Let the Spirit Guide.

G'day!

It sounds like you have all had a awesome busy weekend!  Josh way to start the game off with a goal!  That's always a good step of motivation for the rest of your team.  A 50 in swimming is just the beginning.  You'll be doing the half Ironman with dad in no time!  Ben good job with your 5 assists and your goal!  Way to go bro! I'm also excited to see how your baseball skills are coming along.  David I'm glad that you got to play your game and get to Mandy's baptism.  You are next little bro!  Your baptism is just around the corner!  I'm so excited for you :)  Soph, I can't believe you are already going in to your 5th year of girls camp.   That makes me feel really old.  I hope you have a blast!

This week has been pretty slow for us.  I have 2 awesome stories to share though.  The first one is about a man named Kevin Jones.  Sister Bailey and I met him last Saturday while we were biking.  He invited us back to chat.  On Tuesday we went back with a member to share a message with him.  He said he was going to call us and cancel but he didn't.  He had surgery on his foot back in December and it hasn't fully healed.  He has had a couple of re-surgery since then.  They've had to amputate half of his left foot.  He has a vacuum on it to keep it from getting infected.  He said that he was in a lot of pain and was going to call and reschedule but he fell asleep and then a couple of hours later we came.  We asked him if he would like a blessing.  We explained all about it and the member testified more powerfully about the miracles that come from priesthood blessings than I could have ever imagined.  It was a beautiful lesson.  We went back on Saturday with Brother Christy and he gave him a blessing.  Brother Christy was the perfect man to call.  We had called 5+ people before we called him.  No one else was available and now we know that they weren't able to come because Brother Christy needed to be the one to come and give that blessing.  He and Kevin got along really well and Brother Christy was able to answer some of his questions and really just build an instant friendship with him.  It was pretty amazing.

The other story is about the Northam family.  Tanith is a single mum with three kids.  Shanae is 15, Cody is 13, and Ryan is 11.  They haven't been active for a while and we have been trying to get in to their home to share a message for a while.  Well two weeks ago we got in!  We watched the Restoration DVD and talked about how the gospel blesses us when we live it.  We went back this week and Tanith instantly opened up to us about the trials that she is going through.  She was talking to a friend and she friend said, "Tanith, God doesn't punish.  He is waiting for you to put your trust in Him.  He keeps giving you things like trials because you haven't put your trust in Him yet."  I automatically opened up to my favourite scripture Alma 38:5 and read it to her like this, "And now my daughter, Tanith, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day."  Then without a second thought I felt the Spirit direct me to a different scripture.  I quickly flipped to 3 Nephi 13 while I was testifying about putting our trust in God.  Then we shared these verses, "31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."  Sister Northam was in tears as I read those simple verses.  I love the scriptures.  They always say exactly what people need to hear.  Sister Murray and I testified that God was so very aware of what she is going through and that her friend was right.  We promised her that all the dramas and trials that she is going through in life will be easier to handle if she puts God first.  The Spirit was so strong in their living room.  I'm so grateful for the Holy Ghost.  I'm grateful for those times that I literally feel like I am just an instruments in God's hands.  Those are moments that I will treasure forever. 

I read the talk "Only a Teacher" by President Monson this week in preparation for General Conference.  It is a long talk but it applies to ever single one of us in one way or another.  I got half way through the talk and started over and read it to Sister Murray.  There were so many things that stood out to me.  I'm grateful for great teachers in my life.  I'm grateful for wonderful parents, encouraging church leaders, patient school teachers, and persistent coaches.  Every person in our lives is there for a reason.   This week I suggest that you pray and look for ways that you can be a blessing in someone else life.  I love you all and miss you heaps!  

Much love,
Sister Shayne

Pic #1 Last Monday we had a Sisters p-day down at the Foreshore :)  It was peaceful.

Pic #2 Beautiful sunset after we left the Northams home.  Such a fantastic sight every time. 

Living the gospel brings blessings!‏

G'day all!

It's good to hear that everyone is doing well.  Soph, dad told me all about your FHE lesson.  I'm proud of the Young Woman you are becoming.  Josh, can't wait to see the soccer skills when I get back.  You'll be on the high school team before you know it.  Ben, I was so excited to hear about your baseball practices!  Keep up the hard work.  The more you practice the better you will be.  David, good job at your soccer game this week.  I'm glad that everyone was able to make the games even though they were at the same time. 

This has been another great week in Golden Bay.  Last week we gathered as a zone and played a great game of touch rugby together.  I haven't played a good touch game since I was serving in Alexander Heights.  It was definitely needed.  It was fun to catch up with all of the missionaries that I haven't seen in a while.  We had an amazing Zone Meeting on Tuesday.  Our Zone Leaders, Elder Baptista and Elder Bunda, had a vision for our meeting to deepen our conversion to the Book of Mormon.  After their training they had each of us come up to the front and share a scripture that made a difference in our missionary efforts from the last Book of Mormon challenge.  The spirit was sooo strong!  I shared 3 Nephi 19:9.  The 12 apostles have just walked and talked with Christ.  They saw and felt the wounds in his hands, feet, and side.  They learned from Him and were given the authority by his hand.  When Christ left they taught the people and then knelt in prayer.  Verse 9 tells us what they most desired.  These men who have just been a part of all of this most desired to have the Spirit to be with them.  The very thing that each and every one of us as baptized members of the church have as a constant companion when we do what is right.   When I read that I took a serious look at how I value that gift that was given to me when I was 8.  As a missionary we aren't given any added Spirit.  We, just like every other member, receive its guidance and protection as we live worthily of it.  That scripture really opened my eyes to the importance of having the Holy Ghost really be our constant companion. 

