Letter #75 from Australia

December 27, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

          Manuia le Kerisimasi!!! Merry Christmas!!! I hope that all of you had a great Christmas and enjoyed all of the time that you spent with family and loved ones! What a great and blessed time of the year that we have to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! I am so happy and grateful for Him and for all that He has and continues to do for me and for all of us! Christmas time on the mission is hard to explain but it is just a different feeling then other Christmas's. We are away from family, friends, and loved ones, but yet at the same time, you feel so close to them! It is weird and has given me a completely different view on Christmas and how we should really celebrate it! I loved Christmas this year and it was sad, but also a tiny bit exciting, to think that this was my last one on my mission! The time really does go by fast! 

           My Christmas this year consisted of lots and lots of food and visiting a lot of members! On Christmas morning, we woke up early to head over to our Bishops house to have Christmas breakfast with him and his family! Then we went to church, which I really enjoyed! It was a great reminder on why exactly we celebrate Christmas! Then after church we started the mayhem of eating! We first went to the Frost's house for lunch and to Skype our families! It was so great to see and talk with my family! I miss them so much and it definitely was the greatest Christmas present! After a 2 hour lunch, we headed to another lunch appointment with the David family. Then it was off to the Taupa'u family’s house and then to the Fiu's home for two dinner appointments! We then finished the day by having dessert with the Fa'amausili and Chushing families! So overall, we had a total of 5 feeds on Christmas day! It was very painful, but we were able to make it through! I am just glad that I skyped my family before all of the eating began, cause I didn't want them to see me after I gained 10 pounds! ha 

          The work is going really well in our area and we are still finding a lot of people to teach! The Lord continues to bless us everyday with wonderful opportunities to serve and help His lost children! I hope that this time of the year with all of the wonderful holidays, that you will take the time to reflect and think back on the year of 2016! It was a very eventful year for me and it was great to be able to spend an entire year in the service of others and of course, my Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ! I hope that you all will make some great new years resolutions! I made one last year to not drink soda or any fizzy drink for the whole year of 2016, and I am happy to say that I have been able to make it this far without drinking any! ha 

          I love you all and wish you all of the best for the rest of 2016 and to have an even better 2017! Merry Christmas again and have a happy and wonderful New Year! 

Love,

Elder Wheeler

Me with Elder and Sister Grey, they are the new senior office couple and
they are great friends with my grandparents and my family! So cool! 

Christmas Eve dinner at the Fiu's!!!

Christmas Eve is the time to open up packages from home! ha
Thanks to my awesome family for the great Christmas gifts!

Christmas morning brekky with Bishop and his family!!

LOOK WHO IT IS!? What!!! haha Love this family of crazies! ha

Christmas day meal #2 out of 5...ha

All of the Christmas gifts that we received from the ward! haha it is so much!

Letter #74 from Australia

December 18, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

          Another week has gone by even faster than last week! It continues to amaze me how true it is that time flies when you are having fun! Ha I am doing great and all is well here in the wonderful Greenvale area! We were able to see a lot of miracles this past week and although we weren't able to see too many of our investigators, the Lord continues to bless both them and us! 

          So the beginning of the week started off all right because Elder Lawler got really sick for all of Tuesday and Wednesday! Those days were really slow because there wasn't too much we could do while stuck in the flat all day! But Elder Levaci and I tried our best to stay busy and we were able to set up a couple of appointments with some investigators! I love this area so much because the members here are so willing to help us whenever we need it! Like when Elder Lawler was sick, he needed to drink some Powerade, but we didn't have any. But all it took was a text message to some members and they were at our door a half hour later with not only the Powerade, but also some food for us! I love the members here in this ward! 

          On Friday morning, all of us took a drive out to Wangaratta, my first area on my mission, for a funeral of one of the members and then for a baptism on Saturday morning! It was so great to be able to visit the old stomping ground and it was really cool to be there with Elder Lawler too because he too served in Wangaratta for 6 months. After the funeral on Friday, we spent the rest of the day visiting some members and recent converts that live in Wangaratta. It was so great to see them all again, especially Karyn and Steve Wright! They are both doing great and we were able to teach them a lesson and it felt just like old times! For those of you who don't know who Karyn and Steve are, they are practically my parents on my mission and I was also privileged to help teach and baptize Steve while in the area. 

           The baptism on Saturday morning was for Laurence Neal. He is also an investigator that I taught for a long time while in Wangaratta. He has been investigating the church for over 50 years and he finally decided to get baptized! It was so great to witness that special moment for him and to be able to be apart of his conversion story! We had quite a lot of missionaries attend the baptism, those who taught him and also those who wanted to come and support him! It was a great highlight of the week!

          I can't wait for Christmas day to come and for the opportunity that we will have to remember the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so beyond grateful for Him and for His Father in Heaven who sent Him to us. I love this time of the year and all that we have to celebrate! Huge shout out to my older sister, Shaelyn, and her husband, Colten, for celebrating their 1-year anniversary today! Happy Anniversary! I love you both! I hope you all have a great week leading up to Christmas! Be safe and know that because He was born, we can be saved. I love you all!

Elder Wheeler

Me with Karyn and Steve Wright!

Laurence Neal, Elder Lawler and me. 

