Karratha Branch (May 20, 2013)

So it seems everyone is interested in this new area and the branch. This week there were quite a few people missing so there were only around 30 members there. This is a mission branch so President Lindsay is the district president and comes up here every three months. It is really weird because the branch has a lot more members, they just live hours away. There are around 8 young men, most of which come from one family. There are no young women, so we are under assignment from the Branch President to baptize a family with a young woman. It is weird being in a branch because the building is really cozy and there are not that many members. It was funny because we had two investigators at church which was really good and we were giving one a tour of the chapel before church. Probably the shortest chapel tour ever because there is only the hall, kitchen/library, clerks office/classroom, Branch Presidents office and the chapel. It was good to have investigators at church. One has schizophrenia which is interesting to teach, but it has been good for his mental health to listen to us and to come to church. The other is from Korea and is pretty keen. Good thing I have a Korean companion because his English is good until we start talking about religion. Elder Shin had to translate for him during Sacrament meeting. It is also weird to think that this mining region called the Pilbara (but the first a is silent) has less people than Lodi. I do like the small branch though because I already know lots of the members when normally it takes me about two transfers to know all the members by name. I am excited for this area and how unique it will be, but also fun. I also learned that Karratha only has two seasons, hot and cool. It has been raining quite a bit which is really rare, so I am enjoying it while it lasts. And I am going to go to Utah and freeze in the winter if I am used to weather like this.

love,

Elder Cook

If the date and time are set right on Alex's camera, this was taken the day he left his previous area, in the morning.  I don't know where all the root beer came from (Australian's don't drink root beer) but I hope Alex didn't drink it all by himself! 

Also, here's the email he sent just to me answering some of my questions:

It made us laugh that we have a referral in a place called Exmouth, which is in the branch boundaries, but is 5 hours away by car. The referral secretary was asking us if we would be able to get there, because she thought we had a car. Even with a car it would be an entire day driving. She told us to talk with the Branch President and see if he has any ideas because I believe it is a less active who needs some help from the branch. Even people in Western Australia do not realize the distances. Many people think that Perth is Western Australia (I did until this transfer). Some people who have lived here in Karratha all their lives have a strong sense of community, but most people do not stay here too long. It is mostly young families and single men that live here because it is not the best place to raise a family once the kids get older, and it is too expensive to live if you are not working for the mines. It is a mission branch so President Lindsay is over it. President Lindsay visits about every three months, and is coming up next month. It is really narrow town, and I think there is a hill between us and the ocean. There is also a marsh close which looks like the ocean, but there are big hills on the other side so it was really confusing when I got here. 

Mother's Day Phone Call (May 13, 2013)

Alex got to call us on our Mother's Day, which was Monday for him.  It's a little challenging to coordinate our schedules on those two days a year when he can call us because he is 15 hours ahead of us.  It was great to hear his voice and know that he is happy and healthy.  Here are some of the highlights of our conversation:

On May 7 Alex was transferred to Karratha, a small town on the northern coast of Western Australia.  It is almost 1000 miles from Perth so he flew 2 1/2 hours to get there.  Because it was a domestic flight he could only take one suitcase.  His other suitcase with half his belongings and his bike are being stored in Perth until he returns.  He and his companion are the only missionaries in the town.  The nearest missionaries are 2 1/2 hours away by car, but they don't have cars so they won't be visiting each other. The branch of the Church in Karratha has about 50 to 60 members.

Karratha is a very expensive place to live.  The rent on their 2-bedroom townhouse is about $750 a week.  Alex said it is pretty nice except for the cockroaches in the kitchen and he planned to try to take care of that problem.  The $300 a month he gets for food and personal expenses had been more than enough in Perth but he expects to use it all in Karratha.  (While I was checking out Karratha on Google Maps, I noticed a Comfort Inn and checked the prices online -- rooms start at almost $400 a night!)

The ground is mostly red dirt, and Alex was told that his white shirts will never be white again after his time in Karratha.  He is very lucky to be there during Australia's winter.  He's already had some heat and some rain but it looks like the next few months should be mostly warm (not hot) and not too rainy with highs around 80 degrees F and lows around 60.  Summers there get really hot.

Because of the distance from the rest of the mission, Alex and his companion will have their zone conferences by conference call.  He doesn't know how long he will stay there, but probably more than one 6-week transfer because of the travel expense, and not more than 4 transfers (6-months) because that's the longest the missionaries stay in the remote areas.  The mission president wants them back in civilization and with other missionaries before too long.

Our conversation was longer than that but that covers the biggest news.  He is doing well, working hard, and enjoying himself in Australia.

Transfer News (May 6, 2013)

 This week has been really good. We were able to meet with that lady who called, but were not able to actually teach her yet, but she is really keen and keeps on setting appointments, instead of waiting for us to set them. This week was also weird because because people would start talking to us. There was a car we biked past at night and as we passed this lady opened the door and asked if we were mormons. We turned around and started to talk to her. At first she was curious about us, but then started to preach to us, and then was interested again. She was drunk and a little weird, but we are going to call her this week (if I am here) and see when we could come around. And a couple other times people would just start talking to us. They were not interested, but really nice and it was weird that somebody would approach a missionary. And I have some transfer news. The Assistants just called and said that I am going country! I am going up to Karatha, which is way far north and is a mining town. Elder Shin will be my companion, who is from my intake. This will be really new and exciting. And mom, to make you feel better, I have not heard of Karatha being dangerous at all. Also it is one of the higher baptizing branches. I can say I was not expecting that. I am sure I will have heaps to tell you on mothers day.

love,
Elder Cook

Transfer Almost Gone (April 29, 2013)

This coming week will be the last week of the transfer, so next week it will be exciting to see what happens. We know that Elder Su'a will be training next transfer so that means that I will probably be moving. The only reason I would stay would be if I am training. The entire zone keeps joking that I will be staying because I have not left the zone yet. It is impressive that I have not moved from the zone, but I find it funnier how many areas in the zone I have served in. This is my fourth area in the zone. It would not be as impressive if I had spent heaps of time in two areas, but I keep moving from area to area.