The biggest miracle this week came during a visit to the hospital.  We were supposed to go visit Jordy and his family on Thursday night but got a call instead that informed us that no one was home because his mum Kylie was in the hospital.  She had gone in for a small surgery.  We offered to have the Elders come give her a blessing.  They all agreed and within an our us, Elder Poi and Elder Leato along with Brother Day, our Ward Mission Leader, were there visiting and to give her a blessing for a speedy recovery.  She said, "I have to admit I saw your 3 house rules (of pray, read, and church) taped to the wall of our house and I thought, 'Ha ain't no way 3 little rules are going to help this family.  We would need at least 50 house rules to fix our problems'.  I was wrong.  As we've been reading and praying everyday our house has really mellowed out."  AAAHHHH!!!!!  Nothing could have made me happier than hearing Kylie say that!  The gospel only blesses families when the gospel is lived within the walls of the home.  When the non-member mum sees the difference in the home and in her children it testifies to everyone the beauty and simplicity of the gospel.  Everyone in their family minus mum and baby came to church on Sunday and stayed for the first 2 hours!!!  It's amazing what brings missionaries happiness.  All of my happiness comes from seeing others draw closer to Christ and make the changes necessary to be blessed by Him.  It is just amazing.  

We had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders this week.  Sister Bailey came and joined me in Golden Bay.  We had a day full of miracles, joy, and sun.  We spent most of our day on the bikes and I got burnt.  I forgot sunscreen that morning.  Sister Murray says I'm just trying to fit in to our all brown district. :)  The coolest miracle came from tracting with Sister Bailey.  On Wednesday Sister Murray and I were biking in our area and school had just got out.  We were following this mum and her kids on their bikes when one little boy's chain fell off of his bike and he stacked it hard out.  I automatically jumped off my bike and as the mum comforted the boy I put the chain back on the bike (as useful skill I've learned on my mission).  The mum of the little boy came and picked him up, they thanked us, and everyone went on their way.  I was super bummed that night that I didn't get to share anything more with them.  I was grateful that I was able to do some good for the day but prayed that Heavenly Father would give us the opportunity to see them again.  Well low and behold Sister Bailey knocks on this door and the mum says, "Hey you were the lady who helped my friends little boy put his chain back on his bike!"  IT WAS THEM!!!!  She and her 3 children all believe in God and said that we could come by any time to share a message with us.  Sister Bailey and I left their house and had to stop and offer a prayer of gratitude.  It was the most faith restoring moment for me.  The rest of the night I just kept saying prayers of thanks in my heart for that special moment.  Every person we help, even if it is just a smile, is blessed in some way.  Make the difference where you stand today.  Help someone around you, smile, or give someone a phone call.  You never know the effect you will have.  I love this work.  I know that as we act in a way that helps bring about God's kingdom that He will bless our efforts.  I love you all!  

Much love, Sister Shayne

Pic #1  This is my awesome watch tan line.  I used to be as white as my shirt :)  Sister Bailey laughed so hard that she said she needed to take a picture.

 

 

Pic #2 These are called Ibis birds.  They are funny little things that are EVERYWHERE! 

Pic #3 Mum last week said, "You are 3 blocks from the ocean.  That must suck for you!"  I had to take this picture this week to show how much I see the ocean.  This is Foreshore road.  They call the seashore a foreshore.  Can you see the ocean?  This is the closest road to the ocean.  This country is so flat that you can't see the ocean unless you go to a look out.  We can't really go to the lookouts because they have a sand path to get to them and our mission has a rule that we aren't even allowed on the sand.  It's out of sight and out of mind.  We just hear it all the time which is cool.         

Week of miracles :)‏

G'day everyone!

This has been the most golden of weeks here in Golden Bay.  Our Zone Leaders have said that they are going to paint our car gold because of the awesome week we have had.  I even painted my nails gold this morning.  We have been so blessed.  This last week we found 5 new investigators, invited 3 people to be baptized, and set specific dates for baptism with two of those three!  I'll tell you a little bit about these highlights. 

We will start with Jess.  Jess has been investigating the church for about 4 years now.  We did a drop by visit last Monday and she just needed us.  We shared an awesome lesson about forgiveness and the atonement.  She told us of some things in her life that helped us understand all of the guilt that she has been carrying.  She agreed to meet with Bishop Mandin to help her heal.  We opened the calendar on her phone and told her to pick a date to be baptized.  She has a lot of healing to do and we told her that she can have Christ's atonement fill the broken parts of her life.  She is ready for that to happen.  She picked the 8th of May.  We are so proud of her for taking these steps and moving closer to Christ.

Next is Jordy.  Jordy comes from a part member family.  His nan, older sisters, and cousin are all members but his mum and dad are not.  We've been over a couple of time since I've been here and we've realized that this family needs to not only be fully in the gospel but that their home really stands in need of a better spirit.  The sisters don't get a long and the oldest sister thinks her mum is ruining her life.  They desperately need the spirit of contention to leave their home.  Last week I told you about Kylie and Ally.  Kylie is Jordy's mum.  When we went and met with her two weeks ago she expressed that Jordy wants to be baptized and she would love to see him go on a mission some day.  On Wednesday we went and taught the family about God's love for them, how living the gospel will bless their family, and how God calls prophets to help us.  We set some house rules as well.  I wrote up 3 rules on a piece of paper and laminated it.  #1 Pray daily #2 Scriptures daily #3 Church every Sunday.  We discussed them and decided that they would each read one verse around the dinner table before anyone was allowed to eat.  I thought that was a great idea.  One verse is all it takes some times.  We decided as a family to have him baptized on the 19th of April.  The family is going to work together to help him be prepared for that date.  I've been praying really hard for their family.  They need the blessings that come from actually living the gospel. 

