Week 68 Transferred to Brisbane North

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I am so mad!! I got transferred!! I got moved to Brisbane North. It is a good area but still NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I was so upset to leave. After all that has happened in the Gold Coast, saying goodbye to everyone was the hardest thing!!

I was in Gold Coast for 6 months so I got really attached to the people. It was amazing to see success there and watch them grow.

Sheila is still going amazing and has not missed a week or had a sip of coffee. She was hard to leave. It was truly amazing to see her feel the spirit and react to it. I will miss her heaps.

Our week was pretty hectic. We had heaps going on this week because it was the end of the transfer. So for one full day we got to clean our flat and the new flat that the sister missionaries are moving into.

The next day we had our Christmas mission party. That took all day and was fun but also tiring. Then we had our ward Christmas part on Saturday for Tallai ward where Elder Lim is serving.

I felt like we did not do any real big mission work. It was pretty quiet.

I wish I had more to say. There was no big thing that happened. It was a good week for fun and Christmas.

I do have a stupid story though. At the ward Christmas part they set up a zip line that was just terrible. If you weighed more than 10 pounds you hit the ground. So they took down the rope and put it up on top of a tree 50 fit up and asked if we would pull kids up and then lower them down. They had two harnesses and let the little kids put it on all by themselves. Geez I did not participate and I tried to stop it. Some kid was going to die. We could pull them up and then accidentally drop the rope or trip and the kid would fall. Plus there were some big kids. No matter how many times I said, “bad idea” the 1st counselor went with it. I took some videos of it happening.

I am so glad I learned safety in scouts. The best thing I did was tighten a few harnesses up before they about fell off. So dumb!!

I am sure that next week is going to be crazy!! Learning a new area is always fun. It should be great!!

I love you all and I will write more next week.

Week 67 The Spirit Really Testifies

Bia and Alessandra got baptized!!! Oh my goodness it was the most stressful thing as all baptisms are. Man has it been so fun and rewarding though.

It started out last Monday at our lesson with them. Bia started to avoid us and not agree with what we taught because her mom was telling her to do it. Well she is a teenager and rebelled against her mom so it scared us a bit.

About halfway through the week she dropped her date and did not want to do it anymore. She did not want to keep the word of wisdom or the law of chastity. We were pretty sad but still excited for Alessandra. She was rock solid and just wanted to do it as soon as possible.

On the night of the interview we got to their house early to teach one last lesson but Alessandra ended up having to work late so it was just Bia. We made sure to sit outside but we took the opportunity to teach her boldly and without Mom breathing down her neck. Bia speaks very good English so we could communicate. With Alessandra we need to get translated.

As we started to have a real talk with Bia both of us told her about our rebellious teen lives and how now we see that our crazy moms really do love us and wanted the best. We also explained how the commandments worked the same way. It is just God trying to protect us. Man it was a cool powerful moment with her.

At the end of it she asked if she could still get baptized!! YES!!!! The spirit is real and it teaches people and causes them to change!! She got interview and passed and so did Alessandra.

The next day at the baptism it was beautiful. By far the best one I have had on my mission. Heaps of members came and one family learned how to sing I Am a Child of God in Portuguese. That was the coolest moment. Both Bia and her mom were in tears and you just knew that the spirit was there and that they were ready.

The coolest lesson I learned from teaching them has changed me forever as a teacher and missionary. From our first lesson with them, they could not even understand us. They had no clue what we were saying but they had a clue on what they were feeling. For the first time I had the biggest realization that the spirit is the teacher. We always say it but in this one it was so relevant. It did not matter what the heck we said, all it took was them to feel the spirit. No words in English could have convinced them this church was true. It was only the spirit. The cool part now is when I have a comp struggling with English I can share this with him. Who cares if he struggles to say the right thing when teaching. It just does not matter.

That was just the coolest part of the week. This really is the Lord’s work and he loves his children. He has a way prepared for all of them. No language barrier can get in the way.

Now time for a fun Elder Cahoon story moment.

We have a member in our ward who cuts hair. We go there all the time now to get our hair cut. Their names are Ephraim and Jess Hannet. They are so fun. So last P-day we went over for our haircut as usual and it was great.  I look so good. The funnest part about these members is they treat us like normal people. All members do but there is always a little weird feel. Anyway not at the Hannet house. We talk and laugh just like family. I think I might have mentioned them before but anyway.

