What would Elder Neideck do?

 ELDER NEIDECK
Trainer, Assistant, all round good guy.

Good to hear things are cruising along. Still weird to not know what you and the family are going to be doing, whether you wil be in Tejas or at home. 

Well this week was really good and really bad. (I just found out the computer messed up the amount of time I have, damn thats so annoying) Anyways we had like 5 new investigators this week which was really awesome. Havent had that kind of result in a week in ages. None of them are too jumpy to get baptized or anything really, but they are all investigators so I guess that cant be a bad thing haha. Well 3 of them are investigators, we dropped 2 of them already. So thats been pretty cool just to be reminded that we actually can get investigators, sometimes out here it just seems like you cant no matter what you do. But obviously you can if we just did so thats pretty sweet. 

We are trying to have Rachael make her own date for baptism, so she is working on that, but she is progressing really well, reading the book of mormon a lot more and really keen to come to church when she isnt working, so that is pretty awesome, she even bought a dress that was church appropriate, (her others were all too short she said).

This next week we are having a conference from Elder Holland! That is going to be so awesome! He is coming to speak to all of the missionaries, I am way pumped. And I will have to be getting up at like 5am to drive to edinburgh for the conference this week, so that will be SO FUN. Just kidding, but hey, I will survive. Its Elder Beneschs last transfer, and we will be going on an exchange in a couple of weeks. I will really miss that guy, we have been in the same zone with him as my zone leader or me as his for my whole mission. I will really miss him, that will be hard to say goodbye. 

Well, things are just moving along here but I have to go cause the computer messed up my time so I am going to be coming up short here soon. 

 One of my Dad's companions sisters living in Aberdeen.

Some random Aussie hat I found in a flat.

Aberdeen update.

This week I just rededicated myself, I felt like I was working hard, but that I could work harder, so I said to myself and to the Lord, "dont hold anything back" And I didnt, I took Dads advice and organized our time so strictly that not a single second was wasted. It was hard and it exhausted me beyond reason, but I never felt better in the face of so much opposition. Something so interesting is what Abraham learned when he found that Ram caught in the thicket. After that terrible and harrowing experience, when Abraham had done the will of the Lord, and all he could do had been done, the Lord provided for Isaac's deliverance. How can we be like Abraham? If God could have found a deeper way to test Abraham, he would have done THAT. Go back and read the command of the Lord to him in Genesis 22. He is commanded to sacrifice, HIS ONLY SON, WHOM HE LOVEST! And because he would have done it, and went all the way to the mount, and lifted the knife, and would have so done, he then knew, that he was completely dedicated to God and to his Son. He needed to know that, we need to know that. Has God asked us to sacrifice something we wouldnt give? I know that I have not been as faithful as Abraham, in order to truly know that we are cleansed, we need that kind of spirit of loyalty to God. I learned this week that we need to Love Him more than we love ourselves. This week was still hard, but I felt like I had done enough to please the Lord, and that was the feeling I needed. 

Mothers Day, This one got lost in the shuffle

Good to hear from you as always. So first off for Mothers Day this week we are going to try to skype at 7:30 pm here. So I think that is in the morning for you. I am not completely sure. But I should be on right around that time. 

This week has been absolutely crazy.

 We had Zone Interview training which was great. Its probably my last interview that I will have with President Brown before he goes home in just a couple of months. I think its like 2 months now. Maybe less. Actually it is less I think. And I saw Elder Neideck, you know I just miss Elder Neideck every single day. That stupid german smile... 

This week we are doing heaps of travelling with all different exchanges and trying to also find new people to teach. Rachael accepted a date for baptism on the 23rd but she wasnt overly committed to it, so I dont know if she has REALLY ACCEPTED it actually. But I guess we will keep teaching her and see how it goes. 

This week is coming up to one year on a mission. Its a strange feeling, on one hand I feel good that I have made it halfway and I am still alive, on the other I sometimes struggle with hoping that God wont ask of me this year what he did last year, that was the hardest year of my life and I dont know if I could survive just doing it again. 

