Thank you so much everyone that has helped me in my life to get to this point. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support.
Love,
Elder Cook
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
August 11, 2014 - Final Email
Such a weird thought that most of you I will see in a couple of days. This week I have spent heaps of time reflecting on the last two years and I don't think I realize how much I have changed. I was reflecting on experiences and things I have learned and the list amazes me how much I have gone through and knowing that there are probably things that should be added that I haven't realized yet. There is too much to list here but the biggest thing I have learned is that God lives and we really are His children. This is one of the most basic doctrines of the church, yet after we know and understand that, everything else falls into place. We understand why there is a need for commandments. The Atonement of Christ becomes more personal, and while we may not fully understand why bad things happen, we accept them and know where to turn for help when they do. That is the greatest thing I could have learned and nobody could have some of the experiences I have gone through and say that God doesn't exist. I may not have seen him like Joseph Smith or other prophets, but I don't need to see him to know that He is there. The last two years have changed me so much and I know that I am becoming the person my Father in Heaven wants me to be.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
August 4 2014
This has been such a weird week. The closer I get to going home the more I can't comprehend it, but I am excited to see everyone soon. I started a little packing last night to get my stuff organized, and it is weird because I have packed quite a bit on my mission having served in 9 areas, but this one is so different because it will be the last, well kind of I guess I will be packing in a couple of weeks to go to Provo, but the last time in Australia, and the last time my life has to fit into two suitcases. This week was a bit frustrating as far as missionary work goes. We met some really nice people and talked to some of them for ages but they did not become new investigators yet, but hopefully this week we will be able to sit down with them and teach them a lesson. This week should be good because we have quite a few appointments and are still trying to set more. My goal is to be as busy as I can and that way this week will pass by really fast, or else this could be a really long week. Today for P-day we are going to a wildlife park which will be fun to see Australian wildlife for the last time. I really hope everyone's week is good and I will see most of you next week, which is a bit mind blowing.
Love,
Elder Cook
July 28, 2014
This week went by so fast I really have no idea where the time went. But it is better for time to move fast than move slow. On Thursday we had interviews with President Lindsay. It was probably my shortest interview. Basically it was keep going and I will see you in a couple of weeks for your departing interview. It was fun, and I always enjoy getting to talk with President Lindsay. On Friday we had a massive service project as a mission. There was a group trying to break the world record for the number of trees planted in an hour. It was really fun but a little stressful. Each person had to plant about one a minute, but it was easier than we thought, everyone finished in about 40 minutes. It was really good to be able to see heaps of missionaries that I haven't been able to see in a while before I go home. Then Saturday was the baptism of the kid that we have been teaching. It was really good to see the family so excited. Hopefully they will start coming to church more and eventually get the dad baptized. It was also good to see a baptism before I go home, even if it may not count as a convert baptism because he is 8, it is still a baptism.
It is funny I forgot that it was pioneer day. I wrote it in my planner but forgot about it. Nobody really does anything for pioneer day over here, I am not even sure people know it exists
I hope everyone is doing well. Can't wait to see everyone in two weeks!
Love,
Elder Cook
July 21, 2014
So I really can't think of a worse way to start the week off. On Tuesday I found out that the lady I helped baptize when I was in Kalamunda ward has a brain tumor. So yeah this didn't start out fun. But I was able to see her a couple of days later and talk to her about it and she has accepted it and was making jokes about it. But the week got better. We had mini missionaries from North Coast Stake starting Friday arvo and went to Sunday evening. It was a really good experience. I also enjoyed it because I was able to see heaps of people from my past areas. Also the mini missionary we got was amazing. He was an investigator when I first came into Heathridge. He wasn't in our area but in the other missionaries, but I was still able to get to know him. At that point he wanted to be baptized but his parents wouldn't let him and he was only 16. But it really impressed me how he would always come to church. Then he moved to Butler the week before I moved up there and he continued to impress me being in his ward at how much he loved the Gospel even though he was limited because of his parents. Then when I was in Karratha I heard that he was baptized and that really made me excited. I had seen him once at a fireside after that and it was good to catch up with him. But it was really exciting to see him serve a mini mission and be preparing for his mission in the next couple of months. It was really exciting to see how much he has grown in his knowledge of the Gospel over the last two years. He has always been a person that inspired me so I was so blessed to be able to spend the last couple of days with him. So this week was hard, but the ending was pretty amazing.
Love,
Elder Cook
July 14, 2014
This week was a good week, and I keep falling in love with this ward. On Monday I went over to a family's home in the ward. We were talking and it turns out that he knows someone from our stake at home. How crazy is that? He has been over and visited them and knows their older kids. Who would have thought that anyone here would know anyone from home? It still blows my mind.
We have also been working with a part member family. The Mum is a member but less active and the husband is not a member. Their son is 8 and wants to be baptized. he was going to be baptized last transfer but the bishop pushed it back to try to encourage the parents to come to church more. This week the ward mission leader talked to the family and the Bishop and feels that if the son gets baptized and comes to church on his own he will lead the family to church more, so in about two weeks he is going to be baptized. While it is not a convert baptism it has been really good for us to work with the kid and he knows a lot about the Gospel.
We also had zone conference on Friday. It was good being able to hear from president and sister Lindsay. It was also cool being able to see other missionaries from other zones before I go home. At the end of it we had a short testimony meeting. Right before that started the wife of the ward mission leader was helping with the food and walked in with her kids. It was so weird seeing how much they have grown and realizing that almost two years have gone by, and thinking about how much I have grown, and memories from the last two years came flooding back. That is when it started to hit me that I have been gone for two years. It was a trunky moment, but because I was thinking about the last two years, not about going home.
July 7, 2014
I am really excited to be here in the Swan View area. At first I was not too happy when I found out, but being here a week I am glad to be here, and slightly sad to only be here for 6 weeks. We have a decent size teaching pool which is better than the last couple areas I have been in, well actually most of the areas I have been in. The flat is pretty new so it is nice and the ward has been great so far. Everyone was pretty excited on Sunday because on Saturday there were 5 baptisms in the other two areas so the ward is excited. Our ward mission leader is amazing, he is so involved with our investigators. The family that got baptized is from South Sudan in Africa and the ward mission leader is Tongan and promised the boys that after the baptism he would roast a pig. So on Friday evening we were close to his house and I suggested we drop by so I could meet him, and that was when he was about to kill the pig. So now I know how to kill, skin, and gut a pig. It was really funny watching him, he was enjoying himself a little too much. The bishop is also amazing and is really focused on missionary work. I don't think I have served in an area where the bishop and ward mission leader were so excited. I also know quite a few families in this ward that have moved from areas I have served in before.
Also I will not have many chances to go souvenir shopping so if anyone wants anything please let me know, I have some ideas but not for everyone so ideas would be really helpful.
Love,
Elder Cook
Monday, June 30, 2014
June 30, 2014
So I found out I am being transferred to an area called Swan View. It is in Greenmount ward and Dianella zone, which is the only zone I have not served in yet. My companion is going to be the Elder who I served with about 6 months ago at Christmas time. I am sad to leave Albany, but also excited for a new area. I hope I will be able to stay busy the next 6 weeks to make the time go by quickly. That is cool you got my itinerary. They should give it to me pretty soon. Not really excited for that flight. I thought it was bad coming here, but it will be worse flying the other direction.
This week was good. We had a good lesson with that part member family. He said his plan is to get baptized and go to the temple with his family which was cool because he is the one that brought it up himself, so hopefully the missionaries here will be able to help them make those changes in their life. We also got a random call from a less active member saying that he has just moved down from Perth and wants to come back to church. He is actually from one of my old areas but I never met him but knew his parents, and he used to live in the Bay area which was also cool. So good things are happening down here in Albany, and of course I am leaving, but that is always the case.
Also missionaries on street view:
Can't wait to let everyone know how I am doing next week!
June 23, 2014
This week was better. It was good we were able to stay busy with heaps of service which I always enjoy. We were also able to find a new investigator, the husband of a part member family who lives just a couple of doors down from us. It was cool talking with him because they have been thinking of coming to church the last couple of weeks and he has been cutting down on smoking. So it is really exciting to know that this could be the time for him. He also grew up in Sacramento which is really cool as well. We are seeing them on Wednesday again and they are feeding us lunch, so it is even better.
Besides that nothing new has happened here in Albany. It is starting to feel cold, but that is because of the wind, and I haven't had a real winter in over 2 years, but it isn't too bad yet. Next week I will find out where I am going for my last transfer, which is a really weird thought.
