Serving the Lord in the Land Down Under: Letter #8 from Australia

September 13, 2015

Hey you amazing person (yes you),

What a week! It has been another great week here in the wonderful bush area of Wangaratta. Elder Kelsch and I had a good week filled with lessons, tracting and all of the amazing experiences that you can only have while being a missionary. We spent a lot of time this week working with less actives, which is so good!!! Elder Kelsch and I have been fasting and praying to know what it is that we are supposed to build here in this area, and we received our answer this week. We need to help the less active members. Yes we will continue teaching our investigators and tracting, but we feel like we need to focus on the less active members. There are a lot of less actives here in the Wangaratta branch. Over 80% of members on record are less active. So we definitely have our work cut out for us, but we are so happy and ready to start.

All of our investigators are doing great and are really progressing. Three of them are all ready for baptism, but just need to either come to church, keep other commitments, or get their parents permission. So we are definitely happy about that. Of course we are praying so much for them and for them to be baptized in the coming weeks. So look forward to some exciting news. Now how about another door knocking story? Haha, this one will just be a short one. We knocked on this guys door and the first thing he said to us was, "Did I invite you to my house?" Of course we both wanted to reply, "No, but Heavenly Father sent us." That would have really made him listen;) But we replied and told him, " No." He then told us to..."Piss off (Which isn't a good word to say anywhere in the World, but especially here in Australia.) and go get a real job." We told him, "Okay, have a great day sir!!" In which he replied, "I will now that you are gone." Hahaha I love Australia and all of my Aussie Brothers and Sisters. It is a really weird feeling that you get after being rejected or yelled at. You feel really happy for some reason, which is weird, but you just do!!:) I personally think it is because I now know what Christ went through when he was here on Earth ministering. Even when someone rejects me, and the message that I am sharing, I still love them so much, just like Christ did for all of those that rejected Him and His message. It is weird I know, but I love it.

So I have some exciting news. Last week in my long email (sorry about that) I mentioned a guy that Elder Porter and I met with while I was on exchanges in Albury/Wadonga. Well here is the good news. HE IS BEING BAPTIZED!!! Elder Porter and Elder Larsen called me this week and told me the news! They also had him (the guy we met with) call me and talk with me for a little bit. I was so happy to hear the great news and to be able to talk to him. I told him how proud I was of him for his decision to be baptized and for his great work with being off of the drugs.(He is now 14 days clean.) Elder Porter and Elder Larsen call me each night and give me an update on how he and his family are doing. He also asked me if I would come up for his baptism, which I told him of course I would love to be there. That is my good news!!!

So I have done a lot of thinking and personal reflection this week about myself, and my abilities as a missionary. I have found a lot of areas that I can improve in, which I think is great because I am always looking for ways and areas that I can improve myself. Especially when it is about missionary work and missionary skills. I can't wait to improve my skills so that I can be the best missionary that I can be. I know that with focused studies, meaningful prayers and hard work, I can be the missionary that my Heavenly Father wants me to be.

I hope you all have a great week and enjoy the amazing blessings of life. I love you all and miss you all heaps!!

Love,

Elder Wheeler