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!