Sawyer's adventures in Australia

Mom, I LOVE your gift. This is the most thoughtful gift you have ever given me and means the most to me. Thank you so much for showing me how much all of you love me. This will help me stay motivated and faithful. I love you mom. I will send a picture later when I set it up. This meant the world to me. I really feel so loved  I love you!!!! Sawyer

Hey what's up, this week there were a ton of bush fires. The 'bush' is what everyone pictures when they think of Australia: the big barren hot land with some trees and kangaroos and people driving safari trucks. I've never been to the 'bush' since I'm working near the coast in the main city right now. Maybe later in my mission I'll be sent to go work in the bush. Anyway, right now the bush in on fire. Since it's so hot and dry, a ton of that land catches on fire and everyone has to evacuate and the whole surrounding area is covered in smoke. There was one day this week that the smoke was so heavy that the government told everyone to stay inside. So that day we mainly visited members and did some planning with other missionaries. It was kind of crazy, you couldn't see anything outside it was dark at like 3 PM. Then along with the smoke, it started storming but with no rain. So you just see a ton of smoke and then some lightning and hear some thund...

Hey everybody this week has been awesome. I picked up Elder Song from the train station and we hit it off right away. He's an awesome guy. He's about to finish his mission and he told the mission president that he wants to 'finish strong'. So he's here to give it his all and I'm so excited to have a companion that is motivated to do the Lord's work. So let me tell you a little bit about Elder Song. For one thing, he gave up an Olympic boxing contract in China to come on a mission. His Wins and Losses are at 88/12. He went to college for boxing and then graduated and kept advancing. But the thing is he's so kind and smiles all the time, you'd never think he's a boxer. He's 27 but half the time he acts like a little kid which is so funny. Like one time I was studying in our room and then I hear a high pitched squeal "ahhh Elder help me!!" so I walk into our kitchen and see like 3 ants and Elder Song, this buff pro boxer is scared...

New flat is smaller but cleaner. I spent a few hours organizing and I feel AMAZING. It's so nice to have my own space and have it all clean. I am very excited for the next transfer. I also found some furniture in the storage here and used it in the bathroom to make shelves. I like the new flat a lot. Hey what's up everyone I'm still over here in Australia doing my best and always trying to see the good in everything. I'm learning a lot about how serving other people is really what makes me happy and I don't need much more than that to feel good. Honestly I'm grateful for the challenges that come with missionary work because if you can't say you had to grind every day then what were you doing? Also if you can't say you laughed and joked around then what were you doing? Find joy in the journey. That's what I'm all about. Anyway, this week my P-day is today since there are transfers tomorrow. Elder Wang is heading to a new area and I'm gett...

What's up everyone, this morning I went to the Sydney Harbor Bridge and watched the sunrise which was pretty awesome. I am convinced that if you look at the sky long enough you will believe in God. It's just so awesome. This week I've been working hard to get this area moving. That means we've been doing a lot of finding. Talking to new people all the time always leads to some miracles and some cool experiences.  When I got to this area, I asked Elder Wang where he liked to go tracting and he said that no one in this area goes tracting because it doesn't work. In fact, in the 6 months he had been there he hadn't knocked a single door. But when I told him that I had a feeling we should try it, he was willing. The first 2 days we were rejected more times than I can count. After hours of little to no success, we were ready to give up on tracting. I thought that maybe everyone was right in saying that it doesn't work and it was a waste of time. But ...