So for the first (and probably the last) time in my life, I was asked to perform the Haka at a Samoan funeral. I just learned it that day, so I wasn't super confident in my haka skills, but it was SO COOL! We had all the missionaries from the Macarthur and Mortdale Zones there, and most of them are already islander (meaning they are familiar with hakas), so it was pretty awesome. There's a lot of build-up to the actual performance (war cries, grunting, heavy breathing), which just makes the haka super intimidating. I can totally see how it would be used to pump up warriors/rugby players.
The service was really good. They probably had about 1000 people there, which was really good for the family. The missionaries were also asked to carry the casket in and out, as well as sing called to serve and the army of helaman. It was a super powerful experience. The family also invited us to stay afterwards for the food and everything, so President Bingham let us stay out later (crazy!)
I'm also learning how to play footy (very similar to rugby). It's actually a really fun sport, and you end up getting a lot of exercise. President Bingham only wants us to play touch, which is probably a good thing, because elder sim is probably 3-4 times smaller than some of the other elders. haha
Australia also won the Rugby world cup!!! (not really a big surprise; it's always between Australia and New Zealand)
So last P-day we went to the botanical gardens here, which is just a big reserve park with a small section dedicated to growing lots of cool Australian plants. Elder Sim was going to catch a snake, but we couldn't find one. Instead, we took a picture with a komodo dragon! (see attached picture;)
So spiritual experiences:
We started teaching a 10 year old girl named Kalena. At first, I was a little bit apprehensive because at 10, I feel like she doesn't know enough to make an informed decision about becoming a member of the church. But as I got to know her, I realized just how special she is as a person. She lives in Claymore, the ghetto portion of the area, in a house with her single mom and older brother who are not interested at all with taking the lessons. But she has been prepared by Heavenly Father to receive the lessons. She always takes time to sit down with us (outside) and is interactive and engaged in the lessons. She is sincerely interested in improving her life. It serves as a testimony to me that the elect hear God's voice and respond to the call, regardless of the age.
We got to go give a blessing this week to a less-active family. While we were there, the mother broke down and started crying because she felt so guilty that she called us to give a blessing to her son (1 year old who has hand/foot/mouth), but hadn't been attending church. It turns out that her and her husband had been discussing bringing the kids back to church for a while. To me, it was obvious that Heavenly Father put things in motion to change that desire into action. If they hadn't called us for a blessing, it would have been months before the missionaries stopped by and extended an invitation. But Heavenly Father knew that they could benefit from having the gospel in their lives right now.
That's about it for now!
Elder Nelson
To Pace: see the attached pictures
Picture 1: A little thought from my personal scripture study. haha
Picture 2: So I've got a new Frisbee trick I've learned in my downtime at the end of the day. See if you can get it down by Christmas ;)
To Isaac: Thanks for the pictures :) They mean a lot more when you're on your mission ;)
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