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