Heaps of miracles and cool experiences

Hey everyone! How are things?? 
So this week was pretty interesting. We really just went around trying to introduce me to people. Not many people were home, but hey, that's okay. I'm still having a good time. 
Really not a ton to talk about, so I thought I'd talk about how work happens in this area. And what we're doing. Which, I guess is what these letters are supposed to be anyways lol. 
So this area is very Polynesian. There are soooo many Polynesians here. From wherever, you name it; Fiji? Yep. Samoa? Yep. Tonga? Yep. New Zealand? Most definitely. Well you get the point. There are just islanders everywhere. Which is awesome! They have such a fun culture. Areas like this really only come with one downside. I'm going to get so fat hahahaha. But hey, go hard or go home right? 
Since there's a lot of Polynesians here, we do a lot with sports. Monday evenings is touch rugby with the members from 3 different stakes, Wednesday is zone basketball (not really missionary work related, but we do it early and I thought I'd chuck it in there for emphasis haha), Saturday is basketball with the ysa of 3 different stakes, and we're trying to start up basketball on Tuesday nights with the young men; help them prepare to go on missions and do their own missionary work here at home. So that's been really exciting. Although I am garbage at touch, and pretty not good at basketball, i can fake it well enough to make people think i know half of what I'm doing hahaha. So that's good. 
Right now we are currently trying go build a teaching pool. Like I mentioned earlier, we're trying to focus on the young men. People around here really have a hard time getting out on missions. Idk why. But we are really wanting to connect with these young men and help motivate them to get out in the field (this 2 year experience will change their future, change their future family so much; and definitely for the better. These young men need that experience, all do). We also want to help them get involved in doing missionary work with their friends. They have so many friends who aren't members and that they've already invited to activities. Now we're trying to help them take that next step. I'm excited for that. 
As for other events hapnin, we are teaching one guy named VJ. He's planning on being baptized in a couple weeks, so we're really excited for that. We need to help him prepare for that. But he is excited too, so that's really good. 
Other news and shenanigans of various sorts (wow, that's definitely something my dad would say hahaha. Love my dad). Today we were invited to play basketball at 6am with president and a few other missionaries. Well, that went on for just about 3 hours hahahahha. President is such a good basketball player. I'm sure I've mentioned this, but he played European league, and I'm pretty sure that if you look up top 10 BYU basketball players of all time he's still on there. He's good. So we played with him and that was tiring. But wait, there's more. I mentioned earlier that we play touch every Monday. Well, that went on for 2 1/2 hours tonight. I'm currently trying stretch my legs so I'm not dead tomorrow. Hahahha. 
On Wednesday the sisters asked us to come kill some spiders in their flat cause "they're HUGE!" (And they couldn't reach a few of them). Well we were like, yeah sure that's okay Haha. So we went over and there were a few outside. Now, if we were in the states, I would've probably been like, wow, that's a hecka big spider. Probably could eat my hand. But since we're in Australia, I thought, wow, that's pretty small. Hahahhaha well, then we go inside to kill a spider in there that's way too high for them to reach. (They were outside their flat so its chill, we weren't there together). Well they have super high ceilings and no ladder or anything, so luckily my companion is a very large man from American Samoa. I stood on his shoulders on my tip toes and killed the spider up there. Fun stuff. Then the sisters gave us cookies. MEAN!!! 
Umm yeah. That really wasn't a very exciting story hahahha sorry. I'll have more fun stories hopefully next week when I'm in the blue mountains!!! 
Everyone! Jesus Christ lives, and He wants to talk to us! Listen to what Hes telling you. It's probably pretty important. I love you all heaps and always remember, the church is true, the book is blue! 
Elder Maxfield 

Sorry. No pictures cause I'm a lame-o

Heaps of miracles and cool experiences

Hey everyone!!! Sorry I didn't send an email last week, I'm sure you all missed it sooooo much. Probably wondered if i was still alive or if i was hurt. Ya know, Australia is a very dangerous country. Haha. 