I hope everyone enjoys Hawaii and can't wait to see everyone soon
Love,
Elder Cook
June 16, 2014
The Zone Leaders came for exchanges again this week. Exchanges when you are country is always fun because you get to be around other missionaries. Plus my old companion is one of the zone leaders so I always love being able to be with him again. This week wasn't too fun though because I was sick Wednesday, Thursday, and part of Friday. I have been stressed quite a bit lately and I think it just got to me, but I needed a couple of days to try and de-stress and get better. Friday I was able to get rid of lots of my stress by playing basketball with some Filipinos which was really good since I have not had the opportunity to play much sport here in Albany. I forgot how much I miss just being able to run around. Saturday was also good because we had service pretty much all day, but now I am really sore from the basketball and service, but I am just glad that I am doing better. I am not as stressed and my body is back to normal. And everyone thought that I don't feel stress, well now I know what happens when I am feeling too much stress and don't know how to handle it. This week should be better.
Love,
Elder Cook
Oh yeah I also tried baking some cookies when I was stressed but I learned that the sticks of butter are different sizes here and I used about twice the amount of butter so lets just say they did not turn out the best, which did not help my stress level, but now I know how much to use.
Monday, June 9, 2014
June 9, 2014
This week was one of those weeks you are glad it is over and can just move on. It was a hard week for missionary work, and my companion fell off his bike and face planted, so we have had better weeks. But hard weeks are part of missions, especially here in Western Australia, pretty much you just know they are going to happen so when they do you just move on. I feel bad for my companion, I don't think he is enjoying it in Albany, coming from an area where there generally is a lot of work to here where it is slow, away from all other missionaries, it is cold, and now he fell off his bike. But I really hope in the end he likes it because even though it is not the easiest area it is still a really good area, I love it down here. This week should also be good for the district. the Zone Leaders are coming down today and they will be here until Wednesday and when the zone leaders leave the Sister training leaders come down so hopefully with so many missionaries in the district we will be able to see some success that will be able to get us excited. I hope so anyway. When you have investigators you spend a lot of time thinking of them, what their needs are, and what you are going to teach them. When you don't have many investigators you begin to think of home more because you can only think about what you are going to teach them so many times.
I hope everyone has a good week this week.
Love,
Elder Cook
June 2, 2014
Well this week we decided that we are tired of having basically no investigators. We have had little luck with the potential investigators that we had and former investigators, so we have pretty much been tracting heaps. We have found a couple potential investigators, and a new investigator. Hopefully we will be able to find even more this week. It is funny how some things can change. Normally I really do not like tracting, but I don't think anyone does, but now I do not mind it. Still not my favorite activity, but at least I am willing to do it and hopefully find more investigators, and if not I have still given people the opportunity to accept it.
I did not have an opportunity to teach the Persians again so hopefully this week we will be able to see them and I really hope my Persian is better than I think it is.
I always think I have a lot to tell you, but when I start typing I guess I forget or it takes up a lot less room than I thought it was. Well I hope you have a good week
Love,
Elder Cook
May 26, 2014
This week was really slow. Heaps of people were not home, and it was wet and cold. Yesterday we woke up and it was freezing in the flat, when I was getting ready in the right light I could see my breath inside the flat. I think Albany might prepare me for Provo after all, but two different colds, Provo is dry and it is really humid here. For the most part it is not actually that bad, but some days I really just do not want to get out of bed. We saw Colin again this week but he did not come to church. I was not surprised because he is a nice old man who invites us around because he is lonely, not because he is really interested in the message we have to share. We will probably drop by in the future, but he is not someone that we are going to spend a lot of time on. Also our Persian people were not home, but I still had a cool experience. The only things we have in Persian is selections of the Book of Mormon, not the whole thing, and Gospel Principle books from the 80's. After staring and comparing them for a couple hours I can now know what parts I am reading. I borrowed an old copy of Gospel Principles from the library here because the new ones are set up a little differently. I can now read the numbers in Persian and can identify words like Nephi and Mormon. Persian is also weird because they read right to left and I was confusing myself switching between reading left to right and then right to left. I was struggling for a while, but then it just started to make sense being able to read the chapters and find the paragraphs that we can teach from. I was sad I was not able to use it but this week hopefully I will be even more prepared and the lesson will go way better than the first two.
My companion is great. He reminds me of myself at the beginning of my mission. It has been so weird serving with him, but in a good way. I have really began to realize how much I have grown and changed in the last 21 months. I am pretty sure that is one of the reasons I am serving with him to help me see that I have changed, and how much I have changed.
