Merry Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry that it has been so long since I have emailed, really sorry about that but I have some things to report this Christmas week! I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas themselves! :) 

Wed Dec 23, 2015- Today we went to go do some service for a Vietnamese member named Sis Labartha, we moved a bunch of tiles in her backyard, its always good to do service like that every once in awhile. After that we went to go visit a member named Szas. He is a great guy and we just sat and talked to with him for awhile drinking coconut water, real good time. After that the other elders came to pick us up so we could go on a quick trade off, reason being is because they wanted me to go to a member dinner, this member dinner was special because the couple just returned from Sydney because they we're mission presidents there. I was excited to see what it would be like. I went with a Filipino missionary, we arrived and the dinner went well. Then it was time to share a message, we both were ready to share it and then hear what they had to say. After the lesson, Bro Howes stayed quiet for a few seconds then said, "that was the best lesson we have heard since we have been home from our missions". It was a great Christmas Eve.

Thursday Dec 24, 2015- Christmas Eve! Today we finished the service at Sis Labartha's, we finished it off but it stunk cuz I pulled my back out lifting the tiles, no fun. After that we went to go visit a Filipino family and the fed us a Christmas Eve lunch, it was fantastic! She made homemade salsa and I was just going so hard on them haha its been awhile since I have had homemade salsa so I was very happy. Had a wonderful lunch then we were off to the chapel for the mission to get together. We went out as a mission and sang carols which was really good, we then came back and watched 17 miracles, it was my first time watching that movie and I just loved it. Those pioneers gave everything to go to Zion, it really made me think of what I am giving to the Lord, I know I can give a lot more, we all can! 

Friday Dec 25, 2015- MERRY CHRISTMAS! Started off the morning opening my wonderful packages from my family, thank you so much! We then went to the Scott's to have Christmas breakfast and to Skype our families, it was so good. This was my last Skype call which is pretty weird, next time I see my family will be in person, crazy! After that we went to go have Christmas lunch with the Watts, funny family, we loved spending lunch with them. After that we got with the mission again and did skits, and talents, had a wonderful Christmas dinner and then we headed back home, it was a wonderful Christmas!

Sunday Dec 27, 2015- Today I was on trade off with Elder Orr, I pretty much started my mission with Elder Orr so it was good to reconnect with him. He's a really great missionary and he taught me a lot. We we're so happy today to see Ian, our Chinese Recent Convert receive the priesthood and he also brought a friend to church! He's doing missionary work already! After church we went over to Dave's to have dinner which was great, all leftover Christmas food. We then continued our trade off and had a lot of miracles, that day I wasn't really feeling it in regards to talking with everyone but later that night I just decided to forget myself and do it and miraculously the first 3 people I talked to became potential investigators! I feel like Heavenly Father was telling me then that I need to open my mouth at all times because there are people like theses waiting and I always feel so much better when I talk to people. We then went to go visit a Persian family that I used to visit when I was serving in this area before. We showed up at their house and I asked them how long has it been since missionaries have stopped by. They said about 3 months, so they haven't been visited since I left the area, sad elders. But it was so good to see them again and we shared a powerful lesson on Christ, can't wait to continue the work with them again, they have a lot of potential. After that we were walking home and we stopped to talk to this Chinese girl, to our surprise she was baptized 5 years ago and hasn't been to church since! She said it has been awhile since she has seen missionaries and we we're so glad to be those missionaries at this time. She said she would come to church this week too!

Monday Dec 28, 2015- Today we had another mission get together, and President Parker spoke to us, he has decided to get rid of morning sport and lifting weights, so no one is allowed to do any of those things anymore.  We have to be aligned with Priesthood Keys. Later that day Elder Revillo and I went to the city for city finding which was a really good time, I love finding!

I would like to share one scripture that has really stuck out to me this week, its Alma 24:30.  "And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened‍ by the Spirit‍ of God, and have had great knowledge‍ of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen‍ away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse‍ than though they had never known these things" I was thinking about this scripture this week. I was just thinking to myself of the number of people in the church who were once actively engaged in the church but fell away, almost always there lives become worse then ever before because of the light that they left. This is inspiration to me to realize that I NEED this Gospel in my life, I can only imagine what would happen if I decided to leave the church, it would be horrible because I would always know the happiness and peace, enlightenment that I left, so stay active brothers and sisters, there is no other happiness comparable on the face of this earth!

Transfer 14, week 6

Boy oh boy, what a transfer this was. I just found out the transfer news today everyone. To Elder Glova and I's surprise, we both are packing and leaving the area.... Never in my mission have I been so shocked and sad to leave an area.  I really, really, really wanted to finish my mission in this area, but you know, GODS WILL. I'm saddened to leave this area but excited to see what God has in store for me. Anyways let me tell you what happened this week. 

Thurs Nov 26, 2015- Today we started the day doing some service for two of our investigators Gail and Anthony. After that we went to go see our investigator Joy and Lez, they are a lovely older couple, they love to have us over but we're starting to realize they aren't too keen on learning, they just like to have us over. After that we went to go see David and Nicole, always a good time with them. (Going to miss them the most) We then we're fed two dinners tonight by the members :)

Friday Nov 27, 2015- Had a great weekly planning session this morning, after that I had to go to the Chemist to get something for my eyes. Everyone always says that I look tired or stoned haha so I'm tired of that so I went to go get some medication for my eyes, hopefully it works. We got on the bikes today and it was wonderful. Been awhile since we've biked. We went to go see a less active YM named Matt, he's a good kid. We trying to build a relationship with him but sometimes its hard because he says one of his rules is to not share his feelings with others. Its really hard to help or teach someone that doesn't express their feelings. We then went to go see a LA named Bro Brogan. He has been having a few people stay at his house the past couple weeks, they weren't there at the time but we asked about how he knows them and he said that one of the guys staying with him is a president of a bikee gang. Bikee gangs are pretty much like Bloods or Crips in America except they ride around on Harleys all day. Sooo we're a bit scared now haha we're worried abut Bro brogan but he says he is a "good guy". We then had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner at the Fechner's, it obviously wasn't like America but it was still great! After that I got a call from one of our investigators Anthony explaining to us that he is dealing with a lot of bad thoughts, he has scitizophrenia so I'm pretty sure he had an attack. So I said a prayer for him and told him to pick up the Book of Mormon, start reading, and the bad thoughts will go away. He did, he called me later that night and told me that they all went away. There is power in the BOM brothers and sisters! 

Sat Nov 28, 2015- Hopped on the bikes agin this morning, went to go follow up with a former investigatot named Dean, we didn't know that he was in anursing home so when we got there we we're surpirsied but for me I was secretly shouting for joy inside, I love old people! haha so we went to go see Dean, sadly he has had a stroke so he couldn't communicate very well with us but it was good to be able to meet him and also talk to some other old people there. 

Love you all!

Elder Acker

Transfer 14, week 4

G'day everyone! So good to email you all again this week! 

Monday Nov 9, 2015- Today we had missionary Choir practice for P day but before that we went to all you can eat Pizza Hut as a district! Later that night we had a wonderful family home evening with the Dixon's. 

