Opposition In All Things

Hey there!

Wow this has been one incredibly crazy week.  It's felt really long too.  I don't know why but most weeks fly by and this week actually felt like a whole week.  I have couple of really cool stories to share this week.  The first was a lesson that we had with Sadaf and Monia.  When we went the family that they live with were having some family problems so we just went into the back room with Sadaf and Monia to give them a lesson.  We did the entire lesson without a translator.  We opened with a prayer to invite the spirit and to help us have an understanding of each other.  Sadaf said that now that they can get baptized what did they need to do in order to be baptized.  We went through the 6 baptismal questions (found in PMG if your interested in what they are) with them.  We taught what they didn't know and strengthened what they did.  It was amazing.  We had a laptop open with google translate for the words they didn't understand and they had a ipad with their Persian translator on it to translate words for us that they didn't know the English word for.  By the end of the lesson Sister Kennar and I were holding back tears from how strong the spirit was in that little bedroom.   Sister Kennar said she wanted to cry because she was so happy and Sadaf typed a word into her translator and showed it to us.  The English translation was, emotional freedom.  Never have 2 words hit my soul so strongly before.  It just summed up their entire experience with finding the church.  From lying that they were Muslim in Iran to save their lives to being able to be baptized into the Lord's church here in Australia.  It just blew me away.  I couldn't help but cry as we left their home that night.  We said a prayer and just thanked God for putting us in their path and letting us have the opportunity to help them along in this journey that are taking.

We got the blessing of getting a car on Wednesday.  During transfers one area had been closed down and therefor left a car that wasn't being used.  It was a major blessing and an answer to many many prayers by Sister Kennar haha.  It rained a lot this week so we were very thankful to have a car to be able to still go visit many people.  We taught Saba the Plan of Salvation this week.  She is darling.  She wraps her scriptures in a plastic cover to protect them so they don't get bent, scratched, or ripped.  We told her that we had really been praying about her and that we want to move her baptismal date up to the 28th of September.  She got the biggest smile across her face and said, "That's my birthday!"  It was such an awesome moment.  She is golden.  She can't wait to be a full member, go to the temple, get her patriarchal blessing, and go on a mission herself.  I never thought I would ever get someone to teach that is so prepared in my life. 

On Friday we had the most amazing lesson I've had on my mission and I don't know if I'll have an experience again that will be able to top it.  We met our friend Lydiya at the park on Friday and taught her the Restoration.  She had a million and a half questions running through her head so we told her that we can answer them all.  We started by singing I am a Child of God and then shared out lesson.  She listened really closely and said that it all made sense.  I asked her how she felt and she said, "Actually I feel really bad."  I automatically thought, "Oh shoot, that's not how someone is supposed to feel."  She said,  "I feel like Satan is trying to bring me down."  We told her that he knows how close she is to finding the truth and that when she accepts it that he won't be able to get to her anymore.  She thought and cried and passed back and forth for a bit.  She kept saying that she didn't know what she was supposed to do.  I finally said, "Lydiya how would you feel if we knelt right now and you asked God what HE wants for you."  She said she would be honored and there we knelt in the middle of the park with cars passing by and kids playing on the play ground.  All morning it had been overcast but never rained.  It was cold and windy but it wouldn't rain.  Lydiya said the most sincere prayer I think she's ever offered.  As she prayed the clouds parted and one ray of sunlight came through.  I kid you not it was straight out of a cheesy lds novel it was too perfect to be true.  We were instantly filled with warmth from the sun and from the Spirit.  Lydiya started to cry and said, "I can feel you Lord.  You know that I love the sun and I know that this is my answer from you."  She finished her prayer and looked up at us.  Her whole countenance had changed.  She was a totally different person.  As we walked back to her house the clouds got darker and darker and 10 mins after we left her it started to rain.  It was the craziest thing I've ever witnessed.  It was amazing to feel someone's answer, to see the literal change in their person, and see the gospel instantly blessing her live.

  The only downfall of missionary work is that Satan is real and that he is trying harder than ever to bring people down.  The next day we gave her a text inviting her and her partner to Stake Conference.  The text we got back said, "Thanks for the invite but I'm happy at my own church.  I don't believe in you Mormons.  I'm no longer interested."  I was cut.  I thought maybe it was her partner that got her phone so we drove straight over to her house.  She wasn't home so we gave her a call.  Long story short she talked to several Preachers and Pastors from other churches that night and they had filled her head with so much anti-Mormon rubbish that she didn't even know what to think she just started spitting out things that she had heard.  We asked if that was what she thought of if that was what others told her.  She said that what she was told.  I then asked her what God told her.  That shut her up.  She said she didn't know.  We bore testimony that she knows and we know because we were there in the park when God answered her prayer.  We were bold and loving and bore the strongest testimony we could to stand up for what we believe against the evil rubbish she was told.  We hung up with her not wanting to hear from us again.  Sister Kennar just cried and asked if we could pray for her.  I've never felt the power of prayer stronger as I prayed.  At the beginning of my prayers I was hurt, sad, and confused.  I could feel Satan's presence just mocking us.  I don't think I've prayed more earnestly in my life.  By the end of my prayer I felt at peace.  I know that Lydiya will find the truth someday.  That she will be able to call upon that experience she had and that it will richly bless her life.  I'm grateful that I have a strong testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel.  "This is the way and there is no other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the Kingdom of God." 2 Nephi 31:20-21  I love being a missionary.  I love seeing the gospel change lives, whether they accept the gospel or not.  The church is true.  I know it, I live it, I love it.  Keep doing those little things in your day to draw you closer to the Savior.  I love you all and pray for you daily.  Keep smiling :)

Much love,
Sister Shayne

p.s.

Just some fun pictures

 

Those Elders were in our district last transfer.  The one missing a tooth is Elder Allred.  He got punched by an Aboriginal in Kallgorlie last summer trying to break up a fight.  The other one is Elder Marshall.

 We decided to match for Stake Conference.  White tops, black skirts.  It was simple but it's the little things like that that just make a day so much better.

FHE at the Berrymans.  The blankets on the floor is what Auntie called, "Moari style."  There were like 24 people there last night.  It made me really feel home.  When we went around we had to introduce ourselves and how we were connected to the Berrymans.  I said, "I'm Sister Beckstrand and I'm the Berryman's adopted child for the next couple of weeks."  :)

Ballajura Aquatic Center :)

Train Station in Perth City.  We had to go pick up a Sister that was coming back from Albany.  It was the closest I've been to the city my entire mission.

 

 

 

Picture we got as we were driving of the city. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This first one is for Dad and Josh.  

It was cheezy but I had to take a picture while we were stopped at a light.

This is an actual Kookaburra sitting in a gum tree!!!!  I about died.

 

 Some pictures from our hike last p-day.  This tunnel was like 2k's long.  You could see the end so it didn't seem like it was going to be very long or dark but half way through you knew that there was no turning back.

 

Once we got to the end of the hike I thought I was in Zion or in AF Canyon.  It was crazy.  But instead of our normal Utah pine trees and aspens we were surrounded in Gum Trees.

 

 

The last one looked like a truffula tree from the Lorax.  I had to take a picture.