Eating McDonalds with his district

19 on 19

Hello Everyone! What a week, busy busy busy. P-day last week was fun, we went shopping, ate Subway and then most importantly got to shop at SAVERS! I didn't even know they had one here but once i enetered the store it felt like home since me and my buddies would always go there bcak home to shop haha. I got an Adelaide Crows jersey and a chicago tee to represent the Gannons's and it was super cheap so that's good. There's a new driver on the Adelaide Roads...:) I got to start driving the next day and now I'm the permanent driver. As you know the wheel is on the right side and we drive on the left side. It was tricky at first but it's nothing to me now, but there is so many round abouts! so annoying! That night we got to see one of our investigators with a baptismal date named Hakupa. He's 16, from new Zealand and has dreads. he's super chill and we got to teach him the whole restoration. He is really interested in learning more and he's gonna come ball with us today at the church. The next day I woke up with a horrible cold which lasted until about Saturday. I would be in the lessons and I would have to constantly blow my nose so it was kind of tough but I just worked through it. Anyways, We got to see a lady named Laura who lives with her kids but doesn't have a husband. She works with kids with mental health and she is a very interesting person. She is SOO ready to accept the gosple thopugh, its wonderful. She told us of an experience she had about 2 months ago that shook her up a little bit. She said she prayed for the first time uin years and she said something dark came over her when she started praying and she said her daughter had a nightmare that night and they both saw the same dark figure. She was hestitant about praying again because ogf that experience. But as soon as she told us that I knew what she had to hear. We shared the story of Joseph Smith's first vision and how he was overcome by a drak force beofre he saw the light. We also shared the scripture where it says that God teaches a man to pray, evil spirits teach man not to pray. Those evil spirits didn't want Laura to pray that night becuase they knew that if she did pray she would get closer to God, they DO NOT want that. This made total sense to Laura and she has the motivation now to try again and to trust in God that he can save her from thopse dark things. The next day we had trade offs again and Elder Tuiluaai got to come to my area so I was in charge of planing and teaching! I was a little nervous the night before but I just prayed that God would guide me and he most definitly did. It was great to lead because I just love being upfront and contributing as much as i can. That sense of responsiblitity leads me to my full potential. I am going to continue to use this through out my mission. that was my week and I'm having a great birthday today! I love you ALL!

Elder Acker

Mandy Whitrod and Abbey Field took care of Joe ONCE AGAIN on his birthday!!!  Cake, presents and a birthday song accompanied by a flute!!

Priceless photos

I had to post these photos of Elder Acker because they are priceless.  Between talking to us and talking to the Whitrod's and Elder Villierme, Joe was all smiles and laughing out loud.  The best Mother's Day gift  I could of received, knowing our Elder is safe, sound, and best of all, happpy.

There he is!!!

 Companions, Elder Villierme-Puputauki and Elder Acker

 Yes, He was laughing out loud with head back

Sister Whitrod was Skyping with her son serving in Japan so we were Skyping from Japan to Australia to Colorado.  Pretty cool. 

Elder Acker with Whitrod's son who was chiming in every so often.  

Stake Conference Week and another Acker family connection!

G'Day!! How's everyone doing!? I love to be able to do this every week to let you all know how things are going and I absolutely love hearing from all of you and I'm glad everyone is doing well! I got to skype my family yesterday and I asked how everyone is doing and I'm just so glad everyone is doing good. It's been yet anohter week and I now have been 6 weeks out on my mission. One thing that I noticed is that my memory is quite horrible so I'm glad I writer in my journal every day so I can remember everything to tell you guys! Oh and i'm excited to hear that Kai Hicken has started his papers! He's going tok do so awesome! So let me go through the week once again! Monday we started off the morning playing sports which is always fun, we play basketball, footie, rugby, and volleyball. Anyways, before I came on my mission I cut my leg on nanny's fence when I was jumping over it and pulled a woodchip out of my leg and that day I was sitting there for a sec during morning sport and I was looking at the scar and while I was looking at it I pulled out yet another small woodchip! I'm good tho haha We had P Day that day and we do shopping every week and i see so many foods that I want to try but we are on a budget so I can't really and Elder Villieime doesn't like it when I eat sweets haha. We had dinner with the Riddle fam,ily that night and they remind me so much of the Wilsons! They have all boys and they acted just like them. Its funny cuz i Keep meeeting people who remind me of people at home. Like Brother Whitrod reminds me of Grandpa Mark. haha The next day we met with a guy named Ben who is a recnt convert and is preparing to be sealed in the temple with his samoian fiance. he plays rugby and he has all kinds of tatoos but he was just a gentle giant. so nice. We also taught out top investigator right now named Seth Parker. he is 17 and really interested in knowing God. The lesson went well and he wants to keep meeting with us! we have a date prepared for him on June 12th. We read a talk that night that really inspired me. It talked about how God never said we can't have experiences like Joseph Smith. We just have to work for it and we can have the testimonies of apostles! So Cool! So be faithful everyone! The next day we talked to man named Andrew Shaw who is old and believes in Maitreya. It's really confusing so if your interested look it up. I've never heard it beofre but the gospel could give him so many answrs! I love it whenever I meet someone and I know exactly what they need, its just that we need to find a way top present that in the best way. I attended my first zone training on wednsday and it went really well. We leanred alot and I bore my testimony. I promis each and every one of you that if you testify to soemeone of the gospel of Jesus Christ you will be filled with the words of the spirit and you will not only be teachuing others but you will also be teaching yourself! I have experinced that so many times so testify as much as you can! Spread the gospel! that night we had dinner at Abby's, Uncle Tom's friend! We talked about the BBQ we had in Colorado five years ago and she says she doesnt remmeber me and I said probably cuz I grew a little ;) trhe next day was probably the least effective day I've had on my mi9ssion. It was rainy cold and gloomy and no one was out and everyone was too busy to talk. I know that wer'e going to have days like that sometimes but I always kniow that something good is coming aroubnd the corner. The next day we had saturdat stake conference and I met a cionselror in the stake presidnecy named elder wilmont. I came up to him and he said "Hey! I had a trainer named Elder Acker when I served in Perth! He was a big guy, played gridrion and he always flexed his pecs individually." That had to be Uncle Tom! I keep making all these connections its crazy! Anyways Conference went really well and the spirit was very strong. One thing I learned is that when we receive revalation, we must act on it! We reaceive revaltion from Hevanly fathetr to help us fine tune ourselves so always act! I hope every nmother out there had a wonderful day and I love you heaps!! have a great week!

Elder Acker

Sister Missionary knows the Wichita Ackers!!

Hello There! It feels like I just emailed you all yesterday, time really goes by fast! My week has been busy so I'll just try to give you the highlights of my week. On Monday, we had dinner at Bishops and after we finished we had some time before we had to go to the flat so we decided to do some street contacting. We were walking for awhile and noo one was outside so I felt promted to say a prayer to allow Heavenly Father to lead people to us. We said the prayer and soon after we saw a man outside. We tried to talk to him but he didn't really have the time because his dad was dying. We told him that our message will help him with whats going on and he agreed to see us again. We taught him and the wife of the man whose dying yesterday and it went great and we plan to see them again. God leads us to people who need the gospel! The next day we met aguy named Nick that doesn't believe in God and tried to tell us all the reasons why the church isn't true. It was tough to hear and after we finished I was pretty discouraged the bike ride home. But once I got home I was reading about the tree of life and I received revelation when Lehi talks about the people holding thge iron rod and the people in the building mocking them. That is exactly what missionaries do. But the scriptures after say they heeded them not. That gave me the motivation to stay strong heed not to people that mock the church. The next day we had tarining with President Carter and one thing that he said that inspired me was the fact that we need to appreciate and be happy through our struggles. Life isn't all up's so we need to enjoy the experience of s=downs because that's life! we HAD DINNER AT THE wATTS  that night and they said I had to try this hot sauce called satans blood to be initiated haha. I didn't think it would be that bad but once brother watts put only a drop on my mouth I almost died! It was like a bomb! I have a video of it that I will show you later. The next day we m,et alot of people and had dinner at the whitrods. Their my favorite family in the ward so far. They help us missionaries out alot and Brother whitrod reminds me of Grandpa Mark! You all need to read Jeremiah 16:16, its a great missionaryu scripture. We must be hunters and go find people to teach. We can't be fishers and just wait for people to come to us. The next day we had trade offs and I was companion with the district leader, Elder Tuiluia. He is the district leader and he is from Samoia. We taught this guy named Darius and he is real interested in the church. I got to lead the lesson for the first time and we taught the restoration and it went really well! He is excited to read the BoM and he came to church yesterday! And then yesterday we had testimony meeting and I bore my testimony. Im goig to get up there alot more thtoughout my mission. That night we were waliing and met this family that was housing two german girls our age who are here serving amission for their church. We went to their houese and talked for like two hours about our missions and it was great. We then taugh a man named andrew mackey and we had the watts come with us. We basically testified the whole time and the spirit was so stroing. Andrew knows the church is trrue, I can see it in his eyes. We just need to figure out what's holding him back. Oh and By the way, I hgave a sister in my district named Sister Watson, and she is from Witchita! WHen I found that out I immediately went up to her and said if she knew any ackers, and she said ya Kris's family! Im pretty sure Kris and Derek told me to look for her before I came and here she is in my district! So Cool! Thats what happened this week! I would advise you all to try tyo be the best member missionaries you can because this is what brings people to the gospel! Were not here to increase the numbers of our church membership. W@e are opening the celestial kingdom doors for people and we are the only people that can do tthat!

I love you all so much!

PS it has been raining And its actually been pretty cold the past week. I thought this whole time that austarila was hot all year round. I was wrong haha

Elder Acker

New Places, New Faces, Same Home

Hello Everyone! I have arrived in Adelaide, Australia! It was an exhausting flight and I'm still a bit jet lagged but I'm having a great time! We arrived in Adelaide on Wednsday and me and all the missionaries that I flew with got sent to the mission home to meet President Carter, SIster Carter, and our new companions! We got there and learned a little bit about the mission and then we were off to dinner with our trainers. We had chili and soup but all the new missionaries were like dead because of the flying but it was good. We got to talk to all our trainers and we all got to bare our testimonies to each other. After that we were assigned to our area and trainers. I have been assigned to the Trott Park Area in Marion, just under Adelaide so right next to the coast. And I have been assigned to Elder Villierme, he is from Tahiti and he's an awesome missionary, I learn a lot from his example. I truly know that Heavenly Father has put us together because you won't believe what he said to me the first time we met even before we became companions. He says to me, "Oh my gosh, your Elder Acker, how's your dad?" When he said this I was confused because I had know idea how he knew about my dad's sitaution. Lo and behold, he already knew about me through a member in the ward, the Whitrods! I knew that I was going to be able to see them on my mission but I wouldv'e never thought that I would see them in my firsat area. I also goit to see Abby Field again during church yesterday. It was just weird to think that they have been to my house beforew about 5 years ago and now I'm at their house drinking ginger beer and talking about the gospel. Small world (church)! So my first day in the field, we went street contacting. You know, I always knew that we would talk to people on the street but I never knew that we would talk to everyone we walk by! It's really interesting and fun to get to talk to all these children of God because we get so many opportunities to help them come unto Christ. But let me just say from the experiences I've had this week, whoever says that Aussie's are WAY more friendly then Americans told me wrong haha. Don't get me worng! There's alot of lovely people here but some are so not haha. We've had a couple of times where we have been yelled at with very explicit profanity as people drive by and alot of the time when we talk to people they talk about how wrong our beliefs are in a really rude way. But you know, what I have noticed about these people is that when these things happen all I can do is SMILE. It's weird like after we get insulted I can't help but become even more motivated and inspired to talk to people. Elder Villierme told me something that really hit. me. Obviously there's alot of persecution here but we know from that that God trusts us to be here. God sends his strongest servajnts to places of persecution and I can't help but relate our experiences to Jeus Christ's life. He was persecuted way more than we are and he just kept loving the people and that is the exact example that we're following.

We are working with a great family right now. The parents names are Mark and Sheila and they have two sons. We did some painting for them then taught them a lesson that went really well. I'll let you know how it all goes with them. I'm running out of time but I just want you all to know that I'm doing great and we all need to be involved in the missionary work. People are waiting and it's up to us all to bring people that hope. Also I'd advise you all to read you patriarctichal blessing more. I have read it alot since I've been on my mission and it has helped me alot and I always get something new from it every time I read. It's a great blessing to have for guidance.

Love you all!

P.S. I have become addicted to Tim Tams, like I seriously can't stop eating them, there so good. :)

Subject: He's here!

We finally received an email from Joe's mission president letting us know that he made it to Adelaide, safe and sound.

23 April 2014

Dear family,

Elder Joseph Thomas Acker arrived in the Australia Adelaide Mission safely. Sister Carter and I are mindful of the great trust you have placed in us by sharing your son. When he arrived, we met him at the airport and took him to the mission office, where he was introduced to the office staff and assistants for pictures and orientation. This was followed by an interview, dinner and testimonies at the adjacent church.

Elder Acker’s companion is Elder Villierme-Puputauki from French Polynesia. They are serving in the Trott Park area of the Firle Zone.

I am aware that the Lord blesses, in many special ways, the families of missionaries.  As your son serves, you will find that to be very true.  Your support is greatly appreciated.

Warmest Regards,

President Bradley D. Carter

AUSTRALIA ADELAIDE MISSION 

The Lord is mindful of Joe and these messages on Brad's Facebook are proof.  Abby and Mandy are  sweet Australian gals that we met many years ago.  Long story short, they are friends of Joe's Uncle Tom and they visited Colorado way back when.  While they were visiting, Brad and I had a barbeque and they came over to our house to meet our family.  Since then, Tom has kept in contact with them and told them about Joe's mission call.  They have been very excited knowing that Joe was coming to Adelaide and NOW JOE IS SERVING IN THEIR NECK OF THE WOODS!!!  WHAT?!?!?  What an amazing blessing!

• Abby Field Oh oh oh.... that's where Mandy lives so he will be in our ward!!!! 

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  Mandy Whitrod I'm so excited he's here. I have been telling Elder Villierme-Puputauki about him the last couple of weeks and when i knew for sure his companion was transferring i told him he'd be training. Elder V-P is such a lovely guy. He's from Tahiti so his native languages are French and Tahitian so he's learned English here in the nearly 1 year he's been out. i am going to call them in the morning and see if they can drop by. I have them for dinner next week too. We were busy sending our 4th son off on his mission to the Philippines today