Tuesday Nov 10, 2015- Today was such a Spirit filed day! I just felt so good today doing the work, it was really great! This morning we found some new investigators. They are an old couple from England named Joy and Lez, they are wonderful. They used to have missionaries over all the time years ago and they said we we're the first missionaries they have seen in a long, long time. They are so lovely and Joy never allows us to leave without giving us a kiss on the cheek, she doesn't care that we're missionaries, she does it anyways haha, can't really get away from it. After that we went to this amazing American Diner we found in our area and they have buffalo wings! First time I have had wings in a long long time, I was in heaven. After that we went to go see our investigator Terry, he is crack up. He is just always laughing and having a good time, its always good to go to Terry's to lift our spirits haha We then went to dinner with the Thornton's, had a good discussion with them about the Spirit World, really felt the Spirit, there is most definitely an afterlife. They told us this interesting concept that sometimes when we are teaching the lessons to investigators sometimes we're actually teaching some more spirits who want to learn the Gospel in the spirit world. That helped me feel more accountable and make sure I'm doing my best whenever I'm teaching. We then had the wonderful opportunity to go see David and Nicole today with Bishop Rice. David and Nicole are really progressing and I ope they are baptized before I go home. Nicole expressed to us that one night she couldn't sleep all night because she couldn't stop thing about baptism. The Spirit is really working with her and we hope she can commit to baptism soon. The Gospel is true Brothers and Sisters, the Atonement is real! 

Wednesday Nov 11, 2015- Today we had a huge zone training and I got to see Eder Corotan! I missed him so much so it was so good to see him again. We then went to go see our investigator Anthony. He recently lost his job so he was feeling pretty depressed, we just tried to help him have faith, we hope everything works out for him. After that we went to go see Brad, we shared the Joseph Smith Story with him. The Spirit prompted ne today to share that with him because he is dealing with a few3 things right now, I specifically shared about his experience in liberty jail and God's promise that all of our trial are for our experience and good. I' grateful for that story, really puts everything in perspective. 

The rest of the week was pretty crazy, I just forgot to write in my journal, sorry about that! I don't have a lot of time left so I have to conclude!

Love you al! 

Elder Acker

Transfer 14, week 3

Hey everyone! Another week gone by!

Tuesday Nov 3, 2015- Had district meeting this morning than had the wonderful opportunity to go on a trade off with Elder Skadins from Melbourne in  his area. His area is called Victor Harbor and it is honestly the most beautiful area in Adelaide. It was so good to go on a trade off there today. It was pretty cool visiting people there because I went on trade off there a year ago when I was serving in Trott Park and got to see some familiar faces. We had a cool opportunity to teach the YM of the Victor Harbor Branch about missionary work. It was good fun.

Wednesday Nov 4, 2015- Today we begun the day with a service at this lady's house. I always love doing service especially today beacsue it was followed by a wonderful homemade meal! We then finished our trade off and I headed back to my area with Elder Glvoa. We went to go visit David and Nicole, we shared Alma 32:28 with them and explained to them how we have seen their faith grow, it was a great lesson. We then went to go see Brad, and re introduced him to the BOM. Whenever someone is baptized, we re teach the missionary lessons. I was able to see today how much prayer can help us, I've been dealing with a lot of trials and temptation this week and I just have such a strong testimony that as we call upon our God in time of need, He will help us. I am so far from perfect so I need His help. Everyone does. 

Thursday Nov 5, 2015- Today was a very gloomy day, the weather was rainy all day but we still got to visit a lot of people today! We went door knocking and we met this one lady named Joy, she was an old lady and was so excited to see us when she opened the door! She said that it has been a long time since "Mormon missionaries" have visited her, she was so sweet. We set up a return appointment with her and her husband and before we left she grabbed both me and Elder Glova and gave us a big kiss on the cheek against our will haha Elder Glova was so startled. We then went to go visit a less active named Bro Brogan, he is very sick so we gave him a blessing. We then saw our investigator Anthony and he expressed to us how much prayer has helped him with his mental problems. I'm telling you all, prayer is the key to happiness. We went door knocking heaps today, unfortunately no one was interested, although Elder Glova and I both felt very happy, we know diligence brings blessings even if you don't find someone that day.

Sunday Nov 8, 2015- We we're glad to see Brad receive the Priesthood today! What a great blessing to witness that. He is so keen to serve in the church, we are so excited for him. There's not much else to tell this week, although I was able to receive an email from Dave and Hala this week, I don't know if you remember them from my last area but Hala was baptized!!! So happy for her!

Love you All! 

Elder Acker

Transfer 14, week 2

Hey everyone! So grateful to be able to hear from you all this week. :)

Monday Oct 26, 2015- Had a good p day today, had the chance to visit David and Nicole today, we taught about prayer and scripture study. We then got to go visit a family, the Jones in our new area. They're a great family. 

Tuesday Oct 27, 2015- Had district meeting this morning. We then went to go see Brad, had a good lesson with him. We then took a long scenic road trip to a part member family the Dixon's. Our new area is so huge and beautiful! 

Wednesday Oct 28, 2015- This morning we went to go visit a potential named Gail, really  nice lady, she wasn't available at this time but we scheduled a return appointment. We then went to go see our investigator Anthony. Taught about faith. 

There's not much else to tell. I'll be honest with you all, I'm having a hard time thinking about anything else besides my family. The news I received this week has really got me down. I know that God has everything under control and that everything is going to be alright. Sorry that this email this week isn't the most detailed, just please pray for my family. 

Love, Elder Acker

Faithful servant

Good morning everyone! It has been the first week of the new transfer and I would like to introduce my new companion Elder Glova! He is from the Philippines! He has been in Adelaide for about 2 months. And to add to my new companion we have added on a whole new area to our area now so we're covering 2 areas, luckily we got a car now. 

Monday Oct 19, 2015- Today we spent the P Day at a park! There was basketball courts there and the hoops were shorter so we we're dunking and stuff which was a lot of fun. Later that night we got to go say goodbye to a few people for Elder Corotan. Honestly this whole week I have missed Elder Corotan heaps. I'm so glad Heavenly Father put us together for that short time because I learned a lot from him. I love that man, one of my favourite companions, I definitely want to go to Philippines to visit him after the mission.

Tuesday Oct 20, 2015- Had transfer meeting today, Elder Glova is a great Elder with a big heart. He says "sorry" all the time to me because he always feels like he is doing something wrong. I keep telling him he doesn't have to say sorry so much, he's doing alright. He struggles with English and is very shy/quiet around people. We're really working to get him out of his shell, I know he has a lot of potential! We went to go see David and Nicole today, read the Book of Mormon with them. We then finished the night off with coordination meeting. I'll tell you right now, this first week of transfers is always the most stressful, I felt it strongly this week, with the new area, new companion, a lot of changes are happening and I'm just trying to adjust. Please pray for me dear family and friends. I don't want my weaknesses to get in the way of this area progressing. 

Wednesday Oct 21, 2015- Started the day off with district meeting, after that we went to do some door knocking then we got a call from a member in our ward who wanted us to do some service for her so we helped her out for about an hour. We then went to go visit our recent convert Brad, unfortunately he was not home, and to our surprise his mother came to the door and talked to us for about 30 minutes, she has never talked to us before so that was nice. We the had a lesson with our investigator Bob at the chapel with Bro Pollard, we taught about the Book of Mormon but he won't accept anything besides the Bible. That's a tough concern to resolve. Still felt stressed today because we haven't been able to go to our new area yet, so much going on, feel like my head is going to explode. But I just need to realize that this is the Lord's Work, not mine. And because it is His work, He will most definitely help me. So grateful for that support. We have the best boss in the universe! 

