Excitement and Downfalls‏

Family!

This has been an interesting week.  So last week I ended our email with talking about two girls that came to church and said they wanted to be baptized.  Well we met with them on Tuesday and Wednesday this last week.  The lessons went as follows.  Tuesday addresses Mania's concerns because Sadaf wasn't there, invited her to be baptized after teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, she said yes.  Wednesday same thing but with Sadaf being invited to be baptized the same day as her sister.  She said yes. (See first picture for our excitement as we walked home from that lesson)

 We taught them the Restoration and invited them to read the Book of Mormon (in Persian).  They agreed and their friend who helps translate sometimes said, "Can I have one of those books as well?"  He definitely feels the Spirit when he listens in on the lessons and helps his friends understand what we are sharing with them.  Sadaf's English is pretty good but Mania's isn't.  Sadaf added me on Facebook haha She is 25 and Mania is 32.  They are golden.  We had another lesson with them on Saturday and taught the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity.   They had no problems with either.  Mania said that tea would be hard to give up but that she would do it for the Lord.  It was really cool.  Mania and Mahdi (the friend that translates) biked with us halfway home that night because they didn't want us biking alone.  (See Picture)

I've never felt so much love for people before.  The girls are amazing and the family they live with are so supportive.  They came to church on Sunday and had an interview with one of President Lindsay's councilors and he determined that they can't actually be baptized.  I was gutted.  I wanted to cry right then and there.  We found out that they aren't here on a long-term visa yet.  The church standard is that they need to be a citizen or have a long-term visa to ensure that they will be living in a country where the gospel is and where they will be safe to worship it.  It broke my heart having to tell them that they can't be baptized until they get their permanent visas.  Sadaf told us on Saturday that she was so happy to be somewhere that not only let her be a Christian but that she has friends (us and the members) that are happy and proud that she is a Christian.  She doesn't have to lie and say she's a Muslim anymore just to read her scriptures.  It was rotten news.  We did however get permission to continue to teach them and prepare them for the time that their visa do come through. (Visa problems, I know the feeling.)  We will still teach them because the family that they are staying with are permanent citizens of Australia now.  Mahdi and his mom have been sitting in on the last 2 lessons and really enjoy what we share.  We may end up teaching and baptizing them first.  You never know, the Lord works in mysterious ways. 

I finished the Book of Mormon Challenge!!!  I have never learned so much from the scriptures as I have in the last 5 months.  I took Moroni's exhortation at the end of the Book of Mormon and prayed after I finished it.  I've always known the Book to be true so I wasn't asking for a confirmation but more of a prayer of thanks for the opportunity I have to read this book,  to study it daily, to learn and grow from every little verse I read, and to share its wonderful message with the people here in Western Australia.  I just cried as the Spirit touched my heart and solidified all the truths that I hold dear.  It was a moment I won't soon forget. 

In Relief Society our RS President Sister Dunlop gave an incredible lesson about coming unto Christ.  I just cried the whole lesson as I sat next to Sadaf and Mania.  The Lord really does know and love each of us so individually.   Brad Wilcox once said, "Come unto Christ, Come as you are, and Come now!"  I loved that quote.  Another was, "The Lord may not always come when you want Him to, but He will always be on time."  I have a strong testimony on that.  That's basically my entire testimony in one sentence.  He has a plan, He knows what's best, and He will guide us down the path we need to be on if we submit our will to His and carry on down the path holding tight to the iron rod. 

We had dinner with the Berryman's last night and I have 2 new games to teach the family when I come home that rival the Sound Game and Dip Dip Dip in fun and laughter. That's about it for this week.  I pray for you all every day and hope you are doing well.  There are letters for Sophie, Josh, Ben, David, Eric, and Sloan in the mail.  Keep an eye out for them in the next week or so.  Love you all!!!

Sister Shayne

P.S. If you ever need a spiritual pick-me-up go onto mormonchannel.org and watch some of the videos :)  They always invite the Spirit and make you feel like a million bucks :)

The other picture is just the street right by my flat.  It looked cool so I took a picture haha

Also I want to issue a challenge to our family for FHE this week.  I want to all to think about your favorite thing about the gospel.  The thing that has solidified your testimony of this beautiful gospel and to share it with a friend this week.  You can all practice with each other on how you will share it.  We practice teaching our investigators everyday before we leave the house for a lesson.  It's so much better to mess up to your comp than to the investigators.  it can be as simple as, "Hey we have a sweet activity at the church by my house on Wednesday you should come! You can meet some way cool people and see what we believe."  That's pretty general. This challenge goes to everyone Mom Dad David Ben Sophie and Josh.  Pray for a missionary opportunity and it will come. I know you are all amazing and probably do this on a daily basis anyway but it's the challenge we are giving our members so I thought I'd share the blessings.  :)  Love you all!