I got here last Wednesday--probably Tuesday night for all of you I guess. I'm still getting used to the time difference--I wake up most mornings by like 4:30 and crash around 9, it's a slow process. Shouldn't take too long though.
Anyways, though, Brisbane is awesome! I'm super excited to be here! It reminds me of my first day at the MTC: a whilrwind of activity where I have no clue what to expect next. The airplane travel was long and tiring, but I was wide awake by the time I got to Brisbane if only due to sheer excitement. President Langeland picked me up at the airport (He almost didn't; my flight was listed as Qantas, but was operated by Jetstar so he was waiting at a different terminal and I had to call) and then we went with Sister Langeland to the mission office, where I met the senior missionaries, Elder and Sister Judd, and the APs, Assistants to the (Mission) President, who at the time were Elders Bellingham and Liga Liga. Since this past weekend was transfers, the APs changed, now Elder Bellingham and Elder Hopoate. I stopped by the transfer meeting on Friday to drop off Elder Chen, who was my trainer's previous companion, and had the chance to meet many of the missionaries in the Australia Brisbane Mission, or ABM -- they are all awesome.
After the Mission Office, the APs took me to lunch and dropped me off at the flat I'll be at for the next while. By the way, my mail address in Australia, if you don't have it already, is:
Australia Brisbane Mission
7/146 Racecourse Road
Hamilton, QLD
[editor's note: the PO Box is preferred by the mission office for letters, but the above address is best for packages]
At my flat, we have two companionships, both Mandarin-speaking Elders. My trainer is named Elder Lee, he is 100% Taiwanese so speaks Mandarin fluently but is also from Toronto, so he's fluent in English too. It's great, I'm so grateful to have a native speaker to train me! He's an awesome missionary, I have a lot to learn from him. The other companionship in the flat is Elder Chen (not the same as Elder Lee's last companion) and Elder Allan; Elder Chen has been training Elder Allan since last transfer. They are a great bunch of missionaries; it's going to be a great few months.
I've already had my first few experiences with teaching investigators, visiting members, and even finding. We have about 5 investigators right now who are progressing, 1 with a baptismal date this month! We also have 10 to 20 potential investigators (people we met while contacting) who we will start visiting this week. It's great. I love Brisbane already -- the weather is beautiful (it's just like Atlanta!) and the people area beautiful.
The area I am in is called Eight Mile Plains. I'm not sure where it is in Brisbane since I've been here less than a week, but the elders tell me it's maybe 30 minutes south of downtown. It's seriously Asian paradise here, haha. We've done most of our contacting at a bus stop here, and almost everyone we talk to is Chinese. That means that the food here is great too -- Chinese food is my favorite! The Elders in my flat tell me I'm the most asian white man they've ever seen. We went to a hot pot restaurant to celebrate Elder Chen's departure, and Elder Allan and I were the only white guys in the whole restaurant (and I was enjoying the food considerable more than he was, haha). My favorite dish there was pork intestines. The hot pot was super spicy and I loved that too. Just last night we had the opportunity to visit a recent (chinese) convert for dinner, and my favorite dish that she cooked was little squids about the size of golf balls, cooked whole. Mmm, mmm, mmm.
There isn't a branch here just for Chinese speakers yet, but that's our vision. This area is the strongest both in terms of Asian population and Church membership, and the two of those combined is a certain recipe for success. It's an exciting time right now to be a Mandarin missionary in Queensland. Apparently the chinese "program" (which basically consists of the mandarin-speaking elders and what little infrastructure there is within the wards and stakes to accomodate us and Chinese speakers) is new here, but we're at 12 Mandarin speaking elders -- 8 of which are in my zone! One companionship is in Brisbane itself, and another is down in Gold Coast, but where I am right now is the heart of activity. I'm pumped, to say the least. It's going to happen!
I'm hard at work here, and I'm grateful for all the prayers that have been said on my behalf. My personal testimony of how the Lord is quickening His work has grown exponential since first entering the MTC, from hearing the missionary announcement to witnessing first-hand the growth of His Church in the past week. I'm excited to be a missionary.
Take care! Elder Ladd
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| Elder Ladd and Elder Lee |
SO MUCH HAPPINESS!!!!
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