Transfer 16, week 5

Hey everyone! Its been another week and I'm so happy to be able to email you all again! I'd just like to share a few highlights of what has been happening.

We had a great Sabbath Day this week, a lot of stuff going on! We had our recent convert Ian today received the Priesthood, he will also be going to the temple this Wednesday and we get to go with him for his first time! So excited to go and do that. We also had the opportunity to have lunch over at our ward mission leaders house brother hatchard with another one of our recent converts Mike, it was such a great time and a well spent Sabbath day.

We had another wonderful opportunity this week to teach our recent convert Hala a new member lesson with one of the members. It was great and we can really see Hala is growing spiritually. She told us an experience she had with her family. She said when she went to go visit them recently everyone was drinking and she said she refused to drink because she has made a promise to Heavenly Father. She truly understands what it means to make a covenant with God, and that is so impressive for a new member. 

Overall it has been a great week! Hope everything is going good back home!

Love Elder Acker

Transfer 16, week 4

Hey everyone! Its been a great week here in the Evandale area and there is just a few things I would like to report but before all of that I just want to say congratulations to my wonderful Sister  Emily for receiving her mission call to Kentucky! What a cool place to serve! I've been bragging about her to everyone even though most of the people here have no idea where Kentucky is haha but everyone here does know KFC so I am proud to say that my sister will be having that original KFC, nah but really she is going to be an amazing missionary, I can just see it. Honestly, I think I have looked up to my little sister more than she has looked up to me. She is actually one of the biggest factors for me coming back to church and making it a great transition for me. She has already influenced my life and many others so I know she is going to bless the lives of the people in Kentucky. 

On another note, I am so physced to here that the Denver Broncos are National Champions!! So happy to here that, Peyton Manning definitely wen tout with a bang. I'm sure my dad and uncles are pretty stoked right now haha

So I would just like to share a few experiences we have had this week, we had the wonderful opportunity this week to teach anew investigator named Chris. He just recently moved here from China and he is staying at a members home. So the member invited us over and we were able to teach him about the restoration. He didn't have that much of a religious background, pretty much just like all the Chinese we teach but he seemed to take all the information quite well. It would be so good for him to find God especially at this time where he is beginning his life here in AUS. We look forward to the progress he will make.

We also saw a wonderful miracle form our recent convert Mike! Mike is great, the only problem he has with church is his work schedule which prevents him form coming every week but this Sabbath was just great, he had work off all day so he made the absolute best of it! He came to church which was great then after that we had a new member lesson with him with our Elders Quorum President. We have been working really well with our members as of late which is great to see. To add to it, Mike was on such a spiritual high that he decided to attend the afternoon session of church later that afternoon, talk about double the blessings! AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF we went with him to the fireside later that night with us which was great. I always love going to multi stake firesides because I always get to see old members that I love. But what was really weird about this particular night was that people were coming up to me and saying thank you for your service in our ward and telling me goodbye just in case we don't see each other again! This was like so weird for me, 6 more weeks ya'll. 

We also this week had a wonderful member lesson with a wonderful couple named the Spaldings this week. They are like my grandparents in the ward, love them so much. We had a great lesson with them about covenants and the Spirit was truly felt. We asked them a lot about covenants and it ended up being a time where they both were able to testify of the Marriage Covenant and express their love for each other, it was beautiful.

Thats pretty much the highlights from this week. Love you all!

Elder Acker

Transfer 15, Week 5

Hello everyone! Yet another week in the mission field, not a lot to report but I will try my best to make this email enjoyable haha

 

Monday, Dec 28, 2015- Today we had a great P-day! We actually went out with Dave, the Tongan member that I love, and we did some shopping. He took us out to lunch at Chinatown. There is a big Chinatown in Adelaide and you can go to a place where you pay $5 for all you can eat. We we're in Asian heaven. Adelaide is pretty much Asian land, I guess I belong because everyone thought I was Asian in high school haha. After the Chinese buffet (boo-fey) he took us to Krispie Creams, yes there is 2 Krispie Cream in Adelaide.  It was a p day well spent.

 

Tuesday Dec 29, 2015- Today I went on trade off with Elder Larson from Arizona,  he's the man, he actually served in the Centennial Ward for a bit because he had to VISA wait in the Denver South Mission, so he knows some of the members in my home ward. We had a good trade off today, went to the Stablers for dinner which was really good.

 

Wednesday Dec 30, 2015- Today I went on yet another trade off with Elder Mooney, my old companion from Utah, good to serve with him again and to see how we both have improved since being together. Did a lot of biking and talked to a lot of people! Good trade off

 

Thursday Dec 31, 2015- Happy New Years Eve! Wasn't too eventful today because we we're required to go home at 4 in the afternoon because of the craziness that goes on here on New Years

 

Friday Jan 1, 2015- Today I went on yet another trade off with Elder Flinders from Utah, he's a good man, and we worked really hard today, saw a lot of people and taught a lot of lessons, always good to have busy days like that.

 

Not much else to tell! Love you all! Have a great week!

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