At the end of our haircuts we just go shower and get clean for dinner. The first time I thought it was kinda weird but now I am used to it. This week though I was showering after my haircut and had the thought "whoa, I am naked at a members house. Wait a minute." It was a really funny thought. As I started to think, I have never been naked at any ones house my whole mission. That’s good!! This was just so funny and maybe I was just having a deep ponder in the shower but boy did I get a kick out of it. Haha they are a fun family.

At church we still have heaps of investigators come. I met someone though who was visiting from a ward up the road in Gold Coast and we got chatting and he asked where I was from. Utah. What part? Highland, Oh I served with someone from Highland on my mission. Who? Trevor Garrity. oh cool I think I know him. Wait I lived next to him and he is in my ward.

It took me a sec to remember and put the name together but how cool is that. He was comps with Trevor. We had a fun chat and I thought the whole thing was really cool!!

Boy it is just great right now!! The area is great and things are going well. I love you all. Have a good week.

Elder Cahoon

Week 66 Just When We Thought the Drama Was Over

Every week seems like it gets crazier and crazier. Just when we thought the drama was over it hit hard this week.

Something Elder Winter and I determined was we have not had the opportunity to be companions in a true manner this transfer. At the beginning we had Elder Watson, which was really scary, but when he left we got his comp Elder Lim. Elder Lim is a great guy but he has been hard to work with. The lack of English knowledge has been really hard. We can’t blame him for it either. It would be so hard to learn a new language and get thrown into it.

This week it got bad though. He woke up one morning with no desire to live. We had him call the mission doctor and that ended in yelling and screaming. Then he would not talk to us and we had to hid all the rope and knives and watch him closely because of the balcony we live on. The doctor ended up coming to our flat and nothing helped. It was scary. Elder Watson never got this bad. We did not know what to do. So we just did nothing because he would not do anything.

Eventually the Mission Doctor took us out to lunch. When we were out with him he told us about half our zone is suffering from this. Crazy!! He said once one gets it the others see that and start to go down that path. He wanted us to make sure no one else got this bad.

So like I said before Elder Winter and I have not had a normal companionship this transfer. It has been fun.

So for the rest of the day we went around to all of our areas and took the elders out for ice cream and a break from the work. We just had fun with them, talked and cheered them up. As we did that Elder Lim had to come with us and it cheered him up. By the end of the day he was totally normal like nothing had happened. It was so weird.

Hear is the good stuff now. Bia and Alexandra are well on their way for Saturday. We finished up the last of the lessons on Sunday. We taught the law of tithing and right then and there she asked if she could pay it right now!! We said it would be best if she did if after her baptism. Her cousin is the clerk and he helped her through it. It has been so amazing to teach them.

During the week we got to teach about the Word of Wisdom. Alexandra shared a very personal experience about alcohol and her family and the trouble it caused and how happy she was to join a group of amazing people who believe the same thing. I know that they have been prepared by the Lord. It is not often that you get someone who is so ready!! She is just amazing!!

The second best part of the week was not giving up on Steve. We have just been feeling like it can’t just end with him saying he does not believe and doesn't want to learn more. So we texted him and asked if we could stop by. Gladly he said, "Yes." So we went back to Steve after he dropped us and we began to see where he was at.

The last lesson we had before he dropped us was the Word of Wisdom. It was not that lesson per say that made him want to stop lessons. It was a mix of things. The good news is that he has been striving to live the WofW for health purposes.

After a very powerful lesson on real intent and the prophet he was touched by the spirit and set himself a new years goal to be baptized on the 30 of December. I could not believe it. There is a power that can cause things to happen that need to happen!!

I mentioned a big party thing we were doing with all of the recent converts we have in my ward. That was a fun night. It was at Bishop’s house. He is a great man who is doing a great job!!

We were able to get Sheila there, and Alex but last minute Celia had to cancel. Even though she could not make it we still had a great time. It was a family home evening type thing. During it we got to share and watch this Christmas video about Light the World. It was a cool powerful spirit. Bishop was able to share about patriarchal blessings and what we need to do to get them ready for theirs. It was so fun to watch Sheila get so into the gospel and want to get her patriarchal blessing. She is such a strong convert!!

After one of our visits with a member out in the bush we were driving home and I thought I saw a snake, so I yelled it out and we turned around to find a massive snake. I think it was a python but did not touch it or get close enough to have something bad happen. I was safe. As we were watching this snake the lady that lived in the house came out to see what was going on. She got freaked out and wanted us to get rid of it. Elder Winter thought it was a good idea to get on top of the mail box so he asked the lady if he could. When he went to jump off it, he fell through and broke it and scared the snake into her rock wall. The lady was so pissed and started to freak out at us. Boy did I hate that. I did not break it or do anything wrong but I still felt bad. In the end Elder Winter gave her some money and she calmed down. So fun!!

Right now we have 4 APs because two of them are going home in the same transfer. Anyway we got to have the two that travel come to our zone for a bit. It was really fun to have them and to get their help and insight. I love how the mission is set up and how powerful it is. After they visited we got to go to a leadership meeting where we learned about how well our mission is doing. We are right on track to reach our goal of 500 baptisms for 2017. Right now we are at 427 and counting.

It was so fun to come up with new goals and work and council together. This really is the Lord’s work. He is leading it and preparing people just for us.

Man time goes quick, I have to go. Until next week, Love Elder Cahoon

Week 65 The Spirit Will Testlfy

It has only been 4 days since I emailed but more things have continued to happen and be amazing!!

I want to start with the biggest miracle that happened this week. Dad you will love it!! Last week we had a family bring their cousins to church, Biatrix and Alexandra. They came last week and the week before.

As they have come with their family they have wanted to learn more. So we set up an appointment to teach in the member’s home. Here is where it gets fun. They are a family from Brazil. Bia speaks really good English but Alexandra does not. So when we came over for our lesson we had the members translate after we would teach. It was so cool because it gave us more time to think about what we were going to say. We even picked up on some Portuguese and would throw in a word or two every so often.

It was the most amazing lesson ever. The spirit was so strong and it was amazing to see that even though it was hard to understand, the spirit could still testify to them that what we taught is true!!

After our powerful lesson I asked if they would like to get baptized!! YES!! They got so excited and we are so happy that they could.

They are so excited and will be baptized on the 9th of December!! Bia is so amazing. She is 16 and you would think that she has been in the ward her whole life. The young women have just loved her so much and they are all the best of friends now. She has come to all the firesides that have happened the last 3 Sundays and she even came to the seminary graduation. Boy is she amazing and so prepared by the Lord!!

On that note they keep coming to church and so did the other people that came last week. We had 10 investigators at church again. It was amazing to see. We still could not believe it!! It has been fun to be in a ward for so long and have gotten to know the members!! We have such a great relationship with them and they are doing so much mission work for us. Bia and Alexandra are great examples of it. Things are happening and it is so great to be apart of it.

On the sad note we were out for 2 whole days due to a really bad sickness. It hit Elder Winter first and then Elder Lim and then me. It would have been nice if it was all at once but it went one by one.
With sickness though we still were able to see so much success. It is amazing to see that it is the Lord’s work. Being sick was not fun but seeing people feel the spirit was just so amazing.

I am so excited for the future and all that is happening. Tonight we are having a big party with all the recent converts at Bishop’s house. Haha that is so awesome! Sheila is just amazing still. It was cool that we got visited by the General Authorities last week. A big part of their message was that we don’t baptize less active members. It was a good thought. It made it even better to see Sheila and Celia at church that week. Oh man I just love it.

Well everybody have a good week.

Love,

Elder Cahoon

Week 64 Full of Ups and Downs

Wow where to start? This week again was just so crazy and full of ups and downs.

As I mentioned last week Elder Watson was put with us because of depression. That was really hard. He was really struggling. We tried our hardest to keep him happy and not anxious but nothing worked, so for 2 days we just stayed at the flat and read scriptures and played our golf simulator and went to the sauna. Because of the state he was in we took him to the mission home. It was pretty sad to see him go home. He was a strong elder who was so great!! He is going to try and get better so he came come back.

Since he is gone now we have yet again a new companion, Elder Lim. He is from Korea and while Elder Watson was with us Elder Lim was in Mudgee. He is so great and has made us breakfast every morning.

Elder Watson’s experience was the low for the week and it only got better from there. Ok actual wait, there is one last bit of sad news. Steven was doing so great. He was reading the Book of Mormon and keeping all commitments. He was so excited to come to church but on Saturday while we were in a meeting with 3 General Authorities we got a text from Steve. He had a big prayer and pondered all morning and texted us he would not like to further meet with us. He feels the dark angles are blocking our eyes.

It was pretty sad to get a text like that while in such a inspiring meeting. For a long time I could not help but wonder what I did wrong. After heaps of prayer and reminding myself it is the Lord’s will. I can’t wonder what went wrong. I just have to trust that it was the Lord’s will. Hopefully one day he can join back with us.

To get my happy self back I will write about the Lovelock family. They are doing so good!! They are a part member family who are letting us meet with them and teach their daughter. The mom is the only member in the family but she has been less active for her whole life. It has been fun to bring that spirit and joy back into her life. Minique is her 13 year old daughter who is preparing herself for baptism on the 15 of December.

On one of our many visits to their home we discovered that the mother (Beck) is a beauty therapist. She has the whole set up with everything. While she was giving us the tour of her "work" place some how I ended up in the hot chair. I got my eyebrows waxed. First off dang I look good. All the members and sisters have complemented me on them. I was not the only elder that got it done. Elder Winter and Lim did it. It was one of those ways to have fun and really get the family to like us.

As I sorta mentioned above, at the beginning of the week we found out that our mission would be getting a visit from Juan A Uceada from the Presidency of the Seventy. He would also have the Area Pacific President, Elder Hallock and Elder Walker. So on Friday we got to meet 3 general authorities. What an experience that was. It was amazing to hear from all three of them and gain revelation and insight on what they thought and saw.

When it was President Ucedas turn to talk he went on for 1 1/2 hours. The whole thing was whole every second. The end was the best part. He made a promise to us. The spirit was so strong when he said it.

"I promise that if you learn to get referrals from less active and new converts and properly work with the ward council you will double your baptism next year.” As a mission right now we are at 422 and our goal was 500. We will make it to 500 but to double that would be amazing. He gave us some really good insight and our mission is getting to work on it right now. It is just so amazing to hear what the Lord’s servants had to say to us and to let us know that it really is God’s work and He is full steam ahead.

Since the week did not get off to a great start we thought it was going to be rough on Sunday. We did not see the majority of our investigators or invite any one besides Steve to church. As we were welcoming everybody in we started to lose count on how many people were coming.

By the time everyone sat down we had 12 investigators come to church. It was the biggest number I have ever seen. To put it into the funnest perspective the most members we got to come to Ayr and Charters Towers branch sacrament meeting was between 10-15. So down here we could have started a branch with all the non members that came this Sunday.

We have seen a huge success in working with part member family's and yoking with the members. We have a Brazilian family that brought their cousins last week and this week they came again and became new investigators. Bia and Alexandra. They are so great. Bia is the daughter and she loves to come to all the youth activities. The members just love her and we are going to try and set a date this week for her and her mother.

Marty came again this week and we set up a date on Friday to play basketball and then have a lesson after. He is really comfortable around us and loves us. He has had lessons before but sorta fell away and is coming back!

Lots of the other people that came were part member family's and people we are slowly working with.

It was just amazing to see so many people.

To top it off we finally did not postpone Adrian's baptism. Despite the ciaos of the last 3 weeks we finally got it to happen. The family was so excited and the ward was so supportive. The only stressful thing was filling the font. It has a leaky drain so while the program was going we went to top it off just a bit more since it had emptied itself while the speakers were speaking.

When I pulled Adrian up out of the water he had the biggest smile and said, “I feel so clean.” He is a very hyper child but in this moment there was so much peace. It was quite amazing. He asked if the new elder, Elder Lim would give him the Holy Ghost. So that night we got to work and helping him do it in English. He has very good English but was struggling. It was his first time. He did amazing.

I have a bit more time left. We had the craziest P-day today. It was our zone temple trip and interview on the same day. We were swamped. By the time we got back to our area all the shops were closed and so was the library. So we got permission to email at the chapel tonight for 30 min and then tomorrow go to the library so we can all email.

It has been a crazy day. Oh I need sleep.

Again so much craziness in one week. I hope it makes sense and was good. It is 8:30 pm so I am a bit tired and hungry.