Thursday Oct 22, 2015- Went to go see our investigator Anthony today, shared a BOM Mormon message with him and then he said he wanted to play pool so we played a game with him and left. We might drop him soon, it seems like his interest is decreasing. We then went to go see David and Nicole, Nicole wasn't feeling too well so we just had a quick visit. We then went to go try to see our investigator Mahalla. Her house is always filled with people so its really hard to teach her with so many distractions, we're trying to get her to come to the chapel so we can teach her there instead. We then went to Fechner's for dinner, after that we had a meeting with Bishop to talk about transfer goals, this eased my stress a bit, layed everything out on the table so now we have the help of Bishop on our side.

Saturday Oct 24, 2015- We had service today with a member, dug up a huge plant for her, it was good fun. We then went home to change and because of my mistake we locked ourselves out of our flat, so we had to wait at our flat for about an hour waiting for the senior couple missionaries to come unlock our flat, we got really thirsty so we decided to bike down to the shops to get a drink. The things turned for the worst, as we we're biking Elder Glova ate the pavement on his bike, it looked like he was alright when he first got up but then I saw blood. I realized that he had grabbed the fence that was next to him as he fell and the fence had barbed wire on it. His hand was bleeding like a fountain, he was panicking and I didn't know what to do, I called the senior couple to see how far away they were, they said 10 minutes, so we decided to start walking back to our flat, as we we're walking a nice lady stopped her car and offered to take us to the hospital. What a good Samaritan. We then got to the hospital, they cleaned him up, the senior couple then arrived at the hospital. Elder Glova sprained his wrist and was very close to getting stitches. Even though this happened I know God watched out for us today. We were glad Elder Glova wasn't hurt worst, we we're thankful for the woman who picked us up, and we were grateful for the senior couple that was there by our side. Heavenly Father watches out for his missionaries.

Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Acker

More amazing experiences this week...

Hey Everyone! Hope your all doing well, another week to report! Oh BTW we just found out transfer info today, Elder Corotan is leaving, I get a new companion tomorrow. I'm really sad to see Elder Corotan go :( but I know my next companion will be good.

Monday Oct 12, 2015- Today for P Day we went to Victor Harbor once again, its such a beautiful place so we just love going, its worth the drive! We went on a gorgeous rock climb/hike on the bluffs next to the ocean. Probably the best view I have ever seen thus far on my mission. Got heaps of pictures to show when I get home. After P day we had dinner with bishop and the sister missionaries, it was a good night spent. We shared a message about listening and obeying the promptings of the Spirit, it really inspired me, I realized how important it is to listen to God and obey His will. I'm so grateful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost which allows me to be in direct communication with God at all times, I know he has a watchful eye on each and every one of us! We then went to go visit a LA family to finish off the night.

Tuesday Oct 13, 2015- Had district meeting this morning, we then went as a district to get lunch at Hungry Jack's (Aussie Burger King). Later that day we had an appointment with our investigators David and Nicole, we asked the Morrows who are members to come teach with us so they came to pick us up and headed there, to our surprise there was an ambulance vehicle in front of their house. Elder Corotan and I were both worried because David and Nicole both experience a lot of health problems so we thought something might've happened, we went inside and found Nicole on the floor, she fell over. She was alright, she just needed to make sure everything was good. We were quite surprised to experience one of these ambulance men being quite rude to Nicole and also to us, he was mocking our religion. Nicole had enough of it and she just went off on this guy, telling him to stop calling us the bloody Mormons, she expressed how much she loves us and how were not just Mormons, we're her friends. That was such a wonderful experience to see an investigator defend our faith. The man shut up and apologized later on. We then went to go see Brad, the one recently baptized. We got there and we noticed he looked a little tense. He expressed to us that his ex wife is giving him trouble. We started talking to him out front about it and after a while his mom came outside and started arguing with him! This just added to his stress. Elder Corotan and I didn't really know what to say but then we received a prompting to share our ponderizing scriptures! They tied in perfectly well with what he was dealing with and it calmed his nerves. We then had dinner that night with a young family the Grangers, they remind me a lot actually of Spencer and Jamyn Wilson, we had a great time with them tonight and their baby son is the cutest thing alive haha. Today for some reason I just felt like the whole world was against us, it seems like in this world today, good people stand alone, acts of kindness become something to mock. I'm so grateful for the Gospel because even though we stand alone, we know the truth and that's all that matters. 

Wednesday Oct 14, 2015- Today we went to go see David and Nicole, had a good lesson with them. Nicole is so solid, she just expressed to us today how much peace, joy, and happiness has come into her life since we have shared the Gospel with her. We then went to go see another investigator, she ended up not being home so we felt inspired to go visit an investigator we haven't seen in awhile. His names Terry and today he was actually home! We went to his backyard to sit down and have a chat, kindly gave us a Diet Coke, he's a really funny man, always cracking jokes but in an instant today he got really serious, he said to us, "in 30 minutes I have an apt with my doctor to see whether or not I have prostate cancer, can you please say a prayer for me?" We gladly accepted and as soon as the prayer finished we all felt the Spirit strongly, terry is a real manly man, this was the first time I've seen him shed tears. How grateful I am for the Spirit, He led us at the perfect time to visit this friend of ours, we're so grateful we were able to help him feel peace and calmness right before he receives big news. We then went to the chapel to teach our investigator Bob, we taught the Resto but it was hard to get a word in because he just goes on and on about what he knows, he's a real knowledgeable man, we committed him to read the BOM so hopefully he does that! 

Thursday Oct 15, 2015- It was so flippin hot today! I honestly thought I was gonna die haha We went to David and Nicole's today and when we got there they both looked just exhausted, the heat really got to them, we decided to have more of a relaxing lesson, so we decided to show the Joseph Smith video. We then went to get dinner with the Fechner's and when it finished we listened to a voicemail we received from Nicole during our dinner, she expressed to us that when she watched the video she felt something she has never felt before, she said that she really felt the Spirit and she said she was pain free for 2 or 3 hours after the video and she just had to tell us. Brothers and Sisters, please listen to me when I say this, THIS CHURCH IS TRUE! JOSEPH SMITH WAS A PROHPHET OF GOD! 

Sunday Oct 18, 2015- I had the wonderful opportunity today to give our friend Brad the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This was the first time I've been able to do it. I was really nervous but as soon as I gave him the blessing I felt like it was just us in the room. Really great experience. We're so glad Brad was able to recognize the Spirit right after also. Want to hear the most amazing connection I made today!? I was talking to this man that just recently moved into the ward, he married a sister in our ward. He was talking about his mission, said he served in PNG and Brisbane, obviously that is where my dad served as a missionary, so I asked when he served, he said 89 and 90. I told him "wow I think my dad served around the same time, maybe you know him." He looked at my badge and then he got an amazed look on his face, he said, "Acker? Are you related to Brad Acker?", I said "yes...he's my dad" with even more excitement on his face he said "He was my companion!" I was about to pass out! I just met one of my dads companion and he's in our ward now!!!! His name is Brad Williams I'm pretty sure. Hope this makes you happy dad :) 

Its been a great week! I look forward to the new transfer! BTW my ponderizing scripture fo the week is 1 Nephi 7:12. Look it up!

A baptism

G'day!!! It has been a monumental week in Hackham West this week!

