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