Our last baptismal invite was with our friend Te Ava.  Te Ava is the cousin of some members in the ward.  We went over and taught them the Plan of Salvation this week.  We were talking about our life here on earth and how Christ set the perfect example for us.  We kept using the work baptism and Te Ava asks, "Does someone have to be baptized in order to live with God again?"  We smiled and said yes and invited him to follow Christ's example and be baptized.  He said that he would once he found out that it is true.  We will continue teaching him and helping him receive that answer for himself. 

Here are some fun stories from our efforts of finding this week.  Sister Murray and I were tracting a street called Maddox.  We couldn't figure out what the front door was on this house so we just knocked on one.  A lady poked her head through the curtain and said, "That's not the front door!  Go around to the other street!"  We walked around and quickly realized that we were on the side of her house and not the front.  She has a beautiful house and 5 super cute kids.  Her name is Kate.  We got a good laugh out of it and it was an awesome ice breaker.  We are going back on Tuesday to talk to her about the Plan of Salvation.  She is a nice lady :)

Another day of tracting we met our friend Delroy.  Sister Murray and I picked a street and when we got to it it only had two houses that were actual homes.  The rest were still under construction.  I said, "Well someone in one of these houses needs our message!"  We got to the front door and it had the most flash doorknob I had ever seen.  It was like a Samsung phone with a door handle.  You had to put in a code to get the door to unlock instead of a key.  Again that was our ice breaker when Delroy answered the door.  We talked for a bit and learned heaps about him.  He is from Zimbabwe and has just recently turned back to Christ.  He was addicted to smoking pot and all kinds of things for a long time.  He said that he is 7 weeks clean and is ready to bring God back into his life.  We talked about prophets and how General Conference is coming up.  He was really keen on the idea of a living prophet.  We are excited to go back this week and teach him all about the Restoration.  It will be a good lesson.

Last but definitely not least we have these two YSA girls in our ward that we absolutely adore.  Their names are Emma and Caitlin.  They come out with us all the time.  Caitlin is planning on submitting her mission papers in August.  Emma is from North Carolina and Caitlin is originally form California.  They are moving back to the states in a couple of months.  I told them that they need to take a trip to St. George come September to see me.  We had dinner with them and Jess on Saturday night.  These girls are so strong.  I love them so much.  It's amazing to see how people really do stand up for what they believe.  Sometimes it isn't easy but with these two I know that it is always easier when you surround yourself with people that have the same standards as you.

Last night we had dinner at a members home. After our spiritual thought they shared one with us.  If you ever been on mormon.org and have looked through the videos of people you may have come across this video http://www.mormon.org/william of William Hopoate.  He is well known here and when people hear his story they are more willing to listen to us.  Well William is home now and this is his latest interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsbGJA16uXQ . He is a legend.  When it comes to standing up for what you believe Will sets a really good example for us all.  I've chuckled in meetings at church when leaders say, "Wow there was a lot at conference about going to the rescue and member missionary work."  They say it and then just disregard it.  I want all of you who are reading this to realize that the missionary work can't progress any farther than we currently are without each and every one of us opening our mouths, standing up, and sharing the gospel in our own ways.  It can be as simple as posting these video's on to your facebook page.  That is a simple as way to share your testimony.  This week I encourage all of you to find some way that you can share the gospel.  Heavenly Father gave you your testimony for a reason.  He placed you where you are right now in your life for a reason.  There is someone who needs to hear the gospel from you.  I know you can all do it.  We are going to keep moving the water here.  Help your missionaries bring forth the Kingdom of God.  I love you all.  I hope your Spring Break was awesome.  I celebrated my year mark with an ice cream cake with Te Ava and the Mclean family and then we burnt a skirt.  It's a mission tradition.  I used one that I found in an old flat don't worry mum.  Everything here is going great and I pray for yous daily.  Have a great week! 

Much love,

Sister Shayne   

Heavenly Father told me Happy One Year mark by giving us the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen.  I wish my camera did it justice.

This is the foreshore.  Sister Murray and I just sat here for hours last pday.  It made me really happy :) 

I told Caitlin that when I finish my mission I would come keep her parents company while she goes and serves her mission.  This is the view from her living room.  They have a dock to put a boat or to go paddle board off of.  I was pretty jealous. 

Wind surfers

Pelicans

One happy Sister Beckstrand

We had enchiladas for dinner :)  Again this made me a really happy sister missionary.  I requested dinner and they requested that we teach them about enduring to the end.  It was a good trade if you ask me. 

 This is Jaden.  We had strawberry shortcake for dinner and he went a little happy with the whipped cream.  He had a full mouthful and then someone made him laugh and he shot it everywhere!!!  It was soooo funny!  I had to grab my camera as quick as possible to catch the moment and this is Emma and our beautiful enchiladas.
















        

Spiritually Fed‏

G'day everyone! 

It's so good to hear how well everyone is doing.  I'm sure that just like every other sport Ben will smash baseball.  I'm so proud of David, Sophie and Mum for running the the Dog Town race.  Loved seeing all of the pictures from the race.  Looks like you all had heaps of fun.  Josh it's good to hear that you are still training in golf.  Keep it up!  The hard work always pays off.  I cracked up at the Lake to Lake race of "Running without John."  Yous smoked it anyway.  Mum no worries I'll be bringing in the rear with you when I get home.  I loved hearing the story of the missionary work that is moving along in the 5th ward.  That makes me so happy.  Good things are happening everywhere!

