Transfer details are in! And the verdict is... I'm staying in Tamworth! Whoo hoo! This means I'll be here for Adam's baptism, which I'm super excited about. My companion, Elder Ripley, is also staying! Which will make it 3 transfers together- the longest companion I've had so far! In fact, it's pretty crazy, but our entire zone stayed exactly the same for this transfer- a pretty unusual thing in our mission.
Speaking of unusual, last week we had one of the rarest days a missionary can have- everything we planned for actually followed through! Miracles! It was probably the first time on my mission we didn't have to revert to back-up plans at some point during the day, so it was very exciting. Some people and experiences we saw that day which were pretty awesome:
1. Jessica. Jessica is the lady from the Philippines, and she has a very very strong testimony of Jesus Christ. We taught her the Restoration, and it went really well. She seemed to accept it, but when we offered the Book of Mormon to her, she refused. She said she respects and doesn't disregard that the Restoration might be true, but she's happy with her faith as it is, and the way she is. It was a great lesson, but a bit disappointing. It's so hard to see someone who you know could be receiving so many more blessings if they only tried the gospel, but for pride or laziness or whatever choose not to. I guess that's the point of agency- sometimes choice stinks! I definitely get a glimpse of parenthood when I KNOW the choice these people SHOULD make, and yet no matter what I do, can't seem to get them to make that choice... Haha.
2. Chris, Patrick, and Amanda. Can words even describe? We taught the Plan of Salvation and committed them to baptism when they know this message is true, to which they accepted! That's not even the best part. When we inquired on their Book of Mormon reading, 15 year old Patrick said he reads a page every night before bed, and his mom, Chris, is already to Alma. That was a huge miracle. I find as a missionary that one of the most difficult things is helping people gain a desire to read the Book of Mormon- clearly this family already has that down. As Chris says everytime we meet, "Everything happens for a reason!"
3. The Weldon family. Brother Weldon is a Less-Active member, and invited us over for dinner. After we ate, he got his 4 grandchildren, ages 15-22, none of whom are baptised, to come have a lesson with us. The Spirit was filling the room as we taught the Restoration. It was incredible. The best part? They all agreed to meet up again next week!
4. The rarest day ever ended with a lesson with Adam. Adam is just plain amazing. We taught him the commandments, Word of Wisdom, Chastity, Tithing- not a single qualm about any of them. He is just so ready. We finished rather quickly, so we practiced the baptism with Tyson and Adam, from the prayer to the actions and motions. He's the most prepared investigator I've ever met!
Other news of the week: on Tuesday, we had one of our ward members pass away from a long battle with cancer, Maria Green. Her funeral was on Friday, so we went and helped out with that. It was a lovely service, and people from all over the community came- it filled not only our usually empty chapel, but the overflow and rec hall as well. It was a beautiful service. From a missionary perspective, it was rather astounding and warmed my heart to hear Maria's beliefs echoed throughout the service- every speaker was teaching and testifying of the Restoration and Plan of Salvation, in front of members and non-members alike. It made me extremely grateful as I remembered similar feelings I've had as I've lost loved ones, and the immense peace and comfort that comes only from the gospel. How lucky am I to get to share that with people all day, every day?!
For a spiritual thought, I'd invite you to look up online the poem "The Race" by Dee Groberg. It's too long to type out, but a member gave a copy to me and I absolutely love it.
And to end on an Aussieism, it took me a long time to figure out what these Aussies were saying- when talking about food, usually fast food or other fattening things, they say "Gree-zee" (Greasy), with a super hard "z", instead of the softer "Gree-sea" we say. It sounds like a small difference, but it actually sounds like a completely different word.
Love you heaps!
Elder Easton
Photo: The Small Girls made Elder Ripley and I a cake. Yum!
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