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. 

Video Chat - 1st November 2021 - His New Trainee, Companion Number 18, Elder Rea

The big news this week of course was Elder East picking up his new trainee, Elder Rea. I'll give a bit of a summary of Elder East's week as per usual.

The rest of his previous P-Day (Mon 24th Oct) was spent helping to open up Elder Reeves' new flat. Elder Reeves' area was being split and he was opening the new area with a new trainee as well. Elder East said that he was jealous that the new flat had a barbecue, although it did have a garage only accessible from a laneway, which wasn't so good. 

On Tuesday Elders East and Reeves went to the combined Adelaide Zones' Conference. Elder Reeves was providing the music (piano) for the conference so it was otherwise fairly quiet for Elder East. He said it was good with the missionaries doing a breakdown of D&C section 4. He did lament however that conference post-lunch sessions are always hard as they "digest" after lunch. 

Elder East said that he caught up with some of his previous companions at the conference - Elder Davey & Evans as well as Elder Stiles - the other missionary from Canberra.

On Wednesday the new trainees arrived during the afternoon. Elder East has been assigned Elder Rea from Mount Marrow, near Ipswich in Queensland. Elder Rea was originally assigned to the Wellington New Zealand Mission but will be serving in the AAM until the respective boundaries open up and missionaries from Australia can travel to New Zealand. Elder Rea is young - only 18 - and is the third of six children. He has two older brothers that are both on missions at the moment as well, and two younger sisters and a younger brother. Prior to coming on his mission Elder Rea was doing a carpentry apprenticeship. When we asked Elder East what type of carpentry he said "furniture, heritage stuff". Elder Rea is very tall - six foot two. Elder East describes Elder Rea as a "real country boy."

After orientation for the trainees on Wednesday afternoon, President Johansson took them all out to dinner at a nearby restaurant. It turned out to be a more expensive restaurant than President Johansson was expecting, but he decided they'd stay and told the missionaries to order what they wanted.  Elder East ordered a $65 rack of ribs. He reckoned it was the best meal he's had since Christmas dinner last year. 

The Elders all spent the night at Elder Reeves' new flat again before joining in a District Council on Thursday morning. Elders East & Rea then drove up to Port Lincoln and got Elder Rea settled in.

On Friday they went out to several appointments and taught several lessons.

On Saturday they went and provided some service at a member's home doing gardening. The family then gave them lunch and the Elders also taught a lesson. Afterwards, Elder Rea had his first taste of tracting which Elder East said that he enjoyed. 

On Sunday after Church, they attended a barbecue that was put on by some of the members. 

They have a referral from a Bishop in Melbourne from somebody in one of the country towns who is interested in being taught and getting baptised. They have to try and work out how they can teach them, and how the members can help support them as the person is 3.5 hours away from the missionaries in the Eyre Peninsula and an hour away from the nearest members.

Elder East says that Elder Rea is doing well after his first few days in the mission field.

Other notes from our discussion:

• Elder Rea went to school with one of the missionaries in the AAM.
• Elder Rea reckons that Elder East must be cheating at a card game they've played together :)
• They have four dinners and two lunches scheduled with members for the coming week.
• On Thursday nights they will often get leftover bakery products from one of the sisters from the branch who works in a bakery.
• Elder East has had a quick message from Elder Haycock since he returned home to say that he's doing OK. 
• Elder East reckons that he's getting into "Christmas mode" - whatever that may mean :)
• President Johansson is looking at reintroducing some of the rules around when and how missionaries can get together for social gatherings. He'd previously removed the rules in place from President Marquis. I think Elder East is kind of happy to see some of them being reintroduced.

Video Chat - 25th October 2021 - Companion Number 17 ... Elder Burgess

It was only a brief chat this week ... as Elder East was once again preparing for a new companion. To see his full companionship list see the Companionship Page on this blog. Elder East had spent the previous week as companions with Elder Burgess from the Gold Coast. 

On Monday  Elders East & Aiho drove down to Adelaide where they stayed overnight for a District Council on Tuesday morning, at which point Elder Burgess then went with Elder East back up to Point Pirie on Tuesday afternoon. 

Elder East said that he and Elder Burgess provided a lot of service to people in Port Pirie during the week. This included going to Sister Harrison, the older Sister who feeds them in the branch, as well as heading out to the town of Gladstone to help clean up a backyard for somebody there. 

Elder East had identified that Gladstone is where one of our relatives was meant to be buried, so they visited the town graveyard whilst out there. They were unable to find our relative's grave though. He did comment that there were unmarked graves there though, so we might need to do some additional research to find out more details. 

