A week of MIRACLES!

This week just started off with a bunch of miracles, and it finished off strong as well! Monday after P-day we went and tried to see a potential investigator that we had named Hasanatu. But she was on the phone so we went to go see another potential investigator while we waited for her to get off the phone. We taught a lesson to Chang and he became a new investigator! :) Then we went back to Hasanatu's and she said, "Sisters... I had a dream and I don't know if it's a good dream or a bad dream.... I had a dream that I was trying to catch this ship but for some reason I missed it. I asked the man at the port to call the ship back and he couldn't. He told me the ship would come back in two weeks. So I woke up and prayed and asked God what the dream meant. I didn't get an answer but I had a good feeling." And I just got this HUGE smile on my face. And I said, "Sister Hasantatu, do you know that we knocked on your door and met you exactly two weeks ago?" And she smiled and said, "Yes. It was a good dream Sisters." And I got all choked up as she expressed how much she wanted to read the Book of Mormon. So we read a bit with her and then we went. Such a good night full of miracles!

Tuesday I was actually in a different area serving with Sister Y from Thailand. We'll be going on exchanges together once or twice every week. It was a very interesting day. A lot of people are bitter in this world and I don't understand why. You can't blame God for bad things. I've been studying in the Old Testament and I was just reading about Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and the plagues. God gave Pharaoh NINE chances to repent and soften his heart before he sent the destructive plague that killed the firstborns. God isn't this cranky, evil being that wants us to suffer. He is merciful and gives us chance after chance to repent and become more like him. Trials are for our benefit. So don't be like Pharaoh and be so hard hearted that it takes the 10th plague for you to listen to God. That's my insights on the day. :)

Wednesday was an absolute riot. I have a new boyfriend named Eddie. He's Egyptian, about 60, and said I'd make a beautiful 25th wife. Hahahaha. Just joking, but it was a pretty good conversation we had. Then we were walking and out of no where I yelled, "Hey you!" And this guy turned around and smiled at me and I heard Sister Teahe yell, "Go, go, go! I'll follow you!" So we ran to him and started talking to him. Then we were talking to this Asian lady and we couldn't figure out what language she was speaking so I just pulled out all of the Asian language pamphlets I had and said, "Pick one!" Hahhaa. We all had a good laugh. We had a lesson with the Makitae and Okotai families and they really liked it. It's great to see their progression and their continuous conversion to the Gospel. 

Thursday was a great day. My favorite compliment ever was given that day! Sister Teahe said, "Sister Stott, your eyes look like potatoes." The girl knows the way to an Idahoan's heart. ;) We had a lesson with our investigator named Paul that turned into a bible bash, and he told us and the member with us that we need to seriously pray about the Book of Mormon. And we all said, "We have! Have you?" And then he stopped bible bashing us. Hahaha. We did a lot of running around on Thursday but it was a pretty slow day as compared to the rest of the week. 

Friday was crazy! We had zone training meeting and it was really good. I actually went to high school with my Zone Leader at Hillcrest, so it's really hard to not call him by his first name sometimes. We had a lesson afterwards with Ivana and it was really nice. She wants to be baptized and we're all just praying and fasting together so she can pick the date which is right for her. We went to go see a potential investigator that wasn't home and we hear, "Are those Sisters? SISTERS!" And that's how we met Mama Fina. She is a member but she is shy and doesn't know anyone in the ward, so she's been driving an hour every Sunday to go to her old ward where she has friends. But we had a message with her and talked for a bit and she's going to start coming to our ward. :) Afterwards we went to go see Maria, Ofa's neighbor that we did service for a few weeks ago. She was on her way out so we went to go talk to Ofa and tell him how it went. We mentioned that we had an appointment and he volunteered to go with us! So we went and they had forgotten about it so they weren't home. Then Ofa asked us to go home teaching with him, so we went and they weren't home. But as we were standing in their yard talking, we witnessed a domestic disturbance. This drunk man was yelling at his wife and smashing her car and it was pretty scary. So I called 000 (Emergency here) and Ofa told us to leave, and he left too. So we were driving and we thought, "What if that was God's way of telling us these people need the Gospel?" So we pulled over, prayed about it, turned around, and went back to find the lady. We found her hiding in the car at the end of the street and we talked for TWO hours! Her husband was actually baptized into the church when he was a kid, but hasn't been back since. She was so grateful we came back to comfort her and she said we could come back and visit them. WHAT A MIRACLE! 