Its interesting to see that so often God asks us to do things that we really just dont think we can do. 

Oh and Mum, in your last week before your date, that desperation you feel is good. It will push you to find someone. Very rarely does God PRODUCE miracles out of nothing. But he helps us to WORK miracles by the grace of Christ and by helping us to do more and to be better. So just remember in your last week you will need to reach out more and talk to more people and invite as many people as you can. Thats the desperation that makes miracles. Thats the desperation that parted the sea in front of Moses when he and the children of Israel had nowhere else to go. Its good for you, even if it is scary. 

Love you Mum, 

you are the best. 

Elder Tang

The Highlands

So After Mothers Day Skype you have all the news. Lots of Driving this week as my companion does not have his full drivers license. So this was a little place we stopped to take a break at up in the Scottish Highlands. 

Zone is doing well, Had trade offs with the Assistants this week which was great. They are in a 3 way at the moment. 

President Brown is leaving soon.

Love my new Comp, here's a picture. 

Glad all is well at home

Love

Elder Tang

New comps and we are having success

So this week has been a crazy one. Absolutely hectic days for monday through friday. And even for the weekend it was just absolute craziness. Organizing the moves for all of the missionaries in our zone, planning where they will be at each different stage, then executing them. Being a lone Zone Leader for a day or two while Elder Dickinson was gone and Elder Scheuermann was coming in still. So crazy. So on wednesday it was hot, and we found some time to go to the beach, (wednesday was pday because it was moves day) no swimming of course...That was nice, but then the travel plans for some missionaries changed so we had to shoot. But I took a few pictures. Then the rest of the week we were shipping missionaries, planning for trainings we are giving this transfer, planning for the transfer, trying to tract. All of that stuff. Elder Scheuermann has already served in aberdeen ward before though so he doesnt even need to learn his way around, he knows people better than I do, its awesome. I am basically a junior companion haha. Fantastic. 

We had a phone cll with Rachael where she told us about a great experience she had praying this week. She was praying and usually she feels a little bit like she was talking to herself, but this particular time she felt sure that somebody was listening and she was sure that God heard her. How awesome is that? I was pretty chuffed. We were meant to be here today but she is sick so hopefully we will see her another time this week. Hopefully earlier rather than later. Only 6 weeks until Elder Holland comes to give a conference for the missionaries, how sweet is that? About 12 weeks until President Brown goes home and we get a new mission President named President Donaldson. Things are changing big time. You know how I said it was hot on wednesday, yeh well on sunday there was a blizzard that we drove through to get to our dinner appointment with a family whose oldest child is 9 and named Nathanael, even spelt the right way. I never met anybody else that spells it that wat. Sitting at the dinner table was so weird when people were calling Nate and Nathanael, I just kept looking up only to realize they werent talking to me. It was a tricky one. 

This week was just wild. And Elder Scheuermann is cool as anything. I love that guy, we just sing a lot. Its pretty fun, although he is a much better singer than me. 

Love you all. Remember that God offers us repentance even though we dont deserve it, thats called mercy folks, and its wonderful. 

Elder Tang

Snake and training

So my week was so busy, I didnt even tract for 1 hour this week because of all the stuff we needed to do. It was a really inspiring week though. We had mission leadership council with all of the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders in the mission, as well as President Brown and the AP's. It was just so inspiring. It was a little overwhelming because I was in there with all of these experienced missionaries who work hard and baptize heaps, I definitely felt like the runt. They were just all spiritual giants and I felt pretty inadequate. But coming out I was inspired to be better, and to become a better leader like they all are. Elder Neideck was there because he is a Zone Leader too, I think he will become Assistant to the President this transfer because we need a new one and he is just so good. And Elder Thackeray who was my first District Leader was there too. Plus a bunch of other missionaries that I look up to so much. If you cant already tell.... i loved it. 

On Exchanges with the AP's Elder Barney and I went to visit this investigator of theirs in Edinburgh and the craziest thing happened. Basically her and her husband have been coming to church for like a year, and their kids are baptized, but they arent because she had a lot of problems trying to get a divorce so that her (lisa) and her partner Martin could get married. So now they have it all sorted and they are getting married in 2 weeks and getting baptized the week after.  So we went to see them and she has really bad health problems and needs to walk with walking sticks and sometimes when she sits down she cant even get up because of all of these bone and muscle problems she has. So we prayed and we were going down to kneel, but we told her because of her conditions that could would understand and that she didnt have to kneel. She said "I can kneel and I will, praying is important" Amazing right? So it was really painful for her but she kneeled and we prayed, and it took both Elder Barney and I to help her back up after. Then she asked for a blessing, so that she could cope with her pain leading up to and during the wedding. Of course we were happy to give her a blessing. I annointed her with oil, then Elder Barney blessed her. There was nothing spectacular about the process, it was very simple and ordinary. But after we finished she was silent, she sat still for about 5 seconds maybe. Then said "As soon as the oil touched my head, the pain left me" She started to get really excited and jumped up, (by herself) and started to do a little dance, and the kids where jumping up and dancing and Martin was just sitting on the couch completely astonished. Then she put her hands up in the air, Martin said "I havent seen Lisa put her hands above her head in 2 years!" It was so amazing. Elder Barney and I were just amazed at seeing a miracle of such a huge impact. Then Lisa asked if we could kneel and pray to give thanks, so we did, and she knelt completely by herself without any pain, and when we finished the prayer I held out my hand to help her up, and she took it, but she didnt lean on my hand to help herself up for even a second. She didnt use me at all. MIRACLES DO HAPPEN! Jesus is amazing. 

So that is the good news. We also had a great district meeting today in inverness, I feel really inspired to work hard and to do the Lord proud. Its good because even though it is really hard, this week has just provided a lot of chances to feel the spirit and be inspired. 

Zone development and running around

New mission car Audi R8 everyone in Aberdeen has one of these babies..

So my week. It was pretty busy, we had a Zone Conference that Elder Dickinson and I had to train at. Lovely benefits of being a Zone Leader, it took us so long to plan. We were talking about Revelation through Church attendance, as in revelation for investigators. It went ok, but I think it couldve been just a little bit better. Hopefully next time we will have it down. We also just did a lot of finding. Weird though, Elder Dickinson was talking to this girl in the library when we were emailing last week and he invited her to come play sports with us at the church and with the other missionaries. So she came, and we taught her the next day, but later in the week she texted us asking if he and I wanted to go out with her and her friends on saturday night, that was really awkward. SO obviously we said no and we had to go over our whole purpose and explain it, but I feel really uncomfortable about that whole thing now. We are still teaching her, and she came to church, and in the lessons asked heaps of good questions. Elder Dickinson said that this has happened to him quite a lot, but I never had anything like that, apparently he knows what he is doing...  So we will see how this ends up turning out, whether we still teach her or we drop her. Then yesterday we had Zone development day which is always loads of fun. Except its a little more hectic when we are planning it, so you dont get to relax quite as much, it was still heaps of fun though. Now my body is so sore, we just played sports all day and did slacklining and flips and all of that good stuff. 

This week coming up we have even more hectic stuff. We wont be in our area proselyting until Thursday because today we need to drive all the way to inverness to do a baptismal interview and then drive back to elgin to exchange with Elder Fisher and Elder Miller. That will be pretty nuts, Elder Dickinson cant drive either so I get the lovely job of 4 and half hours of driving today. Oh man. I will need some snacks and some coke for sure. Just when you think life could not possibly get any more hectic it does. 

Oh and we had to get up at 5 this morning to take the Shetland Elders to the airport so they could catch their plane back to the shetland islands. Oh man oh man oh man. 

Well its just a crazy time. Zone conference was really good though, President Brown gave some instruction on the Holy Ghost and so did the AP's. It was really uplifting and was great to come together and recieve some revelation. Good fun. Well here are some photos. 

Love you. 

Elder Tang

Zone Development was actually warm enough to wear shorts! Crazy! 

Now the whole Zones flipping out!

My best parallel park ever