Second Week Back in Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road

"The Grotto"

Hello!

Wow we have been so busy lately and so much has happened since I have been back to the mainland. 

We had stake conference a week ago, and also ward conference a couple of weeks ago. So we have been travelling all over Melbourne and it is very tiring. It takes an hour to get from our house to our branch in the city, and to go to these conferences, we have to switch trains in the city and go back out to another suburb. It can take 2 or 2.5 hours! But we shouldn't complain. A couple of the recent converts made the same trip to come to conference with us. That is dedication. Our recent converts are really good. Joe and Elvis, and Mary, but Mary has been a member for a bit longer. 

On Saturday we went to the baptism of a girl named Angel. The baptism was also far away, but it was super good and one of our investigators came. Angel just happened to be a tour guide, so the missionaries rented a bus yesterday and we went to the "Great Ocean Road". It was basically the whole Chinese zone, and an English zone. It was a lot of fun. Special thanks to Angel, and Elder Lan.

So we woke up way early and got to the city before sunrise. We caught the bus, everyone was super excited. The bus ride was quite long. We stopped at a couple of very beautiful beaches. The beaches on the great ocean road have huge cliffs which reminded me of the beaches back home. It kind of has a "Point Loma" feel. Anyway, besides stopping at all of these smaller beaches, we stopped at a very famous place called the 12 apostles. They are 12 huge cliffs in the ocean.

We ate lunch at another beach and then rode home.  

On the ride home, people were playing SanGuoSha (a Chinese card game)  in the back of the bus and singing hymns.  Half of the fun was riding in the bus.

We had to be back by 6:30 for Family Home Evening though. At FHE, 3 of the most respected missionaries in our branch shared their last testimony. Elder Lan, Sister Wang and Elder Su are going back home. Elder Lan's parents came and it was great to meet them. Elder Lan is one of my favourite companions. I served with him a long while ago. His parents got all of these small gifts for us from China, including SanGuoSha, key chains, chopsticks, and lanyards. I really can not thank this elder enough. Not only did he let us go on the bus that he actually rented, but he also got gifts for us, and bore his fervent testimony. These people are true role models for me. I have about 6 months left on my mission, and I hope I can be someone looked up to at the end of my mission, as these missionaries who are currently returning home are to me. 

So I am typing this email on Tuesday. I am feeling a little sick today, but I felt a real motivation boost from these missionaries. So I revised my mission goals during personal study, then we went out finding for a couple of hours. 

There are still so many things I want to say, but the time is far spent. Thank you for all of your prayers. I know that the gospel is true and that Jesus Christ lives. He also resurrected, which is why we will celebrate Easter shortly.

-- 

Elder Jordan Andersen
楊長老
*76 Cathies Lane*
*Wantirna South VIC 3152*
*Australia*

This week was super busy. We had Elder Hallock from the quorum of the 70 come talk to us. He talked about his mission, how much it taught him, and he shared with us about planning. 

The missionaries held a "missionary night" which was a lot of fun. We played a lot of minute to win it games. One of them involved putting a funny hat on and using it to knock down cups. Things like that. A couple of members from our area came. 

Game Night

We have had a few investigators coming to the English class in the city. Lately a lot of our time has been spent at these activities, teaching people, and on the train. It takes one hour to get from our house to the church. 

Anyway, no more time for today. 

Elder Jordan Andersen
楊長老
*76 Cathies Lane*
*Wantirna South VIC 3152*
*Australia*

This is how we park in Melbourne.  It stacks the cars on top of each other.

My companion fixing a window

So Long Tasmania, Hello Moorabbin

Well after 6 months in Tasmania, I am finally back on the mainland. I learned a lot during my time in Tasmania, and got help a few people receive the Gospel and baptism. More than any other area on my mission in fact. They moved us elders out of Tasmania, and moved sisters in. We moved into an area that sisters used to be in. I got moved to Moorabbin. I have served here once before with Elder Padillia. The area is a lot different right now. The sisters that used to be here baptized a few people, so we have some excellent recent converts as well as investigators. School is starting this week which means that everyone is busy, but there are a lot of new Chinese people. 

i really like my new companion. His name is Elder Ju. He is from Ha'er Bin China. He is one of the newer missionaries that came in while I was in Tasmania. He is a good teacher, and no real drama. He became friends with our investigators very quickly. 

They day i flew back to Melbourne, the Assistants drove us from the airport to the city branch. When we got there, an activity was just finishing. So I saw a lot of my friends and other missionaries that I had not seen for six months. A couple people got baptized, that I did not even know about. 

This week we have met with some of the new people. We had four lessons with members present, which is extremely high, but having a member present at your lesson really helps the investigator because some investigators feel a distance between themselves and the missionary. 

Well I have to go now. This computer is about to run out of time. Until next week!