Life as an Uncommon Elder

So, this week, I was able to baptize one of my former investigators and see two other people be baptized. Baptisms are an awesome way for people to reaffirm their faith. I know this because it has helped to reaffirm mine. The covenant of baptism is one of the greatest manifestations of our faith. It is a promise to follow Jesus Christ.  It is the gateway to the Celestial Kingdom. One of the things I've been focusing on in my studies is the necessity of the Doctrine of Christ in applying the Atonement. Often when we teach the lessons, we teach them as individual units, somewhat disconnected, and our investigators don't really understand how each part comes together as a latticework of interdependent threads. Without one, the others have little effect. Each piece is important, and if we fail in some areas we may preclude ourselves from receiving the blessings of Eternal Life. As many of you may know, Preach My Gospel mentions the importance of the Atonement as central t...

So, I am officially 22. The mission has just gotten a lot different. The Vietnamese program is growing and I'm feeling pretty reminiscent.  This past week, the Vietnamese program in Melbourne went from 4 elders to 9, with another coming in September. 4 came fresh from the MTC, and 1 is finishing his mission here (he was trained with a Vietnamese elder, and was quasi in the program for 6 months of his mission). Oddly enough, I'm not training. I have been placed with one of the Zone Leaders, but am not a ZL. My area has changed from Footscray to North Richmond, and I have a lot of work ahead of me. So, the baptism that was supposed to happen a week and a half ago is now happening on Friday. I may no longer be her missionary, but she has asked that I perform the baptism! WHOO YEAH! Another of my old investigators is also being baptized on the same day, and at the same time. He is awesome and I'm so grateful to have been a part in bringing them closer to Christ. From th...

So, I'm officially done with my 12 week training. I've now been in two areas, Kingsbridge 2nd Ward in the Bronx, NY, and Footscray, VIC Australia. And I've been informed that I'm getting transferred to a new area tomorrow. :) You'll find out next week. Now just as all things, there has been some good, and some less good. The good news is that I'm healthy, energized, and out of the funk, so I'm pumped to be a missionary! Whoo Yeah! The less good news (not bad news) is that the baptism for Sunday was postponed until the 23rd. It was easier for all parties involved. So as a way of recording, since I am the absolute worst at Journal writing, I'm going to summarize the last 8 weeks here in Melbourne. So I arrived very tired and don't really remember the first three or four days. I met a lot of people, had serious jet lag, and slept a lot. Then it got better. Here, they call street contacting GQ'ing. When we are GQ'ing, I...

So this week has been much different, but emotionally a mixed bag. We've seen some amazing miracles, but we've also seen some terrible rejection. We have one investigator who is preparing super quickly to be baptized, and we have a few others who are also progressing and building faith. There are a lot of things that impede our progress, and the biggest is the lack of personal freedom that is taken from us through things outside of our control. I hope you are all doing well and that you can see miracles in your life. Keep praying, I know they will come. Elder Ryan