Archuleta!

On Mon, Aug 17, 2015 at 11:16 AM, Bethany Coultrup <bethany.coultrup@myldsmail.net> wrote:

G'day!

This week has been amazing! It definitely made up for the last week!

We had Sister's Conference which I told you about and then on tuesday we had Multi-Zone Conference and David Archuleta and Brad Wilcox came and spoke/sang to us! WOW. I have never felt the spirit so strong at a fireside/devotional before. Before the meeting President Parker asked me to say the closing prayer in front of ALL the missionaries in the mission and in front of David Archuleta. Might sound silly but inside I was panicking thinking ahhh I have to pray well for David! Hah, luckily I didn't trip walking up to the podium and I think it was alright.

David Archuleta shared experiences from his mission in Chile. This meeting was meant for me. Both speakers spoke directly to my heart. I had been praying and praying and they answered my prayers! David talked about feeling inadequate, not feeling like a proper missionary. He said: "I should be thinking about God all the time. Why does my mind wander? I should be focussed Heavenwards. Why don't I feel the spirit the way I thought I would? Why am I not feeling close to God? I am inadequate and have so many weaknesses. The more I go on in my mission the weaker I feel and the more things I have to work on. Then I read Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weaknesses..."

 

As he went on to share his doubts and experiences I felt comforted knowing someone had gone through exactly how I was feeling at that moment. The closer I draw to God the more he will show me my weaknesses to prove to me that it is through His Grace that he makes weak things become strong. That is what He is doing to me.

David Archuleta sand Be Still My Soul and Nearer My God To Thee. It is incredible that a human being can have a voice like he has. It was angelic and flawless! The spirit was so strong and I was soooo happy :-) Brad Wilcox spoke after and his talk was also amazing! I was laughing and crying! I wish I could have recorded it so you could all listen to it!

We had a Zone Meeting and Specialized Training from the President this week as well. The whole week was full of meetings! But I think it was needed because I learned so much. I  need to focus on Jesus Christ a lot more as I work. If I can think of Him always I will be much more motivated and will be able to work harder. Obedience brings blessings as well. I have seen that in my mission thus far.

We have a miracle! We were teaching one of our investigators this past week and he said his parents are coming up to Adelaide at the end of August and he would like to be baptized then so he parents can be there! He will be baptized on the 29th of this month along with another one of our investigators. They both got their baptism clothes this Sunday and we have been planning the service with them! Woo hoo! We are so excited for them :-)

Last night we went to our investigators house, one of them that is getting baptized and there was a dead bird on his pathway (probably from his cat). When he opened the door I said, "looks like someone brought your dinner!" We laughed then went into the lesson. Afterwards we were walking out and I turned around and said, "Don't forget your dinner." Then we hear a scream from Sister Funaki and I turn around and she is doing this silly dance/running away. She had stepped on the dead bird because she forgot about it and she just kept screaming and Todd and I were laughing our heads off. I haven't laughed that hard on my mission yet. Maybe it is a "you had to be there" thing but I thought I would share something that made me laugh!

Anyways I love you all! I miss you too.

Sister Coultrup (aka Sis. Cool)

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Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Sisters Conference

G'day!

This week has been UP and DOWN! It started off great with one of our investigators approaching us and saying she wants to get baptized and setting her own, very faith filled date. I am very excited! We have a lot of work to do but I know she can do it! I do not doubt the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and if anyone can turn completely around in one month, it's her.

We had quite a few good lessons this week and I was able to meet some less actives I haven't met yet which was good. I need to meet as many people in this area as possible since I will be leading the area next transfer.

I went on a trio trade off. It is the weirdest thing to be in a trio. I heard my cousin is in one right now and I feel bad for her because it must be so hard! We tried to go contacting in a trio and there is nothing more awkward! We pretty much cornered this one guy and after a minute he ran away. I cringe looking back on it. It's tough. We tried to split up a bit, but that was hard as well. I enjoyed the time with the sisters but I think there is definitely a reason why Heavenly Fathers tells us to go out two by two.

We found a new investigator and I taught him on the trade off. I was leading the area, with another Sister who has been out just as long as I. So we are both not that experienced but she barely speaks English so I did all of the talking. We taught him the restoration and he seemed to have taken it well. So we will see how that goes!

This week I got VERY sick. I was almost rushed to hospital. I don't mean to scare you Mum and Dad, just thought you'd better know. I have never felt so ill and been in so much pain in my whole life! I was lying on the bathroom floor thinking: "This is it. I am going to die. I am going to die on my mission." Sounds dramatic, but that was how ill I was feeling. I couldn't stand up without vomiting and nearly fainting. (I lost a bunch of weight, which is actually cool but I am sure it will quickly come back). We had the Ward Mission Leader and Zone Leaders hurry over and give me a blessing while I lay on the floor. The Ward Mission Leader and his Wife stayed and looked after me and packed up my things to take me to the hospital. I didn't end up going, which I am grateful for because I hate the hospital. But I was just really wanting them to sedate me so I could be knocked out and not feel anymore pain. I am better now and I am so grateful for all those that helped me, I really felt Heavenly Fathers love through others this week.

