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)

--

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

Backyard Blitz & Sprinkles...

G'day Family and Friends! 

Not too much has happened since I last emailed you on Thursday. I am still sick, going on a week now. We didn't get to do much because this infection hit me hard and the office didn't want me out of the flat spreading it around. 

This weekend though was our ward conference. Saturday morning most of the ward participated in the "Backyard Blitz", going around doing peoples gardening, weeding, etc. It was raining and cold. I, being sick, sat in the car and studied while my companion helped with the gardening. I felt really bad and kept offering to help but I was locked in the car so my recovery didn't go backwards.

That evening we had a ward activity, we had two of our investigators come! One is a new, we only started teaching him two weeks ago! It was so cool to have him come, I was nervous praying that he would have a good time. Sister Funaki and I were in charge of an activity so we were stuck in a room the whole time and couldn't watch him. That was a good activity though. 

This morning was transfer calls. Today is the start of my second transfer. There was a very good chance Sister Funaki and I were going to be split up because there are some awkward circumstances surrounding the lack of Sister Training Leaders. It is a long story, but basically it wasn't very likely we would be staying together. Which scared me because I realised how much I needed my trainer for one more transfer! I still feel like I have lots to learn and I did not want to be separated and I did not want to leave this area either! So I prayed and prayed and even fasted for it on Sunday and we got calls this morning and.... We are both staying!!! YAY! I am beyond happy and so is Sister Funaki, at least she seems to be, she could be pretending and wishing she got rid of her crazy companion, but oh well, she is stuck with me for another six weeks! (Her last six weeks) Mwahahaha! Praying works! That is my simple testimony, praying works! Prayer doubled with fasting brings miracles, I have seen it in the form of a healthy, living little brother! 

We are planning to hit the ground running this transfer, and expecting great things to happen in the weeks to come! 

I wish I had more to say but too much hasn't been going on, I promise something better next week! 

The photo is from the Ward Conference Activity. Those are the Elders and the Ward Mission Leaders wife counting out individual sprinkles for a "Guess how many sprinkles" activity! Such concentration! 

I love you all!

Sister Coultrup

(aka Sister Cool)

--

Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

A Faith Filled Sicky

G'day Family and Friends!

I am sorry I didn't email on Monday, our P-day was switched to Thursday this week because we got to go to the Adelaide Temple! I will go in order of what happened last week and most of this week.

Last week was a great week! We had a lot of meetings to get to and our trade-off was far away so it seemed like I was driving half the week. Something my companion and I have been working on is our faith. We need to be more faith filled! We need to set out to do something and believe it will actually happen, we were thinking if we did maybe we would have more success.

First experience I want to share was when Sister Funaki and I were going to an investigators house who we haven't taught yet. We were going to just drop by and have a chat and develop a friendship. So we drive up, say our prayer, then head out the car to her house. We round the corner and we see that her car isn't in the drive which means she isn't home. My companion gets discouraged as we walk up the driveway to post a note on her door. I said, "Sister! We need to be more faith-filled! Just believe that her car will drive up any second!" Guess what happened. Not even one minute later her car was parked in the drive way and we were being let in to her home. Coincidence? I think not! 

We went to teach one of our investigators with a baptism date last week, whom I am very excited for because she is just so lovely! Anyways, she expressed her enthusiasm to get baptised and told us that she even went online shopping for a baptism dress and she bought one! It should ship in next month! I was so happy! That means she is serious about being baptised because she has already bought a dress. Well, that is what I think at least! On Sunday we drove with this investigator to church, she is a Chinese student and has only just switched her Chinese licence to an Australian one. She asked us to drive with her to church because she doesn't feel comfortable driving alone yet, so we did (anything to get her to church!). Honestly, it was kind of scary. I don't feel comfortable with her driving alone either! Luckily she was light-hearted about it and we all had a laugh. On the way home from church she drove us plus another one of our investigators and she was very quiet and seemed strained. I asked her why and she said in her broken English, "SO MANY LIVES!". She was nervous because she was responsible for our lives, it was so sweet and funny. 

