Transfer 10, week 4

HELLO! Its been a fantastic week here in Evandale! 

Monday May 25, 2015- Had a good P day today, got my haircut then went to the Australian style noodles and company, really nothing here is up to par with American food haha but its alright. We had dinner tonight with the Hadju family, Brother Hadju made chicken pot pie which was awesome. We then went to go see our investigator Kaleb, we introduced him to the Book of Mormon and he is real keen and reading and praying to know if it is the Word of God! 

Tuesday May 26, 2015- We got to go get fish and chips today with the Bealicki's! They are an older couple in our ward and Brother Bealicki reminds me of Sanat Claus haha it was pretty great to go get lunch with them because they took us to the place where all the old people eat for lunch, I love old people so it was god fun haha We then spent most of the day in the flat because Elder Hayes felt sick, always hate staying in the flat but all good. 

Wednsday May 27, 2015- We had a wonderful district meeting today with President Carter attending, and then we got to have interviews with him after which is always great. I love President and Sister Carter so much! 

Thursday May 28, 2015- We saw an investigator of ours today named Gerry, he's about in his 70's and he's a little crazy haha it was the first time I met him because he has been in Queensland for awhile but he is one interesting guy. We then had dinner with the Rice family and they are awesome! Just a young family with two little girls and their just the best. Bro Rice is really loves basketball so we got along well. 

Friday May 29, 2015- Got a call from President Carter this morning telling me that Elder Hayes will have to end his mission in two weeks. He said he felt inspired from his interview on Wednsday that he is just not emotionally capable of continuing to serve. He's really been struggling this transfer but he has served faithfully. He feels happy that he is finishing his mission and is excited to to do missionary work back home. For some reason I was just dead beat today, just so tired. We got Subway today and then we had the opportunity to go on trade offs with the Assistants of the mission for a bit. It was a really great opportunity to learn form them. Their just like any other Elders though which was cool. We finished the night off playing sport at the chapel with some members which was so fun! We played volleyball and basketball. 

Saturday May 30, 2015- What a wonderful day! Dave and Halla had their wedding this morning and it was just so good. They are so happy and are really making changes in their life and Hala is getting baptized in two weeks! We pretty much go to their house evry single day just because they're so awesome and I love their baby boy Nathan, he is so cute! Dave had some family in twon for the wedding so we got to spend time with them later that night and it was just the best! Islanders are just so fun to be with!  We had KFC and were just cracking up all night. We then found a new investigator named Joseppi (Joe) who is from Italia! He is super keen to learn about the gospel! Found him while door knocking! 

Sunday May 31, 2015- Found out this morning that L Tom Perry passed away. Such a great man and Apostle of the Lord. He has taught me so many things, so grateful for his life. Church was good today and after we went o go see our investigator Peter juist to catch up. Then went to dave and Hala's.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Happy, happy, happy

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone's week has been great! Here I am yet with another week of Adelaide adventures!

Monday May 18, 2015- Our P Day was spent today helping all of the senior couple missionaries move. It was actually quite fun with everyone in the district there and the new houses that they moved into were so dang nice! The houses in Adelaide are just beautiful, one of the many exciting things about door knocking besides the fact that were offering salvation to people is that I get to see all kinds of different beautiful houses. The houses are much more abstract in Australia it seems compared to America. Later that night we taught an Indian couple named Shinoy and Samida. They have been in Australia for only a few weeks, we taoguht them the Restoration but they unfortunately don't want to take the lessons any further. That is usually the situation throughout my mission but I have faith that there are people out there ready to listen! We then taught a guy named Kaleb who is in his 20's and is Christian, we taught him the Resto also and it went well and we have a return appointment tonight! 

Tuesday May 19, 2015- The most normal day birthday I have ever encountered in my young years. Yes I did turn 20 today but it was just like any other day besides the wonderful packages I received from my family and Aunt Robbin, thank you so much by the way! It truly means a lot! But I will always remember on this birthday was the day Elder Hayes took a mean fall off his bike, poor guy slid out on some mud and banged up his knee pretty bad. We then had to walk about an hour and a half to get to our dinner appointment which really was hurting him but he's a warrior, let me just tell you how much I respect my companion. Honestly, he is a testimony to me that God truly does change us as we look to Him. there is such a big difference in him from the first time I cam into this area. He has truly relied on Heavenly Father and because of that he is happy, happy, happy and that means I am happy, happy, happy. We had dinner at a couple named the Delfos and they are awesome, their about in their 40's and they joined the church a year ago. There was such a spirit in their home as new members of the church and their just the best! Had pizza with them and they also promised me a Mexican feast sometime later which I am indeed excited for oh and by the way I found a Mexican restaurant just like Chipotle! Tried it this week and yes  not near as good as Chipotle but its something haha.

Thursday May 21, 2015- We had to go to the doctors today to get Elder Hayes knee checked out and you know how doctors offices are, we had to wait in the lobby for about 3 hours before we could even meet with the doctor, but still for some reason I love the environment in doctor office/hospital. Still thinking about being a nurse! Elder Hayes got his leg checked out then we headed out and got some ice cream which is exactly like cold stone creamery. Real nice! 

Saturday May 23, 2015- Today we went to Dave and Hala's house, the Tongan family, and we brought some food to them because they're really struggling financially. Dave and Hala are like my favourite people here in Evandale and I just love their little boy Nathan. We had a sausage sizzle with them and then headed home. Dave and Hala are getting married this Saturday. So excited for them! Hala plans to get baptized a few weeks after too which is even more exciting! 

Sunday May 24, 2015- Normal Sabbath Day today, we went ot go visit a man named Peter today. He lives alone with his dog and is just really in need of some friends. He was a member of the church but requested to get his name taken off the list. He's not interested in getting back into the church but we just visit him and be his friend because he really just needs some support right now. Great man just very lonely. Breaks my heart.

Everyone back home, I love you all so much! I have felt the Spirit of the Lord in abundance this week and I am just so grateful for all those that have supported me in this journey of my life. UI have  learned so much and I am still learning, thank you for all that you do. I know the church is true! 

Elder Acker

Working hard!

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long time without an email! I only have about 20 minutes so I'll try to type fast, a lot of stuff going on! For those who don't know I'm back in Adelaide in an area called Evandale which is right in the heart of the mission, the mission office is in our area. I'm with my companion Elder Hayes who is from Melbourne who is just new to the mission, I am his trainer. We've been busy, busy, busy, and that's just the way I like it so I'll try to let y'all know what happened this week!

Thursday May 7, 2015- We started off the day going to a community garden, apparently in this area we go every Thursday to do service there but man do I love it! I've grown to love gardening on my mission especially weeding haha but it was cool we got to bring pumpkin, lettuce, and chili's home too which was awesome! We then went to the mission office to get me a big coat because boy is it freezing here, its in autumn and it is beautiful but yes very cold. We had dinner tonight with a family named the Penningtons. They have 3 little girls and Bro Pennington is 6'8". He is a giant! He played basketball with us this week which was a lot of fun too. We had rozitto at their house.

Friday May 8, 2015- Met a member named Bro Hidju today who is a pro painter for little figurine game pieces, it was so cool! He has like a whole stash of little board game pieces that he painted himself and you wouldn't believe the detail he does in just those little things, so cool. As we walked out of Bro Hidju's a family pulled up on us in their car, I didn't know who they were at first but then they said "do you remember us Elder Acker?" I then realized that I met them ages ago at the temple and their daughter was leaving for the Philippines for a mission that Monday, it was good to reunite with them, I hope I can do that with some people that I met before. We then went door knocking later that night, first group was some pretty rude people including a Jewish lady that yelled at us but we found a miracle door where a father came to the door with a newborn baby, we got to have a good discussion with him and we'll be coming back to teach him, perfect opporuntity! 

Saturday May 9, 2015- We had dinner with the Smiths tonight, a missionary couple here from Colorado! I'm the first Colorado missionary they have met here while on their mission so it was really good to have dinner with them and chat. We then went to a Dave and Halla's house. Dave is a member of the church and his girlfriend Halla are getting married on May 30 and she will be baptized on the same day, so excited! We go over there quite often becayuse their just so great and the have the best 1 year old kid named Nathan. 

Sunday May 10, 2015- Had my first Sunday in my new ward, and ya it was good besides the fact that a lot of the members just ignored the missionaries... anyway, it was a good Sabbath Day, still got to get to know the members. We then had dinner with a family there named the Scotts. They are awesome, they have a real nice home and we also got to watch the Joseph Smith video with them while the grandma was there who is not a member. She's investigating the church. 

Monday May 11, 2015- Had a great Mothers day today because I got to Skype my family! They're the greatest, I love them so much. We then got to help a friend of the other Elders move out which is always a great thing to do. Little bit of a stress reliever. We again went door knocking today, pretty much everyone was rude which is just stink! But we did meet a nice man on the very last door name Robert, he invited us to come back over which is awesome! Sometimes you just gotta keep going until you find that last person! We also tonight found a new investigatior named Kaleb tonight, college student who is a chirstian. He let us inside his home and we had a real good discussion about God and he invited us back over next week! Miracles are happening! 

Tuesday May 12, 2015- We got a referral today from lds.lorg so we contacted the guy and he just wanted a Book of Mormon for history purposes, not too interesting in learning from us but hopefully as he reads the Book of Moromon, he'll give us a call back! We then had diunner at a family named the Hansfords. Real nice family, they fed us Indian curry and the daughter made delicious chocolate cookies! 

Thursday May 15, 2015- Got to go to the temple today for the first time in 6 months, great as always, such peace and comfort lies within the temple, awesome experience.

Friday May 16, 2015- I was on trade off with Elder Costales today from Phillipines, he's really fun to be around, we had a great time serving in his area. 

Love you all! 

Elder Acker