Wednesday Oct 7, 2015- We had zone training today. This has been one of the many meetings we have had this transfer and because of that everyone just seemed dead today haha. We're all getting pretty tired of so many meetings, we just want to go out and work! After the Zone Training we got some pizza with the other Elders. We want to go visit Brad afterwards and just ran through the baptism interview questions with him. He's so solid and humble! We then met with one of our investigators Bob at the chapel, we took him on a chapel tour which turned out really well! We ended up locking ourselves out of the chapel with all of our stuff inside so we had to call the other elders to come open the chapel for us, as we we're waiting we got a call from our investigator Phillip. We have been trying to get a hold of him for the past couple days but he hasn't answered. But when he called us at this time he expressed to us that he needs to "take a step back for a few months." Elder Corotan and I we're both pretty heart broken. We tried to figure out why he has made this decision right before his baptism but he just kept saying I need to think more. We respected his choices but we're sad to have lost him today as an investigator.... We we're blessed to be able to go to a members home for dinner this evening which helped us to get our minds off of the recent situation, plus there was like a billion kids there too so playing with them made me think f back home with my cousins, we both really enjoyed tonight :) As Elder Corotan and I talked about what happened with Phil, we both felt sad, we realized how strong Satan actually is. I was telling my companion that I have dealt with disappointments like this heaps of times on my mission. Even though they suck, the discouragement doesn't last long because in the end we know the church is true and these disappointments will allow us to prepare for disappointments we will face for he rest of our lives. Our mission are literally a training for the rest of our lives. So grateful.

Thursday Oct 8, 2015- This morning we went to go see Anthony, our investigator. We played a game of pool with him then taught him about obedience. We then went to go see our inv Mahalla. She had heaps of visitors so it wasn't the best time to teach her but we we're able to have a good chat with her. We then did some door knocking, sadly didn't find anyone. We then went to the Anderson's for dinner. It was a Filipino feast!! So good, I love Filipino food. We then went to the Fechners to try some of their lemon cake. Not really helping me lose weight haha

Saturday Oct 10, 2015- What a wonderful day! The day was filled with spiritual experiences. We were able to watch General Conference today and we were able to witness the baptism of our investigator Brad! What a great day! We we're so glad to be able to experience that today. I'm so grateful to be a prat of this church, not many people have the opportunity to experience the things we do as members of the church!

Sunday Oct 11, 2015- Today we watched the remaining sessions of General Conference! After conference we went the other elders flat to have lunch. Elder Keller cooked Nuna (Noodles and Tuna), so good, definitely a missionary budget meal. Did weekly planning for a few hours then went to go see the Davies but on the way we met a man in the park named Rick. He was eating fish and chips and as soon as we said hello he offered us food, such a nice man, we had a good discussion with him and plan to continue our discussions this coming week! Listening to the inspiring words of Prophets and Apostles this weekend has left me feeling inspired. I recognize, and I'm sure all of us do, that I have a lot of things to work on. Its pretty daunting but I know that as we have righteous desires to change a be stronger disciples of Jesus Christ, God will lead us in exactly what we need to do.

I hope everyone has chose a verse this week to ponderize! Mine is 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you" 

Love you all!

Elder Acker

With the good, comes the bad!! He keeps pressing on!!

Hey Everyone! Another fantastic week in Hackham West!

Monday Sep 28, 2015- 

P Day today! Spent most of the day purusing the biggest shopping centre in Southern Australia. Humungous place. We then got to go have a BBQ at the beach in Hallet Cove. This beach is the beach in my first area so it was good to go back :) Later that night we had the wonderful opportunity to have FHE at the Stake Presidents families home. President Ellis is the man, and what made it so great is that we we're able to bring our investigator Brad too with his two little girls. The night was great, we got to watch the Joseph Smith movie and had a great time being together, the Spirit was definitely felt and we we're so glad Brad was able to feel that.

Tuesday Sep 29, 2015- 

Today we taught our investigator Phillip with Brother Morrow, taught about obeying the law of the land, went well! We then we're making our way to a less active when I ate the gravel yet again, I think that's the fourth time on my mission that I have crashed on my bike, wasn't that bad of one but I did get scraped up a bit, as I was getting up and started walking it off I looked over at my companion and he looked like he was about to cry, I asked him what's wrong and he just said "I just feel a little emotional right now." We walked over to a bench so we could talk about it and he just said that he hated seeing me fall. Honestly, I love my companion. We really are so close and because of that we get in arguments sometimes but we always work through it and come out with a stronger relationship every time. We then went door knocking later that night and we knocked on this one particular door, when the man opened the door, Elder Corotan and I instantly felt that something was wrong. Nevertheless, we introduced ourselves as the missionaries, in his response he says, "well I'm a satanist". He was dressed up in a black cloke and had a weird symbolled necklace on, we knew this man was not joking, he was full on. As soon as he said those words we bid him farewell. Elder Corotan and I couldn't get rid of the dark feeling we had from probably the darkest man I've ever met. Luckily we had the opportunity to go on splits with Pres Ellis, we explained to him what happened and he said a prayer for us, as soon as he finished the prayer, the dark feeling left both of us. What a powerful experience that was to see the light of the Gospel chase out the darkness, Satan will NEVER be stronger than the POWER OF GOD.

Wednesday Sep 30, 2015-

Started the morning doing some weeding for our investigator Anthony. Always a good time weeding. We then got to go teach David and Nicole, our investigators. We discussed baptism with them and they committed to pray about it. We then went to the chapel to teach Brad with Bro Harris, we discussed the Priesthood with him, we also prepared him for his baptism this Saturday by practicing and letting him check out the baptism font, he was a little nervous before but when he stepped in the font he said he felt better about it. So excited for him and Philip to make this step this weekend Oct 10!

Thursday Oct 1, 2015- Finished off the weeding for Anthony this morning. Today we biked heaps, honestly I'm so tired, we we're biking back and forth throughout our area just to get to out appointments. We taught Philip tithing today, and he seemed so amazed at the organization of the church through the tithing efforts, he accepted to live it. We then went to go see David and Nicole, talked to them about receiving answers to prayers and sincerely seeking truth. We then had dinner at the Fechner's. Such a busy day.

Friday Oct 2, 2015- Saw an investigator we have named David, he has been investigating the church for about 15 years, he goes to church every week and pays his tithing too! Yet he still doesn't want to be baptized, I don't really understand but I guess he know why. We talked about temples with him. We then saw Brad and reviewed the Baptism Interview Questions with him, he's good to go! We then went to go get fish and chips and as we we're about to go inside to order a man out of nowhere started cussing us out calling us devil workers and calling Joseph Smith probably the worst name in the English dictionary. I really don't get these people, honestly what is their problem. We try to ignore these people as best we can, I'll tell you right now this is the roughest area I have served in. There's a big morality problem here and a big drug problem. Its the ghetto of South Australia. I know the Lord is going to protect us though. We went to go teach Philip tonight with Brother Kirsch, read Mosiah 18 together and discussed baptism in preparation for his. 

Saturday Oct 3, 2015- Today we went to a less actives house for a birthday. They we're drinking and the brother started bad talking the church telling us that the Mormon Church is falling. Elder Corotan and I couldn't hear it any longer so we walked out. The adversary is strong in this area, I'll tell you that much.

Sunday Oct 4, 2015- What a wonderful Sabbath Day it was today. We had fast and testimony meeting today. I bore my testimony and the 3 other missionaries in the ward followed. A powerful Spirit was felt. Elder Corotan bore an amazing testimony about his father who passed recently. After the first hour we were going to class when one of the young men stopped to talk to us, he said that from the time he has been born he has the gift of discerning spirits. He told Elder Corotan that when he bore his testimony today, his father was standing next to him the whole time and followed him back to his seat. We both teared up and we truly felt the Spirit witness to us that the words that he said we're true. There is life after death! 

Monday Oct 5, 2015- Great P Day today! We went to a wildlife park in Victor Harbor and got to play with kangaroos! I love our district, its like a family, a great day spent :)

Busy Elder!!

Hello everyone! Its been a great week here in Hackham West! A lot to tell this week, hold tight.

Monday, Sep 21, 2015- Woke up this morning still feeling yuck so I asked Elder Corotan for a blessing, felt a lot better after that and was able to go out and do normal P Day stuff. Today we played sport at the chapel and wrote letters and stuff which was fun. We then went to go see David and Nicole our investigators, started to teach them the Plan of Salvation. We then went to the Davies family and watched a Mormon Message.

Tuesday Sep 22, 2015- We had the wonderful opportunity today as a mission to have the Pacific Area President Elder Pearson of the Seventy to visit us. Wow what an inspiring man, he sent a boom through this mission. He had pretty much like 3 hours just to stand up there and talk about our mission. He was so bold and loving and we all feel the need to step up. He motivated us all to be the best missionaries we can and we have definitely felt his love for us as a Special Witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. I then had the opportunity to go on trade off with Elder Briscoe, and Elder I have known for awhile from Idaho. He's a great man. Just before that we left the Conference for Elder Pearson, we were getting ready to go, and at some point I was bending down to grab something and I heard a rip. Just my luck, I ripped my suit, looks like I need to lay off the KFC. With Elder Briscoe we went to go visit Brad our inv who is being baptized in 2 weeks. We taught him about temples and he also fixed our bikes too which is a plus! We then took a long bike to go visit a less active who surprisingly I found last year on trade off in my area now! Sadly, he wasn't home. 

Wednesday Sep 23, 2015- This morning Elder Briscoe and I were ready to go out and work, we walked into get our bikes but sadly both of our tires were flat, we ended up just walking to our appointment but it was really good also because we got to talk to a lot more people along the way, had some good conversations. We also found a Filipino potential named Lily who seems pretty interested! As we went to our appointment the man wasn't home, we were ready to take the long trek back when a member just pulled up in his car next to us and offered us a lift. Tender mercy of the Lord haha. We then had to go mow David and Nicole's lawn so we had to walk our lawn mower for awhile and we got it done, they had like a full on jungle in their backyard! Elder Briscoe was going hard on the whipper snipper, he loves doing this kinda stuff. We then got to teach David and Nicole again, we continued with the POS and Nicole shared an amazing near death experience that she has had which is totally in line with what we were teaching, just worked perfectly! We then had another appointment with our investigator Phillip who is being baptized the same day as Brad. We brought Bro Morrow, a member with us and we taught about fasting. We then had dinner at the Grangers, there a young married couple with one baby boy. We were laughing because both of them are younger than Elder Corotan. I got to hold their snake which was a good experience and then Bro Granger took us out to go kangaroo spotting, got to see a lot of them!

Thursday Sep 24, 2015- We went to go see Brad this morning with Bro Pollard whose a member. We taught missionary work with him today. We then did a bit of finding, didn't find to many people interested right now but we definitely felt we raised some points! We then went to an investigator named Mahalla, she has like 7 kids, got to share the Book of Mormon with her. We then had dinner at the Fechners, we had shepherds pie which is delicious. The Fechners had their daughters friend and her baby staying with them for awhile and just the day before the lady left the baby with the Fechners, she couldn't handle being a mother, it just broke my heart. That baby has been abandoned, but he's in good care with the Fechners. 

Friday Sep 26, 2015- Today we had another conference which lasted 6 hours pretty much just going over Elder Pearsons training. After that we had a lesson with Phillip at the chapel and we talked about keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. We then had sports night and Mahalla came with all her kids! It was a great time and we were actually able to take Mahaalla on a tour of the chapel, and when we walked into the literal chapel, she felt the Spirit and said, "wow, this is really nice" There is such a tangible feeling in the Chapel. 

Saturday Sep 27, 2015- Started off the morning cleaning some gutters of a members home. We then came home, changed, and went to go see David and Nicole with Bishop. Before we started the lesson Nicole told us that when we called her earlier before she just broke down in tears. She said she was having a really bad day but when we called and expressed our love to them she felt better. We had a  Powerful lesson, we talked about faith and Bishop personally invited them to church and baptism. We then met a new investigator named Bob, sat at a park and just talked about lfie and God, he's pretty knowledgeable about the Gospel, we hope for some good things from him. We then went to go see Brad, we talked about Eternal Families. We then saw the Williams, had a good discussion with them about our eternal destinies. 

Sunday Sep 28, 2015- One of the best Sundays I've had in my mission, we had 5 investigators at church! ( David+Nicole, Philip, Brad, and Anthony) We were so happy to have the all there. Really enjoyed the Sabbath today.

Thanks for all the prayers everyone! 

Baptisms dates set!!

Good morning everyone! Yet another week in the Australia Adelaide Mission! I'm still trying to kick this bug out of me guys so please pray for me, this area is really busy so I need the prayers to be at my 100%, I've been sick for a couple weeks now and my body is just having a hard time, I need prayers! 

Monday Sep 14, 2015- had a great P-day today, we all gathered together at the chapel and we played sport and practiced our performance for a ward activity this Saturday, its gonna be good! We went to go see our investigators David and Nicole tonight, we talked about the Book of Mormon and then we shared a Mormon message with them, it went really well and they are very interested. We then went to go see the Davies family and we showed them a video about the BOM then had a good discussion about it.

Tuesday Sep 15, 2015- Saw an inv named Peter today, boy oh boy is he funny, I caught a good video of him dancing which I will be able to show you all sometime. We then went to go see another inv Anthony. He's real cool, we played some pool with him for a bit then shared a good message with him, he is going to pray about baptism. We saw Brad, our inv later today and we were able to read 3 Nephi 11 with him which is like the most epic chapter in the BOM. After we read we invited him to baptism and he accepted for Oct 10! So excited for him! Please pray for him specifically that he may be able to make that date! We then had dinner at the Williams home, lovely family. We then went to go visit a less active Oscar. After that we had coordination meeting and I pretty much got to see every member of the Happy Valley Ward Council tonight, what a great reuniting, I love them all so much.

Wednesday Sep 16, 2015- Today was quite an interesting day. So I'll tell you a little bit about Hackham West, its a good area but there is a lot of drug activity and such her so there's some pretty interesting people. Came across a man today on our bikes, Elder Corotan was in front of me and he said hello to this guy, I didn't here what he said but Elder Corotan kept biking along, and as I biked past him I said hello and he just yells back at me, "F YOU!" I stopped right where I was on my bike and I looked at him and said "what was that?" and he just went off, this isn't the first time this has happened to me but today I just wasn't gonna have it, he started walking towards me and I just stood there waiting for him, Elder Corotan started walking towards us, but soon enough the guy just walked off. I'm just tired of people like that, like why do you have to act like that, I was expressing to Elder Corotan how much I just wanted to shut that guy up but I know that's not consistent with our calling. Really hard sometimes to keep my cool. 

