Sawyer's adventures in Australia

  Hey everybody, this past little while has been pretty great. Elder Yang and I have gotten into a great rhythm and started teaching a lot. We've also put 3 people on date for baptism and we're really excited about them. It's crazy because even though we are stuck inside I'm literally teaching and baptizing more than I ever did in Australia. The Lord has it all planned out and I am starting to see it unfold recently. Elder Yang and I sat down on Saturday for 8 hours straight and taught lessons through the phone. It really is a huge difference in missionary work and it seems like we didn't need the Covid situation to change in order to be successful, we just needed to change.  Focusing on positivity and keeping a balance of work and fun has really helped during this time. There's still some craziness from the roommates - recent events have included shaving their legs from ankle to thigh, throwing up after eating straight peanut butter, and setting armpits on fire...

  Dear Mom, Happy birthday to the person I have always been able to trust and always felt loved by. You have had the biggest impact on me of anyone in my whole life and I'm so grateful for you. The older I get and the more other family situations I see, the more deeply grateful I am for you and the unconditional love you have always showed me. You have loved me in a way that didn't just let me do whatever I wanted , but pushed me to realize my talents. You have loved me in a way that you always listen to me and give me advice that has changed the way I view the world. Mom, I honestly hope to marry someone as amazing as you because if I do I know my marriage will be pretty great. Thank you for your humor, your genuinity, your good taste, your love, support, your example and your testimony. I really couldn't ask for a better mother and I hope you have an amazing birthday :) Love Sawyer 

This week we had some awesome miracles and met some awesome people. We're getting more and more into a rhythm in quarantine.  We got a referral from some Elders in Texas. Turns out one of them was my boy from the MTC so that was pretty awesome. It was fun to reconnect and realize that both of us actually speak Chinese now. Anyway, he ended up introducing us to this sweet family with 3 kids. They are really prepared and have even been to church before. They had been taught by the Elders in Texas but they live here in our area so we have started teaching them now. The mom asks such good questions and it's been really rewarding to help her see how the gospel can help her burdens as a mother of 3 kids in quarantine. We also finally got in contact with a guy named Jake who we've been reaching out to ever since I got here to California.  We just had his number and heard he was interested in the gospel. We finally ended up meeting with him in a park this week and rea...

Hey everyone, still here in quarantine, seems like we'll probably be here for a while longer since the virus continues to spread. But I've gotten used to it and figured out how to make the most of our time inside. It all came down to being humble and relying on the Lord. Praying a lot has helped me stay in tune with the God wants me to do each day. It's weird, missionary work is so much different now, but it still goes forward. And we're all pretty motivated as well. Everyone once in a while one of the Elders in the apartment kind of has enough of quarantine and goes a little crazy. Some things that I've witnessed this week during what I call 'quarantine-breakdowns' included an Elder slicing a watermelon in half with a machete, another one taking a shower while fully dressed, and another one trying to slee p with his mattress on top of him instead of the other way around. It sounds crazy but somehow the work still goes forward.  I actually didn't hav...

Hey all,  This week was pretty awesome. We had Jenny's baptism. Everything went as planned, which means that everything was kind of weird and didn't work that well, but she got baptized and we all felt the Spirit so it worked out. About an hour before the baptism, we were filling up the font. The way it works is first fill up the font with cold water, and then add hot water until it's the right temperature. However, after we finished with the cold water, we turned the hot water tap and it was still cold. Elder Yang and I started to worry because we didn't want Jenny to be baptized in a glacial lake. We said a prayer that the water could turn warm since we literally had no chance to do it ourselves. After trying a few different things and calling a few people, there was still no change. Finally, about 15 minutes before they showed up to the baptism, Elder Yang went to feel the water again. It was still cold, and as he kept his hand under the water I asked God to just ma...

Hey everyone, Life in California is moving forward. I'm still in Chino Hills with Elder Yang. He's from Beijing and has turned out to be a great companion, one of my favorites. He's a good missionary, fun to be around, and it's been a blessing to end up in this area with such a stud.  The missionary work goes on, despite not being able to proselyte the way that we're used to. I never expected to put someone on baptismal date by solely teaching them over the phone, but the Lord works in all sorts of ways. We've been teaching an 18 year old Chinese girl named Jenny for a while now. Her parents were baptized several months ago, and attending the baptism helped her decide that she wanted to learn more about the gospel. Because her parents don't want to force her, this has been her own learning journey. Finally, we invited her to be baptized and she said yes! The best part is that her dad will be baptizing her. After that, they will be able to go to the te...

Hey everyone, this next week will bring some upcoming changes. Elder Card is going home to Canada and I'll spend the next week in a trio with Elder Yang and Elder Burgess, until Elder Burgess gets a new companion and the four of us will all live together. I'll also be the Zone Leader here, which I'm excited about since I'll have more of a chance to uplift the missionaries here through ministering. I've gotten to know the members better and I'm making progress in the Chinese Book of Mormon. Sometimes my head hurts from studying so much but it's been good to try to make the most of my time. Honestly it's weird how much free time we have, I'm still not used to that, so I've been trying to find ways to stay busy and productive.  Some of the interesting people I've met so far: Zeid: a guy who calls us once or twice a day asking for an Elder who used to serve here. Zeid is in love with him and wants to find out where he is. Each ti...