Letter #94 from Australia

May 7, 2017

Dear Family & Friends,

What a great week it has been! It was filled with transfer day, and all of the fun that comes with it! Elder Wiser and Elder Watanabe are off to bigger and better companions and new areas! It was sad to see my 'W' companions leave me, but it was so great to be joined with Elder Kaufusi! He is so great and is a gun missionary! Let me tell you about this kid that I call my soa! (companion in Samoan.) He is half Tongan and half white person, haha and is from SLC Utah! He went to Brighton High School and played football and basketball for the school! Now, here is where it gets really cool! He has a full ride scholarship to BYU for football and will be attending there after he gets home from his mission next year! He has been out just under 10 months and is such a great missionary! He is so humble about everything and is such a hard worker! I have really gotten to know him this past week and I love him so much! We get along great and work really well together! 

This week was a good one for us and we were able to find a new investigator! His name is Emanuel and we will now be working with him! Bobby is doing really well and we met with him again this past week and he is SO KEEN to be baptized! That is all he could talk about! haha He has been keeping commitment and has been reading in the Book of Mormon and praying about it all! He told us that he is beginning to believe that it is all true! We haven't gotten in contact with Frans and so we are pretty sad about that! But, we have faith that the Lord will help us find him again! Other than that, it was a pretty normal week! Nothing to big to report on! 

I hope that you all have a great week and keep up the great work! Enjoy Mother's Day this coming Sunday and give your mum a big hug and a kiss! Enjoy all that the week brings and if you are graduating from school soon, actually go to school these final couple of weeks!;) haha I love you all and miss you all heaps! 

Love,

Elder Wheeler

Mind my gross undone hair today! Pday is also
haircut day! haha

Paparazzi following Elder Kaufusi! 

The new Mighty Maroondah Zone!

Zone morning exercise and personal study this morning!

MLC this past week! We lost three from our intake this last transfer,
they are now training for their last transfers!

Had some new missionaries spend their first night in the mission
with us...they were all so tired, it was kinda funny!:) 

Elder Wiser, me, Elder Watanabe and Elder Meyer! Hah,
passing our son from two Pleasant View/Weber High boys, to another
Pleasant View/Weber High boy!

Letter #93 from Australia

April 30, 2017

Dear Family & Friends,

What an amazing week it has been here in the Doncaster area! It was completely full on for my companions and me and we got a lot of great work done! I have so much to tell all of you this week, so let's get down to it! So last Sunday, the ward missionary team here in the Doncaster Ward, had a fast for some upcoming ward activities and to find new investigators in our area! Well, this past week my testimony on the power of fasting was strengthened! We found 3 new investigators and 2 of them have agreed to be baptized!!! It was so amazing! We met Frans who is from Papua New Guinea and is 21 years old! He loved the message of the Restoration and when we invited him to be baptized, he was so happy and accepted a date for the 4th of June! Bobby was another one that we met and he too is set for the 4th of June! He was so intrigued by the message of the Restoration and he wanted to be baptized the next day! haha, but he said the 4th would do! He came to church on Sunday too and he loved it! The Lord truly answered our prayers! 

Elder Solomon left on Friday and it was sad to see him go, but he was happy to get off and see his family! We had a ward activity this past Saturday, and it turned out pretty well! The ward hadn't had an activity in almost 4 years and so it was good to finally have an activity! It was Luau themed and we had some island cultural dances as some entertainment! So much fun! On Sunday night, there was a musical fireside and it went so well! Mo, one of our investigators, came to that and he loved it! We taught him again on Saturday and he seems to be really busy, so we are just praying that we will be able to visit him more often! We also had a great missionary opportunity on Sunday after church! There is a local interfaith group that came to visit our chapel and so we were able to take them around the church and tell them a little more about the gospel of Jesus Christ! We also were asked to sing a song for them...so yeah! Haha Elder Wiser and I were just praying that we wouldn't have a baptism episode repeat, but it went really well! Apparently we did really well as a companionship with the song and they all seemed to really enjoy it! Even though I am not the best singer by any standard, I have come to find a passion for it and music while being on my mission! ha

Well, time for some sad news! Transfers are on tomorrow and the trio companionship has been split up! President called Elder Wiser and I the other night for transfer news and apologized because he was splitting the 'Siamese twins" up! hah Elder Wiser is heading to Patterson Lakes in the Braeside Stake, Elder Watanabe is heading to Melton in the Wyndham Stake and I will be staying! So funny story! Elder Watanabe's new companion and follow up trainer is Elder Meyer! He is from North Ogden Utah and went to Weber High School! haha How funny is that! All 3 of Elder Watanabe's trainers are from the same place! I will be joined with Elder Kaufusi who is from Utah! He is the man and I am excited to be with him! I will by finishing my mission here in this wonderful area and will finish up as a Zone Leader too! I was kinda hoping not to be for my last transfer, but that is okay! All will be well and will work out! 

I love you all and hope that you have a great week! Time flies by way to fast, so make the most of it! I miss you and hope that you now you are loved by this missionary!:) 

Love,

Elder Wheeler

Look at our new mission car! haha, we wish. (BTW this photo
cost us $78...we were so blown away at seeing this car, that
we didn't pay for the parking ticket....so we got a parking fine ha!) 

Last companionship photo with the 4 of us!

Caught President on his morning bike ride when we dropped
Elder Solomon off to go home! haha I love President so much!

Elder Watanabe and the city of Melbourne!

Another tram ad! hah

Anzac Memorial site! Honored Anzac day this past week!

Letter #92 from Australia

April 23, 2017

Dear Family & Friends,

What an exciting week it has been here in the land of the Aussies! We had a great week as a companionship and we are now in a quad companionship! You all will probably remember Elder Solomon, my second companion in the mission! Well he leaves this Friday to go home, as his mission is now done! Well his companion went home last week, and so he needed someone to be with for his final week! So President put him with us, as we were the closest missionaries to him! So it is now the four of us! It is a lot of fun and we just split up into two companionships and we get to do twice the amount of work than before! So overall, it was a great tender mercy from the Lord!

On Wednesday, just this one past, we had a special visitor from the Church! Elder Steven Snow of the Seventy came with his wife to do a small visit to the mission! He is the Church's History Department Recorder and he came to do a small Church History presentation to us missionaries while he was down here in Melbourne finding out and recording some of the Church's history here in Australia! He only did the presentation to three zones and we were one of the lucky zones to be selected! It was really cool and both him and his wife and Brother Nelson, the assistant church history recorder, spoke to us all about the History of the church! Then we had a Q&A session with him and it was really cool! Got a lot of cool answers on some questions about church history! 

Other than that, it was a pretty normal week! We helped the office clean an old missionary flat, which was the flat in Lilydale, which was my second area! hah So that was fun! We had interviews with President Vidmar and of course the topic of that was, my plans for when I get home! -_- ha It was a great interview though and I love President Vidmar so much! It was a weird and funny interview as well! Usually when you say the closing prayer after an interview with President, there really isn't anything more talked about! You just hug him and then leave his office, but this time President threw a big curve ball...After the prayer, he looked at me and asked, "Elder Wheeler, do you have a girlfriend waiting for you?" haha It surprised me, but was funny at the same time! Of course I told him that I don't, but that my mum and my sisters are the only girls waiting for me at home! haha 

I hope that you all have a great week and keep up the great work! I love you all and miss you so much! This week, I gained a testimony on the power that comes behind being obedient! There is a reason why we have rules and commandments in life! I have always loved this quote, "Commandments are an expression of God's love for us, and our obedience to those commandments are an expression of our love for God!" Keep being obedient to God's commandments and I promise you all that choosing the harder right over the easier wrong, although at the time it might not seem like it, in the end it will be worth it! I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Wheeler

Sunday night dinner with President and Sister Vidmar!
Love them heaps!

Just a sports card of my Olympian Mission President!
haha Saw it on his desk!

Cooked...again...haha We have now over 25 pictures of
Elder Watanabe asleep!!

Just a selfie with Elder Fackrell, well Mckay now! He was a
missionary here and finished in March, but now he is just back on holiday and we saw him while street contacting!

Me with my two mission sons and my two mission husbands! haha
While training both Elder Levaci, to the right of me, and Elder Watanabe,
to the left of me, I was dubbed as the Mum in the companionship! haha 

Letter #91 from Australia

April 17, 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

HAPPY EASTER to you all! I hope that you have enjoyed this wonderful time that we have had to remember, honor and give great praise for our Savior, Jesus Christ! I have truly gained a greater love for Jesus Christ while being on my mission and serving Him and the wonderful people of Australia! We have been blessed this week to find two new investigators in our area! I love teaching people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and helping them to find out for themselves, the truthfulness of it! One of our new investigators is a man by the name of Mo! He is from Nigeria and was referred to us from the City Elders! He is so keen to learn more and has been prepared by Heavenly Father to accept our message! He told us that he wants to know so badly if what we are teaching him is true! He is currently praying to know if it is true and if he should be baptized! 

The City Elders taught him once already, before referring him to us and he understood the Restoration so well, that when we asked what he remembered, he began teaching us the whole message! We are so grateful for this amazing miracle and hopefully; all will continue to work out with Mo!

I just wanted to share a small testimony on Jesus Christ, as we remembered Him this past Easter Weekend. I have had many witnesses in my life of Jesus Christ and all that He has done for me, individually and for all of mankind, collectively. But the most amazing witness that I have gained and seen is the ability that He has to be able to change someone completely. I have witnessed His Atonement heal someone who has been broken, help someone through the darkest nights and enabled someone to have a mighty change of heart! The person who I am speaking of is, myself. I can truly say that I have been changed by my Savior and by His Atonement while serving Him. I know that He can and will help all those who come unto Him! He has given us the promise, time and time again, that if we will come to Him, we can be made whole! Our burdens can and will be made lighter and He will truly help us to change into someone better than we were before! I know that no matter what we are going through in life, He understands what we are feeling and He can help us! Family and friends, the tomb is empty! I know it is! He lived, died, and lived again, for us! So that we too can live again and be made whole, even as He was!

I hope that all of you enjoyed the time to reflect upon our Savior, Jesus Christ and all that He has done for you! I love you all and I miss you all so much! Stay strong and choose now, if you already haven't, to allow the Savior into your life and allow Him to make you whole again! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Wheeler

Dropping off surprise Easter gifts for the members!

Members took us to a chocolate factory for Pday! Yum!

A meter long of chocolate! haha, he is happy!

Free chocolate! :)

Happy Easter!

Fun day at the chocolate factory with the Prentice family!

They didn't see the sign above them that says..."Cars Only!" haha