Thursday Sep 17, 2015- Did some service for a lady in our ward today named Sandy. Always love doing service. We then went to dinner with The Fechner's which was good. 

Friday Sep 18, 2015- Tonight we had a lesson with our investigator Phillip. We taught about baptism and he also accepted a baptism date for Oct 10! So excited! We then had Sports Night and there was tons of crazy kids there haha 

Saturday Sep 19, 2015- Today we had a ward activity and us missionaries performed a song and dance. We danced to the intro song of Lilo and Stitch and then sang Hosanna, it was a lot of time and that was my first time ever singing a solo in front of a crowd haha I have it on video but I can't attach it but it went well! Great activity! We had  many investigators there too.

That's about all this week guys, hope everything is going well with all of you. Have a great week

Another transfer-former district!

Hello! Another new transfer and I am now serving in the Hackham West area with my new companion Elder Corotan from the Philippines. My prayer was answered! I really wanted to go back to the same district at the beginning of my mission and I'm here now! I'm quite familiar with the Hackham West area because it is right next to my first and favorite area Trott Park! I actually was quite emotional when I arrived because this is the area I started my mission and I was able to see some familiar faces from my first ward. Felt like I was coming home :) I'm not in the same ward but I am in the same chapel. I'm so grateful and privileged to be serving with my companion. For some reason as soon as I met him I have loved him. Its really quite interesting how it works sometimes with my companions. Some of them I just love instantly and some of them take longer to love, Elder Corotan and I clicked instantly, he loves basketball too so that's a plus. Elder Corotan is the man, he's been out on his mission for about 6 months now. Its great because he's really such a great missionary and very mature, probably because he is 26 years old! Yep, he was born in 1989 ha ha I feel so privileged to serve with him at this specific time. I ask that you all keep him and his family in your prayers. Elder Corotan's father passed away just 5 weeks ago. He is such an example to me, he has such a strong testimony, and because of that testimony he decided to stay on his mission. What a man. So grateful to serve with him. He is so humble too! Sorry I could brag about how great my companion is all day. Sadly, I was sick most of the week this week, I had to miss church! That's the second time in my mission that I have missed church because of illness. I got a flu shot earlier this year so I don't know why I'm getting sick but it sucks. But so far I have loved serving in Hackham West. Most of the people we visit I already know because I have done so many trade offs here when I served in Trott Park. I don't have many miracles to report today because its just been week 1 also with sickness but I know the miracles are coming, we have some solid investigators! I love you all so much, I was thinking about the way I felt returning to my first district and it made me realize how I'm going to feel when I see you all again, WOW! Adelaide is sacred ground especially here in the Onkaparinga District. I may not know what God has planned for me next, but I know its gonna be good. Time to go to work... :)

Exhausted mate...

"Sorry to disappoint you Martha baby, but the G-Train has left the station!" Those who don't know this reference, please repent haha but Yes, I have indeed found out this morning that I am being transferred! Don't know where yet but I will let you know that next week. There's always an excitement with transfers, wonder where I'm going! 

 

Monday Aug 31, 2015- 

Most interesting P Day today! Our zone leaders told us all to meet in the city today, we we're expecting to have an activity in the city or something but oh boy were we wrong. We arrived in the city and we're told we were doing a city blitz! Everyone was kind of bummed at first cuz we expect to relax on P Day but honestly this was like one of the best days ever. We had about 15 companionships in the city just talking with everyone! We did this the whole day and it was just great. I love talking to people, one of the best parts of being a missionary. We all gathered together at the end of the  to report our miracles and man was the Spirit strong, I love this work and I love to find people to teach! 

 

Tuesday Sep 1, 2015- We carried that excitement of finding into our area today and we found 3 potentials to teach! We were just relentless, and it felt so good, if I could give any advice to any missionary, that is to talk to everyone you see! You will be a much happier and much more successful messenger of the truth. Later that night we got a text from Bro Linton, a member in our ward, he's the funniest, he told us to come over so he can have an excuse to order pizza so his wife wouldn't be mad haha love that family, sad that I have to leave right when we gain them in our ward. 

 

Wednesday Sep 2, 2015- Had District meeting this morning and my companion and I gave the training. We trained on diligence and it went really well. Elder Callahan, our zone leader came with us today to work and it was a really good day! He is from Canada and he is a total farmer boy haha he's the best. We went to go follow up with a man named Don we met on the street. He said he lived at one of the nursing homes but we didn't know which one so we went to like 3 different nursing homes and met heaps of different Don's. We we're laughing the whole time because every Don we met wasn't him and most of the time these Don's were like incredibly old, like really really old. We finally found Don though and we got to have afternoon snack with him, he's a good man. We started teaching him this week. We then went to go see a less active named Simon. He really opened up to us today about the pain he is going through. I love when people open up like that so we know exactly how to help them with the arsenal of the Gospel. We then went to Dave and Hala's and had a quick meal there. We then got to go teach Park the Korean too. 

 

Thursday Sep 3, 2015- Exhausted mate, worked really hard the beginning of this week and woke up just beat. But we went out and worked like we're supposed too, on the bikes all day. We saw our Fijian investigator Kini, he finally committed to sincerely read the Book of Mormon. He tends to complicate things so we try to keep it simple, read the BOM and pray about it, that's it! 

 

That's basically it for this week, love you all, see you next week in anew area!

 

Love,

Elder Acker 

Quick letter

Hey Everyone! I apologize ahead of time for this letter, I forgot my journal at home and that's where I give all the juicy details so I'm really just going to be going off of memory today. 

I'll share some highlights that I have had this week. First off I was able to have a trade off with Elder Tanner this week, we get along too well haha it was just like we were companions again. I love him, but whenever we are together we get a little crazy! haha We had ward boundary changes this past week so we got some new awesome families in our ward. One specific family that we just LOVE is the Linton's. They have been married for about 3 years and have two little boys. Brother Linton is from Michigan and Sister Linton is from here. They both served missions and they are just the best! We we're so happy to have them because all the missionaries that have served in their area just love them. Shows how much good member families make a difference to missionaries. Honestly, having good members makes all the difference and that is why I love my first ward, Happy Valley Ward the most because everyone was just the best and it truly felt like a family. So my invitation to all is to be the best members you can be for the missionaries, it makes all the difference! We're especially glad because we know this family will be great fellowship to Dave and Hala and we plan to all have dinner together on Wednesday. We we're so happy this Sunday to see a lot of people at church including our investigators Park and Hala, also including a family we have been working with, the Balodis's. 

Sorry that this letter is so short, try to do better next week :)

Love, Elder Acker

We keep going, going, going

Tuesday Aug 18, 2015- We had to go to the dentist this morning because Elder Mooney had to have some teeth pulled. Elder Tanner and I went out and worked while they were at the dentist office. The teeth removal was really fast and we were cracking up at Elder Mooney because of the way he looked and the way he was talking because his mouth was numb haha We went to go see our investigator Kini today from Fiji, he is cool and really is seeking for the truth in his life, we're really pushing him to read the Book of Mormon sincerely because we know he will know the truth from that, he seems to think he has to do really complicated things to find the truths of God, but we keep telling him that it is simple, read and pray about the Book of Mormon! We hope he takes that step. Elder Mooney was hurting from his teeth removal today so we dropped him off at the senior couple missionaries house so he could rest and I joined another companionship for the day. We took a beautiful drive up the hills of Adelaide to go to a members home and we saw two kangaroos! I know I've been in Australia for long but that is a rare occasion! Didn't have my camera so I'm sad. We then went on splits with members which is always good.

Wednesday Aug 19, 2015- Had a big meeting today with President and Sister Parker. They trained us on "How to Begin Teaching" PMG, working with prospective Elders, and obedience to mission rules. President Parker relates our mission now to Apollo 13, "Houston we have a problem" apparently there is a big problem with obedience in our mission...not good, but we all are determined to step up. I always love attending these meetings because I always leave feeling so inspired to be better, there is always things you can do to be better in the Gospel, you can never stop improving. 

Thursday Aug 20, 2015- Had to say goodbye to one of the best sister missionaries today, Sister Graham returned home to today to the Cook Islands. She's the best. Had lunch with Elder Tanner and Van West today, we had a good time listening to EFY in the car haha the only kind of music we can listen to. We went door knocking for about 2 hours today, couldn't find anyone to teach. We then went to go visit a less active named Simon. He's a good man, we always go walk his dog for him. We then went top the Crosley's for dinner.

Friday Aug 21, 2015- Woke up this morning feeling yuck, just run down, we just never stop and some days I wake up and I wish I could sleep for a week straight but that's how it is in this mission, we keep going, going, going!! Love staying busy though. We had to go get our car fixed today. We then went to go visit Lucia, she has a friend staying at her house now so we are able to go inside. Always good to visit them. We then had sports night tonight which is always fun.

Saturday Aug 22, 2015- We had to drive to a town named Elizabeth today to drop off a missionary, it was about a 30 minuted drive and Elizabeth is like the biggest druggie place in South Australia haha Got to see my old companion from Katherine Elder Aguilar, good to be reunited. Had dinner at the Smiths tonight. Such a great missionary couple

Love you all! 

Elder Acker

Transfer 12, week 3

Hello Everyone! hope your week has gone great!

Monday August 10, 2015- Today we had a great P-day. Later that night we were able to take our investigator Park with us to a Single Adult FHE, it went well! Park is so solid, he just wants to wait until December to be baptized in Korea. But honestly he could be baptized right now, but whatever Gods will is, we will follow.

Tuesday August 11, 2015- Today we had the wonderful opportunity to gather as a mission to hear from Brad Wilcox and David Archuleta. They both gave talks and David Archuleta also sang "Be Still, My Soul" and "Nearer My God to Thee", he has such a beautiful voice, for those who don't know who David is, he was runner up in American Idol a few years ago and he returned from a mission recently. Brad Wilcox is a fantastic public speaker and author of the church. It was a wonderful experience. And to top it off I was able to see some people from my first area, Trott Park! A member Bro Whitrod and an investigator named David who I worked with most of my time in that area. It was so good to see them both, I'm especially glad David is still investigating. 

Wednesday August 12, 2015- Today we had zone training which is always good, this week was full of meetings. 

Thursday August 13, 2015- Today I was able to go on trade off with a brand new missionary, Elder Van West, he is from Brisbane. We we're able to have a great trade off and we had a lot of good laughs along the way

Friday August 14, 2015- Had weekly planning today with the Hectorville Elders, planned pretty much until 4 o clock, always fun haha We then hopped on the bikes and biked around town to our appointments. We got to see Dave and Hala, Park, and Sis Sharma, all really good visits.

Saturday August 15, 2015- Today we rearranged our whole house, felt like we needed a change. We then went to go see Dave's rugby game, we then went on a mini trade off, I was with Elder Tanner in his area. 

Love you all!

Have a great week

Elder Acker

Busy boy

Hey everyone! Another great week here in Glenside! Way better week then the last! I hope everyone is doing well, I wish I could talk to you all face to face about the things I've experienced but I know the time will come but for now this will work :)

Monday Aug 3, 2015- Today I went on a mini trade off with Elder Tanner, always a great time, I love him. It is Dave's birthday today so we went over to celebrate! We drove with him to get some Domino's pizza, great night, honestly love that family so much. Later that night we went to go see a less active member on our ward list that I have never met before. We knocked and a lady opened the door, then came her partner behind her and he just went off at us, the sister looked so uncomfortable, it was sad to see, I could see in her eyes that she wanted to talk to us but her partner got in the way of that by shoving the door in our face, it really is hard for me sometimes to not just get angry, I've had moments with those types of people where I start to talk back, trying to work on just leaving with a smile. 

Tuesday Aug 4, 2015- Had to go to on another trade off today because Elder Van West is still sick, pretty much just stayed with him in the flat most of the day, BORING. But we did get to go to the Pennington's house later on to have dinner, really good, and man pavlova is to do for, honestly I don't know why we don't have it in America, it is the best dessert I have ever had! Go Australia! We committed the family to share a Book of Mormon with a friend and they agreed! Excited to see what happens with that, working through members is key, we're really trying to boost that in our area. Later on we went to go see a LA family, they are so funny, not too interested in the gospel but we just go over there so they can have some sort of contact with the church.

Wednesday Aug 5, 2015- Had district meeting today, later that night we committed Hala to baptism on Aug 22 and she accepted! So excited for her, my favourite investigator for sure!

Thursday Aug 6, 2015- Had the awesome opportunity today to attend the temple, what a blessing it is to go there, I love it so much. We went to the Spalding family that night for dinner and she made pavlova too! I love these members haha. We then had coordination meeting which was good then we gave a blessing to a sick sister in the ward named Lucia.

Saturday Aug 8, 2015- Reunited and it feels so good, after 1 year I have had the opportunity to go on a trade off with my brother Elder Matekohi, we came into the mission together, it was so good to work with him again and to see how things have changed, such a great man and missionary and he's only been a member for 3 years, baptized when he was 17. Definitely someone I want to visit after the mission. He lives in NZ, so visit the Balli's then all the missionaries that live there! We got fed Indian food, and Nepalese food today, I love the cultural aspect of Australia, everyone is from different places, and wow that food was spicy, I was sweating the whole time I was eating their food haha. We got to see our investigator Park tonight who just got back from Korea, he is such a solid investigator but he doesn't seem to want to be baptized here, but in Korea. We wish he could be baptized now! 

Sunday Aug 9, 2015- Church was great today as always, I was feeling like crap this morning but going to church always makes me feel better. 

Love you all!

Elder Acker

Transfer 12, week 1

Hello Everyone! Another new transfer here in Glenside on the way with my new comp Elder Mooney, he is from Delta, Utah! We actually served in the same district in Darwin so we already knew each other which is always good, don't have to go through the awkward get to know ya stage haha its been pretty hectic getting situated for the new transfer so I'll try my best to explain what happened. 

Saturday Aug 1, 2015- This week has been hectic with the new transfer and everything, we actually had not a lot of time this week to do normal proselyting, I'm ready to get back to normal, new transfers are so stressful but also exciting at the same time. Elder Mooney and I had to run a few errands today, get our car fixed, get my eye tested, and such, so that was good, we then went to KFC with Elder Tanner and his comp Elder Van West, we then did some actual missionary work! haha we went finding and met this man who recently got jumped in the streets, he was pretty banged up, we got to have a long convo with him, he wasn't too interested but he was so good to talk to. We then went to Dave and Hala's and helped him build some drawers, good time.

Sunday Aug 2, 2015- Started off the morning trying to visit a bunch of people before church, but no one was home! I hate those days haha Church was great and we were able to visit Dave and Hala once again tonight, we love them so much!