Speaking about Elder Burgess Elder East said that they talked a lot and that Elder East helped Elder Burgess out. He says that Elder Burgess has good factual knowledge but little experience teaching or role-playing, so it sounds like this companionship was an opportunity to provide an extended training experience for Elder Burgess. Elder East commented that they did get the opportunity to teach a lesson to a new member in the Branch.  

Following their shortened week together, they got the call on Saturday that Elder East would be receiving one of the new trainees arriving the next Wednesday (27th Oct) and that Elder Burgess would be transferred up to Darwin. 

They drove down to Adelaide to stay at the Playford Elders flat so that Elder Burgess could fly out on Monday to Darwin. In the meantime, Elder East would be companions with Elder Reeves for the 2 days until his trainee arrived. Elder Reeves' area is being split and he is also getting a new trainee on Wednesday too.

Elder East and Reeves had developed a friendship before Elder East's mission started, and their Mums have become friends. They were both excited to hear that their sons would be serving together, even if only for a couple of days. Elder East said that Elder Reeves didn't count as a proper companion though - it's just a temporary companionship. They had spent some time that P Day afternoon driving through some of the Barossa Valley that makes up the Playford Elder's area.

On Tuesday (26th Oct) they will be having a combined Zone Conference for the Adelaide Zones, and then picking up their trainees on Wednesday. 

A few other quick notes from our discussion:

• Elder East discovered that he'd incurred a speeding fine back in Darwin (45km/h in a 40km/h zone), so had to arrange to pay for that. 
• We had planned on going to WA before he started his mission, however, Covid-19 caused that trip to be canceled. We will likely plan for a trip to WA next year after he returns home. 
• Elder East got to see his Mum hand-feeding wild cockatoos on the balcony back home.

Video Chat - 17th Oct 2021 - Companion Number 16 ... Elder Aiho (Again)

 Lots of changes during the past week for Elder East when we spoke to him last week. We actually spoke to him briefly on the Sunday night as he wasn't going to be free during P Day the next day. He sent us a couple of photos from the week and gave us a rundown of his week as follows:

Tuesday - With Elder Haycock preparing to fly home back to Perth, Elder East spent the day with the APs. They were involved in a District Council, after which Elder East found out that he would be companions with Elder Aiho. He and Elder Aiho had previously been companions back in Morialta Ward over the Christmas-New Year period. Elder Aiho had been moved into a three-way companionship during the last transfer. They drove back to Port Pirie on Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday - They had a teaching appointment that went well.

Thursday - They provided service to a member, cleaning out their backyard that had forty years of accumulated junk in it. Family friend Dannielle also served in Port Pirie on her mission. Presumably, the family made the connection that she and Elder East knew each other as she was sent the following photos which she forwarded on to us.

Friday & Saturday - The Elders had trade-offs over Friday/Saturday with the Elders in Gulfview Heights, swapping the companions on each day. Elder East said that they went tracting on both days and were able to give out a Book of Mormon and also get a return appointment at another home.

Sunday - they were at Church in Port Pirie. Edler East said they had about 30 in attendance, which is good for the branch. Elder East was advised that they needed to come back down to Adelaide tomorrow (Mon 18th Oct) as he was receiving a new companion, Elder Burgess from Queensland. His new companion needed some assistance and President Johansson felt that Elder East was the right person to assist.

Elder East was sounding a bit tired/down during our video call. He's tired of driving to Adelaide - it's a 5-hour round trip and tomorrow is going to be his fifth trip in 2 weeks. (Transfer up, get spare key, change of companion, trade-offs, change of companion)  as well as having his 3rd companion change in 2 weeks. (Roberts > Haycock > Aiho > Burgess.) He's feeling a bit run down.

Some other quick notes:

• He made the comment to us that he believes that one of Mum's ancestors is buried in Gladstone, a town only about 30 minutes away from Port Pirie. Her family came out to South Australia as free settlers back in the 19th century. Elder east will try and get out to visit the grave.
• With all of the driving he's been doing, he needs some different church music to listen to. 
• He got the chance to go to a games store whilst on trade-offs ... and now wants to buya  Dungeons & Dragons book that's just come out ...

Video Chat - 11th October 2021 - Elder Haycock Comes and Goes

It was a busy week for Elder East. He flew down to Adelaide for transfers on Tuesday morning (5th Oct). knowing that his trainee wasn't arriving straight away. He would go out to join Elders Brown and Burgess in Tea Tree Gully Ward. It would turn out that his trainee, Elder Haycock, from Perth, would be arriving the following day.

Wednesday was Elder East's grandmother's funeral, and he had permission from President Johannson to join in watching the broadcast of the funeral service and burial. Elder Haycock's flight arrived whilst the funeral was on, so Elder East didn't go to meet him at the airport. They then spent the rest of Wednesday doing training and admin with Elder Haycock, staying overnight in Adelaide with Elder Reeves and his companion.

On Thursday they then drove up to Port Pirie and spent the day cleaning up the missionary flat from the previous Elders as well as unpacking and setting up their own stuff.

On Friday they started to focus on more training for Elder Haycock, including watching a bunch of videos that are part of the training. To do this they went to the chapel to be able to use the internet connection for the video streaming. After finishing in the evening they went back to their flat, and as they were trying to get into their flat, the front door key broke. OK ... time to call the mission office to find out if there's a spare key. Unfortunately Elder East realised his phone only had a 3% charge left before it would go flat. 

They did manage to get in touch with the mission office but had to spend Friday night in a motel with nothing but the clothes on their backs. On Friday morning they then had to drive halfway down to Adelaide to meet up with the APs who had a spare key to their flat at the mission office. 

Whilst all of this was going on, Elder Haycock had received a call to let him know that his elderly father had been admitted to hospital. His parents are not overly active in the Gospel and his Mum, who is from the Philippines has little in the way of a local support network. She was asking that Elder Haycock come home from his mission for support. 

The Elders went to the chapel for the Saturday evening broadcast of general conference. During the evening  Elder Haycock was able to contact his father who also requested that he come home to help. Elder Haycock spoke to President Johansson and then his Bishop and Stake President back in Perth. He made the decision that he would head back home to assist even though he wanted to be staying out in the mission field. 

On Sunday morning they went to the general conference broadcast and managed to catch up with Craig, a gentleman who describes himself as a "professional investigator." They were invited along with Craig to a member's house for lunch. She was an older lady who has a reputation for unusual food recipes from old cookbooks. Elder East advised that lunch included such things as curried bananas and a salad made from rockmelon, capsicum, onions and marshmallows. 

After their meal, they spent Sunday afternoon repacking their bags and then heading down to Adelaide. They had dinner with the Port Pirie branch president in Kadina, a town about an hour south of Port Pirie on the way to Adelaide. After dinner, they were able to teach a lesson to the Branch President's family before making their way down to Adelaide to stay with the Playford Elder's overnight.

Now, on P Day, Elder East was with other missionaries at a P Day activity in Fremont Park. Elder Haycock would be flying home on Tuesday (12th Oct). Both Elders East and Haycock said that they knew that it was sad for him to be returning home after having just arrived but they knew it was the right decision. As the entire situation unfolded, Elder East said that things just kept "happening" but he felt calm and OK about how things were progressing. Elder Haycock wanted to stay out in the mission field but wanted to be able to return and help as well. He is wanting to return back to the mission field when he can. 

My personal opinion is that sometimes we shouldn't second guess the Lord. Maybe Elder Haycock will get the chance to return quickly and enjoy a full two-year mission. Maybe all that the Lord required from Elder Haycock was to prepare and show that he was ready to serve a mission. Having shown his willingness to do so, maybe the Lord knows that his responsibilities now lay with looking after his parents for a long time. Maybe his service will fall as a mixture between the two. As long as we try and seek Heavenly Father's will for us and try to align ourselves to it, we will be an instrument in the Lord's hands to help others in His way.

A few other tidbits of information about Elder Haycock:

• He plays gridiron competitively back in Perth. He had been planning to go to the USA to play gridiron before Covid hit. 
• Elder Haycock knew both Holly Olde and Connor Dowe, people that Elder East knew from Perth
• Elder Haycock and Elder East both attended FSY in Perth in 2018. They were in different groups, but did know some of the same people from FSY.
• Elder East says that Elder Haycock was really into cars.
• Even though they only served together a short time, they got on really well, and Elder East would love to catch up with Elder Haycock back in Perth after both of their missions are finished.

Video Chat - 4th October 2021 - Transferred To Point Pirie via Tea Tree Gully Ward

The big news from Elder East was that, yes, he is being transferred. He will be heading down to train a new missionary out in Port Pirie. There is however a snag in that there are some issues with getting his trainee into the mission. Consequently Elder East would be flying down to Adelaide on Tuesday morning and then serving in a three-way companionship until his trainee arrived.  He would be joining Elders Brown & Burgess in Tea Tree Gully Ward. Elder East has previously served with Elder Brown back in Onkaparinga Ward. Elder Bianchi is a relatively green missionary from Huonville in Tasmania.

As much as Elder East is sad at leaving Darwin, he's happy to be serving in a regional town. The area also covers the Port Augusta and Whyalla Branches, but he doesn't know how much they'll get to go and work outside of Port Pirie. 

Elder East will no longer be Zone Leader, having been one for about 10 months. He thinks that training will be harder from a teaching point of view, but easier from a 'living" point of view than being a  Zone Leader.

Elder East is excited to see Elder Brown even though it's only until his trainee arrives. This will be the third three-way companionship he's had with Elder Brown.

This is only a very small transfer, with few missionaries moving and only two new missionaries coming into the mission. Elder Aiho - another of Elder East's old companions - finishes his mission before the next transfer so he's being moved into a three-way companionship, and his companion is being transferred up to Alice Springs. 

Last week they spent a bit of time with the Darwin Elders. The Darwin Elders are involved with community basketball, so they spent time playing basketball and talking to people on Tuesday afternoon, and then a full trade-off over the Thursday and Friday. Elder east was with Elder Nalesoni - another of his old companions.

Elder East said that they taught a lot of lessons throughout the week. They had lessons with most of the people they had been working with which went well. They had Camille, a less active recent convert, come along to Church which they were happy to see. Elder East knew about transfers before Church started so he was asked to share his testimony during the meeting. After Church they got to go and provide sacrament for a sister out on a property. Elder East was quite impressed that she had emus and peacocks roaming around her property.

Video Chat - 27th September 2021 - Territory Wildlife Park and Bad News About Nanny

We had received the news on the Sunday night that Elder East's paternal grandmother had been put into palliative care and was only expected to last a day or two before passing. We notified the mission office about the circumstances and advised that we'd be letting Elder East know on P Day. We didn't want to delay notifying him in case she passed away quickly, we wanted him to be prepared. 

Contacting him early on P Day, he told us he wasn't free to speak at the time. The Senior Missionary couple was taking the Elders and four of their grandkids to the Territory Wildlife Park. The park is a natural habitat zoo in Berry Springs, about 45 minutes south of Darwin and they were currently on their way driving to the Park.

Once they arrived at the Park we were able to have a quick call and let Elder East know about his grandmother. We know that it's something he would want to silently contemplate through the day.

The Park that they were visiting was essentially a big zoo that showcases the NT environments The Park featured a forest, wetlands, a coastal exhibit, a nocturnal house, a lagoon, an aviary and even an aquarium.  Elder East particularly liked the Birds of Prey show that showcased eagles but also included other large birds such as emus and storks. He said that the show included an eagle that cracked open an egg using a rock, a little-known natural behavior for the eagle in the wild which the show highlights. 

Elder East sent us through a few photos from the day.

Going back over the events of the week, the Elders flew back from Alice Springs on Tuesday (21st Sep) morning after which they then met up with Elder East's Great Uncle Ross who was visiting Darwin. They went out for lunch at a nearby burger joint.  He said it was good meeting up with Uncle Ross. The rest of Tuesday involved catching up with P Day activities like shopping that they weren't able to do due to still being in Alice Springs.

Elder East had his second covid vaccine shot on Thursday (23rd Sep). He was fortunate not to get too serious side effects but was very tired on Friday. Elder Roberts was scheduled to have his second covid vaccination on Saturday (2nd Oct).

On Thursday evening they attended the Branch Coordination Council. Afterward, when heading to their car they had an inebriated local approach them wanting them to drive him home about 20-30 minutes away. Missionaries aren't allowed to take other people in their cars so they politely declined. The local then wanted money for food.  They said that they would go get him some at which point he tried to get into their car. They politely stopped him from doing so and then left and got him some McDonalds. When they returned with food for him he seemed surprised that they'd actually returned. 

Friday was spent Zooming in to the Missionary Leadership Council that was being held down in Adelaide. 

On Saturday they provided some service to a less-active member by mowing their lawn. They ere pleasantly surprised when the member turned up to Church the following day.

On Saturday evening the two branches held a combined pot luck dinner and dance which the missionaries from both branches attended. One of their investigators attended the evening as they'd been invited by a member friend. Elder East said that he danced with a number of the elderly ladies during the evening, as well as joining in the Nutbush

Some other dot points from our discussion:

• The Elders bought a Magic The Gathering card collection from somebody they were working with which they'll split between themselves. 
• After having been good for a long time, they've eaten a lot of fast food over the last couple of weeks. Elder East says on the plus side that he now has enough winning stickers from the McDonald's Monopoly promotion that he doesn't have to pay next time they go to McDonalds. 
• His trainer Elder De Guzman managed to get home during the week, presumably on an out-of-cycle repatriation flight back home to the  Philippines. Elder East was disappointed he wasn't able to farewell him.
• We spent a bit of time talking about how Nanny (his grandmother) was doing and how her health had deteriorated over the last week.
• Transfers is next week and he thinks he'll likely be transferred. 
• The Elders did a short video which was shared on the mission social media pages during the week. They filmed the video down in Alice Springs.