Dec 17 2012

Christmas is in a week! And boxing day, too -- that's a thing here in Australia. All it means to me of course is getting to call my family, haha (so you will get it christmas evening). I've recieved basically final details on Christmas plans. 24th is P-day and Christmas Eve; on the 25th and 26th we are not allowed to tract or contact so most of our time will be spent at members' homes celebrating. The 31st we need to be back home by 5:00 PM, and the 1st will be the same deal as the 25th and 26th. Almost like a week of P-days I guess, haha. It'll be great fun, we are already lining up activities to do with members and nonmembers. The highlight for me will be the ABM Christmas party (held during P-day for us ABM missionaries), spending time at our ward mission leader's home for Christmas day, and calling family on boxing day! So far. Since next week is P-day too I'll let you all know if there are any updates.

Alrighty. So this weekend was my first transfer cycle -- I personally was not transferred, of course, since I'm only halfway through my training with Elder Lee. But there were some pretty big changes in the Chinese program. If you will recall, last transfer there were 5 companionships in the Eight Mile Plains ward -- EMP 1, 2, 3, 4, and English. Now, there are only three. EMP 4 is being closed -- one elder is going down to Gold Coast and the other to the City to open up River Terrace Two. EMP 1 is being merged with EMP 3 -- one of the EMP 1 elders is going elsewhere in the mission English-speaking (he was originally called as an english-speaking missionary anyway, he was just moved to the Chinese Program later in his mission because he's from Hong Kong), the other elder is joining EMP 3 (now the new EMP 1), forming a tri-panionship. We are all in just one flat now, our flat -- still not sure what is happening to the other flat. Furthermore, the car we had in EMP is leaving, at least temporarily. Getting to church on sunday will be interesting now to say the least, haha.

But the work goes on. Next transfer cycle will likely be equally as interesting, not least of all because I will be getting my first real companion. At that time, we will be getting another elder in the Chinese program -- from Mainland, I hear -- and also one of the Assistants to the President will be coming out of the office and coming back. That means we will have somewhere around 15 Chinese elders! I'm looking forward to it. That will also be the time of year when people come from China or Taiwan (or return, if they were just there over the summer) for the school semester. And so on and so forth, the chinese program will be booming then I'm sure.

Back to last week -- it was good. On Tuesday, we went up to Griffith University, a large college which has a campus in our area, and taught an English Class. It's something that's been in the works for a while actually. It will continue weekly. Officially, it starts in February, the same time the school semester starts -- right now it's in beta testing I would say. It was very good last week though. Our stake patriarch is an experienced (40+ years) english teacher, including teaching college students from Asia, and he taught a very good lesson.

Other than english class, there wasn't too many things that happened. We taught some good lessons with our investigators. One night, Elder Lee and I and another companionship had dinner at a recent convert's house, and both companionships brought investigators--next minute, the two investigators (who only know each other through ping pong on Thursday's sports nights, and this dinner), were asking to be taught together! that was pretty funny, it's never happened to the senior companions before. The next day we same four elders met one investigator and went to the other investigators house, where we taught a lesson which was half all-together, and half individual. It was funny.

That investigator of ours is doing well though. He's focusing on preparing for baptism on the 29th, although he still hasn't "set it" by any stretch. I have really enjoyed watching his motivation, which initially was just to learn our side of the story, change into a desire to know if it is true or not. I have also enjoyed talking to him about studies, his future, etc -- he is from Korea, and is currently just working and studying english on his own here in Australia in hopes of having money to travel to places he wants to see next year, like Europe, but he doesn't have a clue what he wants to do for a career afterwards. It's been enjoyable trying to help him find what he enjoys and what he can work towards.

That's about it, all I can think of. I hope everyone has a good Christmas season! Haha.

Love, Elder Ladd.