Monday Aug 3, 2015- Went to Hectorville area this morning to give Elder Van West a blessing, he has the flu :( I then got to go on a mini trade off with my favorite missionary Elder Tanner and it was just the best! Love him. It was Dave's b day today so we celebrated with them tonight. 

Not much has happened so far but we plan to have a good week this week, catch ya next!

Love, 

Elder Acker

New companion coming

Last week of the transfer! 5 more left! Just found out that Elder Notsu is packing, I will be getting a new companion tomorrow

Thursday July 23, 2015- Today we walked a man named Simon's dog named Winston, we usually do this about twice a week, man I miss my dog Jack, hopefully my family will get a dog soon! :) We went to go see the Balodis family today, always good to go over there, he showed us the video of that guy who got attacked by a shark in a recent surfing competition, crazy that he is alive. We then had ward council tonight, for some reason I always get really stressed out after ward council haha we're trying to work better with members, it was a good meeting though, awesome experience to attend that meeting often.

Friday July 24, 2015- Literally nothing happened today, no one was home! Just one of those days, we did have sports night tonight though which is always a good time even though like no one shows up haha

Saturday July 25, 2015- So stinkin cold! We were on the bikes this morning and I just could not handle it, too freezing! I never even thought Australia would be cold haha We went to go set up chairs at the chapel this morning for the Stake Sacrament Meeting tomorrow, went by really fast cuz we had a lot of people helping out. We then went to go see the Spaldings, lovely couple. We then went door knocking for quite a long time tonight, finding no one interested, real tough this week, no one seems to want to listen but we'll keep pushing.

Sunday July 26, 2015- Had a big Stake Sacrament Meeting today which was great, we then got to go see a man named Antwin, Antwin has had a pretty rough past and he is just now trying to change, we arrived at his home and as we started talking he just broke down crying, we felt inspired to give him a blessing and the Spirit truly touched his heart, we hope to still continue to help him trun his life around. We then went to go see a Malaysian investigator named Alen, he is a man that is truly seeking for the right way in his life, he is really open to learning, we're so glad to be able to share what we know with him.

Excited for the new transfer! The last 5 transfers I have had 5 different companions, crazy!

Love you all! 

Elder Acker

Elder Notsu

Transfer 11, week 5

Hello Everyone! Wow I can't believe it is the final week of the transfer this week, it just goes by so fast! It is so dang cold here in Adelaide and I can't seem to kick the cold that I've had this whole transfer, sucks so bad! I'm ready for hot weather!

Tuesday July 14, 2015- Trade off today with Elder Boyd from Idaho, he is the man! He is 26 yrs. old and he is just the best. I didn't really know him too well until we went on trade off, I was able to get to know him a lot better. We had a really good trade off, we were able to visit a Recent Convert named Lucia who is just the best, she's the tattooed Mormon of Australia! I'll have to get a picture with her before I leave, anyways she had a friend over named Mark today and we were able to stop by and visit. He all of a sudden just expressed to us his interest of learning about the gospel and how he wants to get rid of the guilt he has from his past, perfect missionary opportunity, we were able to teach him right then and there with the help of Lucia, it went really well and he started crying. Unfortunately, we found out a few days later that just after we left he kept drinking (he was a little tipsy when we were there) and he actually stole some pills and ended up having seizures that night. Lucia had to call the ambulance, he's doing well but probably won't be at Lucia's anymore :(

Wednesday July 15, 2015- We had zone training today about urgency and weaknesses, really inspiring! It is just so funny sometimes in meetings because everyone tries to like make the most profound comments like it is a competition, and sometimes missionaries use spiritual voices which is hilarious, be real! We then had interviews with Pres. Parker and wow he is the man! SO loving and I really feel like I can be totally open with him. He expressed to me that the last 6 months of your mission you will remember most throughout your life so he committed me to make it the best part of my mission, really feel motivated to! We later had dinner at a recently married part member families home, we just pigged out on their wedding food haha

Saturday July 18, 2015- We helped clean up the chapel this morning after they had an amazing YSA activity yesterday, it looked so fun. We then got to go to Dave and Mike's rugby game, really fun! 

Not much more to share this week, thank you so much for your support everyone! 

Love, Elder Acker

Fainting Elder and Iranian movie

Hello, hello, hello!! So grateful to be able to email you all today!

Thursday July 9, 2015- Haven't been able to write until today because I had no time to write in my journal this week because we've been so busy! We had another huge mission conference to welcome the Parkers to the mission and we were hosting missionaries at our flat every night, and that means no quiet time to write in my journal haha I do love having all the missionaries here but there is just something about just having normal days with my companion which are the best. I enjoy those normal working days. Conference was very good, the Parkers are a wonderful blessing to our mission and the training went well. So I have a very interesting story to tell you about my best friend in the mission, Elder Tanner. So we had all the missionaries at the conference and the Assistants chose Elder Tanner and his companion to role play in front of everyone! I give him props because that takes guts! They got up there, and after the role play we were evaluating and he Elder Tanner was talking about how the role play went and he said, "my head is spinning, I am so nervous." Which is normal! He looked fine and then about 2 minutes passed by and he started to turn white as a ghost and slowly started rocking back and forth, before we knew it he fainted! After he came back he just said "oh my gosh that was so embarrassing" hahaha we joke around about it now, I'm going to remember that for a long time, I love Elder Tanner. Anyways, today we got to visit a less active lady named Jacky who was really cool then we had ward council with the new bishopric, it was solid! Really effective meeting, I'm excited to see these things put in action in the ward. 

Friday July 10, 2015- Wasn't feeling that great this morning, just felt lazy and unmotivated but around lunch time we went on trade offs and I was with Elder Costales from the Philippines. I love him, it was good to go on trade off with him even though we had a pretty bad experience tonight. We went to go see our investigator Josspepi tonight who was on baptism date, we knocked at his door and he was wearing a suit, I have no idea why but he was, we came inside, started talking and let me tell you, I though Joseppi was a golden investigator, he just seemed so ready and he was keeping all of his commitments but today, something changed, we had asked if he had read the material we gave him and he just went off telling us God is not real, and telling us that we have been brainwashed, yes I have had many interactions with these kind of people but it was such a surprise to hear it from Jossepi. We had a long discussion, but all he tried to do was "awaken" us to the truth, that is what he said. We asked him right before we left, why do you think we come to your home Jossepi? and he just said, because you want my money! Elder Costales couldn't hold back the laughter, and we just said and testified about how we were there to bring him happiness, he doesn't understand, tough night, but nothing new right? 

Saturday July 11, 2015- Such a gloomy day today full of rain, hail, and cold winds! absolutely freezing! We got o see and Italian couple today, we tried to share the Book f Mormon with them but they refused, said they couldn't read the small letters anyways. We then had a church potluck activity tonight which was good after a stressful week. 

Sunday July 12, 2015- Had church today which was great as always, then we hosted a missionary who was going home tomorrow, he was so excited to go home haha it was funny. We then got to visit a Persian family, we showed them a movie about Jesus Christ then they were able to show an Iranian Christ movie, there was such a funny part, for some reason in the movie, when Christ goes to get baptized he just stands next to John the Baptist in the water and then just dunks himself underwater, Jesus Christ baptizes himself! Oh boy, evidence of the apostasy.

Well, another week gone by, I'll talk to you next week!