Love you heaps,
Elder Cahoon

Week 63 Loving New Comp Elder Winter

The stress is so real on the mission. This week was just as crazy but a bit less than last week.

I will start out by just saying how much I love Elder Winter. We worked so hard this week and saw so many miracles from it. For reals I am confident in saying that we will have not problems working together. I am not jumping the gun on this one. We just clicked and boy did things go amazing this week. We both are hardworking but have fun type of guys. The ward just loves it right now and as I said above, things took off this week.

The only bummer thing that happened this week was Adrian's baptism. He was all set Friday night  He passed his interview and was all ready to go. Again late that night after we saw them we got a call from them and they postponed it until next week. Their home teacher had a date that night with his wife and could not make it so they cancelled the whole thing. I was not mad that it got cancelled but I was mad when we had to tell everybody that it was not happening and after we invited everybody. Oh the stress of planning and having everything fall through is killing me.

The funnest none spiritual thing that happened this week was while we were GQing. We started talking to a man who looked a bit rugged. Long story short he took us to his car, which is like a small RV and he started to show us what he does for work. He is a gold prospector. So he had all this cool off road gear and camping stuff. When he got to his camera I pulled mine out and asked for some tips.

He said let’s go put it to action and I’ll show you. So we hiked up a big hill that over looks the city of Gold Coast and he put a new lens on my camera. Again long story short I learned how to take some really cool city photos and had some fun with it this week.

After taking the photos with him we went back to his car and edited them on a computer. While we were doing that he pulled out 6 or 7 pieces of GOLD. Not just your little flakes but massive nuggets. He let us take a picture of his smallest one. It was worth 500 bucks but to give you an idea of how big the biggest one was, it was worth 15-20 grand just on its own. The nugget was as big as my fist and he had heaps of them. It was a really cool experience. To top it off at the end he pulled out the new Mavic Drone and asked if I wanted to fly it. What a night this turned out to be!! I loved it!!

Now time for the real miracles worth more than all the GOLD we carried.

Right from the get go this week we have tried so hard to follow the spirit. Every time we went door knocking we either got heaps of potential people or new investigators. One day we had a man invited us in and we got to give the whole restoration lesson and he invited us back for more. It was amazing.

A while ago we were teaching Steve but have not seen him for a month or so. Elder Winter and I felt prompted to stop by one evening and he was free and we started going over and seeing what his intentions are again with learning more. Elder Winter and I are great teachers together. We are so good at it right now. As we taught him a lesson we committed him to be baptized on December 15. He invited us back the next day and we got to work finding the fellowship for him. The next day at his lesson we had a member there who really clicked with him and boy is he excited to learn and get baptized.

The miracles don’t stop there. We started to visit another part member family this week and on our second visit we asked Minique if she wanted to get baptized. She immediate reply was YES!! We set her for the 15th also.

But wait there’s more!!! At church we had a member grab us and take us over to Marty. He investigated the church right before I got here. Well he showed up to church and said, “I want to come back and start the lessons again and come to church. I know it is the right thing to do. My goal is to get baptized!!!"  We were in shock! We said great!! We set him on date for the 15th also.

I know this email did not have the best detail but too much happened this week to explain everything!! I just want to testify that this is God’s work and he is in charge. As we work hard he will bless us. I know it as I saw it this week!! It was amazing.

At the end of the week we got a new companion. His name is Elder Watson. He is in our zone but going through a hard time right now so President McSwain gave him to us and said show him how to have fun and work hard. Hence why there are so many pictures and miracles for this week. We are the best at working hard and having a great time. This work is so great!! 

We saw Sheila and did service for her. I still can't believe Shelia got baptized. It is weird. When we visited her it was not to get her off coffee this week. It was to see how she was doing and share a spiritual thought. That felt different.
She told us that she went to a coffee store yesterday and bought all of her friends coffee and hot coco for herself. How amazing is that. I was a bit scared when she said she went to a coffee store but she is great. Once she got the Holy Ghost she knew she did not need coffee. It was a miracle!!

We had dinner on Sunday with the Mission President. Elder Watson needed an interview and we ended up staying for dinner. Geez there is so much to write but no time.

Just know I work hard and have fun as always. I love all of you and hope all is well.

Love you Bye.