Sometimes they run away from us

G'day.

It was only just a few days ago I got to email so I am not sure I have that much more to say. It has continued to be slow, everyone is doing their final exams so no one wants to see us. Plus it continues to rain everyday.

Sister Siale asked me to draw a picture of her. All of my companions have asked me to draw them and I always say no. Because I have no time but most of all I don't want to do a bad job and them get offended that I accidently drew them like a potato. Nevertheless, I did it anyways, so she is pretty lucky that I drew her. I will send you a picture of the drawing and you can let me know if the likeness is unto a potato. She is really happy with it. It was really nice to draw again, once I started I couldn't stop, but I had to keep doing a little here and there whenever I would have some spare time over the week.

Nice to draw again, faces are hard

We did a lot of street contacting these past few days because the appointments have been sparse due to what I mentioned earlier, the evil exams. There was two people in one day that did not want to tell us their names. It was so funny, I wish you could all meet Sister Siale because she is crack up. This Chinese student guy wouldn't tell us his name and so she said,

"Oh so you don't have a name?"

"Yes."

"But how do people call you, or talk to you? That must be hard isn't it?"

No response... She continued to talk AT him then he literally starting RUNNING away from us in the other direction, he did this little fake out move and booked it. I turned to Sister Siale and told her she was too scary aha, it was great.

This week will be my last week with my companion before she goes home to Brisbane. She has been teaching me Samoan and I can sing I am a Child of God in Samoan now. It is pretty cool!

The sun came out

I pray for you all and I know that God lives and love us so much. I have felt of His love and continue to feel it everyday. I know that He is mindful of all of us and our individual struggles. He knows us by name and wishes the best for us and wants us to learn and grow and become like Him. I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life because it gives me purpose and direction and more happiness than anything else.

Love,

Sister Coultrup

Ps. I found a wall that had the answer the everything and the universe written on it.

The answer to everything

--

Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

More rain, and sick.

G'day everyone.

Sorry I did not email on Monday, they moved Pday to today because we went to the temple :) Which was great as per usual.

I don't have much to talk about because last week I got really really really sick. I was in the flat  for four days. Still not sure if it was food poisoning or gastro.. But it was rough. I am feeling a lot better now though, but I was quite weak for a while.

Things over here have been pretty good. Other than the weather. It has just been absolutely chucking it these past few days and I always go home soggy and chilled. We showed up at an investigators house and she gave me a towel to dry my hair because we got caught in the rain, had no idea it was going to and then after that it just didn't stop for a few days. 

Sister Siale goes home soon, she leaves in the middle of the transfer so I will be companionless. I have no idea what is going to happen to me.

This week so far has been one of those weeks where no one wants to see you. It is probably because of the rain. But we had a miracle the other day where we had someone contact us and ask to meet up. So she is a new investigator now and it is awesome. We also have another baptismal date for our Colombian investigator. She was a member referral and she seems quite dedicated. So let's hope all goes well!

That is all for now, I hope things are alright back home. Love you all heaps!

Take care,

Sister Coultrup

--

Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

G'day!

Hi everyone! Hope you are all well. Things over here are splendid except for the weather. It is officially winter now and it is windy and wet. Which means every day we are soaked from head to toe but there is not that much we can do about it since we are on bikes. While I type this it is pouring right now and you can hear the rain crashing against the windows of the library. Hopefully we will get a teaching space in the City soon because there is no way we can teach in the parks anymore.

bike accident

This week was a pretty good week, despite the fact my companion sprained her ankle! She had a bike accident. We didn't even leave our street we live on and she crashed, hit her head against a parked car then fell to the ground with the bike on top of her. Of course I ran to the rescue like the hero I am, haha just kidding. But I did help her up and we needed to call the Sisters to pick us up because she couldn't walk without me supporting her, so we spent all Friday in the flat with her ankle elevated. She is doing a bit better now but still limping. I have given her the nick name "Sister Limpy" or "Sister Gimpy". She still loves me, haha.

  

On Pday I dragged my companion to the South Australian Museum which was so cool! It was awesome to see some of the Aboriginal history here in Australia. I see some similarities between them and the Native Americans.  In the end she thought it was all very interesting.

critters

art

I really enjoyed skyping my family for Mothers Day as well. It is the last time I get to Skype.. Scary.

We received transfer calls last night and Sister Siale and I are remaining, which I am really happy about. She finishes her mission in 30 days because she extended her mission. So I have no idea what will happen to me the last week of the transfer because I will have no companion.

This week we had a special lesson with an investigator who is really struggling personally with depression and things and wants to get better but doesn't have the motivation to do anything. We told her that Christ can heal anything but she has to open her heart and let Him in. Just like that picture of Jesus Christ knocking on the door with no handle. We need to open the door, he won't force Himself in. We also told her that she needs to do her part, she cannot sit back, not pray, not read the scriptures, not come to church and expect things to change.

So we asked,

"Emily (name changed for privacy), do you want the peace and joy that comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ?"

"Yes I do!"

"Then you need to decide today to change. Start now, pray every night, read the Book of Mormon and come to church tomorrow. Otherwise things will stay the same." She nods like she is understanding. "Then lets start today, today is a new day, a new beginning for you, the start of a happier more meaningful life!" She was so excited and promised to do everything we asked. She did, and told us all about it the next day at church with a huge smile.

We can do all things, through Christ, who strengthens us.

contacting

Love you,

Sister Coultrup
--

Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Candy gets Baptized

G'day everyone!

