Week 2: Australia

Wow. So much has happened in the past week.

Most of the work we do is street contacting (talking to random people on the street). Most of the people we teach are from China, attending college in Melbourne. Right now it is their summer break, and they are almost all traveling back to China. So things are slower than usual. We don't have that many lessons or investigators. Since we don't have many lessons, we spend tons of time street contacting. It is hard, but I am getting better at it.

Some days you get a lot of response, and other days, you spend the whole day street contacting and get almost no response. One day we were not getting much response, but Elder Wang told me not to get discouraged. The next day, the first person we talked to gave us their a number, and scheduled a time to come to church. The Lord works in strange ways.

The branch here is not what I am used to. Our meeting building is a level on an office building. There are few families. Most of the people are young. The ratio of missionaries to members is very high

Today is my Preparation Day. We had lunch at a senior missionary's house; Elder and Sister Troy. A bunch of missionaries were there and the food was amazing. Chinese of course.

That is one of the good things about being in the Chinese branch. We have had a couple of Christmas parties and the food is always amazing.

We had a Christmas Music devotional yesterday. I sang in the choir. All of the performances were amazing. There were 4 soloists, and some of them were professional singers. One of them was in a Les Miserables play. They were amazing.

We also had a Christmas devotional, just for the missionaries. That was a lot of fun. We got to see How to Train Your Dragon 2.

People have asked me a lot of questions, and I will attempt to answer them.

Are the people there receptive?
It really depends on the person. When street contacting, a lot of people say they have to go do something, but that is expected. There is a surprising lack of weird people in my area. Most people are very nice. When we teach a lesson, we usually have people come to our church which is actually a level in an office building in the city. It's weird, but it works. A lot of people cancel and things like that, but I expected that.

How is the teaching?
I still don't understand a lot of what is going on during the lessons, but I participate in them. As I said, we don't have too many lessons right now.

Are you learning the language and the lessons?
I am slowly learning the lessons and the language. Sadly, most of the day we are not speaking Chinese. But the people who are older than me seem to have picked it up anyway, so I hope I can study and pick it up too.

Also tell us if you have a car, or how you get around?
The public transportation here is very good. We use the trains/subways and trolleys to get around. The missionaries in the suburbs have cars.

How do you find new people to teach?
Almost all street contacting.

We also wonder what the weather is like, and if you have the right clothes. Have you had to buy much on your own?
The weather here is not that harsh. Some days it is hot and humid, and it has rained a couple of times. I think the weather is not bad at all.

Where do you live?
10 minutes outside the city in a small apartment.

What is your apartment like?
Small. I will try to send a picture soon.

What are your impressions of mission life?
It is hard, but fun. some days are better than others. Nothing has been extremely hard yet.

Does you mission have a lot of special rules?
No, but no instruments, even on P-day :(.

What is the mission president like?
He is very nice. Don't get to talk to him all that much.

What is Australia like?
The city is very similar to the US. It is very artistic, and a lot of the architecture is very cool looking. It's very diverse.

Do you like your companion?
Yes! As I said, I have 2 companions. I described them in my last email I believe.

Do you love the place and are you enjoying the food?
Yes. We never really eat at member's houses. We maybe eat at a restaurant once a week. Luckily my companions are good cooks.

Do you get a chance to work out or not too often?
We jog every morning for not that long.

That's so sick you're in a trio with Eyring, isn't he President Eyring's grand son or something?
Yes.

Love you all!


http://elderjordanandersen.blogspot.com/

Elder Jordan Andersen
76 Cathies Lane
Wantirna South VIC 3152
Australia