Is it Super Bowl Monday here? no. It is not. No one even talks about it....‏

Hello Friends & Family!

  This week has been good. We did a TON of service. well... I'm in Australia so I should say HEAPS of service! We helped a member in our branch move 2 days in a row, both days until 7:00-ish. We worked on another members farm. We mowed a non-members lawn and talked to them for a while, They are friends of a senior couple who is going to be serving in the family history center in SLC in April! SO that is cool. After moving all day 2 days in a row, my hands have never been more raw than they were that night! ha. They were pretty red. I included a picture of my hand.. and the house that we had to haul everything out of the front door and down the stars of. ha And of the BEAUTIFUL sunset god rewarded me with that evening! ha I am starting to drive here now. So that is scary. Today was my first day of driving in Port. Man, it is weird. I get nervous! ha. Frightening. Definitely gonna take some practice!

 Hear the big game is Seattle vs. Denver uh? well, not that I care out here... but I would like to hear that Seattle won. ha. 

    My core experience with god this week was that we really do help people, even with eternally small and temporal things. We had the opportunity this week of helping our Relief Society President, Sister Horner, move homes. It sounded like the usual mormon move job. However when we arrived it was apparent there was a LOT of moving to be done. It took many truck and trailer loads! We spent the majority of the day helping her and her son, our moving Branch Clerk, move all of their possessions. That evening as I shook sister Horners hand and said goodbye, I saw more gratitude in her eyes than I have seen from anyone in a long while. This service made me realize how important our (even small acts of) service are to people and how grateful they are. I was so happy to have helped, and greatly humbled by her response of "Thank you so much. I cannot even tell you how thankful I am!" That experience mixed with us visiting a very less active man, who sometimes seems hopeless due to his word of wisdom issues, showed just how grateful people are for us. When we came to this mans home he said, "I have been wondering where you have been it has been a while." That evening he showed us all the reading and inspiration he had received from reading King Benjamins remarks to his people before he died. It was great to see him so happy to share his experience with us.

  I am trying to teach as Jesus taught by REALLY praying for my investigators and really understanding their needs. It seems to be working. I am more able to understand what they want & need, as well as just talk to them more simply & directly. It is really helping me. I am trying to focus on them more. SO far it is proving to be effective. Who would have guessed that listening to Preach My Gospel would improve my skills? ha.