 

I know in the past you have asked me what we do for P-days. Normally it involves some sort of sport at the chapel. Last week we had heaps of fun playing lazer tag as a zone. normally lazer tag would be fun, but this one was even cooler because it was outside. The place does lazer tag and paint ball, so we were basically on a paintball course. Also they had a couple different areas so it was cool to mix it up. Normally lazer tag places have rules like no running, or crawling, or things like that, but this one had none of that. It was also nice because a member owns it so missionaries get half off. It was probably the best P-day I have had so far.

 

It was also cool as this week, our ward mission leader invited us over for dinner and we brought an investigator along. It was a good dinner because it was mexican food, and the family is American, so they could make decent mexican food (still not as good as home though). It was the best mexican food I have had on my mission so far. So I guess you know what I want my first meal to be when I come back home. Besides the food though the lesson was really good and we can tell that he definatley felt the Spirit.

 

We also had a cool experience. We got a call from this lady who got our number from other missionaries and said she wanted to meet with us. I was a bit stunned and set an appointment. I was a little confused because nobody just calls and wants to meet with us. We called the other missionaries who gave her our number and they told us that other missionaries had given her their number. They called those missionaries and told us that she was a less active wanting to come back. It made more sense then but I was slightly dissapointed, not that it was bad she was a less active, but I really wanted her to be an investigator. We go to meet her and she is really nice and we talk to her like she was a member. Elder Su'a asked if she was the only member in her family and she said yes. Later the conversation turned to how long has she been a member, and she did not understand, so we reworded a couple of ways and she said she was christian but not really religious. So we asked her if she is mormon, and she said "No...not yet." I really wish I could have seen my face at that moment. We were unable to teach her then, she just wanted to meet us first, but we are seeing her tomorrow. When people contact you we call these Cornelius moments, from Acts when Cornelius finds Peter to get baptized. So we learned that she is a former investigator who wants to be taught again. This was a good week and the area is slowly but surely picking up.

 

 

Love,

Elder Cook

Good Week (April 22, 2013)

This was a really good week. While the work is not as fast as I would like in this area, it did pick up this week which was good. We finally got a new investigator. It is the father of a former, and hopefully we can start to teach the whole family. We also found a potential who was pretty keen to learn from us, unfortunately he works in the mines so we will not be able to see him for a bit, but it was nice to have someone be interested.

We also had a mission conference this week, which was really good. Elder Rasband of the presidency of the seventy was there with a member of the presiding bishopric, a french name I cannot remember. Also Elder Watson of the area presidency, and Elder Meurs, another member of the area seventy who actually lives in my area. They are visiting Australia and a couple Islands and met with all of the missionaries that were in the city. It was really cool to be in the room with four general authorities. They were really good and definitely lifted the mission. 

In one of the letters I got from Mom she pointed out that I never answered a question about food. So I a really missing Mexican food, but my ward mission leader is an American and we are going over to his house for dinner this week and he said he is making Mexican food, so I am really excited about that. The food is not too different, but I am beginning to miss American food. I do not even know how to really explain how it is different, more British I guess. Then there is New Zealand and Island food, which is hard to explain also. Lots of meat and rice. It is all good, but not the same as home.

Besides that still lots of finding going on.

Love,

Elder Cook

Conference Week (April 15, 2013)

This was a great week spiritually, but a slower week as far as the work goes. We had a zone conference on Thursday which was great, I love President Lindsay and always feel inspired every time I hear him speak. Then we had general conference which is always good, and I enjoy it so much more since being a missionary, I think it has to do with telling people every day we have a living prophet and how exciting that is. I think I just used to take it for granted, but it is a really exciting idea, and at conference I get to hear from him and the other leaders of the church. Really it is like hearing from Moses and Peter, James, and John, but even cooler because it is meant for me in this day. I do not know what it is about this area. The ward is really great, but it is hard to get people to let us come back. I am not sure what it is, but we will keep working. Yes Perth is one of the harder missions, and yes mom hard does not mean bad. It actually means it must be worth it. There is a quote by Thomas Paine written during the American Revolution. It was written in one of the darkest moments, and it looked like the army and the cause was going to dissolve. To summarize he said something like Liberty would not be won easily. Things that are so precious do not come easy, but we need to work for them to earn it. The same applies to missionary work. No matter where you are missionary work is hard. Some places it is harder than others, but hard everywhere. I need to work hard to help people get eternal life, after all what is more precious? Also if you read D&C 4 I am not just helping people get their salvation, but I am working towards mine. The Lord does not need me to do his work, but I need this experience. You do not measure a mission by the number or baptisms someone got, but by what they do after their mission. Something my mission prep teacher said was was that your mission should not just be the best two years of your life, but it should be the best two years for your life. I loved Elder Holland's talk when he said "All the Lord has had to work with is imperfect people." It is so true, but through the Atonement of Christ we will become perfect. Not all at once, but by one day at a time. At Zone Conference President Lindsay said that this will be the only time I am asked to live the law of consecration. I am giving everything to the Lord, most of all my time. I love all of the examples in my life of people who give so much time to their callings. I have met some that say the church asks too much, so went inactive. But it is not the Church, but the Lord and he can never ask for too much, because he has given us everything. That is one of the greatest things I learned from Lodi 1st ward that I can now see but did not growing up. So many people truly magnified their callings by giving so much. They did not do the minimum asked, but gave everything they could into their calling. That is something I will do now and in the future.

Love,

Elder Cook