Soz about the short email last week. So many things were happening. It has calmed down a bit now. This past week has been really busy, with lots of success. We had a baptism! Candice (Candy) got baptized. She is wonderful. She wanted to completely renew her life so she got a haircut as well, haha. Bless her heart. It was a great service, Candy asked me to give a talk. So I talked about Baptism. It went well and also Sister Siale and I sang Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy. Sister Siale has a beautiful voice so I am pretty sure I sounded like a frog next to her but that is okay. President and Sister Parker came to the baptism as well. Along with Candy one of the Elder Companionships also had a baptism. David, he is chinese as well, I have had the chance to talk to him a few times when I see him in the City or at church. After the baptism service he came up, shook my hand, and tried to HUG me right in front of Sister Parker! Haha, I was like, "Oh no no no, sorry I cannot hug you!" and he looked so sad and offended and asked why! I felt terrible and just explained how it is not allowed since I am a missionary. Sister Parker was laughing and said she wished she had gotten it on film. He turned around and hugged an Elder instead.

This past week we found 7 new investigators. Which is great. We are not allowed to teach in the library anymore due to complications so we have to teach in the gardens around the City. One evening we went to teach a new investigator and it started RAINING! Our investigator was told us we can just have the lesson another time. I said, "No, if we say a prayer the rain will go away." As soon as we started praying, the rain stopped.

It rained a lot this week, on our way home one night on bikes it was pouring down and so we had to pull over and find shelter. It is not safe biking along main roads, in the dark and the rain, so we had to wait it out so we could get home. It is also raining all today :(

Yesterday was Specialized Training for the City Zone. We are the only Sisters in the Zone. (Ps the zone is also our district, it is quite small). We had the APs and President and Sister Parker come and provide us with a training. It was focused a lot on roleplays and perfecting our teaching. I prayed beforehand for some information on how I can improve myself as a missionary in anyway and I got my answer!

This weekend is Mother's Day and I am looking forward to skyping my family. That evening I will also find out about transfers too, so next Monday you will find out the deets.

Love you all heaps!

Ps. The last picture of three Chinese and myself is Candy, David and Mark(at the bottom), 3 recent converts.

--

Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Emergency Transfer

Hello Everyone,

Bethany didn't have much time to write this week, so her mother (me) will be writing her blog.

Three weeks into her new area a shock came one night when she and her companion were informed that Sister Taufa was to be emergency transfered to Golden Grove the next morning.  Sister Siale from Golden Grove would be moving to the city to take her place.  They were all more than a little upset and emotional as the work was going great and Bethany and Sister T had become fast friends.  Bethany was also very nervous about taking over the area after only 3 weeks and not knowing it very well yet, and she doesn't know anyone in the Ward yet.  However, duty calls.

The reason for the transfer is that Sister Siale had a stalker.  The office had to find a new flat for the sisters in the Golden Grove area and get Sister S out of there quickly.  That's all I know about the stalker situation.  Bethany says the first couple of days were hard but a week later they are adjusting to the situation and she gets along well with Sister Siale.

Personally, I think she will be just fine. She's pretty resilient.  Get the map out and find and teach, find and teach...

ANZAC Australian Remembrance Day

New Companion

My District

Jedi's are Just Missionaries in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

G'day Howyagoing?

So it has been a good couple of days.

We have done mainly a lot of contacting and door knocking. Yesterday evening we spent hours in our suburbs which we haven't done because we are always in the city. We door knocked into this guy and he said:

"Sorry I am watching a movie."

"Oh cool, what movie?" I asked.

"Star Wars."

"THE NEW ONE?!"

"Yes."

"I love Star Wars, I am so jealous!"

"Yeah, maybe I should believe in Jedi's instead of Jesus." *Door slams*

supplies

We also were walking down the street in the city contacting and some high school girls that have obviously seen the Book of Mormon musical started singing one of the songs, "Yes I believe in God the Father..." as loud as they could to bother us and get our attention. The mission is definitely teaching me patience and humility. Sister Taufa is really funny because she gets frustrated and when we approach people and they just say, "NO" and nothing else. She says, "No to what? Be specific. What are you saying no to?" I have to turn away and try not to laugh.

  

For good news our investigator Candy is really set on her baptism. She was telling everyone at Stake Conference yesterday that she will be baptized in two weeks. We are so excited for her.

On Wednesday this week Sister Taufa and I will be giving a training in district meeting. We prayed a lot about it in the temple and were able to receive the same revelation. We received UNITY. So that is what we are focusing on in our training. I am pretty nervous because I haven't given a training before and it is also infront of 3 of the Assistants and the Zone Leaders as well. But I FEAR NO MAN!

You're a Mormon aren't you?

We also attended a baptism for the Sisters that live in the same flat as us. Their investigator got baptized and we got to go and bring some of our investigators. It was beautiful, as baptisms always are. Their investigator bore her testimony and told her journey. She is in her 50s and talks about how she remembers the missionaries coming over to their house once in the 70s and saying a prayer. She said she remembers how that prayer "really worked" and she has never forgotten it. It confirmed to me that the work I am doing now will continue to impact many generations down the line and continue on for years. Even if people may not be jumping into the waters now, so to say, they may be touched and will enter in by the way later on.

I am so grateful for this blessing of serving my savior with all that I have and all that I am. I am grateful for missionaries as well because if it wasn't for them I would not be here today.

Lots of love,

Sister Coultrup

--

Sister Bethany Victoria Coultrup

Australia Adelaide Mission

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints