Video Chat - 8th November 2021 - No Fish & Chip Shops in Port Germein

Another weekly recount of how Elder East is doing out in the mission field.

Tuesday was spent doing a lot of doorknocking. They're trying to do at least an hour of doorknocking each day. They had a lesson with a lady who is involved a lot with family history. Elder East said that there was a name in her family tree (William Yates) that was the same as from one of his ancestors in Family Search. He was wondering if there could be some distant relation knowing that he has relatives from around the area. He also discovered that some of these people had graves in Port Pirie so he'll investigate further.

On Wednesday they did more doorknocking as well as provide some service for a member. Elder East said that the service involved a lot of shoveling and that a lot of the service they do is gardening or outside maintenance-related. 

They also had a teaching appointment with somebody they've been teaching for a while. He'd decided that for a laugh he was going to pretend to be a "Fundamentalist" to try and shock Elder Rea during the lesson.

On Thursday they helped a branch member with her family history. Specifically, there was a bit of ICT help required in trying to get her family history off of the old Personal Ancestral File and on to the Family Search website. 

On Friday they did over three hours of doorknocking, and as always is the way, the success didn't come until the end. The last three houses they doorknocked all resulted in return appointments. Maybe they just started at the wrong end of the street :)

Every Saturday they are providing service for a family in helping with their backyard cleanup and this week was no different. Later in the day they also taught a lesson. Elder East said that there was a "cool" thunderstorm that came through during the afternoon. In the evening they were at the nearby town of Port Germein.  They were hoping to get Fish & Chips for dinner whilst in town but found none, so ended up heading back to Port Pirie. Elder East sent us a photo of the two of them at the jetty at Port Germein. 

Elder East said that the highlight of the week spiritually was on Sunday. Besides Church, they were doorknocking and were able to teach two lessons that afternoon. One was to an 18-year-old guy with two of his mates and then another man later on. Elder East said that the Spirit was strong during the lessons. I'd like to hear more of these types of experiences from Elder East and in more detail. Sometimes we only find out about interesting or poignant events weeks or months after they occur when he'll casually mention them. It would be good to record more faith-promoting stories on this blog rather than just being a travelogue. Elder East has them, but he often doesn't think to share them with us even we ask about spiritual highlights of the week. 

Next weekend  (13th-14th Nov) they are hoping to get out to Whyalla Branch and visit the members around Whyalla and Port Augusta. They have contacted the referral from the previous week and arranged for them to come along to Whyalla Branch next Sunday (14th Nov).

They had been hoping to travel down to Adelaide last night (Sun 7th Nov) and then spend P Day with other missionaries before heading back to Port Pirie. Elder East is aiming to try and have a P Day meetup with the Adelaide Elders as a regular fortnightly event. Their plans were thrown into disarray though when they found out on Sunday that they had to travel down to Adelaide over Wednesday and Thursday (10th-11th Nov) for a devotional being held on Thursday. It is going to be a streamed devotional with Elder Lekias (Area Authority), several Area Seventies, and Elder Soares from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Other notes from our discussion:

• They are being fed a lot and are being given lots of leftovers as well. He said that the previous night's meal appointment had left them with about 6 servings of bolognese to take home. he says that their fridge is full and that they have "So much food."
• The mission had a Zoom meeting scheduled with President Johansson for that P Day evening (Mon 8th Nov.)
• Port Pirie Branch averages about 20-25 people in attendance at Sacrament each Sunday.
• Elder Rea is very physically fit. It's motivating Elder East to exercise. They've been going out jogging each morning. Elder East says that Elder Rea is also very smart. High praise from someone who's definitely no mental slouch himself.