Fasting results, Cool stuff list, New investigators, Thanksgiving

Hey Everybody,

This week has been pretty cool. Matt got a job! We have been fasting and praying for him for a long time. We are hoping that the secrurity can help bring a peace and love to his and Alicia's home that will help them out.

I made a list of all the stuff that is awesome here that I need to bring back with me. Milo, which is like hot chocolate or Nesquick but totally different. Tim Tams, which are little chocolate cookies that you do Tim Tam slams with. Turkish Delight, which is a boss candy bar like the orange and raspberry sticks you get at Christmas but better and bigger. Solo, which is like carbonated lemonade. It's super good. Mi Goreng, which is like ramen noodles but thicker and better.

I learned some good Mormon pickup lines at the Perry's house. They are member family in our ward. "Which temple is your favorite? cause I'm looking at mine." "Is your name Virtue? Because you garnish my thoughts unceasingly." "Your name is so familiar, I think I remember it from my patriarchal blessing." "Wanna hold the Priesthood?" Ha ha. Pretty good, no?

We taught some Jehovah's Witnesses the other day. They only wanted to argue. Every time we tried to bear our testimonies, they would shut us down with some random point of doctrine. It's okay though. We tried our best.

We found a lot of new investigators this week. My favorite is a Chinese lady we met yesterday. She is going to China to see her family over the holidays, but will be back later. Her name is Aga. She is in her 20s. She doesn't know who Jesus Christ is. She has never heard of the bible, and she doesn't know what baptism is. She is a clean slate who really wants to learn.

Another lady we met couldn't tell where I was from again. This has happened a few times now. I guess I don't sound like an American. They always have to ask what my accent is. This High Priest in the ward stretched and yawned REALLY big in Sunday school yesterday. I almost died trying to not laugh.

I love you all so much. I am pumped to be a missionary. Transfers are next week - crazy! I'm gonna hit six months in just a few days. It's almost Christmas. I'm almost 20. It's all zooming by so fast.

Thanksgiving isn't a holiday here, but the Americans celebrate it and some Australians know about it.  November is a month of Thanksgiving. It is gonna be cool. Your dinner plans sound boss!

Love you all,
Elder Jamison

Guadalupe was baptized!!

Upto Bro?!

Hey everything here is boss! We had five dinner appointments in two days this week. Crazy huh? Usually not many people feed us but we got a ton. I have still been losing weight though. I'm down to 58 kilos. I guess my baby fat is leaving. You can see my abs without me flexing again. I look like a stud.

Guess what!!! Guadalupe was baptized and confirmed like five hours ago. I still have to wait another week for pictures, but Elder Shields confirmed it all to me. Her mom reluctantly signed the permission slip. Guadalupe received a real spiritual confirmation the church is true. When we are baptized and receive the Holy Ghost we are so much better. We are happier, have more peace and joy in our lives, and we can experience so many blessings that God has for us.

Did I tell you about the Iranians we taught last week? I think I did but just in case we taught some Iranians the other day and they were keen as. They don't live in our area, so we referred them to some Sisters in their area. We heard this week that they are progressing amazingly and might be getting baptized!! I'm so happy when our hard work pays off. Our area isn't doing so hot. All our baptismal dates dropped but we won't give up. All of them can still progress and they have only a few concerns. I went on exchanges twice this week, once with Elder Pearse in our district and once with our zone leader, Elder Duke. We have been teaching this guy named Brother Brothers. He is cool. He is less active and needs a lot of help. He wants to go to the temple though so we are working with him. On Sunday, we sat in on Primary. I was so amazed at how strong the spirit was. We sang some songs and had a very simple lesson, but the spirit was unrestrained. I think Primary is the best. I'm going to nursery next week ;) If primary is simple and spiritual just think how epic babies are!

OH OH OH !!!!! I JUST REMEMBERED MY DREAM!!!  So, I was at transfer meeting and Gustavo was there. his named tag said Elder Tafi though, which was odd, but it was still him. I gave him the biggest man hug and was so PUMPED!! I cant wait until you all go on missions. Colton, Gustavo, Carter, Kurt, Thomas, Michael, err body. You are a bunch of studs and I miss you a ton. Adam and Jake come home soon. mid-March I think. Make sure you let them know how much I freaking love them!! I love getting your emails, I don't have a ton of time on P-days, but I do read them all, and I try to reply to them. Just know that I love you and am so grateful for your support. I especially love hearing about my awesome siblings, you are a bunch of studs. All of you are so different but so unified and awesome.

Love you all, see you lates.
Elder Jamison

A cool week

Hey everybody!

This week has been so cool!

On Monday, we saw a ton of kangaroos! They were little greys. They are about 4 feet tall and pretty cute. The red ones only live in the outback. They can be like 8 ft I guess. I'm starting to get onto metric system now. It kinda makes sense.... but not really.

On Tuesday, we taught Matt and Alicia. They really are so cool. We are gonna be fasting with them tomorrow. They really need to decide whether or not they want to get married here in Australia. I know that, with the fast, they will be blessed. If they do get married then Matt can be baptized!! His date is set for Dec 18th right now.

On Wednesday, we did some service for the Perry family. They are really cool. Sam Perry is the son who is moving in with them. He is recently married to a Kiwi lady. She is really nice and a good cook. Sam is so cool, he is a Pokemon nerd too! He has almost all of the original Pokemon cards! He told me a little about the new game that just came out. I guess it is pretty cool. Pokemon rocks. Later that day we got to teach a family from Iran!! They were super nice, they didn't speak a ton of English but we gave them a Persian book of Mormon and they want to know more. They don't live in our area though so we gave their address and number to some Sister missionaries.

So...  the garbage system here is pretty crazy. People just leave piles of junk on the road. It gets picked up weekly, but you can find all sorts of cool stuff - full sets of tires, furniture, toys, scooters and skateboards. It is super sweet. The newlyweds who can't afford a ton go out on weekends and find stuff they need. Pretty cool huh?!

We are starting to teach a guy named Able. He is from Sudan. He grew up around a lot of bad stuff. They moved to Kenya to escape the war there that is going on and then came here to Australia. He is praying about our church and whether or not he should be baptized. He says he will do whatever God asks him to.

I guess the other night I was talking in my sleep... in Spanish. Crazy huh? I guess SoCal rubbed off on me. I was singing in my sleep the other night too. One night, I had a crazy dream. I was just home off my mission and I saw Nate. He had adopted a baby from Africa. It was super cute. Crazy stuff. Dreams are really weird.

Okay, okay, okay... GUESS WHAT!! I'm so pumped!! Elder Shields emailed me and said that Guadalupe is getting baptized on the 16th!! I want to just shout out loud!! I feel like crying right now I am so happy. I don't know how it happened, but that is what he told me.

My testimony is rock solid and nothing will take me away from the truth. Jesus Christ lives. He is the Savior of the world and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His church on the earth today. This is the truth. If you want to know this for yourself, ask God. He loves you and will answer your prayer.

I love you all so much.
Elder Jamison

Expensive Food, Postman, Kangaroos

Dear Bishop Remington

Bishop Remington,

I have just returned from Perth Australia. While there, I had dinner at my brother's place (Robert Elliott) and the missionaries were also there. One of them was a young man from your ward. I can’t remember his name, but I am sure you know who he is. Young looking with dark blond hair and glasses. He and his companion gave a great after dinner presentation on the Savior to three inactive and one non-member who were also there. Sounds like he is enjoying his mission and judging from the lesson he presented he is doing a great job. Looked in great health and happy. Thought you might want to pass this onto his family.

Regards,
Susan Fisher



Hi Sister Fisher,

Thank you so much.  That would be Elder Joshua Jamison. His family was in our ward until we had a re-boundary of ward a couple years ago and they fell into the Lakeridge Ward.  Yes, he is an outstanding young man and comes from a great family.  Thanks so much for the report.

Best Regards,
Ron

Service, teaching, Australia is a melting pot.

Hey Err Body,

This week has been pretty sweet - slow, but sweet. There aren't too many people here that want to hear about the gospel. That is okay though because the people we do teach are so solid. One of them is a woman in her 40s named Natalie. She has two kids who are so cool. They live with her on weekends and with their dad during the week. She is a pretty cool lady, she needed help painting her son's bedroom. It was nasty as. It was the grossest empty room I had ever seen. When we were done with it that place shined. Gorgeous! She took her kids to see Thor 2 the other day. I didn't even know that had come out. Supes jelly. She grew up Catholic but she has a lot of issues in her life that need the help of the Atonement. I am excited to begin teaching her.

We teach this other family too. They are a part member family. The dad, Matthias, is from Ethiopia and is not a member. He wants to be though. He is a great guy and has a lot of faith and love for others. His wife, Alishia, is less active and has been since she was a little girl. She doesn't have very much faith, which is sad, but she is an amazing lady who wants to find happiness and love in her life. They have 4 kids who are so boss. We built a trampoline for them. What sucks is that Matt and Alishia were married in Ethiopia which isn't a recognized state of marriage here in Australia. They need to be legally married before Matt can get baptized. He has a date for both though... Dec 18th. I'm so excited, I hope I am still here next transfer.

There is also another part member family we are teaching. One day, a couple months ago, a less active member named DJ knocked on the missionaries door and asked for the Bishop's number. He said he wanted to get his life in order. Now he is active. He paid tithing last week. We are teaching his wife Taylor. She a is great lady and has a lot of faith. She wants to know everything about the church before she is baptized so we have been pushing her date back a lot. Right now we are shooting for Nov 23rd.

That is all the people we are teaching. In comparison to the California Ventura mission, we are teaching about a third the people. We tract A LOT. I really don't like tracting, but it seems to be the only way to find people to teach. I think I want to start focusing more on less actives and part member families. There are a lot of those here.

I am just now realizing how big the world really is. I always knew it was huge, but being in a different country really proves it. There are people here from everywhere - Iran, Sudan, Ethiopia, America, Tasmania, New Zealand, the Polynesian islands, etc. I love that aspect of it so much. These are all children of God and he loves them all so much, no matter where they are from. People talk really funny here. I might say something that sounds weird to you. If I do, that is because everyone says it here. They say zed instead of z here too. When I first heard someone say it I cracked up, it was so funny! There was a crazy lady at a dinner appointment we had. I guess schizophrenia is really common here. I think I have met at least five people who have it. Most of the old people here are Anglican, or part of the church of England. They never want to talk to us, but we teach a surprising number of Arabic people. They want to have Christ in their lives so much.

I saw a magazine cover that made me almost die. It had articles in it about all the cool movies coming out soon. Amazing Spiderman 2, Captain America 2, Robocop, Godzilla, X-Men... AAAAAAAAAA!!!!! jk. I'm fine now, I have stopped caring so much about missing things. I just tuck it away until when I get back.

I love you all so much,
Love Elder Jamison