HE'S ALIVE AND WELL

7/31/14

IM ALIVE!!!!!  Wow it has been an absolutely crazy week, I cant believe I have been gone for almost a month now!! So the plane ride wasn't as bad as I thought It was going to be, but I was still able to only sleep for a few hours. Luckily I sat next to my companion on the plane and I also got an isle seat, but I still wasn't able to stretch my legs cause there were always people running up and down it.

When I finally landed in Australia It was raining slightly but still was an absolutely gorgeous place. I got to the mission home and got all of the boring paper work out of the way and then we went to the church, where all of the new missionaries and their trainers were. I sat next to Elder Duffus at dinner and was hoping that he was going to be my trainer because we connected so well....and sure enough he was my companion!! He is the greatest guy and we have an absolute blast together!!

Yes driving on the wrong side of the road is weird but I'm now getting used to it but most of this last week I have felt sick/dizzy due to jet-lag and having everything switched around on me. The food here is great and is a little bit like America but they have heaps of different names for all the candy and sodas. THE BEST FOOD is Australian sausage's they
are cheap and they taste nothing like the sausages back home. I don't know how to explain them but they are about the size of a hot dog and they are unbelievable! (oh and they are cheap)

The only thing that sucks about Australia that I very quickly learned is that everything here is soooo expensive!! So I pretty much live off pasta, sausage's, spam, eggs, noodles, and toast. As bad as that sounds it is really good hahaha.

Ok so getting to the missionary side of things, all of the members and investigators are such amazing and sweet people. Everyone loves you and wants to shake your hand, which is really weird at first since you kind of just want to stay in a corner and watch and listen to everyone. The ONLY thing that I really hate is tracting/finding new investigators. Aussie's are extremely stubborn and are completely content with their lives and the way they are living. Most of them are either Atheist, some form of Christian, or nothing at all and don't want any part of religion in their life. Luckily the investigators we have and the sweet members that love us to death make up for that.

I have never seen such a diverse culture and I absolutely love it!! There is every race you can think of here but the most common are Samoans, Tongan's, and Maori ( Kiwi's/New Zealanders ) How the islanders live and how they treat their families is eye opening. They are so loving and have an incredible amount of love for anyone that shows them respect, especially missionaries. They give us massive feeds and are always wanting to give us anything we need . Even is a family is incredibly poor and have barely any food left, they will take all of that food and serve it to us. It is heartbreaking to watch a family scramble to feed you everything they have, yet you cant tell them no because that is rude and offensive to them because you are acting like you are above them and don't want what they have to offer. It is something I think all humans should adopt , to aalways be seeking to give anything and everything they have to help someone else.

I know I wont be able to answer all of your questions because I only have an hour to email but I will be able to email again on Monday. Also we have a 10 year old boy that we will be baptising in September and a man from India that we will be baptising on August 10th.

I love you all and love reading all of your emails. You're all in my prayers and I am always thinking about you.

Sincerely your Brother, Friend, and Son

-Elder Barnett