as I was expecting)

Elder Cook