I feel like in every email I talk about food, oh well. Last week the Young Woman's president ordered us two pizzas to our flat! We were very excited, I know it seems simple, but we like simple and it was a nice dinner. 

Last week I went on a trade-off to Murray Bridge, about 1.5 hours away. It was a pretty good trade-off. I was with Sister Abonales from the Philippians. She is very funny and a great missionary! We went over to a members house for dinner and the family was from Samoa. They had eleven children! The house was packed and full of life and laughter! They made the best food and gave us lots of left overs! I had the left overs for breakfast and lunch the next day and we still had food left over. Sooooo good. 

On Monday this week one of our investigators called us early in the morning during our studies because she had an experience she was so excited about. She said that she woke up and noticed that one of her pictures of Jesus comforting a child had fallen off the wall. So she picked it up and went to slip it into her Book of Mormon until she had time to stick it back up. The Book of Mormon fell open to 3 Nephi 11 and her eyes went straight to verses 37 & 38: "And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptised in my name, or ye can in nowise inherit these things. And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptised in my name, and become as a little child or ye can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God." She was so excited and told us that obviously God wants her to be baptised. Just the day before on Sunday we were talking about baptism in Gospel Principles Class and she said in front of everyone that she wants to be baptised (which is the first time we have heard that!). That was a cool experience and hopefully we will have her on date sometime next week!

This Monday I woke up sick. My throat was really sore and I couldn't breathe through my nose but I sucked it up (not literally) and went out to work. I got worse and worse throughout the day. In the evening Sister Funaki decided she wanted to go door knocking (which I don't enjoy) on Tongan Way because she just liked the name (her parents are Tongan). So we are knocking, in the dark, windy, cold weather while I am sick having doors closed and everyone taking one look at our badges and saying, "No, not interested." I was getting not just discouraged but fed up and sour. In my head the whole time I was thinking: "Door knocking is such a waste of time, it never works, I am sick and tired, my throat hurts, why are people so mean, we should just go contact some other way, DOOR KNOCKING NEVER WORKS, etc." 

We were approaching our last door when I ask Sister Funaki if she has ever had success from a door knock, and she said yes and listed of two names. I was thinking, "yeah only 2 people in 17 months..." We walked up to this door and a man answered. We introduced ourselves and we asked if he has a faith himself. He said no, but recently he has seen the need for one. He goes on to say how he has been searching, going to different churches and seeing that they all teach different things, he has also been taking meditating classes but nothing seems to fit his fancy so to say. He then asked us if we have anything for him to read, so we gave him a restoration pamphlet, got his phone number, and we were invited back to teach him and his family. We walk away in silence and once we get into the street, I said, "Okay Heavenly Father, I get it, it does work." I was humbled by that experience and I will never say door knocking doesn't work again. If it wasn't for missionaries door knocking I wouldn't be here because both sides of my family were found because of door knocks. Oh silly me! 

I have been sick since Monday, it is now Thursday. I have a sinus infection. It was its worst on Tuesday, I was achy and we thought it was the flu. I had to stay in the flat most of the day. I haven't improved because I haven't had too much time to recover. I went out proselyting for a few hours yesterday but then we had to come home. I shouldn't be around people spreading my sickness. I went to the temple today though because we only get to go once a transfer if you are serving in Adelaide. I didn't want my companion to miss out because of me, but it was hard and I suffered and coughed the whole time. Prayers would be appreciated as I need them and don't want this to last longer than a week. I need to get to work! 

This is all I have time for. 

I love you all and miss you!

Sister Coultrup

PS. Stay faith filled!

--

Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Encounters with Shelob

Hello Family and Friends,

This week has been wonderful and very busy! As usual. On P-Day we went to Victor Harbour. It is 45 mins away from where I stay, but the drive was beautiful. The whole zone went. We walked around Granite Island, it is a tiny island just off the coast, there as a long walk-way across the water to get to it. You could see Dolphins and Whales and Seals! The Island was gorgeous and I had a blast, it was such a great day. It was nice to get to know the other missionaries better as well and I got some cool photos. 