Yesterday we had Sisters Conference! Ahhh! It was so much fun! We started off by going to the temple with all the sisters in the mission and with our President and his Wife. It was an amazing experience, the temple always is. We then all had lunch at the Mission Home. It was so cool to meet all the sisters and be friends with everyone. We are all united with one purpose which is what brings us together. Sister Funaki, Tamana, Siale and myself all did a musical number for everyone and it was actually good! I didn't know I was singing until the night before, but we owned it!

The theme of the conference was small and simple things. We all shared small spiritual experiences and our testimonies. The spirit was very strong. President also showed us a video that is on LDS.org about how Sister Missionaries came to be! It is all about the first Sister Missionary, it was so cool! I reccommend you check it out! :-)

Because I was sick a few days out of this week I don't have too much to report. Hope you enjoy the pictures of the Sisters and I :-)

I love you all so much and I miss you.

Love,

Sister Coultrup

--

Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Monday 3rd August 2015

G'day Family and Friends!

This last week has been crazy busy. So crazy busy I didn't take a single photo! I am so sorry, I will send lots next week because today I am going to the Wild Life Park in Victor Harbour :)

I am staying with my companion this transfer, which I am pleased about. We went to Transfer Meeting on Tuesday, it was such a cool meeting. I got to see a lot of missionaries I haven't met before because a lot of them came down from Darwin (Google map link) and Alice Springs (Google map link). One of the Sisters in our zone was transferred all the way up to Darwin!!! I would love to serve there, hopefully I do one day. Although I have heard the bugs (especially the spiders) are much worse up there. One of the Sisters under Sister Funaki's care is training this transfer so she had to spend the night with us until her new companion flew in the next day. It was really cool having Sister Rongomate with us. She has such a lovely spirit and is a champion at contacting people. She is not afraid at all.

This week we had a lesson with one of our investigators whom we haven't seen in 2 weeks due to clashing schedules. We finally got to see him and he seemed, different. He was much more open with us and when we were following up with his Book of Mormon reading and prayers he bore testimony! 

"The words and sentences in the English Book of Mormon are powerful and touch me right in the heart." Those were his exact words. 

Our investigator is a Chinese student and he is still learning English but he is doing very well. He had read the whole Book of Mormon in Chinese, so we committed him to read it in English and he is liking it a lot more, because when it is translated into Chinese it changes the meanings of somethings, so he is really enjoying the English one. This investigator has been coming to church every Sunday for 6 months. He follows all the commandments, obeys the word of wisdom, law of chastity, reads the Book of Mormon everyday, prays everyday, etc. He is pretty much a dry Mormon. He expressed that he wasn't willing to make a big commitment like baptism because there will be so many changes. We asked him what changes he thinks there will be, but he couldn't think of any. I told him that he is already doing everything needed to be baptised! That after he is baptised all he needs to do is just continue doing what he is doing. The only thing that will change is that he will be a member of the church, receive many blessings if he continues to do what he is doing and also will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. I also asked him what he thinks he will get out of baptism. He said that he will be more successful, be blessed, more happy, closer to Christ, etc. He was so right! And I told him, "that is all true, so can you please help us understand why you don't want any of those blessings now?" This was another question he could not answer.

The rest of the lesson was really great, the spirit was so strong and his testimony shone brighter. He is the first person I have asked to be baptised, and the first person that has committed to do so :-) The date is the end of the month! We are very excited for him and continue to pray that he will hold strong to his commitment. This was probably the most exciting thing this whole week.

We had a fireside last night all about the Book of Mormon that we got to take 2 of our investigators to. They both really enjoyed it, and so did I. I got a lot out of it! Something interesting I learnt was that every 1.7 verses in the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ is mentioned some way or another. The Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Jesus Christ. An experience I had last night at the fireside was when we were shown a video about the Book of Mormon and at the beginning there was a snippet of President Thomas S. Monson speaking. The investigator next to me had heard us talk about our Prophet today but hasn't seem him yet. So I turned to her excited saying, "That's our Prophet! That's our Prophet!" The moment I said those words my heart sung. I was so happy I started to cry. The spirit had touched me and confirmed to me that what I was saying was true. That President Thomas S. Monson is our Prophet. He is called of God and speaks to us the words that God would have us hear. Our Heavenly Father loves us, he continues to speak to us today through a Prophet just like he did thousands of years ago.

One last thing, Sister Parker, our mission mum, told a beautiful story at transfer meeting I want to retell.

There were two men in line for an interview they were called to. They both didn't know what the interview was going to be about. The first man walks into the room and shuts the door. From the outside the second man can hear everything that is being said. He hears:"Tell me something about Jesus."

The man answers: "I know that there was a babe born in Bethlehem, his mother was Mary. He was born in a stable around cattle and sheep. There were three wise men that gave him gifts."

"Tell me something else about Jesus."

"I know that he was a good man. That he taught people things about God and how to be good people. He taught by example and was baptised."

"Tell me something else about Jesus."

"I know that he knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane and suffered for my sins. I know that he died on the cross in Calvary and was resurrected three days later."

The interviewer thanks him and sends him on his way. The second man, wonders if he will get the same questions as he wanders into the room of the interviewer. As he glances up his eyes go wide and he falls to his knees crying saying, "My Savior, my Savior."

How well do you know Jesus Christ?

I miss you all.

Love,

Sister Coultrup

--

Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints