Bankstown 3 Week 4

G'day y'all! 

It has been pretty chilly here the past week but with the purchase of a warmer jacket I will be just fine from today on :) This week was quite great! I will let the email to President tell you a bit about it.

What a great week!! The opportunity to go to the Temple, and have zone conference plus a great Zone Training Meeting on Friday and a brief but effective power exchange with the Zone Leaders on Saturday made for a lot of time out of our proselyting area, but we still had a great week! It just made us plan even more effectively and allowed us the fun and privelidge of teaching appointments back to back on several days. It was so great to have Jason and Andy there at church this week. I guess it has been a while since this branch has seen new investigators coming to church because they were really welcoming and glad to meet these two new faces! But Elder Ng and I will continue to surprise the ward as we already have 4 lined up to come to sacrament this next Sunday and it's only Monday! :) I am really grateful for the opportunity to be here and serving in this area. with such a small branch there is a great amount of work to do which is excellent! The branch is starting to get more excited about missionary work and Elder Ng and I will continue to stir that fire. I believe as they see how passionate and hard working we are towards missionary work, they will take a part of our fire and use it to either start or stoke theirs, and before you know it, we will be burning it up in Bankstown 3! It is a little humorous because he and I joke about how our baptismal dates ran away to China, but we will keep adding more in the time that they are gone and then in August when they return, we will be quick to continue in their conversion. 
This week one of the greatest miracles was Andy and Jason staying for all 3 hours of church. Many investigators do not like to stay for all three hours, but both of them stayed and really enjoyed each hour. They both were excited to come back again next week as well. I really have such high hopes and aspirations for this little branch and this area. I know it has great potential to grow. I think it really helped having you and Sister Lew show up to sacrament meeting. Almost everyone that bore their testimony mentioned you both and then I also heard members mention how great it was to meet you and her even though you just recently arrived. 

Another Miracle this week was Ben. Elder Ng contacted him originally 8 weeks ago, and has kept semi frequent contact since Ben has said he has been very busy, but finally, after 8 weeks of compassion and persistence, Ben said that he would have time to meet with us. It was a great first meeting even though it was abruptly cut short. We were working towards inviting him to be baptized and attend church as well when he got a call from work saying he had to go back early from his lunch break and he needed to leave right away to make it on time. That was unfortunate, but I am glad that we got to meet with him and we will see him again this week. Maybe having to leave early will help him to set aside more time to meet with us next so we can teach a proper lesson. But he and his wife are recently married and are just starting to settle down here and I think they would be a great addition to the branch. So we will work on it :) 

Thank you again for yours and Sister Lew's comments at the Conference last Wednesday. I could really feel your love and I do know that you have been called to be my Mission President and Mission Mom at this time. I could feel that without a doubt and I am grateful for it.

So as you can see, I love my new Mission President and mission mom! Sister Lew is from Hong Kong and is probably 4'11" haha. She is tiny! :) When she stood behind the pulpit to talk to us during our first conference I could barely seen her and the mic was practically touching the podium haha, but seriously, they are the greatest! I really love and respect President and Sister Howes, but I truly felt different as President and Sister Lew were addressing us. I knnow that they are meant to be my mission Parents at this time. well how about that Worldwide Training Broadcast heh? It is pretty exciting the things that will be up and coming in the future to progress the work along. I am not sure how it will feel using Facebook as a missionary, but if that is what the Lord wants, it shall be done. I am sure it will not be the same use as before at home. Most likely It will be a new account as Elder Shafer, but who knows. Either way, that plus Mormon.org and other media usage, I know will bring us greater sucess. That truly is the day and age we live in now. As shown by the broadcast too. They showed so many videos and clips during it! 

We had a great dinner with Marc Gardner (Jr) this last week. He is heading back to Hawaii for school but invited us out to dinner with him and an investigator friend of his. He also spoke in our combined sacrament meeting we had with the other ward before viewing the broadcast a week from yesterday. It was really cool to retell his story with my investigators and other members. There are no coincidences for sure. Now that I live in the area, Marc Sr and I will be in contact more often as well. He wants to show me around Mom's old house that is still here from 30 years ago! Pretty cool! :) 

I am so fortunate to be here in this area at this time. Cantonese keeps improving and is an answer to prayer every day. I have a LONG ways to go, but at least I am getting a lot better at understanding people. I didn't realize how differently even Cantonese people speak one from another. Each city has it's own accent and so not only is the language difficult, but understanding different people's accents adds to the mix as well. I can understand Hong Kong accents the easiest because I have had HK companions, but I am finally starting to get the Guangzhou accents down a bit more as well. Now just a couple other cities in the large mass of Southern China and I will be okay haha, but I know that the Lord is helping me every step of the way. 

I love you all so much! Time just keeps flying by over here! Does the world spin as fast on that side of the planet as this one??

Also, Wanted to just double check and see the update for the New mission. Who is the New Mission President in Vancouver? How are things going there regarding that? I pray that you will accomplish your missionary goals back home!

Love,

Elder Shafer