This week will hopefully be better
Love,
Elder Cook
May 19, 2014
So we got transfer calls this morning and I am staying in Albany, which is not surprising. My new companion is from Samoa, but not sure if he left from there or from NZ or Australia. The sisters are also staying the same so we are excited to have another good transfer in Albany. My new companion has not been out that long, I am pretty sure this is his 4th transfer. I am excited and hope that this is a really good transfer.
The Zone leaders came down Monday night and left on Wednesday morning. It was really good to see them, especially because one of them was my companion two transfers ago. We also found a new investigator named Colin, who is an older guy. He is funny and he came to church on Sunday which was unexpected but was really good. We also taught some people from Afghanistan we found last week. It is a little awkward teaching them because their English is not the best and they speak Persian. We have a Persian Book of Mormon but it is hard to match things up, and they do not have any furniture in the front room so we sit on the floor and teach them.
This week has been good, and I am excited for a new transfer.
Love,
Elder Cook
May 5, 2014
This week was a better week. We had a really good lesson with a couple we have been teaching. We taught them about repentance, but they still do not quite get it like I would like them to, but they were willing to open up to us more. They have known missionaries for about 10 years in different areas that they have lived. The wife has had baptismal dates in the past but she doesn't want to do it without her husband. Missionaries have struggled to teach him but we have been able to begin to teach him. He knows he needs to join the church, he just wants to put it off, his excuse is that he is too busy and loves his toys too much, but he is making progress. They committed to come to church yesterday but they didn't show up so we are going to call them today and see what happened. We have been taking the senior couple with us and they have been great fellowship for them. That was pretty much the highlight of our week, teaching them anyway, not having them not come to church. Besides that we are still trying to find more people to teach.
Can't wait to talk to you next week!!!
Love,
Elder Cook
Monday, April 28, 2014
April 28, 2014
This week was hard but fun. As far as missionary work goes it was not the best. It's still school holidays so heaps of people are gone and the people who were around were not interested. Those weeks happen. President and Sister Lindsay came down on Friday. It was really good to see them. It was also ANZAC day which is probably the biggest holiday in Australia and New Zealand. ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC day is similar to veterans day, but focuses more on WWI since that was the first war Australia participated in as an independant country. Albany is also special because when those forces left they left from Albany, so for many of them this was the last place they saw of Australia. On ANZAC day there is a dawn service which starts at 5:30. Some members took us to it and we got up at 3:00 to get there before it was too packed. You would wonder if people would actually come to something like that, the answer is yes. Hundreds of people were on top of a mountain that overlooks Albany and the ocean, with people coming down from Perth just for it. This year was also special because it marks 100 years since WWI began. So we were tired when President Lindsay came down. We got back to our flat at 7 am and took a nap, woke up and went to a parade down the main street and then President and Sister Lindsay took us out to lunch and then we received training from them. So them coming down made it a good week, and hopefully as far as missionary work this week will be better.
Also sorry this email was written late, we went fishing with the sisters and one of their investigators, so I am hoping you are not worried.
Love,
Elder Cook
April 21, 2014
I am loving it down here in Albany. Some missionaries do not like being in the country away from other missionaries, but I do not mind it at all, but I guess that is probably not too surprising. It is a little annoying because last transfer there were only Elders down here and heaps of the people that they were seeing are now in the Sisters' area, but oh well. The branch is good. It's weird because Albany is a tourist place so there were quite a few families from Perth there and heaps of people from Albany go up to Perth, so I still have not met the whole branch. The people I have met have been really good, but this is an older branch. Albany itself is where some people retire so it is old itself. The senior couple are really cool. They had all of us over for Easter which was really nice. It is weird for them because they report to President Lindsay, but the branch is part of the Southern River Stake so they are still trying to figure out their roles. Before they were in Port Hedland and that was easy because it is a mission branch. The branch itself enjoys the senior couple, they have had them before. They have been on missions before in Russia and Africa so they have seen different situations and cultures.
President and Sister Lindsay are coming down on Friday to give us training from the zone conference that we missed last week. I always love seeing them, especially when they visit country areas because they are more themselves and you get to know them better.