We had another Multi-Zone Conference, but this time with our new mission president! President Parker and Sister Parker are wonderful! Wow, we are so blessed to have received people like them. They have so much love and excitement, I look forward to getting to know them better. The new mission motto is "Catch the wave in Adelaide, it begins with obedience and ends with gratitude." The conference was great and I learnt a lot. President has given us a task/challenge to read 8 pages of the Book of Mormon a day so that we can all start and finish at the same time in 10 weeks. Everyone was shocked and I still wonder when I am going to find time to do this. Our personal study time is meant for studying for our investigators, I think I am just going to have to read during lunch. I also had an interview with President Parker, it was the best! The spirit was so strong and I am grateful to have had that experience. Afterwards President and Sister Parker took just Sister Funaki and I out for dinner! We wanted to go to a nicer restaurant but we couldn't find one, so we stuck with McDonald's. We had a lovely chat and the spirit was strong again, even in McDonald's. It was kind of strange sitting in McDonald's eating Burgers and Chips with our President but it was an experience I won't forget! They are truly called of God! 

This week we took one of our investigators to the Adelaide Temple. We did a little walk around and she was allowed to sit inside the temple waiting room. It was my first time in that temple as well so I was very excited! Temple's are a little piece of Heaven on Earth. No matter where you go in the world the spirit in the Temple will never change because it is the Lord's house. Our investigator enjoyed the experience and wants to learn a lot more about the Plan of Salvation now. 

Trade-offs this week was fun! I loved my companion I was given, but I was to lead in my own area! I was pretty nervous, luckily nothing went terribly wrong as I was expecting. I actually did okay! Sister Travers and I got along very well, she is lovely. We had a terrifying experience though. 

On Friday night we dropped by Anne's (investigator) house to have a lesson. We had a great lesson and it was time to leave. So we do the usual "goodbyes, see you on Sunday" thing as Anne opens the door. Sister Travers is half way out the screen door as I glance at it and scream. THE BIGGEST SPIDER I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE WAS ON THE DOOR. Anne then screams, Sister Travers screams and runs outside and lets the screen door slam, then Anne slams the normal door. So at this point, I am inside with Anne and Sister Travers is outside, and the spider is trapped between the door and the screen door. I am panicking not only because there was Shelob between Sister Traver's and I but also because I couldn't see my companion! Anne refused to open the door, which I don't blame her, and there was no other way out of the house other than climbing through a window. My heart is pounding and my skin is crawling and we are all still screaming. Sister Travers is trying to be brave by opening and slamming the screen door to scare it away so I can get out of the house. Apparently the spider kept jumping between the door and screen and wouldn't run off. We did this for about 10 minutes until it finally ran off. When it did Anne opened the door and pretty much pushed me out of the house, haha! Then we RAN to the car because who knows, Shelob could've been anywhere. It took the whole drive home for us to calm down. Sister Travers is from Tazmania and told me that it was a Huntsman spider, it was as big as my Dad's hand. MASSIVE, too big. I get chills thinking about it.

We still have baptism dates lined up but we have to push the one for the 19th back because he is going out of town for a week and so we won't be able to teach him the rest of the lessons on time for him to be baptised. We have a bunch of potentials to follow up with, hopefully they can become proper investigators in the future! I heard from a little birdy that Sister Funaki and I have the most progressing investigators in the mission. Might be wrong though, but that boosted my confidence! It is all thanks to her and her previous companion though, they worked very hard, and I am just picking it up in the middle of all the work.

To end I will leave you with a quote from the new ensign, "The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behaviour but Christ can change human nature." - President Ezra Taft Benson.

With Love,

Sister Coultrup

Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Lead Kindly Light & Swimming in Custard

"Lead kindly light amidst the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on. The night is dark and I am far from home, Lead Thou me on." 