Well these last two weeks have been so awesome. Highlights

1) Of course, the top highlight is going to be seeing the prophet. On Sunday the 19th we were able to go (as a mission) to a fireside in Sydney with President Nelson, Elder Gong, and their wives. They all had some amazing points to speak on. But the biggest part about it was the Spirit that I felt during it. That man, president Nelson is a prophet of God. No disputing it. I felt that confirmation once again on Sunday night. He is guided by the Spirit and by Jesus Christ to know what he needs to share with us. 

2) there were sooo many small miracles these last two weeks. For example; we had exactly the right amount of change for the parking meter. When we overstayed the parking time, we didn't get a ticket. Another time we were in a huge rush to get to a dinner appointment and there was like no parking on the street except for right in front of their flat. So, miracles. We also didn't know what to teach this family, because they are so awesome already. Well the Spirit prompted us to share a certain message with a certain commitment and they told us at the end of the lesson that that was the exact thing they needed to hear that night. That is always such a comforting thing to hear people say. There were many many others that happened. I'm so grateful for the Lord showing His hand in our work. 

3) WE FINALLY MET SOMEONE!!!!!!! AND THEY LET US IN!!!!! So for the last 4 weeks we've been trying to find members and we had visited like 20 of them, literally only 1 of them was home and she was super super crazy. Well, we knocked on this door and they said, "yeah hes here, come on in!" Elder Halls and I were sooooo shocked. We were like, what the heck, really? Hahaha. But this guy was sooo cool!! He was seriously like me and elder halls combined. He likes all the same things we do so that was even more of a miracle. So that was awesome. 

4) Every May through June Sydney does something called Vivid. This is when the entire opera house bay gets lit up by super super cool lights. (See pictures below). It was so awesome. Its definitely been on my list for the last 20 months Haha. 

5) so transfers came around. After being in this area for 4 weeks I figured I was pretty safe and would just die quietly in South Harbour. Well, I was wrong. I'm now in Claremont Meadows with Elder Brown. So far it's a pretty awesome area. I'll most likely be here for my last 7 weeks and I'm super excited to be here. The ward seems awesome and the area sounds pretty productive.  Plus elder brown is awesome. Hes originally from American Samoa but moved to Washington his Sophomore year. So we'll be out here in Claremont having a gospel party! 

Hey everyone! The gospel is soooo true. Jesus Christ has once again organized His church on the Earth and He wants everyone to find it. That's why I'm out here. So people can hear and receive His gospel. I love Him, and I am grateful for what He has done for me in sacrificing Himself to help me and save me. I love my Savior and I love Heavenly Father. 

Have a great week everyone. Love yall heaps!!!!!! 

Elder Maxfield 

Got to see some friends from Canberra. The punzals!

Sydney Vivid. 

MOMS ARE SUPER AWESOME!!!

Hey everyone and happy mothers day to all you wonderful mothers and grandmothers!! You guys are pretty dang awesome! All of us children and grandchildren of yours appreciate you SOOOOOOO much and love you hecka heaps as!!!!!!!!!! 
So this week was a lot of driving, and very few people being home. Being in the city, but not street contracting makes things very very difficult. We don't really have any good place to street contact without treading on the YSA missionaries' turf, so we are going through the ward list and visiting everyone. With that comes city traffic and a lot of "no right turn" signs. After finally arriving to our destination, no one is home...ever. Frustration is sometimes higher than it needs to be, but we have a really great time. We try our best to make sure we have a good time throughout the day. 
Oh! Also, we've run into some pretty odd things in this area. I think I already told you about the blood on her walls lady, if not, well, yeah... Anyways. Last night we were going and visiting people and it was crazy! We went to visit this one couple and the main door to the complex opens, letting us in. We go inside and its kind of a weird place. Then this SUPER crazy looking guy comes around the corner and gets on the elevator with us. We're like.. uh....... then we get off the elevator and the hallways had writing all over them and everyone we met in the building was sooooo crazy, asking us for cigarettes and stuff. It was a pretty weird experience. Upon leaving the building, I realize that the main door that opened when we got there was actually a SUPER heavy duty metal and bullet proof glass, door. Needless to say, we'll be going back again tomorrow. Hahaha jk not going back there again hahaha. 
Well, I think that's about it. I got to see a few other friends this week at games night and going out to dinner. That was really really awesome. I'm glad I was able to see them. I was talking to Elder Halls and we both agreed that one of the things we'll miss the most about Sydney is all of the Chinese people. I love them so much!!!!! They're all awesome! 
Okay. Love yall heaps!!!! Keep being awesome moms you moms. And everyone else, yeah, you're cool too. Hahahha love yall
Elder Maxfield. 

Wow, I missed the city!

Dang I missed this place so much! Seriously, I love the people here so much and I am so excited to see them all again. 

So this week was a little odd. When I first got here, an old friend, Archie, said "I have to hang out with you." I was totally fine with that; seeing an old friend again. So he took us out to dinner one night and we had a good talk catching up and talking about the gospel as well. Hes so awesome! (We went to the Thai restaurant that we live above hahaha). 

Also, this area is pretty dang wealthy, and a lot of people work, so the daytime is tough. We decided that the best option was to visit all of the 71+ year old people on our ward list to see if they're still there/alive. 

Well, we started and got to one sisters house. She has been less active for a while but was very very sweet and invited us in. We chatted for a while and she talked pretty much about everything. We then said a prayer before we left. On the way out, I walked past a wall that had dirty splotches on it. I looked closer at it to see what they were. Clearly they were from some liquid that had dried. As I got closer, I realized that it was blood. My companion saw it too, got closer, and 100% agreed. There were also feathers all over the floor. I'm not saying this lady is a bird murderer (or a "birderer" I guess) but something went down in there. She was so nice though and gave us food. We'll go back and visit her. She's cool. 

Also, I was able to catch up with a really good friend from when I was with tobler and fang over 6 months ago in the city!! LISA!!!!! She's been in China a lot, but we were able to catch her before she heads back to China next Sunday. We had an awesome time and its sooooo good to hear that she loves the Lord so much still, that she faithfully reads the Book of Mormon frequently, and tries to share it with her family. She's such a stud!! It was awesome to see her again!!! 

Other than that, not much to share. 

Just want yall to know that I love the Lord! He has helped me so much, and I've seen that my desire to serve Him has increased soooo much! That's definitely Him changing me. It's incredible how much He can do that when we let Him. Stay converting everyone! 

Love you heaps

Elder Maxfield

Archie, elder barnes elder halls and I. (We were in a trio)

The zone (well, half of it)

Me elder halls and lisa (elder barnes got transferred) (president is doing CRAZY things with the mission) 

Hey. I made it! I'm alive

Hey everyone!!!!! Hope you've all had groovy weeks!!! Mine sure was crazy hahaha.

So this week was nuts!!! We had pday on Tuesday because we got to go to the temple!!! I absolutely love going to the temple and I learn so much each time I go! 

The night before we stayed with a few other elders down on the central coast. Elder Griffiths was in my MTC district, so we know each other pretty well and we had a good time hanging out. 

Tuesday afternoon, after the temple, we had MLC where president invited all of the District leaders to, so I got to go. Man, going to the temple and then having a meeting right after is not a good idea hahahhaha. My brain was 100% fried and i had a hard time gathering my thoughts Tuesday night hahahaha. Just so much information in one day. MLC was awesome. I learned heaps about how I can improve as a district leader and what my roles are. We talked a lot about accountability. 

Also, President said that Elder Pabona and I will definitely be leaving Tamworth on Monday (today lol) and that we'd have a few days to say goodbye. And that's what we did. The rest of the week consisted of telling all the people we meet with that we were leaving. Honestly, it was really sad. I didnt realize how much I've grown to love these people. 

In 3 Nephi it talks about the Savior and the Nephites. He says that He needs to go, and that He has other people to visit. They look on Him as if asking Him to stay a bit longer. He then says that He has compassion for them, and stays a little longer. (Quite a bit longer actually). In a very very tiny way (one cannot compare themselves to the Savior) I feel like I felt that this week. These people wanted us to stay, and I was touched with compassion for them. I wanted to stay. But knew we needed to leave and that that was for the better. I will miss them a lot. 

We then had an awesome opportunity on Sunday to visit the Armidale branch. A branch about an hour and a half north east from us. First of all, Armidale is so pretty right now. The colors of the trees is amazing (its fall right now haha). So we gave our talks in sacrament meeting and then got to know the members up there. They went on and on about how much they love and miss having the missionaries in their branch and that they really want some back. They were all great people. That was a great experience. 

Well, we woke up this morning not knowing what area we were going to. The Assistants told us to drive to the mission office. So we started driving, still not knowing where we were actually headed Haha. About halfway through the car ride (a 4 1/2 hour drive) we got a call. Elder Pabona and I were actually split up! That was a surprise to both of us! We thought wed stay together. Well, we're in the same zone as each other, and I'm back in the city (sort of). Elder Pabona is in the Summer Hill ward, and I'm in the South Harbour ward (the ward just east of the YSA ward). I'm super excited to be here, back in the part of the mission I've known the most. My companions are Elder Halls and Elder Barnes. Fun fact, we all are on the same plane home together. 

Anyways, I'm excited to be here. I miss tamworth, and the people there, but am glad to be here. 

I love yall heaps! Keep on doing whatever you guys are doing over there! 

Elder Maxfield 

Sister Eykamp

The Weldon family

Warren

The Davisons

The Grahams! 

And the Coopers

Transfers Pending

GDAY LADS AND LASSES (not quite sure how to spell the latter word). So this week was eventful. And that's a good thing. So Tuesday and Wednesday were quite a few teaching appointments. We were able to teach a pretty decent amount of lessons which was super nice. The rest of the week was trying to do the same. 

Saturday and Sunday were easily the highlights. We had GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!! 

So I'd just like to say that the speakers are all awesome. There were so many good talks this conference. Some of my favorites include (but are not limited to) Sister Craven's, Elder Stevenson's, Elder Holland's, President Nelson's priesthood talk, President Oaks' Sunday afternoon talk, and Elder Bednars talk. So yeah, like all of them hahahhaha. They were so good! 

Another big deal on Sunday morning was that we had a less active family come out to watch conference and have breakfast with us. It was great! I hope they enjoyed conference. 

Well that's all my folks. We're still waiting on some news from transfers, but as of now, my comp and I will be staying for his last 6 weeks of the mission. 

Well everyone, hope ya have a pretty satisfactory week. (And if it's better than satisfactory, then good job!) Love yall heaps!!! 

Elder Maxfield. 

This is troy. 

Rain makes corn.... and that's why there's no corn here

Hahaha yet another really dry week in Tamworth. We get very little to rain up here. So I guess not much different then Tracy. (Except for this spring I guess)

Anyways. Umm this week. We had trade offs on Tuesday!!!!!! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. That was a lot of fun! Speaking of Woooo! That's was my companion! Elder Wu! Seriously, the man. Hes going home next week back to the almighty Hong Kong. It was good to be with him, cause I lived with him a year ago, so we already know each other pretty well. Well that was a fun day  we taught like 5 lessons, one to an old Canadian-Australian who just roasted the United States the whole time. Oh well, she's really old and can say whatever she wants. Hahahaha. 

The rest of the week was alright. Just trying to visit people and teach some lessons. I'd say a highlight for the week was finally being able to sit down with a lady who has been in the ward for 7 years but only visited once. I don't know how, but she just fell through the cracks and people hadn't even heard her name. So we got to meet with her and had a great conversation with her. We'll be seeing her again this week. So that's good. 

Other exciting news, a member is introducing us to some of his friends this week!!!!! WooooooooooohWooooooooooo. Hopefully they're keen! I don't think they know anything about the church, but they're a couple, one from Taiwan and the other from China, so I'm actually pretty sure they don't.  Hahah. So exciting! Hope that goes well. Well, next week is transfer calls. I find out the day before I email next. I'll let you know what's happening. 

Well, as my sister would say "that's the tea." Hahaha. Hope ya'll have a great week. Love ya'll heaps! 

Elder Maxfield

We played basketball with a potential and I got caught by the camera trying to be the same height as them hahahahhahahahahaha

We wanted to go somewhere no missionary has knocked before. #Barrabafinding"