Letter #7

Happy Halloween!

Im surprised they celebrate it in Australia...I think I will dress up as a Missionary this year and Sister Vos will to so we can be companions(: So we had a few fun experiences this week.  I lost my shoe biking across the road and lost my footing, sister vos watched in fear as cars were coming and I was struggling to scoot across. I wasn't worried though and the cars slowed down. It was funny after. The lord was definetly protecting me.  The next story is I was biking and something hit my helmet and I looked up and a bird was flying at me again!  It was an evil Magpie! they attack you here! It was kinda funny, or it is especially when you watch others get swooped.  We had to bike fast. I ended up loosing my chain on my bike so we stopped to fix it near the same area and I saw an evil birl land on the light above us, it was watching and calculating. We got out quick.  I saw another bird which I had never seen before in a park called the Kookaburra! There were two! I remember the song from childhood, but I didn't hear them laugh. Oh and I ate the most unusual food ever! Pig Intestines! They offered them to us and I wouldnt let them tell me what it was till after I finished. We also at stuff with pig heart in it. yum.  the intestines tasted rubbery and a little like chicken.  Words of this week are tea time- it means something besides tea and tomato sauce. They also say gutted and sweet as a lot. try to figure out that, its pretty easy.
We had an important conference on the Book of Mormon.  what it comes down to is if it is true or not.  That is the concern for everyone.  We learn in Moroni 7 what is good is inspired of god and what is evil that leads away from christ is inspired of satan. It leads us to christ so it is nonsense to say it is evil because Mattew 12 says how can satans kingdom stand if he is divided against himself. This is all in the talk from Tad R Callister. I really like the similarity with Christ that C.S :Lewis makes. its nonsense to call him a good moral teacher because a man who is merely a man would not have said the things he said or claimed who he was, he is either a madman or the son of God. likewise the book of mormon claims to be of God so its true or its not. If we read it and Pray wanting to know we can know by the Holy Ghost if we ask. I have done it and I know with out a doubt by the peace in my heart and the feelings of comfort and happiness it is true.  That means everything else is true. God loves us and there is a purpose to this life and we have a living prophet on the earth that can show us the way to return to our heavenly father. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church on the earth, the same church Christ established in jerusalem long ago.  Its time to make the judgement, it means our eternal welfare, and can bring the greatest blessings into our lives.  May we ever be courageous and stand for what we believe! Its all true and we are not alone when we stand with our Heavenly Father.  If you dont know yet, its time. there is no middle ground.  I guarantee if you read the book of mormon and pray to ask god if its true you will recieve more joy than you can possibly imagine. I say this as a Missionary, a representative of God, called by a Prophet. these things are true. 
 I love you all so much, each of you are divine sons and daughters of God and are special to Him and therefore to me and I want you to know what I know and feel the joy of it.  There is a destiny for each of you if you are will to seek for it and know.

I love you all
Sister Haney 

Letter #6

I love the accents here, it can be so hard to decipher the asian/indian ones though.  I'm starting to use some of the phrases of the New Zealand or kiwis as they call them and Australians.  I like saying thats gun or thats keen. I really enjoy using the term cuddle, "can I have a cuddle" which I think means hug.  Its wierd that they call cookies biscuits and their biscuits are scones.  Oh and I learned they say windscreen instead fo windshield. This week I discovered Mcdonalds here is expensive.  Its like 8 dollars for a meal and subway does not have 5 dollar footlongs.  Australian dollars are worth more than U.S dollars too.  They have a mean minimum wage, it depends but its over $15 I think. They get paid well. especially the miners. they mine a lot different things here and that means men will be gone for weeks and then stay for a couple weeks and go back. different schedules here which make teaching hard.  They are very laid back here as well, its mellow. I have not seen the beach yet but I hear it is gorgeous on this side of Australia.

Its getting hotter here and I like it but at the same time im worried it may not be as much fun with the killer flies. They are all over here and they attack your face like mad! I hate flies. there a lot of wormy things too that are anoying and we may have mice in our flat which is our house i guess you could say or apartment.  Its been a lot of fun with my companion, im blessed to have someone similar to me and just wonderful. She sings beautifully so we harmonize and she keeps me from getting run over on my bike that i am still getting used to. Life is good.  I am getting used to things but I have a lot to learn still.  No effort is wasted. remember that! and Forget not to be patient with yourself!

Love you
Sister Haney

Letter #5

Hello!