All of the missionaries there to support him on his big day! ha

Letter #73 from Australia

December 11, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

          I don't have too much time to talk, but I will say that this week has been an insanely busy one and I am so glad that it is finally over! The week was filled with so many different meetings and it was so stressful trying to get everything ready for them as well as trying to visit all of our investigators and people that we are teaching! On Tuesday, we had our monthly MLC, mission leader council. Then on Wednesday we had Golden, the new missionaries, Review. Which is when we all meet up as trainers and new missionaries to see how well they are adjusting to the mission life and how well their skills are progressing! Thursday we had our Mission Wide Christmas party that lasted all day! It was a lot of fun and super great to see all of the missionaries that I haven't seen in a while! We had a talent show, played sport and games, ate lunch and dinner, and enjoyed a great Christmas Devotional! 

          Friday was our only day that we didn't have something going on, so we were finally able to be in our area to work! The only problem we had was we had SO MUCH stuff to get done for a missionary meeting that we were in charge of planning! It was on Saturday, so all day Friday, we were running around trying to get everything done for that meeting! It took the whole day, but we finally got everything ready! The meeting was great and really beneficial to everyone that came! Then as soon as the meeting ended, we had to begin preparing for the baptism of Dyon Mikha! It was a great baptism and his whole family came out to support him! Even though he is only 9, he has such a strong testimony of the church and the gospel! It was great to see another part member family helped! 

          Sunday was once again another busy day of work and meetings! We had our regular sacrament meeting in the morning and we were speaking in it! haha. I had no time this week to prepare for it, so I basically went completely off the spirit and it turned out pretty good! We spoke on the Savior and on the Christmas initiative! Then after church, it was off to work in the area for a couple of hours before we had to head back to the chapel for a musical fireside, one that we were singing in! haha All in all, the week worked out and we got everything that we needed to get done, done! 

          

          I am so happy that we have this Christmas season to focus on Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us! I love this time of the year and I am so happy to have all of you in my life! I hope that you truly remember the reason for the season and that the knowledge that we have of our Savior will motivate you to share the truth with others around you who do not know what we know! I love you all and hope that you have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Wheeler

Dyon Mikha and his family at his baptism this past Saturday!

Me, Elder Lawler and Elder Levaci with Dyon and Wilhelm, a
young man in the ward that baptized him!

Elder Levaci dead after a long day! haha

Mission Wide Christmas Party! It's Elder Wiser!

Craigieburn Zone at the Mission Olympics!

Letter #72 from Australia

December 4, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

          It is officially the Christmas Season and I am so happy to be in December! How fast has this year gone!? Insanely fast if you ask me! We had a great week in our area and were able to get so much work done! We spent the first couple of days doing some finding at the local train station, which turned out to be a huge success! We found 13 people who were all interested in meeting with us this week to learn more about Jesus Christ! We made contact with almost all of them during the week and a couple of them are now investigating the church! One of them was a gentleman named John! He met with missionaries over 20 years ago with his wife and daughters, and the whole family was 2 weeks away from being baptized, but then something happened and they were never baptized. Well when we met with him and had a lesson, he told us that he is trying to find the "true church of Christ". We taught him the message of the Restoration and he remembered a lot of it and accepted our invitation to be baptized! It was such a great miracle and confirmed my testimony that Heavenly Father really does have a plan for all of us!

          Our other investigators are doing great and Dyon is ready to be baptized this coming Saturday! It will be so great to see him enter into the waters of baptism and make that sacred promise with his Heavenly Father! We have a "flat out week" (as the Aussies say) full of meeting after meetings and then some more meetings! Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday are all booked with meetings that will last the entire day! So we pretty much have Friday and Saturday to visit all of our investigators, so we should be really busy on those days! I can't wait!

          I just want to say thank you so much to all of you who emailed me, sent me a letter, or a parcel for my Birthday! I am not officially out of my teenage years and it feels so good! hah My companions pulled a surprise for me by decorating the entire flat! Because we are in a trio companionship, Elder Lawler planned an emergency exchange with another companionship in an area right next to ours. So he went with the other missionaries to visit someone and I went to teach a lesson with Elder Levaci. After our lessons, we planned to meet back at our flat to exchange back and when I opened the door to go inside, they had decorated the entire place! It was a nice surprise and I really enjoyed it! We had a lot of lessons on my Birthday and after every lesson, Elder Lawler and Elder Levaci told the person we were teaching that it was my Birthday and that they should sing to me. Haha So after every lesson we taught that day, we ended it with a prayer and the song "Happy Birthday". Ha But I really am grateful for all of the nice and sweet Birthday wishes that you all sent me! I am so grateful for the great friends and family that I have in my life! You are all the best support team ever and I love you all!

          Also, I need to give a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a sweet and special Best Friend of mine, Grandma Jones! She celebrated her Birthday this past week on the 2nd and I hope that she enjoyed ever minute of it! I love you so much Grandma and I am so grateful to have a best friend and Grandmother like you! 

          I hope that you all have a great week and keep up the great work with school and work! I miss you all and love you all too!

Sincerely,

Elder Wheeler

Ward Christmas party with Santa!!

Thanks to my awesome family for sending me the Birthday Parcel that beats
all other ones! I love it all, especially my Notre Dame shirt! Thanks heaps!

Birthday lunch from Subway with my crazy companions! haha

Came home to all of this mess! haha My companions are the best!