That is my favourite hymn and how I have been feeling this week. It has been great, but I have had a few rough moments. First I want to share an experience I had regarding prayer. So on sunday at church I saw someone who reminded me of my Mum and that immediately made me feel homesick, like a punch to my tummy. I haven't felt homesick much so this was unusual. That caused me to be in a weird mood the whole day, I kept thinking of home. When we were driving I was thinking that I wished I had the gold chevy back playing Ed Sheeran with my besties in the car with me. That night I knelt down in prayer and opened my heart to my Father in Heaven. I did not want to be focussing on home at all. Yes, I miss everyone, but I need to do the work, I need my whole heart in the work, not bits and pieces. I prayed for help to just get over it. This morning in my personal study I was reading in Alma 17, and I found a scripture that touched me. It is when the Sons of Mosiah come to visit Alma, these were the Sons that were with Alma when he saw the Angel so they are all really close, like brothers. The sons of Mosiah and Alma are going on a "mission" to preach the gospel to the Lamanites and they are all going to separate areas, so they have to part ways. 

"... They separated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken."

This helped me remember why I am out here. This work is great, of great importance and of great sacrifice. I need to trust in the Lord, that I will see you all again. But for now I need to focus on the great work I have ahead of me! 

Earlier this past week on P-Day we celebrated Sister Soh and Sister Lee-lo's birthdays. They are companions and they have the same birthday and both turned 22! So we surprised them with cake and balloons and it was really fun! After I email today, the whole zone is going down to Victor Harbor for an activity. I think we are just walking around and enjoying the view. I am very excited for that! First time I get to actually go out and see things! 

We have a baptism lined up for July 19th. I am super excited! That is so soon! We have a lot more work to do with him, but I know everything will be just fine and it will be great! 

This week we gained 2 new investigators! They are both international students, one from China, one from Kenya. It was so great to meet them and teach them, I have high hopes. Sister Funaki and I also had a goal to get 20 connections, which means we want to talk to 20 new people in one day. We had been trying so hard to achieve it but we have been so busy with lessons we never had any time to find. But this week we got 20 connections on thursday! We were so happy. Since we did so much finding I came across many not so nice people. We went door knocking and this lady answered the door and said, "What do you want?" I said, "Hi, we are sister missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of-..." She interupted me and started yelling "NO NO NO NO" while I slowly and quietly finished "Latter-Day Saints..." under my breath. Then she continued to say she wanted nothing to do with religion and slammed the door. It was quite comical now that I look back on it, but in that moment I felt very discouraged. We do not knock to annoy you, we knock for your salvation! Something that Sister Funaki says is: "Knock once for their Salvation. Twice for your Salvation. And three times for desperation." It is funny, 'cause it is true. 

Me and Sister Funaki

We had dinner at a members house and she made such lovely food. A beef stew with veggies, etc. But the most exciting part was Apple Pie and Custard! My favourite, I felt so blessed. It was swimming in custard. That was definitely a highligh of my week. This week Sis. Funaki and I went all out with cooking our own meals. We had home made pizza and made a delicious chicken kabab meal with potato salad. I love food. 

I biked in a skirt for the first time this past week! I was terrified my skirt would fly up, but it didn't. I was protected :-) My area is VERY hilly. I am not exaggerating Dad. I thought my legs were on fire because of all the hills we had to bike up. If we bike more often we will get in shape quite quickly. People were looking at us like we were mad though, biking in skirts. I gave them a look back that said, "yes, we are mad."

I also did trade offs this week again, I will do them every week since my companion is a Sister Training Leader. I went to Christies Beach area with Sister Soh. We were literally a two minute walk from the beach! Such a cool experience. I love trade off's. 

I really look forward to this week! We get to have another Multi-Zone Conference with our new Mission President and his wife. (President and Sister Parker). We also have interviews and such and we will be teaching that man who is getting baptized soon and following up with all our investigators and our new ones! Oh and we have a member dinner every day this week! #blessed.

I love my mission!

I love you all and miss you. Stay safe, I pray for you!

With love,

Sister Coultrup 

--

Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints