Australia is on fire

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 thunder. I thought the Second Coming might be close.

But overall the smoke and fire didn't slow us down, we kept working hard this week and Elder Song and I got a lot done.

We found a new guy named Liu who is one of my favorites. He's probably the tallest person I've met from China (which isn't saying that much but he's pretty tall) and he's a personal trainer. He went to college for 8 years in China to become a professional, but when he moved here the only job he could get was a waiter in a Chinese restaurant since he doesn't speak English. So we've been helping him learn English and he was excited to pray because he knows God will help him learn English. We also got to invite him to church the same day that all the little kids were doing a special performance where they sing Primary songs. I can't think of a more powerful way to share the simple message of God's love for us than having a bunch of precious little kids sing about it. 

We went to visit a member who hadn't been to church in 6 years. When we showed up she started by saying she wasn't going to come back to church and we shouldn't waste our time and she was really busy, but let us in to have a drink of water. I loved seeing how the light that we brought with us touched and softened her heart. Within a few minutes she was engrossed in a conversation with us, sharing all about her experiences and questions. She was laughing and smiling and I just thought it was so awesome how her countenance changed in just that short visit. She was sad when we had to leave. And we helped her see for the first time in years how God was reaching out to her and how He could help her and her family. 


We went onto a university campus to do finding which I really enjoyed. We take off our nametags when on campus and it feels kind of like back at BYU talking to people and making them smile. At one point I asked this girl if I could pet her dog and started talking to her and her friend in Chinese. Then someone else walking heard me speaking Chinese and freaked out and ran over with her friends to join the conversation. Then people started noticing a group and all these people come over to pet this poor little dog that was now surrounded by so many people and completely overwhelmed. I was having fun talking to the whole group about how I'm from America and what we do as missionaries. It turned into one of those old-time preaching events where everyone on the street was gathered to hear the missionaries talk. I love being part of these little spontaneous moments that bring people together.

We were making dinner one night and had someone knock on our door. We opened it to find our neighbor in the apartment complex who wanted to give us some furniture since he is moving and loves the missionaries. We went over and helped him move some stuff and got to know his family. It turns out they are from Venezuela, but have a ton of relatives in Overland Park, my hometown. I thought that was pretty insane, and this Venezuelan guy named Jesus decided that next time he goes to Overland Park he will visit my family. So look out Mom and Dad. Jesus is coming. Probably in February.

I learned another thing that my Olympic-boxer companion probably shouldn't be afraid of but is: rain. It started pouring on the way home and he starts squealing in this high pitched voice "Elder don't let me get wet PLEASEE AHH". So I let him wait in the car while I ran inside to get an umbrella to escort him the 15 feet from the car to the door. Man he makes me laugh. 

It was our friend Lily's birthday this week so we brought a cake over and sang to her with her kids. She really appreciated it and then invited us back 3 days later for my birthday and surprised me with a custom made cake. It was pretty funny, she took my Chinese name and translated it so the cake said "Sea, Happy Birthday". It was really sweet and I thought it was pretty amazing that I'm here in Australia going to my own birthday party being put on by this Chinese family that I randomly met by knocking on their door. The amount of love I feel from her and her kids kind of blows my mind, since I feel like I never really did anything to deserve it but they're just so kind. I'm grateful that I've gotten to meet people like them.


There are people here from countries I've never heard of. Pretty much every day I meet someone from a country that makes me do a double take. Like how did someone from Poland get to Australia. And where is Burma? Is that a real place? Australia is crazy. The biggest melting pot in the world for sure.

This week I really just learned to be patient. I learned to trust in the Lord's timing. Sometimes I forget that all the people we're teaching and wanting to help are His children and He loves them even more than I do and He has a plan for them. So I'm learning my place as His messenger and an instrument to help people, but being patient and knowing that things don't all happen at once. In the end I am finding joy in the journey and striving to uplift wherever I am. I feel so happy to know that we all have someone watching out for us no matter where we are. The best feeling is when I get to help somebody really understand that because it changes their life.

Missionary work is awesome. I hope everyone looks for opportunities to share the gift of the gospel. Have a great week, thank you for your support and love.

哥哥我很尊敬你和跟随你的榜样

Elder Halverson 







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