Serving the Lord in the Land Down Under: Letter #7 from Australia

September 6, 2015

Dear my beloved Family and Friends,

I cannot even believe that my first transfer is over. It is so crazy how fast the mission is going by. I know that I still have heaps of time left on my mission but it seriously is going by really fast. So I am guessing you all want to know if I have been transferred or not...I did not get transferred so I will be staying in Wangaratta!!! I will also be staying with Elder Kelsch!!! I am so happy because I know that there are people that I have met and people that I haven't met that I still need to help. A lot of our lessons fell through this week and tracting wasn't as successful as we would have liked it to be. We only got a couple new contacts, which was good because we need as many as we can get. We just want to teach as many as we can, because we know that our message can bless and help anyone, no matter what circumstances they are in. This week was fun though because we went on exchanges with our District Leader Elder Larsen and his companion Elder Porter.

Elder Kelsch and Elder Larsen went down to Wangaratta and Elder Porter and I stayed up in Albury/Wadonga, which is their area. Because Elder Porter and I came into the mission in the same intake, we can't drive yet so we were on bikes that day! (You start driving around your 3rd transfer) So that was really fun, but really hard. Albury and Wadonga are really hilly, so it was hard biking up and down the hills. I am sure it would have been a lot easier if we would have been used to riding bikes, but since we weren't, it was hard. We had a lot of funny, scary and amazing things happen that day. We also had a huge miracle happen, the biggest one so far on my mission.

So the funny things that happened are the ones that you come to get used to being a missionary here is Australia. People are always swearing at you. We were going to go visit a less active and when we were walking up to the door he was out on his porch smoking so we waved and said hello. But right when we said hi, his dog started to bark really loud, so we couldn't hear what he said. So we just kept walking towards him while trying to talk over the dog. Well when we finally got close enough so we could hear him, he was telling us to...freak off. (But using the more colorful language of course.) So Elder Porter and I asked if he was Brother Frank, and his reply was the same. So Elder Porter and I said okay, have a great day! Same reply. haha. He probably said it like 6-7 times. We of course just laughed it off cause that is what you have to do because you get it everyday here in Australia. The scary thing was that there were people honking and yelling at us cause we were riding in the "Bike Lane". Here in Australia, if you are older than 12 and you are riding a bike, you have to ride in the bike lane. You cannot ride on the sidewalk. But apparently the bike lane is for cars too? We almost got cut off and were honked and yelled at by quite a few cars, but we were pretty sure that people were doing it because they knew we were missionaries. People don't really like the missionaries here in Australia. haha. At least up here in the bush. But all goods cause the Lord protects and watches over us.

So, onto the miracle. We stopped by a less actives house and her husband, who is not a member, answered the door. They know the missionaries and have talked with them before, so he told us to come in. We went inside and sat down and he immediately started to cry. He told us that he has been going through a really hard time in his life. He explained to us that he has recently quit using marijuana and has been having a lot of withdrawals. He also told us that they will be evicted from their house at the end of this month and they can't find a new one to move into. After he was done telling us that, he just sat there crying with his head in his hands. It was silent for a while because Elder Porter and I didn't know what to say. I was silently praying so hard for Heavenly Father to help me know what to say. Then it came to me and the Spirit took over. I cannot tell you what I said exactly because I don't really remember. All I know is I wasn't the one speaking; the Holy Ghost was, through me. I was saying the words, but I didn't think of what to say. It just kept coming to me. It basically was about how our Heavenly Father knows exactly who we are and what struggles and challenges we are going through. He loves us so much and always wants to help us if we just ask Him for help. We can hit a trial and go two different ways in our life. We can go towards God or away from Him. I told him that he needed to turn towards his Father in Heaven and do the things he knows is right. I bore one of the strongest testimonies that I have ever born about how much our Heavenly Father loves us and knows us each personally. The spirit was so strong and he felt it because he kept telling us he did. He told us that we were the answer to his prayers. He told us that about an hour before we knocked on his door, he said his first prayer in a long time and asked Heavenly Father to help him get through all of this. Once he told us that I felt the spirit so strong. He asked us to come back tomorrow and that he wanted to start learning the lessons. We were so happy and as we walked away from his door we both knew that we helped him and were the answer to his prayers that day.

The reason I am out here on a mission is so that I can be the answer to people’s prayers. I know that we were inspired that day to see him and that Heavenly Father was using us to help his child. Don't ever forget that Heavenly Father loves each and every single one of you. He knows who you are and knows the challenges and struggles that you are going through. Turn towards Him and He help you though them all. I know that to be true and have experienced that in my life so much. I love you all and appreciate all of your support. Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Wheeler