I survived the week!  Its been amazing though!  There is so much to do in a day and it has felt like a week to me but I am told as time goes it will keep getting faster and then all of a sudden I will be going home.  I sent some pictures you may like! Some from the MTC and some from Perth.  Sister Vos is an amazing trainer and I know the Lord hand picked her for me.  She has only been out 5 months but after the 12 week training im on they say I should be able to train which means 3 months...scary. I still dont know how to do everything such as knowing where to go and when and who to see and oh my goodness we have a car but we rode our bikes too and the second day of riding hurt but God is definetly blessing me and protecting me from getting run over by cars since they drive on the other side of the rode.  I drove for the first time the other day and it scared me to death.  you sit on the others side of the car so the signals are on the right hand and the shift on the left and so my windshield wipers kept going when they told me to turn left or right and I drove on the left side which is so strange and there are a ton of round abouts to go through.  i will try and hold off on driving for a while i fear for my safety and those of others.  The members are so loving and they feed us all the time i may have mentioned that before but I have gotten to know them better.  I invited one of our investigators to be baptized as I was impressed to and he said yes. it was an amazing experience. I some how found the right words to say to relieve his concern and he said I spoke the magic words and he felt something warm in his heart.  The only problem is he has to conquer smoking and he has a bi polar/ anxiety disorder.  He is in the metal health facitlity right now where we visit him and thats probably the only reason that helped him progress this far so he comes to church and studies. It will work out, he can do it and it will bless his life.  Some new words are winge! And they call their trash rubbish and say good on ya or where abouts? or "yous" as in where are yous going? My companion says things like shocker and mate. its fun, ill pick it up someday but some people still like my accent as I found out. Did you know they park on peoples lawns here?  Its different. I guess lawns are made of sand not dirt so maybe it doesnt ruin lawns.  Its a fun culture.  The toilets are like the ones at home with two buttons and the food is similar but different names or brands.  I really like milo and vegemite.  I think I would like some relive though with energy and that.  I could also use nice pens but I can make do.  I find my skirts are too professional for bike riding.  I could have had a lot cuter casual skirts mine dont work well. my collar shirts are going to be a bit hot.  It was 33 which is like 80s or 90s or something and its only spring so that means summer is going to be hot and it was hot.  feel free to send me anything(:  I know its a long way so it will take a few weeks to get any letters or pkgs. keep me updated there.  I will try and update you more on the area next time.  its pretty here but a verge of a desert as i now know why they call it the bush.  Im getting a long really nicely now and getting to know more missionaries and leaders.  Sister V. says she loves you all! Oh and the ravens here are annoying. they sound like dying cats... anyway ill write more next week.  maybe then ill have had more emails with questions to answer.  love you all! 

Sister Haney

Letter # 4

The flight was good, I was able to sleep a lot and we got in early in the morning but it was still light out enought to see the ocean and was beautiful.  Perth is smaller than I thought mostly because I am outside the major city and when I landed it felt like home.  The zone leaders are Tongan and Samoan and they found us in the crowd and the Mission President and his Wife! They were wonderful and we stayed at the mission home the first night.  They took us out tracting in the city which was scary and I found out Australians are blunt and will just tell you No.  My companion and I did get one contact with a number.  There are a lot of new missionaries but I guess there is only like 2 american sister missionaries and I am one of them and my companion is the other.  My new companion is Sister V. from New Zealand.  That is where most people seem to be from which is cool because I always wanted to go there.  They have crazy words they use like im gutted or their gun or that mean.  I like Vegemite still and Milo is good! Its like hot chocolate but different.  My first Area is in Joondalup and is wonderful! there are a lot of polynesian culutures and the members are missionary minded mostly.  My first night we met a Hindu lady named Prem who has a strong testimony of Christ.  We are hopeing she becomes a progressing investigator.  I do love the people here! They are so nice and kinda do the cheek to cheek kiss thing which is cool!  They feed you whenever your around which is no bueno since I already gained weight in the MTC.  I will be having very low self esteem soon.  Ill work on my excersize.  We have lots of study with the new program but I feel overwhelmed with the expectation the president specifically has for us.  I feel like ill never get the area down on who to see, where to go, who to call and what to say.  I am sooooo inadequate but I know I need to have patience and do one day at a time.  They expect after the 12 week program i am on ill be able to train.  The program is recent and for all new missionaries out of the MTC.  I find the missionaries are great but they dont always follow the seemingly tiny rules but i feel all rules are important.  Exact obedience brings miracles and each companionship needs 2 baptisms by the end of the year to meet our 180 goal for 2011.  I feel like i am supposed to be hear and it feels like dejavu most of the time.  I hope I can get it down.  I wont be discouraged but I am very humbled.  This Gospel is so important and we need more missionaries, the growth here is slow but its growing.  I hope to love my mission.  Its hard but worth it.  I am not homesick but I miss getting wisdom from everyone!  Write me!  I love you all!

Sister Haney

Letter #3

I made it to Perth!  Sydney was beautiful over the ocean and Perth is my kind of small country side city!  I love my Mission President and wife the Cahoons!  I will write more in full to respond to your email when I have more time!  Just letting you know I am safe and one of the few americans!  I love the variety of accents!  I hope to pick it up.  I love you all!

Sister Alaina Haney

 

(If you want Alaina's address to write her

 leave a comment and I will get it to you,

I dont want to post it here)