Love,
Elder Cook
The pictures are from the Gap and natural bridge. The gap is where Australia broke off from Antarctica, and the Natural bridge is just what it sounds like, a bridge in the rock created by nature
Sunday, April 13, 2014
April 14, 2014
Albany is really great, but it is so different than Karratha. I find it so funny how different they are even though the population is pretty close to being the same. Albany is pretty touristy because it has some beautiful places around it, just being here less than a week and I have already seen some beautiful places. There are heaps of hills which is fun since we share the car with the sisters. Yes I did bring my bike, and I brought all of my stuff because it was only $10 extra for another bag. There are heaps of people who retire down here. The branch is about the same size as Karratha but Karratha had heaps of young families, Albany is mostly older people. There is quite a bit of agriculture down here. The senior couple help run the branch. Elder Herr is on the Branch Presidency and Sister Herr is on the Relief Society presidency. They spend time visiting with less active members, and also do service in the community. So far I have just been trying to meet the members and investigators to learn this area quickly. I am really excited to be down here and am hoping that this is my last area.
General Conference was great as always, it was really weird though that this is my last one on my mission. It is moments like this when I realize that my time here in WA is really really short.
I love you all,
Elder Cook
April 7, 2014
So we found out transfers and I am going to Albany, which is 400km south of Perth at the bottom, so I am going country again. It is supposed to be really beautiful, all the missionaries that serve there love it. I think the branch is around 30-40 people, not too sure. My companion is Tongan but I know he spent time in either NZ or Australia. I served in the same zone with him for a while so I am excited to serve with him. There are also a pair of sisters down there and a senior couple. It will be weird being away from heaps of other missionaries, but at least there are some other missionaries unlike Karratha. The Zone Leaders also generally come down and do exchanges every transfer so I look forward to that.
This week was a good week. On Saturday we found a new investigator tracting. She invited us in but her husband was not home so we could not go in but we were able to talk to her for a while at the door. They just moved into the area and are looking for a church to go to, so it is perfect for us to knock on her door. We also had fun after that. We were in a three way for a little bit and went by a park where a guy was playing basketball and we started to play with him. Then his friend came and we started to play a real game. They thought they were going to beat us because we were in white shirts. One of my companions is not good at basketball so he sat out, but my other companion is really good and we had fun smashing these two guys. And we were able to talk to them about why we were wearing white shirts and ties and were able to show them a different side of missionaries. I learned though that playing basketball in one pair of my shoes is probably not a good idea because I got a massive blister, but it was worth it.Love,
Elder Cook
March 31, 2014
This week has been just average. The weather is cooling down which is really nice, but it has started to rain, which is not. On Saturday we got soaked, we were so wet it was incredible. But once you get wet enough you stop caring so we had fun biking in the rain, going through puddles and so forth. This week was a bit disappointing though because we were not able to see anyone. There are two referrals that we are trying to teach but one did not show up for the appointment and we have not been able to see the other one. But we will try again this week.
We had a fun experience the other week. At the university in the ward boundaries we had a day where we were contacting people through the Latter-day Saint Student Association. So we had fun being together as a district contacting people. We were warned that there might be some people who would try and bash with us, but we were expecting Christians to do it, not Muslims. There were two Muslims that came up and were bringing up some anti stuff and I was really surprised because all of the other Muslims I met were generally nice and respectful. It was also interesting because they were not trying to change our beliefs to theirs, just pull ours down. It was the strange experience for the week.Monday, March 24, 2014
March 24, 2014
This week started off a bit slow. On Tuesday we had a zone meeting that took ages, but was really good. The mission is now focused on our personal conversion. When Elder Hamula was here he talked about the importance of making sure we are converted ourselves and then the success will follow. Since he also talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon we were able to share with each other how we have been converted through the Book of Mormon. After the zone meeting we had to go clean our flat for an inspection and then went on splits with the ward. The next day we had to go into the city because my companion had a doctor appointment for his diabetes.
We finally are on bikes now. My companion's is still in the shop, but he is borrowing our district leaders bike because he has a car and has heaps of km's to use because it was in the shop for over a week. So we have been able to see more people. Well we try anyway since they are still not home. We have been trying to focus on less actives this week and one came to church so that was really cool, and this week we want to still focus on that but also try to focus on finding, because right now the entire zone is struggling with finding.Oh yeah I forgot about my birthday, sorry about that. So the other Elders in our district came and decorated our flat while we were out visiting some people. And then we had a blitz in the Sisters' area and afterwards had dinner as a district and a member made a cake for me, which was really good. So it was a good birthday as a missionary.
Friday, March 21, 2014
March 17, 2014
This week my companion's bike is in the shop because it was having some problems. Because of that we have been taking the bus heaps and mostly walking. My legs are so sore after this week. We figured out that one day we walked about 18 km which is around 11 miles. We had a referral who is supposed to be really keen so we are trying to see her but something always comes up when we plan her in. So we decided to spend most of a day walking to be able to see her, and she was not home. It is hard on foot because we want to see people but the number of people you can see while walking is really limited and most people are not home or are busy, but we are doing what we can with what we have.
I know this is random but lately I have been thinking about doing a study abroad at the BYU Jerusalem center. Don't worry I have not been spending much time thinking about it, but it has crossed my mind. I just think it would be a really cool experience. I think because it is a combination of some of my interests, history, politics, and the Gospel. Mom I can see you not being excited about this but I am sure it would be fine. I have no idea how easy it is to get in or when I would want to do it, but I just am curious of your thoughts on it.March 10, 2014
This week was so great. As far as missionary work it was a hard week, everything seemed against us from broken bikes to my companion's diabetes. But it was really awesome to be able to see Elder Hamula and be instructed by him. We had a zone conference on Friday. He gave us great training on the importance of the Book of Mormon and how if we use it more effectively we will be able to have more success. I also learned heaps about the purpose of the Holy Ghost. Often we ask the question of "Is this the Holy Ghost or me?" Elder Hamula taught us that this is the wrong question to ask. If we have the authority to act, so it is in our calling or responsibilities, and if we do so prayerfully, we do not need to worry because the Spirit will lead our thoughts and decisions. Also God often leads us to use our own judgment. But also the Spirit will always warn us before we make a mistake. I realized that the role of the Spirit is not to lead us all of the time, but is to help us exercise our agency correctly, so there will be times where we just act and the witness will come later.
It was a really great spiritually uplifting weekend and I cannot wait to apply what I learned from Elder Hamula.March 4, 2014
We had heaps of appointments set this week, but unfortunately all of them cancelled. That is the hardest pat about being a missionary, if you set an appointment it seems that some people are guaranteed not to be home at that time. You can call and text them to confirm with them, but they still will not be home or cancel right before. But I guess that is missionary work.
This week was cool though because the mission has been focusing on YSA age people. Around the world YSA is the highest baptizing group, except in Perth. So the mission has been focusing on the universities here to be more involved. A senior couple is now doing English classes at the universities and we are starting a scripture study class. On Thursday was an orientation day at a university in our ward boundaries. We had a booth through the LDS student association on campus and heaps of missionaries were there talking with people and getting them to sign up for English class and scripture study class. At first it was awkward because we could not use our normal approaches and we all felt really awkward but after a while we were able to talk with heaps of people. I do not know how many people signed up but hopefully we will be able to get referrals from it and others since our area is right in between two universities.February 24, 2014
This last six weeks went by so fast, it is pretty incredible. It is also weird because the sisters that I came in with go home tomorrow, which means I only have 4 transfers left. Wow that is weird. So my companion is leaving, but staying in the zone. My new companion is from Brisbane and I have met him a couple of times but not for a while. He is just coming from Kalgoorlie. I am excited because this should be a good transfer.
This week itself was slow. We did manage to set up heaps of appointments for this week which will be exciting to start the transfer off right, hopefully none of them fall through. We did have a cool experience yesterday. We have been working hard trying to find people but have not been having much success this week. Yesterday before church we went to visit an investigator and her neice just moved over from Melbourne and wanted us to teach her. They are from Vietnam so are Buddhist and right now she just wants to learn about it because it is interesting not because she is looking to change, yet any way.February 17, 2014
This week has been good. It was a little stressful getting everything ready for the baptism. It went smoothly for the most part. We had a little moment of panic because we could not remember if we had asked a member to pick him up or not, but it all worked out. It was a bit small, but we were expecting that because of the short notice. So the baptism made it a great week, but outside of that our week was a bit slow. We had to focus a lot on making sure everything was going to work out, and also we had heaps of meetings during the week so we have not been able to do as much finding as we would have liked. But this week our goal is to keep finding people and we have people we have taught once or twice but we are struggling to make appointments with them or they say they will call and never do. So this week we are going to go through all of these and find out which ones are keen and which ones are not.
February 10, 2014
Yesterday was just amazing. On Saturday we had a good lesson with our investigator at a members home. He opened up to us and we were able to talk more about the Spirit and its importance. Because he has a slight language barrier he does not understand everything, but he does know he gets this really good feeling when he reads from the Book of Mormon, prays and comes to church. After the lesson the member was taking him home and ended up talking to him for 2 hours and asked him why he wanted to wait until after he gets back from Hong Kong. He used this awesome analogy and everything just clicked. At church the member told us this and then our investigator came up and asked if he can get baptized this Saturday. He prayed about it that night and feels that he needs to get baptized before he leaves for Hong Kong. Members are so amazing! We would have liked to have a little more notice, but he leaves for Hong Kong the next week and will be there over a month. I love teaching him because you can just see how happy the Gospel makes him and how his faith has been strengthened.
We also had a good lesson on Saturday with another young man, and hopefully we will be able to teach him sometime this week. We also found another keen guy from Iran. He has really been struggling with the purpose of life and we can see that he has been prepared to receive the GospelFebruary 3, 2014
It has been a weird week because Friday felt like Tuesday and there is not as much to talk about. In the last couple of days we have not had much success teaching because everyone cancels their appointments, but we will keep trying. We are continuing to teach our investigator from Hong Kong. He comes to church every week and he is doing well. It is a little hard with a language barrier. It is also a little different because he does not have a solid Christian background so we need to focus more on who Jesus Christ is. He leaves for Hong Kong at the end of the month and gets back in April so it will be a little hard, but other missionaries overheard a lady from Hong Kong in the ward and apparently she is going to Hong Kong as well and she told him that she will take him to church there, so that will be really awesome for him to go to church in his own language. We also gave him the number to the Hong Kong mission office so he can call them and maybe missionaries can teach him over there.
Besides that the last couple of days have been uneventful but hopefully this week people will keep their appointments and we will be able to teach them.January 30, 2014
It is weird that P-day is so late. It was because of Australia day on Sunday but the public holiday was on Monday, and we are going to the temple so it was pushed even farther. But it is all good because we are going to the temple which makes me happy. We are doing really well. On Friday there was a zone conference focused on working with members. It was really good to have more of a focus on bringing members along to lessons. It is just hard sometimes because I would say half of our appointments cancel and of the ones that don't half of those probably are not there when we show up, so it makes it really hard to put all of this effort into bringing members along and organizing it just to have it cancel 30 minutes before we should be there. But that is the life of a missionary. But I do know if investigators have good fellowship it makes all of the difference.
We are also having a mission conference in early March. Elder Hamula, the Area President is coming and offered us a challenge to read the Book of Mormon before he comes. That gives us a little over a month and will take about 15 pages a day. It is pretty similar to what I had to do for one of my Book of Mormon classes at BYU so I know I can do it, but that was reading as fast as I could, but for this I want to spend more time on it, so it will be interesting, but I am sure great for the mission since the last time we read the Book of Mormon it really lifted the mission.
Also some rumors about ipdas. So we talked to the AP's and they said that there is a conference in March or April where all of the test missions for ipads will report their findings. So they are expecting that they will begin to be released to the rest of the missions a couple of months after that. Also the AP's are testing out using a smartphone, just a cheap Android phone, but better than the phones we have now. But they think we will have iphones before most of the missions will have them.
As far as our area we have found some new investigators, but it will be a couple of weeks before we will be able to teach them again, and like normal people are cancelling their appointments but I am kind of used to that.
I hope everyone has a good week and it will only be a couple days until I can hear from you again.
Love,
Elder Cook
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
January 20, 2014
This has been a really good first week of the transfer. I love my companion. Quick correction from last week though, so he was born in Australia but his parents are both Portuguese. He is the district leader and is an amazing missionary. The area is good as well. There is a university close by so that means that there are heaps of people from other countries that go there, mainly Asian countries. This area also has heaps of people from India and the Middle East. This is good because they are generally more open than the typical Aussie. Our teaching pool is not massive but bigger than my last area and it is growing. The ward has massive boundaries which is different from other areas I have been in, but our area is not too big. We have a car which is nice. The flat does not have aircon which is a little annoying, but we make do. I just hope it does not get around 44C again. I am really excited about this area. There is a cool ysa age guy from Hong Kong that we are teaching. He has come to church for 4 weeks and would have come yesterday, but some members had a miscommunication and did not pick him up. He wants to be baptized, but he is a little scared about the commitment and enduring to the end. We are hoping to set a baptism date for the 22 Feb. He is going to pray about it this week before we see him on Thursday. We had a cool experience on Sunday. Sunday morning before church we felt impressed to visit some formers that were about a 30 minute bike ride away. Normally we would just wait until we were in that area but we went anyway and they were home and invited us in. We were able to teach them quickly and then sprint back to our house to grab the car and go to church. I am really excited for this transfer.
Love,January 13, 2014
It has been super hot this last week. I think it was up to 44C which I think is over 110F. Too hot really. I think I know what Hell might feel like. We were biking to an appointment and I thought I was going to get burned. Not a normal sunburn from the UV, but a burn from the heat. Lets just say we have been drinking heaps of water the last couple of days, and I am glad our flat has aircon, because some missionary flats do not. A flat in our district does not, just fans, and they said it was 42C in their flat. I felt really bad for them.
Besides that the week has been alright. We had some appointments but all of them fell through. My companion kept getting flat tyres, and always when we are really far from the flat. It is annoying that there is not a place to get new tubes or patches in our area, so it makes it really hard to fix.
I am being transferred to Shelley. It is in Jandakot ward and Rockingham zone and stake but is really close to where I am now. My new companion is originally from Portugal but has lived in Australia most of his life. I have met him a couple of times and he is really cool, and everyone that has served with him really enjoys it so I am excited for my new area and new companion.
Love,
Elder Cook
January 6, 2014
This week has been better. It was a little hard with it being around new years, but overall not too bad. We were able to find two new investigators. One was a referral from a recent convert we got two weeks ago. Two weeks ago we taught her brother and niece, and this week she was there when we taught. It was a good lesson. Not quite as good as the first one but we taught the Plan of Salvation and they accepted it. They are willing to believe what we are teaching, but we just need to help them act on it. There was good news also because their cousin lives with them and he stole one of their copies of the Book of Mormon and has been reading it. Hopefully we will be able to catch up with him and teach him about it. So from one referral we have gotten three investigators and have another potential investigator. Besides that the week has been filled with trying to catch people This week will probably be the same, trying to see all of our investigators we have found the last couple of weeks, and we will hopefully find some more investigators. This is the last week of the transfer so next week I will tell you if I am staying or where I will be going to.
Love,December 30, 2013
This week was slow because everyone is still in holiday mode, but this week should be better. It was really good to see everyone at Christmas. I have to say this was one of the weirdest Christmas' because it really did not feel like Christmas. It was the same last year except on Christmas Eve it felt like Christmas, but this year it kind of feels like Christmas never came. Oh well it is good to know that next year I will be home for Christmas. This has been a great year for myself and our mission. Last year our mission had 180 baptisms, A high water mark. At the beginning of the year I began to think that we would fall short of that but after we read the Book of Mormon as a mission our numbers have been continuing increasing and we were able to have 195 baptisms, and had 30 this last month which is also a high water mark. The way the mission is going now we should be able to have 300 baptisms next year. The Lord is truly hastening his work. It has also been a good year for me. The highlight was being able to play a part in the baptism of Louise and her family, something I will never forget. I also was able to live in such a remote but amazing place like Karratha. I have also been able to strengthen my testimony and knowledge of the Gospel and grow closer to my Father in Heaven, and Jesus Christ. It truly has been a great year and I am excited for this upcoming year to continue preaching the Gospel, and returning home to my family and going to BYU. I really can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me this upcoming year.
Love,
Elder Cook
December 23, 2013
This was such a good week. While last week we struggled, we made up for it this week. We had a district blitz on Tuesday and found 3 new investigators. Then on Thursday a recent convert gave us a referral so we went by on Thursday. The lady was not home, but we taught the brother and her niece. The spirit was so strong, I have not taught a lesson like that for a while. Then that evening we found another investigator so that makes 6 for the week. I do not know the last time I have found that many in a week, a long time if ever. This should have been one of the hardest weeks for finding yet somehow we were able to find so many people. And we have some potentials that we should be able to start teaching in the next couple of weeks. So it has been a great week, and this week will be great as well since it is Christmas. Can't wait to see you on Wednesday!
Love,December 16, 2013
This was a better week for us although it has been crazy hot the last couple of days. Yesterday we were finally able to catch a part member family. The dad is less active and the mom is not a member but is keen to get baptized. Their main hold up is they need to get married. But it was good to finally see them and we have an appointment with her on Saturday. It is hard to teach both of them because he works fly in and fly out in the mines, one week on, one week off. Also a recent convert gave us a referral on Saturday. The lady was an investigator but when we got into the area told us that she was not interested. But now I guess that she is interested and we will see her this week. We also found an lady who is a member but has not been to church in a while. We were talking to her and she remembered as a kid having the missionaries around and the good memories that she has from it. She said we can come around and teach her kids which will be really good. So the work is picking up a little which is really good. Hopefully this week will also be better and we will be able to stay busy before Christmas.
love,
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