This has been a spiritually packed week.  On Thursday night I finished Elder Hamula's challenge of reading the Book of Mormon in a month.  It was amazing how many things I never remember reading about in previous times of reading the Book of Mormon.  I find it funny that whenever a new book in a series comes out or a favourite author comes out with a new book people can breeze through the 500+ page book in a matter of days and yet when it comes to reading the Book of Mormon (531 pages, 249 chapters) they struggle doing it in a year.  Sister Lindsay shared something this weekend that I thought was really profound she said, "Never in my 61 years of life have I read the Book of Mormon at such a rapid pace.  I have always tried my best to read it in a year but sometimes that doesn't happen.  I worried that while reading it this fast I wouldn't be able to  ponder on the things that I read.  Then I realized that I've been trying to 'ponder' the scriptures for decades now that it was time to understand the story and how it applies to me.  As we did this challenge I thought about the 15 pages that I read every day constantly throughout my day.  I see the scriptures in a light like I never have before."  I was incredibly grateful for the challenge.  I too understood soo much more from the Book of Mormon than I ever have before.  I understand how all of the stories are tied together.  I understand the timeline of when each book was written.  I understand that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is real.  That the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's restored gospel.  In the Book of Mormon it mentions repentance and faith more than anything else.  Believing and changing.  That's what God expects of us.  We read story after story about ancient prophets and their lands, people, and families that learn that lesson and the consequences of those that don't.  I have a great love for the Book of Mormon and it grows every time I read it.  Here is the next Book of Mormon challenge that I am going to endeavor to do.  After our call at Mother's Day I am going to read 5 pages of the Book of Mormon a day.  I encourage every person reading this to do the same.  When we finish the Book of Mormon I will be on my last fortnight of my mission and you will all have my travel arrangements for my flight home.  We will all be blessed as we keep our focus on the Saviour and his teachings that come from the words of His prophets.

Friday morning we arrived at the Rockingham Chapel at 8am for choir practice.  We had all of the missionaries from the Rockingham, Southern River, and Bunbury Zones at that chapel for a Zone Conference.  We practices our song and then all lined up in the gym for a picture.  Elder James J. Hamula, the South Pacific Area President joined us for our photo and meeting.  It was a meeting none of us will soon forget.  We opened the meeting and all of the missionaries stood and sang the EFY Medley of 'As Sisters in Zion' with 'Army of Helaman'.  The spirit was so strong as we sang with as much power and passion as we could.  The Sisters sang these new lyrics:


The sisters of Zion are called to God's labor,
We willingly serve Him with spirit and might.
We go to the nations with truth everlasting,
We teach of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.

We thank thee, O God, for a prophet to guide us,
We trust in his words and our purpose is clear.
The angels of heaven are walking beside us,
We'll share our glad message with all who will hear.

We go forth enlisted with Helaman's  Army
In numbers much greater than ever before.
With power and spirit we'll faithfully witness
The heavens have spoken and truth is restored! 

With the Sisters singing that and the Elders singing about being the army of Helaman there was a unique spirit that testified to all of us that we are the Lord's chosen servants.   Elder Hamula started his address and couldn't hold back his emotions.  He said, "It's been a few years since I've visited the Perth Mission and I have to tell you Elders and Sisters that the Spirit that I feel here with you today astounds me.  He talked about being able to hear and act upon the voice of the Lord.  He said that there are three ways we can hear the voice of the Lord.

1.  He can speak directly to us.  We know that to be true because He has spoke to people in past.  He challenged us next time we read the Book of Mormon to highlight how many times it says something about "calling up on the Lord'' or prayer.  And to then mark how many times you see the terms, 'harken' 'give ear' or 'listen'.  He said that he hasn't counted it but he is confident that the listening side of it will come up more than the other.  He said that we need to follow Adam and Eve's example in Moses 5:4 of calling and hearing if we are to make it home. 

2. Read His recorded word!  Once we call upon God we can't just sit and wait for an answer.  We must ACT.   He shared with us tons of scriptures that talk about how the scriptures are here to help, convince, testify, persuade, and prove that God really is mindful of us and that the gospel is true!  If we can harness the lesson of likening the scriptures to ourselves then when we pray for help and then read the scriptures we will find our answers.  We talk to God through prayer and He talks to us through the scriptures. 

3. Others can hear Him through us.  As a set apart servant of the Lord when we testify we are speaking on behalf of the Lord.  D&C 68 became a quick favourite of a lot of our missionaries. 

He also spoke much about being led by the spirit.  He shared a method that Sister Murray applied in our area yesterday and saw success.  Many missionaries have a hard time knowing whether or not they are acting by the Spirit or by their own choices.  President Hamula said, "Have you been called of God?  Are you being obedient to the rules?  Have you prayed? If you answer yes to all of those then all you need to do is ACT.  If you are on the wrong path the Holy Ghost will stop and correct your path.  If you just wait for bells and whistles then you will get bells and whistles but they won't be from God.  If you study it out, pray about it, and then ACT you will never go wrong."  That was something that I really needed to hear.  A lot of our missionaries felt the same way. 

Yesterday Sister Murray and I were visited by our Zone Leaders a few hours after Stake Conference.  They expressed how we need to find more people to teach as a zone.  When they left Sister Murray and I did what Elder Hamula directed.  We studied from Preach My Gospel about finding.  We prayed together and individually.  We came together and discussed our plan of action.  I could not shake this family off of my mind.  One granddaughter was baptized not to long ago.  Her auntie Kylie and cousin Jordy have not been baptized.  We went to there house to see if we could teach them.  Her cousins were gone and Kylie had a friend in the back yard.  After talking to Nan for 5 minutes Kylie brought her friend in to meet us.  She said, "Sisters this is Ally.  She needs to talk to you."  We sat and talked with Ally and Kylie.  We shared with power the Plan of Salvation.  Ally soaked in every word.  She said the closing prayer and after she finished asked how she can go about being baptized.  She doesn't live in our area but was delighted to know that there were sister missionaries that serve where she lives.  We left and called the Kwinana Sisters to tell them all about Ally.  I was so grateful for the prompting I had to go visit that family and that we acted right then.  If we hadn't of got in the car and left right then, then we would have missed her.  We called our Zone Leaders and shared the miracle.  It was amazing to see how when we applied the council from our leaders we saw success.  I've been richly blessed by being able to listen to President Hamula this weekend. 