Saturday was great, sounds like a good week, ehh? I think the miracle of the day was our lesson with Albert and Amy, a part member family. They came to general conference and loved it! But they still need the motivation to read scriptures, pray, and come to church regularly. Most people don't lose their testimonies of the Gospel, just their motivation and faith to act.

Sunday was so fantastic! We had a meeting with the auxiliary leaders of the ward, and there was plenty of chastisement involved so hopefully the work on their end will come together with the work on our end. Church was great but after church was even better! President Shum (the Stake President) and President and Sister Back came to Hound dogs so we could show them what it's all about. Ofa came with Sister Teahe and I to go back to see L and P, the couple we met Friday night because they were fighting. We went back and had a lesson with them on the atonement, and they invited us back this next week! What an absolute miracle. I know it's crazy that we witnessed a domestic disturbance between them, but it's a miracle and definitely God's handy work that we were there at that time to meet them and help them come home.

The church is true, the work is the best, and I love yous all.

Sister Stott

Sorry for the lack of picture, all of the computers in our area were shut down for some reason, so we had to travel to another area to use their computers, and they don't have card readers. :( 

General Conference Weekend!

This week though! Aah, just a beautiful week in Villawood.

Tuesday was really good, even after P-day ended! So Tuesday nights we're supposed to go on visits with the leaders of our ward, but no one showed up... But that's okay, missionaries can figure out how to do missionary work on their own if we have to. ;) We decided to go and see a former investigator named Amy, and when we arrived, we found out she had just gotten married the week before! So she talked to us about the wedding and everything and it was really fun to get to know her, and she invited us back to see her and her husband, who is actually a member! So it was pretty okay that the original plans fell through.

Wednesday was quite an interesting day. To explain the morning I just have a piece of advice to everyone: answer the door with your clothes on, no matter who you think is knocking.... On a different note of the day, we saw a lot of former investigators and less active members and got to know who actually has a desire to learn. We had a lesson with our investigator Lee and she accepted a baptismal date! Although, there is a catch. She'll only be baptized this month if she can still pray to Buddha as well as God... So the baptismal date will probably, definitely, be pushed back a little bit. But that's okay, because she has been taking lessons for years and has never accepted a baptismal date before. Progress! :)

Thursday was full of awkward lessons and we couldn't figure out why. We had a lesson with Ivana, which went really well, and weird at the same time. She's going through a lot of things right now. We also had a lesson with a part member family, and that went well too. But the awkward part of it was the non-members were a lot more excited to have us there than the members. Aah, a twist! And then we tried seeing some potential investigators and I'm really bad at pronouncing African and Arabic names, so they all got a kick out of me trying to pronounce their names. My favourite word in Arabic at the moment translates to, "What?!" So whenever things get awkward I just yell, "WHAT?!" and then we all laugh, and we get a chance to start to conversation over again.

Friday was interesting. We have a new district so it's interesting when in our meetings we have conversations going on in way too many languages: English of course, but also Samoan, Tongan, and French (My companion's native language, so she talks to me and I reply, "What?! I don't speak French!" but in French). Hahaha. It's really funny and confusing. We had two family home evenings on Friday with two part member families and it was a lot of fun. We get a little competitive in object lessons, but it's a good time. :)

Saturday was SO GOOD! It was Sister Teahe's birthday! Wooohooo! And to top it off, it was General Conference! General Conference is the best! So many questions answered! And Lee came, so her questions were answered too! I just loved it so much. After I send this email I think I'll go print 50 pages of talks off of lds.org/general-conference :) After conference we went and saw our investigator Helen, because it was her birthday too! Yayy birthdays! Then we had a lesson with Hong Ly and she is super sweet. She's Cambodian and just an absolute riot.  Then during language study, we had a little birthday celebration full of sugar, pizza, and mustaches. Don't worry, we celebrated very well,  righteously. :)

Sunday was so great! It was General Conference again! Even more questions answered, more revelation received, and more investigators getting answers too! It was fantastic. THREE NEW APOSTLES! And they are such great, humble men. I couldn't be happier to be a member of the church and to have such great leaders acting under the direction of Jesus Christ. The church is true, and it's beautiful.  After conference we all switched around companions and went to see less active members in another ward. I went with Sister Creel and we met this really amazing family. It was nice getting to know them and being able to set up a plan for the leaders in their ward to help them out.

It was a great week. It was so much fun and so full of little miracles. I'm excited to hear all about the scriptures you choose to "ponderize" each week as a servant of the Lord suggested this weekend. :) I know it will bless you and help you to have the Spirit as your constant companion. So please keep me updated on how it works out for you. :)
Sending my love and a traditional mustache picture,

Sister Stott 

"She was NOT speaking French!"

I wish I could express to you how happy I am today, but I'll just let you read my email and hopefully you'll get the gist of it.

Let me tell you a funny story about Tuesday. Sister Eddie is from the Solomon Islands and we share the flat and we were listening to her music in the car. There was a folder called "My Nice," so I asked her, "My nice what?" And she said, "My nice have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!" I realized I've been on my mission for a while after that comment, because I thought it was the funniest thing I've heard in ages. Anyways, we started the morning off doing service at a member's home while they're away for a month. I was in charge of the chicken coop with Sister Teahe. Gathering eggs, feeding the chickens, cleaning the coop, rounding up the rogue chickens, etc. It was so much fun! But let's be real, I'm not much of a rancher. ;)  After we did some service we went and had a lesson with Kathy and a lesson with George. After we saw George we went to Mary's and off to rescues! Busy, busy, busy. Isn't being busy a blessing though?! So much better than being bored out of your mind...

Wednesday we had Bronwyn in the morning then we went over to Sister Cummings' house to get to know her a bit better. Can I tell you how utterly terrifying it is to share a message with the daughter-in-law of a General Authority? It's pretty intimidating... but their family is so great. We had a lesson with Julie then Vika and Sister Feinga went to visit people with us! It was a lot of fun having them get to know our investigators a bit. Then they took us to Hungry Jacks and they got eight ice creams.... Never say you "love" something to a Tongan who likes you, because they will make sure you never run out. But I'm not complaining! Ice cream is gold these days. We went searching with Sister Fenunuti and found out that one of our potential investigators is actually a less active member! Kinda of crazy, now we need to track down some records.

Thursday was mad as. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Craige and he loved it. Then we went and had a lesson with Mike, and he wants to be baptized November 14! Woo! Then we had a lesson with Alicia and set a goal baptismal date of December 5. Then we went to see a less active family and got to know them better. And then we ran into the Ashers, so they took us out to dinner. I love them, they remind me a lot of my parents but reverse the personalities. Does that make sense? Anyways, it's a pleasure to share Thai food with them any day!

Friday was a bit slower. A lot of appointments fell through and a lot of people weren't interested, but that's okay! We had a dinner appointment with the Feingas, but we missed the right train. So we had to take the later train, which meant we didn't have time to see a less active member named Bao that we had never met. But this guy on the train kept staring at me, so when I got off the train and he followed I was a little freaked out. Then he ran up to me and said, "Are you LDS?! I used to be LDS in Fiji!" Guess what, it was Bao! Divine intervention with our planning. Our appointment with the Feingas was great. They have a list of 10 names of people that they are going to invite to learn about the Gospel. And they're going tracting as a family next week! How cool are they? This ward is crazy when it comes to missionary work, I love it. Then we went and saw Helen, and this is probably the happiest I've seen her. Which makes me even more happy!

Saturday was so nasty. The last Saturday of the transfer, before we get our transfer details, we have to deep clean the flat. And apparently, the last 3 transfers the missionaries living there skipped doing it. Oh my lanta, it was insane. I'm not even to describe it to you, just know that it should never take more than 3 hours, and we gave up after 5 1/2 hours... Yea, blegh. Anyways, transfer calls came! Now they're a bit tricky, but I'm stoked. I've been sharing the ward with another set of Sisters, right? Remember the Sister Training Leader from Tahiti I loved going on exchanges with so much? So my area was killing it but their area has really been struggling. So Sister Sekete left completely and now I'm with Sister Teahe in the other half of the ward, and Sister Eddie and Sister Tuifua are taking over my old area. So I got transferred, but didn't even move out of my bedroom. Haha. I'm so excited. We also were able to watch the Women's session of General Conference. It was so good, I think my favorite talk was President Uchtdorf's.

Sunday was great. We went and said goodbye to some investigators and former investigators before church. Church was great as well. We were sitting in Relief Society and this lady said something a little blunt and added, "Pardon my French." And Sister Teahe turned to me and said, "She was NOT speaking French!" Hahaha. Sister Teahe's first language is French, so the expression didn't make sense to her. It was fun to explain. :) After church Ofa Amone's oldest daughter was baptized, so it was great to be able to witness that.

Monday was probably one of my favourite days on this side of the world. We took Sister Sekete to transfers then ran other sisters back and forth to their new areas for the rest of the morning. When we finally made it back to our area, we went straight to work! We rode our bikes and went to see heaps of former investigators to invite them to General Conference. Then we went to the Loughman's and had a Filipino dinner with them, so fun! It was great getting to know them better. Then we went and met a former investigator named Lena! She didn't like the sisters that found her a year ago but they made a note that she has a daughter with Special Needs. So I was super keen to go visit! We introduced ourselves, I told her I studied Special Education at University, and asked if we could come in and play with her. And she let us in! We all threw a ball around and had a great chat for about 45 minutes. It was so much fun and she invited us back without us even asking. It was great! Then we tried talking to this Turkish lady and she didn't speak English, but this 11 year old boy was right there and offered to translate! So he did and she asked us to teach her English, gave us her number, and left. Then we were talking to the little boy for a while in front of his family's shop. His dad came out and gave us Baklava (yummy middle eastern dessert) and talked to us too! And while we were talking, all of these refugees from the middle east came up to us and asked us (through Yusuf and his dad) to teach them English. So we're going to start an English class hopefully. It'll be way fun, but the only things we have in both Arabic and English are the discussions... :) Well, they've got to learn English and the Gospel somehow, so why not together! :)

I hope you were able to see how happy I am through me telling you about my week. God is good, He knows each of us, and he wants us to feel His love! And I definitely felt it this week. :)

Sister Stott

Picture: Sister Teahe and Baklava! :)

Onasa'i ia, alofa atu.

My first week in Villawood I mentioned a family named the Mafoas and how I just adored them. Well, I still do! :) We had Family Home Evening with them on Monday and they are just an absolute riot. But this time instead of leaving them a commitment to read a scripture or something, we committed them to teach the next lesson. Haha. Talk about a crazy commitment, but I'll tell you how it panned out when I tell you about Friday.

Tuesday started off slow, but that's all good. We were on our way to see Julie and Brother T was on the bus too, but he got off a few stops before us. So when we went to get off at Julie's, we saw Brother T's phone still in his seat! So we hopped off the bus and went to his house to give it to him. It was pretty funny because he was telling on the bus we should call him if we need anything. So when he opened the door, I held up his phone and said, "If you didn't want us to call, you could've just not offered!" Haha. We had a lesson with Julie and it went really well. She had a lot of questions that she had been afraid to ask. But we answered them and it was good! She's going to pray for a baptismal date, so we'll see how that goes! Then we went and saw Mary and talked about Family History, which was good. We went and saw Mama Taufa with Sister Laufoli as well. I just love the Laufolis, they're so good to us! Then exchanges started and my companion was Sister Teahe. Oh my lanta, I just love her!

Wednesday was MAD AS! In the morning we set up like 10 appointments, which all fell through. But we did some tracting and found some really keen potential investigators. Then we got a phone call from the Amone's saying they were doing service for their neighbour, and we should come help! So we did and it was hectic! Their yard was crazy. It took us, the Amone's, a bishop, a YSA, and four Elders FOUR HOURS to attack. But it was awesome. It looks amazing! Also, I got to use a bush knife (machete) to attack the overgrown grass. I felt like a mad woman! Elder Katoa was pulling back the grass to make a bundle as  I was wacking so it would make a bundle, right? But he let go right as I went to cut and WACK! I cut the head off of the rake. 0.o My bad... my bad... Anyways, it was a super fun day with my wonderful Tahitian soa.

Thursday... I was pretty sure the world was ending for a little bit. We called Maureen to confirm our appointment with her and her mum Rose, which was odd because we normally don't call to confirm with them. Anyways, Maureen was just leaving the cemetery, because Rose had died earlier in the week... So that was sad. And then the Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on our door right when we got off the phone, and that was really weird. I tried giving them a Book of Mormon but they wouldn't take it... Rude. We went and had a lesson with Craige and that was good. We also had a lesson with Mike. He is awesome but he has so many deep questions that they kind of leave my head spinning. (Also, back in America I had a new niece enter into the world, so that was pretty cool. Yay for Audrey Ella!)

Friday was hectic. Sister Eddie was sick so every appointment we had to switch companions so everyone was seen and someone was with her. So Sister Sekete and I went to Martha's, the Sister Eddie and I went to the Amone's so I could go over the ward list with Ofa. Then we switched again and Sister Teahe and I went to Bishop's. Then Sister Sekete and I went to the Mafoas. It was crazy. But the Mafoas did awesome preparing their lesson and teaching it! I was so proud!

Saturday we went and took flowers to Maureen and checked on her. She is so awesome. She reads in the Book of Mormon whenever she misses her mum. What a beautiful woman! She's so faithful. The Stake had a mini MTC as well, so I got to pretend to be an investigator all day. That was so much fun! The Young Women that were teaching me did really well. I was super proud!

Sunday was crazy! After MCM and Ward Council, I took two of the mini missionaries out tracting. They were so cute! They did such a good job and I was so proud! We even had someone let us in and teach a lesson. And I just let them take the lead and I testified or asked questions when they lost their trains of thought. Then we had church and it was great. Shelley even came! After church we had dinner with the Ashers. Funny story! Jnr Asher served in Melbourne with one of my best friends at SUU. So we had a fun time chatting about that. :) Then we went on hound dogs! Ofa let me make the lists of who everyone visited and take control of the evening. It was a lot of fun, it was like I was a Sister Zone Leader for a day. But we made so much progress in figuring out the less actives in the ward and it was a really successful night!

The work is going awesome. I just love it so much and I'm so grateful to be here. I can't imagine being anywhere else, and I don't want to even try. Now don't think that means I don't miss home, it just means I know where I'm supposed to be. Onasa'i ia, alofa atu. Heaps and heaps.

Sister Danielle Laree Stott

Our Members Are Awesome!

So this week actually wasn't the most exciting week of my Australian life, but it was still most excellent to be a servant of the Lord. Monday after P-day, we went and had Family Home Evening with Simone (a recent convert) and her family. And her daughter just turned eight so we're working on a baptismal date for her! And we gave her her own copy of the Book of Mormon, and she was so excited. She and I had a good little chat and we went through all of the pictures in the front and she wanted me to tell her all of the stories. It was pretty fun to see how excited she was and how much she loves the Book of Mormon! I love it too.

Tuesday was Zone Conference! Oh my lanta, it just always gets me so excited to be a missionary! So many things were said, so many lessons learned, and so many prayers answered. I'm excited to work to increase my faith so that I can help the Lord bring miracles to the Aussie people. After Zone Conference we went and saw Kathy and had a Family History lesson. I'll be honest, Family History was not my cup of tea back in the day, but I am so obsessed with it now! Everyone should be involved in Family History and be learning about their ancestors. We can learn a lot of things from their stories. We also went on rescues with Sister Feinga and Vika. I really, really like them. It's so great to have members involved in the work!

Wednesday was good as well. We started it off right with another Family History lesson with Bronwyn! And this is the first time she has actually showed more interest in a lesson than her cat, so that was nice. We had a lesson with Lin Lin too but she's leaving the country for two weeks, so that's lame. But she promised to bring us Filipino snacks to apologize for missing our weekly lessons. Haha. We really have some of the coolest investigators I have ever met. We had a member lesson with the Feingas as well and they're great. I learned a lot about Tongan culture as well, so a lot of interesting things I've seen all make a lot more sense to me now. Then we went on splits and Sister Laufoli and I went and saw Julie and it was a really great bonding experience for them. Julie is ready to be baptized, she has a great testimony! She just needs to know that people besides the missionaries care about her. And Sister Laufoli is just full of love, so it was a good match up.

Thursday was great. We went and saw Maureen and Rose in the morning. They think we should be teaching more Muslim people rather than people that are already Christian. So they decided that they're going to start inviting Muslims over so we can teach them the lessons in their home. So they're still investigating in  a sense, but they think they're missionaries too. Haha. It's a crack up, but hey, they say that you learn by teaching!  So we'll just give them the lessons before hand so they can help us teach, and let the spirit take care of the rest. We also had a lesson with Mike, and he is soooooo fantastic! At first I thought he was just trying to Bible Bash us, but this was our third lesson and he said, "Why have I been missing this for so long?" So cool! He's prepared, he just needs good friends in the church to make him feel welcome. We have a lot of YSA that want to meet him, it's just getting schedules to match up...

Friday was good. We met Craige! He is really cool and seems interested, so we're going back next week. We also had a lesson with Martha, but it's hard to teach because she doesn't know much English, and there are no materials in her language. :/ So we teach really simply, and it's taken about 5 lessons to get through the Restoration of the church. We also had a lesson with our new investigator, Salima! She is so awesome! We just talked about the Book of Mormon and missionary work, and she wants to put her papers in when she's 19. Hahaha. She also started reading the Book of Mormon before we even left the house. So to say she's anything but golden would be a lie. Unfortunately, she's 15 and she's moving next week, so there are a lot of factors into play. We also went over to Bishop's and had a lesson with him and his family. It's really fun getting to know  them on a personal level. Their family is really young and so he and his wife still remember how important it was to have the Bishop on your side in the mission field, so they're working hard to help! It's awesome, and I'm super grateful for them.

The weekend was pretty low key. We had one lesson on Saturday and one lesson on Sunday with less active members. No one was interested and it was a lot of aimless walking and talking. Haha. But it's all good because Julie and Ofa (Simone's partner) came to church! And that's what matters! So even if the hours surrounding church weren't shining and exciting, seeing them in the chapel made up for it.

The work is going great. It's moving forward and I'm just happy to be a part of it. I know I said it wasn't an exciting week, but looking back, it was pretty fantastic. There doesn't need to be any crazy miracles to make it a good week, just the little tender mercies every day.

Love,

Sister Danielle Laree Stott

Pic: EVERYONE deserves the Gospel. ;)   

The Significance of a Pair of Socks

Monday was such a good day. After we emailed we went to a park and played sports and ate food with the rest of the zone. It was a lot of fun and I finally have faces to all the names I've been hearing. After p-day we went and saw Camila, Zaia, and their daughter Ornina. They're amazing! They're from Syria and are super excited to read the Book of Mormon. Ornina is the only one who speaks fluent English, so she had to translate into Arabic for her parents, but they're all so lovely. Then we went to see a less active member, but when we knocked on the door, six Iraqis answered (None of them were Siosifa whom we were looking for)! They're Muslim but they let us in and let us get to know them and it was really fun. They spoke absolutely NO English, so we had a really good chat via a translating application on their phones. haha. The only English they could say was, "American Sister, pretty face." I was pretty flattered, and apparently I blushed a lot because they wanted to take a picture to remember how "my face changed colors." Haha.  I love them.

Tuesday was good as well! We were at the train station and this guy and I were talking about religion then all of the sudden he asked, "So, do you have a boyfriend or anything?" And I said, "No. As missionaries we don't date." And he said, "Oh, well I'm looking for a really nice girl, but not you because you're a missionary." Haha. Then all of the sudden he wasn't interested in religion anymore. Weird how that works... But he had already given me his number so the Elders can be his friend. Then we met Helen! She's from Fiji and she is having a really rough time. She had a baptismal date over a year ago but then she went to Fiji for a few months and the sisters never saw her again. But we found her! And her life kind of stinks, but that's okay! The atonement is real and she can use it! We had a lesson with Lee as well and then another lesson with Mary. Heaps of lessons and it was just a good day! Sister Sekete broke the chain off of her bike when we were biking home so I taught her how to rechain a bike. That was a party. 

Wednesday was mad. We walked an hour to see a potential and he wasn't interested and blew us off! BUT his wife and mother-in-law welcomed us in and we had a really good chat and lesson on faith. They're so awesome and they loved the first vision! So we have a return appointment with them. They're super excited to read the Book of Mormon as well, especially Alma 32. We had a lesson with Lin Lin and then a lesson with Kathy. Both super lovely ladies, just working on keeping commitments. We had splits and I went with Sister Papalii. Oh my gosh, what a riot! I have never laughed so hard in my life. Samoans.... They're just good for your soul.

Thursday started off good! Instead of exercising, I taught Sister Eddie how to ride a bike! That was interesting and I have a nice bruise on my leg from trying to be her training wheels. Haha. I now understand a portion of the patience parents must have... But it was so much fun! We had another lesson with Mike and it was crazy! His whole countenance has changed! he was yearning to know the answers to his questions, and he was searching for the answers in the Book of Mormon! It was so good! We had dinner and a lesson with the Mafoas as well and I just adore them... Speaking of people I adore, I've been getting sick, and Thursday was especially unpleasant, but we had appointments so I didn't have time to be sick. So I felt like crap, and Australian chemists are super confusing, and I don't know any members well enough here for me to feel comfortable talking to them about being sick. I wanted a nap, I wanted my mom, I wanted to be in a country where I understood what medicine did what! So we were walking into the flat and I thought, "Hey, I should check the mail." Even though I was 90% certain no one had written me, and there was a little package from Katrina Stewart! And it had a letter and giraffe socks in it! And I'll tell ya, I could have just cried. God is so aware of us. He is aware of our needs and our struggles. And He always shows us that He cares! And sometimes He shows that love through a beautiful woman from the Wollongong ward you miss and a pair of giraffe socks.

Friday was good. We had Zone Training and it was most excellent. Then we were walking to an appointment afterwards and this guy ran up to me and said, "Sister! I'm dying! I need help." Apparently he's a junkie and wants to be in an addiction recovery program and someone had mentioned our church does a free one! So he was out looking for a member! Kind of cool. We had a lesson with Isabella and she had heaps of questions, which was so good! We also had a lesson with Sister Anastasia and that was so fun. I love getting to know members! She's pretty great. We went home for dinner, and I felt even sicker than I had been the previous day, so we were debating whether or not to stay in for the rest of the night... It was 8pm and we didn't have any set appointments, so it wouldn't have been a big deal, right? Wrong! I had a second breath, and we went out! I wasn't about to have a sick day for an hour. So we went to the train station and we met Courtney! This incredible 17 year old who has been wondering if God is there and was just waiting for a train. The Lord blesses obedience! We have an appointment with her this next week.

Sat-day (Aussies shorten every word)! We had a lesson with Bronwyn in the morning and that was good. We tried seeing heaps of people but no one wanted to be home apparently. But we did have a lesson with Shelley! We also had a lesson with Julie... Apparently people have been calling us a cult and she's been freaking out and she just laid out all of these concerns! So we said, "Have you asked God if Joseph Smith is a true prophet?" And she hadn't, so she knelt down right then and there and asked. Then after her prayer, she was quiet for a few moments, and she looked me in the eyes and said, "All I keep hearing is 'He is a prophet, he is a prophet.' " BEAUTIFUL! She's going to pray more, but she has her answer, now she just needs to act on it.

Sunday was so good! We had meetings in the morning and they were just fantastic. The Bishop here really wants members to get involved in the work! I love it. I gave a talk in sacrament meeting... It went well I think. I talked about faith and how we need to constantly be increasing our faith and acting on it. Tad R Callister said, "Every time we exercise faith, we invite miracles." And the world is in need of some miracles! After church we tried seeing heaps of people but no one was home or interested for the first hour or so. But then we had a lesson with Kathy and we're going to get her started on Family History so that when she is ready to go to the temple, she can take family names! And then we had a lesson with Vera, a less active member from Sweden. She is such a riot. If I'm still here for Christmas, I'm taking over hot chocolate, because we both think it's ridiculous that Christmas is in the summer here. haha.

It was a crazy week! We have so many new investigators and it is so good to see the work moving forward. God is good and he is preparing people! We're going to find them.

Have a beautiful week,

Sister Danielle Laree Stott

Another Splendid Week Has Come And Gone

I mentioned last Sunday that we met a man named Oscar from Iraq. Well we ran into him again on the street on Monday! And he told us that God blessed him heaps in the past 36 hours since he had met us, and he knew it was because he met us! So he is really excited to take the lessons, he just has to find time amongst his two jobs and university. But he's really awesome, and it was really nice to see him so thankful to God. We also met two Persians, but I don't think we'll have a return appointment, despite their wishes. Generally we don't go back and send the Elders instead when I ask, "What language do you speak?" and their reply is, "Any language you want, sweetie." Yup, those guys will definitely be the Elders' territory...
Tuesday was a dang good day. We had a lunch appointment with a super sweet Tongan family, and I really need to figure out how to dish myself up so that they don't feel it necessary to take my plate back and more than double the servings before I even start. Haha. But it was fun to get to know a family in the ward, and their daughter served in NZ with some of my friends, so that was fun to talk with her about too. :) We had a lesson with our investigator named Alicia and it went well. We talked about the Book of Mormon and why it is so important. And she seems pretty excited to read it. We had a lesson with our investigator Deserae as well and we found out that the Relief Society President in our ward is actually her niece! So that was pretty cool. Tuesday nights we always have rescues, so we went out with Sister F and her daughter again. We went and saw Simone and her kids. They are so fun!

Wednesday was a bit slow to start. We tried seeing heaps of people but the first lesson we taught wasn't until four in the arvo. We saw Kathy and she was so excited to tell us all about how much she liked church this last week. Sister Finanuti took us out on splits that night. I really, really like her. I think she could be my Tongan Katrina. Haha. We went and saw a less active member named Bronwyn.... Bronwyn was baptized last year.... She was also baptized twenty some-odd years ago.... This, ladies and gents, is why you double check church records. When we got home from Bronwyn's, the Assistants had dropped off two sister bikes for us! Woo! In the words of the Best Two Years, "A flood of love is coming, and  [she's] riding on a ten speed bike!"

Thursday... Hahaha. My poor, poor companion has the heart of a five year old. So when we went to see someone and they asked for dating advice and we had to teach an impromptu lesson on the Law of Chastity, Sister Sekete was a bit traumatized... But then we met an Arabic man and it was my turn to be traumatized. He said, "You married?" And I said, "No." And he said, "You want to be?" And grabbed my hand and kissed it. Aaaagh. The COOLEST EXPERIENCE happened after though. We were walking to the train station and we met this lady from Peru. And without even thinking I said, "Hola, mi nombre es Hermana Stott." And we started having a chat in Spanish. And I understood everything we were talking about, and we called the Spanish Elders and introduced them over the phone and they set up an appointment to teach her. And then the Spanish Elders called about fifteen minutes later to say thank you and they asked what I had said to her, and I honestly couldn't say a word of Spanish to them besides, "Hola, mi nombre es Hermana Stott." It was really neat that the Lord allowed me to be able to remember the Spanish I had learned 6 years ago as a Freshman in high school from hanging out with my friend from Mexico for the short time it was necessary.

Friday was good. We had District Training Meeting as usual and it was so good! Also, the Zone Leaders brought the mail and I had a letter from Aaron in Maine! Oh my gosh, it was so good to get that letter! Nothing is more beautiful than hearing that someone you helped enter into the waters of baptism is doing well and staying strong in the faith. I really needed that letter! Especially since as we arrived home from District Training Meeting, Deserae texted us and said we needed to stop teaching her the discussions... And then Julie stood us up... BUT we had a really good lesson with Lin Lin. We also got a new investigator named Mike! He's from South Africa. And after hearing him and Sister Sekete talk about home, I changed my mind. I don't have an African soul. I have a very American soul.... We also had a really good lesson with the Mafoa family. I really, really like them.

Saturday we went and saw Bronwyn again and it was good. She really likes Mormon Messages, so it's a good thing we have heaps of them! We also went and saw Alicia. She wants to get baptized! We set the goal date for September 26, but I think it will end up being a little later. No worries though, because now she has that goal!

Sunday was mad. We had our coordination meeting in the morning, then we had two hours that we needed to walk to see a less active and go tracting and it was POURING rain. I love being a drowned rat with a name badge, it's exciting. :) Church was really good! I love Fast Sunday! My favourite quote of the day was from Ofa. he looked at me and asked, "Sister Stott, is that your natural color?" (Talking about my skin) Hahaha. Apparently Palongis getting a few shades darker in a Springtime week is an uncommon sight around here. For our Hound Dogging it was Australian Father's Day! So all of the Stake Missionaries jammed into a bus like a can of sardines and we went CAROLING! It felt like Christmas! We went and sang songs about Eternal Families to the Stake Leaders and gave them Father's Day Presents. It was heaps of fun, and I'm glad that even though I missed Australian Father's Day with my dad, I can be with him and the rest of my family forever. Also, we had a Tongan feed to break our fast and well... I'll just let that explain my attached picture for me.

 

Hoorah for Israel!

Sister Danielle Laree Stott

Picture: Sister Stott vs Pig and Accompanied Tongan Feed