From WA to WA

Our MASSIVE airplane!

Hello Family!!!

So after 30+ hours of travel I made it safely to Western Australia!!!  I flew from Spokane to Seattle (1hour flight), Seattle to LAX (2.5 hour flight),  LAX to Sydney (nonstop 15 hour flight), and then Sydney to Perth (5 hour flight).  That's just flying time.  We had at least 2 hour layovers at each airport.  The 15 hour flight really wasn't bad.  It was probably my favorite flight.  I got up every couple of hours and walked the length of the plane.  From Seattle to LA I sat by an Indian lady who actually lives in Arizona.  We had an awesome 2 hour conversation about God and religion in general.  When we got off the plane I asked her if she would like a Book of Mormon.  I had read some scriptures out of it.  She said she would love one.  When I gave it to her she gave me a big hug and wished me the best of luck for the rest of my mission.  It was super sweet!  I hope everything works out for her. 

These screens were on the back of every chair on the airplane.  It tracked our entire flight from LA to Sydney.

First view of Australia from the plane.

Descending into Sydney.

A very happy Sister Ellsworth and Sister Beckstrand when they announced our decent to PERTH!

Once we finally landed in Perth I couldn't wait to get off the plane.  The 5 hours from Sydney to Perth were brutal.  We were so anxious to finally get there.  When I walked into the terminal the first person I saw was President Lindsay's smiling face.  I walked right to him and he gave me a hand shake and said, "Welcome Sister Beckstrand to the Australia Perth Mission.  It's so good to finally have you here.  We've been waiting a long time to have you!"  I instantly felt at home. 

The first day we got our bikes, had interviews at the mission home, had dinner and slept.  The next day we drove to the mission office.  The mission office, chapel and temple all share a parking lot.  I was nearly in shock to finally see the Temple in person.  It's been my cover picture on Facebook for so long that I couldn't believe that I was actually seeing it for myself.  We then met our companions.  My companion is Sister Naumati Peivi.  She is from Samoa.  She is the 6th of 7 kids and the first to serve a mission.  She is 25 years old.  I am her first companion from America and the first 19 year old sister she's met.  It's fun to stand out for being 19 and from America haha.  After training the Zone Leaders picked us up and took us to our flat.  After I was unpacked the District Leader and companion picked us up so we could go to the store.  Well the Elders needed to be at the church so they drove there, got out and threw me the keys.  To drive here all you need is a current licence from anywhere.  Sister Peivi doesn't have one so I was set as driver!  They drive not only on the left side of the road but the driver is on the right side of the car!  I have only seen like 3 stop lights.  Nearly every intersection is a round-about.  But the traffic flows to the left around the round-about.  It's bizzarre.  It was the craziest, most thrilling, and most terrifying experience I've ever had.  I am in a biking area so the last couple of days we have done nothing but bike our entire area finding people to visit.  They just split our area and added Elders to our ward.  All of the investigators that were progressing are now in their area and we are left with no one.  I'm excited to start from the very bottom and see this area grow.  It has some incredible potential.  I'm in a family ward which I really miss.  Everyone here is super friendly.  They greet you with a hug and a kiss everytime they see you.  I'm still getting used to that.  If someone is an Aussie they are from the East coast of the continent (Brisbane, Sydney, Melborne).  Over here in Perth you mainly have a big toss salad of people.  Our Bishop is from the Philipines, 1st councelor is from South Africa, and 2nd from New Zealand or something.  We have a ton of people from New Zealand here.  Heaps of Kiwi's and Maory's.  They are fanastic people.  I'm still trying to keep up on all of the fun words that they say and the slang they use but it's great.  At church on Sunday I was the first speaker.  They had me introduce myself and then share a thought.  It was soo cool to hear all of the different accents of people just in the ward.  Everyone is a little different but everyone is a child of God and shares in the faith of the restored gospel.  It's incredible.  The gospel is true no matter where you go.  The Lord is definitely hastening His work and knows where we need to be to help it move along.  I love it here in Australia and am excited to see what the Lord has in store from here on out.  Keep praying for missionary oppotunities.  They will come and you can always help. 

I love you all!  Sending you all my love form down under :)

Sister Shayne

P.S Yes the water runs the opposite way down the drain!

This is our picture from our Mother's Day Skype