At Stake Conference we received a new Stake Presidency.  After they were sustained they took their place on stage.  The incoming and outgoing presidencies were given the opportunity to bear their testimonies.  When President Stanley bore his testimony as the incoming Stake President the spirit was so strong.  I've never been so moved with the knowledge and these men are called by God.  There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind as he spoke that he was supposed to receive that calling.  I'm excited to see how he transforms this stake into being fully engaged in the work of Salvation.  Elder Hamula spoke about how members need to be involved in missionary work.  He said, "I don't know how long you are going to have all of these missionaries.  I wish I could say that you will have them forever.  But when other parts of the world open for work the numbers of missionaries you see here tonight (total full-time missionaries in attendance at Stake Conference was 38) will diminish.  If we dumped a mission full of missionaries in the vast land of China they would be lost.  I'm confident that the Lord has not opened those lands for work yet because there are fields right in our backyards that are white and ready to harvest that we as members are neglecting.  The missionaries don't know your friends like you do.  Your friends don't know the missionaries like we do!  Let us work arm in arm with the Lord servants that we have been blessed with."   The power and authority from these meeting is indescribable.  This church is the only true and living gospel.  It is living because of ongoing revelation.  It is true because of the doctrines that we teach, preach, and live on a daily basis.  I'm grateful to be a part of this work.  I'm grateful to be a member of this church.  I'm grateful to be a missionary in this part of the Lord's vineyard.  I hope you all feel the same.  Every member is a missionary.  I love and miss you all. 

Much love,

Sister Shayne   

Pic #1 Kind of a random photo but I made this curtain this week :)  We took 3 pieces of white fabric and this is what was created.  It was a fun service project. 

 

Pic #2 This is me and Sister Murray

 Pic #3 Me and Sister Atkinson :)  She cut my hair the night they stayed at our flat.  I really needed some new layers.  They had a long drive to conference so they stayed with us Saturday night for the Sunday morning session.  It was fun to have them over for a night.

Golden Bay + Sister Murry = Renewed Faith‏

G'day everyone!  

Wow this has been one incredible week.  I'll start off by telling you about my new companion.  I am serving with Sister Jazemine Murray.  She is 21 years old and is the 4th of 11 children in her family.  Her parents were less active when they met and got married and it was many years until they became active in the church.  She was converted at age 14 and once she knew it was true she knew she was going to serve a mission.  She is the epitome of faith.  I am so grateful to be serving with her.  She has just finished her first 12 weeks and is now a full grown missionary.  She still has her "greenie faith" and it is contagious!  She was a power lifter back at home.  There are 7 boys in her family and 4 girls.  Sound familiar dad?  With that many brothers (ranging from 25 - 8) they all spent a lot of time lifting and she was not going to get left out of that.  We have so much in common.  Only 2 years ago her dad became fully active in the church again.  He stopped smoking, was fully active for a year, and they were sealed in the temple last August.  Two weeks after their sealing her father passed away.  He found out that he has lung cancer just after he was again fully active in the gospel.  She has the most incredible testimony of the Plan of Salvation.  Her family is being so blessed by her service here.  She knows why she is here and she is ready to work.  

She and I have had some amazing experiences already.  Here is one example of our unity and faith put into action.  We had one hour in our planning on Saturday to go tracting.  We have 5 suburbs and needed to pick one to go to.  I said, "On the count of three say a suburb."  We both said Secret Harbour.  The next day during companionship study we pulled out our map of Secret Harbour and I wrote down 5 streets and she wrote down 5 streets.  As we were looking at the map Sister Murray said what I was thinking.  She said, "There are so many streets in this suburb.  There is no way that we are going to pick the same one."  Well low and behold we compared our lists and had 2 that were the same!  The we looked at each other and said,  "Now what?  We only need one."  Sister Murry looked at me and said, "On the count of three!"  I put my head on my study desk and just prayed that this would work.  We both said Joanna!  We freaked out just a little and jumped in the car after a prayer of thanks.  No one on that street was interested until we got to the very last house were we met Sue and her daughter.  They are a lovely family that are going to make the best members.  She and her daughter talked to us for about 15 minutes and one thing let to another and now we are going back on Thursday to teach them about prophets!  We were soo excited.  We left that street and just felt like we had been exactly where the Lord needed us when he needed us there.  

I have been dead tired everyday when we finish because of the amount of work and effort we are putting in to this area to get it fruitful and eventually white.  I haven't slept this good in a long time.   I feel like when we lie down at night we can say that we have done everything that we can.  It's the best feeling.  I definitely love transfers and the inspiration that President receives for each and every one of his missionaries.  I am in the Mandruah ward and the Mandurah District.  We are part of the Rockingham Zone.  I am the only white missionary in my district :)  Our District Leader is Elder Seiuli from American Samoa.  His companion is Elder Eti from Tuvalu.  The other Elders are Elder Poi from New Zealand and Elder Leato from Melbourne.  I love my district.  :)  Our Ward Mission Leader is from Texas!  His name is Brother Day.  He is great and is helping us heaps.  We meet with him twice a week and he is a gun WML.   

Saying good-bye to people in Kal just about broke my heart.  I felt a small part of what it will be like to actually come home.  Coming back to the civilization of the real city was weird.  It's nice to be back with lots of missionaries though.  I know that I'm right where I am supposed to be.  I'm excited to see what these next couple of months have in store.  I hope all is going well with you.  Soph, Squash, Ben, David, the school year is 3/4 of the way done.  Work hard and do your homework so that your end of year tests are a breeze!  I hope you are all having fun with your hobbies and sports.  I've loved being able to read about all of the fun things you are doing.  Keep the faith and enjoy the journey :)

All my love,

Sister Shayne

 Pic #1   Fraser and Brother Timu were being eggs and wouldn't take a normal photo haha

Pic #2   Saying good-by to the Kaa family!  Hopefully I'll see them in September! 

 



 Pic #3   The Aumoe family.  Brother Aumoe is the funniest man I know.  Dinners at their home always left me in tears from laughter. 

Pic #1  Jade Mcilroy :)  Love this girl.  She is going to bring her family into the gospel someday. 

 Pic #2  Sister Taupau and Sister Hunt.  We were helping the Hunts clean their old house on my last day.  These ladies are the best!

Pic #3  Evelyn Iosefa!  This lady is one to look up to.  She is wonderwoman.  Nothing is too much for this lady to handle.  

#1 & 2  Madyson and Lemuel!  I had to really hold it together saying good-bye to this family.  They have a very special place in my heart.  Lem said that they are going to come visit sometime next year :)  I look forward to that visit. 

#3 Last district photo in Kal.  Many great memories with these 3 :)

#1 Golden Bay.  That's my area :)  The Indian Ocean

 #2 Mandurah Chapel

#3 Utah!!!  I literally stopped in the middle of the road, put on my hazards, and had Sister Murray take a picture of me. haha 

February was white in Kalgoorlie‏

G'day everyone!

This has easily been one of the greatest weeks we've had in a long time.  I'll start with the Sister Training Leaders.  Sister Ensign and Sister Bailey came up again this week.   Miracles happen when those two come.  We found 4 new investigators this week and we able to break down barriers with some people that we were never able to crack.  The work is moving here and it is only going to get better.  We met with the Relief Society President Julia Hawaikirangi and set up rescue visits for us to go out with the mums here during the day.  Many ladies can't come at night because they are taking care of their families so we are going to do visits on Wednesday mornings instead.  We are all really excited about it. 

On Thursday we were able to go to mutual to help with their activity.  We were asked to start in the chapel and teach the Plan of Salvation to the youth.  While we were teaching them the Laurels came in and pulled a few kids out at a time.  Within 20 minutes all of the youth were out of the chapel and into the cultural hall.  In the hall they had ping pong, a play station hooked up, a whole table full of food, a piano to play, and a photo booth to take photos.  At all of the stations there were also scriptures to read.  If they read any scriptures they received a token.  They had lots of fun playing games.  Then they were taken one by one out of the hall and down to some class rooms where one of their YM leaders was in his suit waiting for them.  He asked if they had anything for him.  They then were able to hand over their tokens if they had received any, or held on to those that they received.  If they had 1 or less they were directed to a completely dark room with nothing in it.  If they had 2 tokens they were lead to a room that had only a dimly lit lamp.  If they had 3 or more (there was potential to have 6) they were lead to a room where the lights were all on, there was a picture of the Savior, music playing and a chair for each of them to sit on.  After they were all in a room they were allowed to come back into the chapel to discuss what had just happened.  It was a great eye opener for a lot of the youth.  Even though they were at mutual they still didn't quite make all the choices they needed to to get to the best room.  Nearly half ended up in the darkest room.   One miamaid said, "I've never thought of my choices like that before."  It was an incredible humbling experience for me and my companion.  There were youth who while with us in the "pre-earth life" that were listening to us so carefully that they didn't even realize that it was their turn to leave.  Others were really anxious to get to go to the next room even though they had no idea what they would do in there.  There was one girl that pulled at my heart though.  As she left us she said, I'll be back to hear the rest later!"  When they all left our room I looked at my companion and just cried.  She had no idea what that sentence was going to really mean.  It was remarkable to get a small glimpse of what it was like for Heavenly Father to send us all here to earth.  

Saturday we had the baptism of Mark and Ngaio.  They are the amazing couple that the Elders have been teaching.  Ngaio just cried all through sacrament meeting as she was able to take the sacrament for the first time.  She told us afterwards that that was the best thing for her.  She said that in previous weeks it was almost unbearable to be able to touch the tray as it came to her and then just pass it by.  She said that it was really like being able to feel the Savior right there for her and she hadn't done everything in her power to become part of his church.  Investigators can take the sacrament before they are baptized but for these two they saw the meaning of the sacrament the way that we all should. They held it in such a sacred term that when they had been cleansed from all their mistakes and had been given the gift of the Holy Ghost they were just overwhelmed to be able to partake of the sacrament and feel it's remarkable power enable and strengthen them.  I was grateful for her testimony and reminder of what the sacrament is all about.  I pray that we can all see it like her as we prepare every week to partake of that blessing in our lives. 

Sunday morning Sister Kim and I were up at half passed 4 to get ready to go fill the font for Mady's baptism and have our meeting with the elders and Brother Timu before the baptism.  Whoever thought that a 7:30am baptism wouldn't be well attended was sorely mistaken.  We filled the entire chapel with members, and less-active members at Madyson's baptism.  I got a call from Lemuel at 7pm the night before asking me to speak.  His sister for different reasons didn't want to speak so I humbly took the opportunity.  The baptism was beautiful.  After grandpa and Mady changed and came back into the chapel we had a few of her uncles bare their testimonies about their baptisms.  The spirit was soo strong.  Then it was Mady's turn to bear her testimony and she was too scared and started to cry.  Well Mady is Lemuel's little princess and he stood up in her behalf.  He bore his testimony about how he hasn't stood at a pulpit in about the last 9 years.  He talked about how even though he isn't completely active that he knows the church is true.  He said that Mady's baptism is a big step for their family and that they really needed the push.  He shared his gratitude for the missionaries in helping her be prepared for her baptism.  I couldn't stop crying.  The spirit was so strong.  The gospel blesses families when the gospel is lived in full.  I've loved being a part of so many families that make the changes necessary to live the gospel more fully to receive those blessings.  It's incredible humbling and beautiful to see.  

Sunday night we were able to watch the South Pacific Area Broadcast.  It was really good!  Elder Keven W. Pearson talked about strengthening our individual spirituality.  There are three things that he said that we can work on to do that.  

1. Strengthen/deepen your own personal faith in our Savior Jesus Christ.  

2. Recommit ourselves to the law of the fast.

3. A full immersion in the Book of Mormon. 

O. Vincent Haleck talked about how hastening the work isn't just in the full-time missionary work for the living but it includes all of our individual work for our ancestors on the other side as well.  It was incredibly moving.  I encourage everyone to find at least one name in your history that you can take to the temple.  Go find someone that you can rescue today.  :)

Last but definitely not least we received transfer calls this morning.  I only have 2 more days here in Kalgoorlie.  I am being transferred to the Golden Bay area.  That is part of the Mandurah Ward in the Rockingham Stake.  My new companion is going to be Sister Murray.  I don't know anything about her except that she has only been out for 3 months.  It will be fun to get to know her and learn from her.  I'm incredibly saddened to leave Kalgoorlie.  I'm grateful for all of the wonderful things that I was able to be a part of.  I love being a missionary.  This is the greatest work any of us could ever be a part of.  I love it.  I love hearing about all of the wonderful things that you have all been doing.  Good on ya dad and Josh for getting active and doing so well on your dualthon.  Sophie mom's blog about the swim season made me so excited to watch you swim next season.  I've loved being able to brag about the fact that you went and swam at state.  Ben and David!  Good job on the Mr. PVHS run!  I'm pretty sure that I will have to be the picture taker for a while when I get home because you will both be too fast for me to keep up in a run.  I love reading mum's blog and seeing all that you've been able to do.  I love you all!  Miss you heaps!   

Much love,
Sister Shayne     

Pic #1 Mark and Ngaio with Elder Battye and Elder Brown 

 

Pic #2  Mady Lemuel and Mum 

 

 

Pic #3 Us and Mady :)

We went to a restaurant the other day and they asked what name to put it under and I told them to just put it under the same name as Sister Kim.  When we got our bags this is what mine said.   This take the meaning of "taking upon yourself the name of Christ" to a whole new meaning.  :)

 

 

 

 

 We went to the Tipene's after church for a feed.  This was the cake that her auntie Kandaeda made for her :) 

 

 Sister Kim made sushi one day for lunch while the Sister's were up.

This is Tiariki Kaa :)  This was at the feed after Mark and Ngiao's baptism.  Fun fact the Kaa's should be moving back to Utah in the next few months so we decided that they will be able to come to the airport when I come home!

These last two were also at the Tipene's after the baptism.  Elder Brown was called upon to do magic tricks while they cleaned up the food before they brought out dessert.  He got quite a crowd of everyone not just the kids.  He is a pretty good magician.  They all loved him.  These little girls wouldn't stop asking him to do more. 

I love this week! :)

This has been a great week here in Kalgoorlie.

Tuesday I gave our District Meeting.  Elder Brown believes that we are all supposed to be uplifted and edified by each other so instead of him teaching District Meeting every week he assigns us a chance to give training and this was my lucky week.  It was really great though because just like every time you prepare a lesson the teacher learns more than the students.  We focused on diligence, our conversion, and opening our mouths to proclaim the gospel without fear.  It was really good.  I was grateful for the opportunity.  That night we also had a Relief Society activity.  It was a fun night to get to know more of the ward.  We made this little cookie sheets with chalk board paper on it.  Ours is used for our Christ-like attribute for the week. 

 

Wednesday night we held a mid-week correlation with Brother Timu to discuss the wonderful things that are happening in our ward.  We also discussed a plan to get the members excited to help find people to have the missionaries teach.  We came up with a whole fireside that will happen next month.  It will be a great thing for all of them.  The meeting was full of the spirit and we really feel like there are going to be good things happening in this ward.  We held that meeting because we have what President calls a "high-class problem" for this next weekend were we have 3 people being baptized but at different times so we had to sauce that all out.  The Elders have a baptism of Mark and his wife Ngaio on Saturday night at 4pm and we have Madyson Tipene's baptism Sunday morning at 7:30am.  We were worried that that would be a problem seeing as that is a lot of water to fill it up Saturday, drain it, and fill it back up Sunday morning.  We can't leave it full without someone to watch over it.  Water is really dear (precious) out here and we were worried that they wouldn't let us do it like that.  Brother Timu said that that would be no dramas.  

Thursday while we were doing our weekly planning we had our neighborhood cat come by the front window to say hi.  We've been trying to get a picture for him for a while.  He only has one eye.  I like this photo because he is winking at us. 

 

That night we decorated the Elder's flat with heart-shaped sticky notes with scriptures on them about the love of God.  Scriptures like, "For God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son." (John 3:16)  We had a lot of fun finding different scriptures to put on the post-its.  On their window the post-its spelled out Happy Valentines Day.  We did it at about 8:30pm and were scared that they would catch us since it was about 30 minutes until we were all supposed to be in our flats.  We were quick and had fun decorating.  That leads us to Valentines day!

This is the Elder Flat.  The window, the door and their fence :) 

 

  This was a sign that we stuck to their house as well.

Friday was a great day!  We started it off with a phone call from the mission office telling me that Henry was born!  They gave me permission to get on that day and see him. :)  We tried straight away but Ashley was feeding him.  It was good to see Brad holding Henry though for the few seconds that I saw them :)  Then we went to a non-members house for a service project.  Flashback a couple of weeks ago we tracted into this lady named Allie.  She wasn't interested in what we had to share and said that she already had a Book of Mormon that she received from a friend.  We asked who her friend was and she said, Noelle.  Noelle is the Bishop Rowe's wife!  We were pretty excited to talk to Sister Rowe about Allie.  Thursday Sister Rowe called us and said that Allie was moving and needed the Elders help to move some big furniture if they were available.  We said of course and all 4 of us went over Thursday morning to help.  She put the Elders straight to work but didn't think she needed us.  We offered to clean anything that needed to be cleaned and she looked like she was going to cry.  She said, "Are you sure you want to help like that?  I can't do that to you girls."  We told her that that is what we do and that we could help in every room if she needed us to.  We got to work.  We scrubbed walls, floorboards, closets, and windows for about an hour and then she asked us if we could come back in an hour and help some more.  She had some errands she needed to run. We went and got lunch, went and decorated the Timu's house just like we did the Elders, and then went back to the Library to try Henry again.  We pulled up the camera and there was a sign saying that the nurse was taking care of him, so we decided to wait until dinner and then try again.

This is just a couple of the many places that they had post-it notes.  Pia texted us a big thank you when she got home to see it.  She said that it really made them feel loved. 

 

  We finished service at Allie's house went home, cleaned up, changed and went to the Tipene's.  Madyson was having her interview with the Elders so we went a little early to go through the questions with her one more time so that she was ready to answer anything that was asked.  She is the most amazing little girl.  She wants to be baptized soo bad.  She had an ear to ear grin across her face as she finished her interview with Elder Brown.  She is be baptized Sunday the 23rd at 7:30am by her Grandpa.  They call him King George.    Then we went from them to dinner with the Kaa family.  Jack's mum is in town so we got to meet her.  We had a delicious dinner and shared President Monson's video called, What matters most.  https://www.lds.org/youth/video/what-matters-most?lang=eng It was very appropriate for Valentines day.  Of course as soon as we told Nykell about Henry she gave me full reign of the laptop.  She hooked it into her TV so we could see better.  That was a major highlight of our night.

 

 This is one I cropped to see if we looked alike.  I think he looks like Ashley :)

 

 

Then we went to a lesson with Ronnie.  We were going to teach him a little more about the Priesthood.  We took the Elders Quorum President Brother Wharemate and his wife Leonie with us.  They were awesome.  Brother Wharemate and Ronnie had a lot in common and just got a long like old friends.  It's amazing how God has prepared not only Ronnie but every person we've taken to meet him to help him along his path.  When we left Sister Wharemate said, "Thanks for letting us come with you to this for our Valentines date.  It was great to be able to meet him and help in the work."  That made me smile.  

Sunday was Ronnie's baptism!  We got to the chapel about a quarter past 7 in the morning and met up with the Elders, Ronnie, and Brother Timu.  By the time we had Elder Brown and Ronnie in their all whites, pictures taken and everyone back in the chapel for the start it was about 7:40am.  We had 5 families come to support!  The whole program was run by the members and it was such a special meeting.  It was amazing to see all of the little kids come that early and sit and be reverent during it all.  I love this ward.  They are so friendly and are always looking for ways to help, lift and support wherever and whenever they can.  It's a major blessing.  

Ronnie's baptism :)

Baptized by Elder Benjamin Brown

Confirmed by Brother Manu Timu

 This whole week has been amazing and the week ahead of us looks just as great!  I love Kalgoorlie.  I love being a missionary.  These experiences really only come once in a life time and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to serve.  I love you all and pray for you always.  It was awesome to see all about David and Ben's basketball games, hear about Ben's birthday, going to see the Globetrotters, Josh beating everyone at the 5K and Sophie's relay doing so amazing at state.  Good things are happening everywhere!  Love and miss you all heaps!  

Much love, Sister Shayne

 

Alright so funny story for the week.  After Mady's interview that night the Elders texted us because they heard us refer to her Grandpa as King George.  The title that his wife and family call him.  He has no royal blood in him whatsoever.  That night we get this message from the elders, "Hey did you say that the man coming to baptize Mady is a king?"  Well we weren't going to pass up this opportunity to make them think that they are NZ royalty.  This is how our conversation went.

Us: Yeah!  Cool aye?

Elders: Yeah that's awesome! So is he like the king of New Zealand or just the king of the place where he is?

Us: Just his area.  NZ has a main ruler and then each different area has a king. It goes back to the original tribes of the Maori culture. 

Elders: Okay is King George a Tipene as well?

Us: Yes.  That is why Lemuel hates living here because he would be next in line.  The oldest in their family is Sister Tahatika and she married into a different tribe so she lost he "birthright" for lack of better term.  Lem is planning on moving back once his son finishes his apprenticeship. 

Elders: Wow okay what region is he king over?  

* This is when I thought we were going to lose it.  There was no way that they were actually believing any of this.  I ran to our area book and flipped to the teaching record of a recent convert who was born in New Zealand to find out an area that we could send them. *

Us: The Whangarei area on the North Island

Elders: Thanks for that!  We're going to invite a kiwi guy to the baptism just to meet him!

* I read that to Sister Kim and we both realized that we had taken it too far hahaha *

Us: Okay time to come clean, we made it all up.  Thanks for believing us though and making that fun for us :) 

Elders: . . . . . Sisters, this means war.

Us: To be fair, he is titled King George.  It's a title that his wife gave him, that is a legit place in New Zealand, and Lem does plan of moving back to NZ.  

Elders: Well in Moses 4:10-11 Satan told Eve 2 truths and a lie so, get thee hence!

Us: You have to give us some credit that that was pretty good.  

Elders: Yeah to definitely got us!

We figured we will wait to tell them that Lemuel has a big brother named Laman when we gain their trust again :) 

p.s.  I forgot this story.  This package was found on Valentines Day at lunch time in front of our door when we came home for lunch.  It was from Sister Kim's boyfriend.  He had the local florist deliver flowers to our flat.  Cute aye?