Mom's Email

Umm well this week was busy as. We had MLC on Tuesday pretty much all day. Well, as I said to Elder Tobler (he was sitting next to me) after the meeting, "We just got trained." Elder Ardern (a member of the 70) came and trained us. And oh boy did he train us. I have never felt so uplifted and motivated after a rebuke in my life. It was pretty incredible actually. He didn't openly rebuke us, but he told us that we need to be doing a better job. He shared a lot of different things that we needed to work on, but he praised us many times for what we were doing well. So it was a good experience. I've never had an MLC like that before. 

On Thursday we had a half mission conference where Elder Ardern spoke and told us how to be better missionaries. That was a great discussion and it led into a great accountability call last night. Elder Bowers (the man himself) and I got talking last night about how we can more often get our new investigators to turn into progressing investigators. A big problem here is that lots of our friends just hang around for a while and don't really progress. Or they have lessons but aren't too serious about it and then eventually life gets in the way. So that's trying to get fixed this week. 

As for my companion, yeah he's called Chinese speaking but that doesn't really matter because he still needs to learn English. So we mostly have conversations in English and then when translation is needed or in just casual conversation, Chinese is used. I haven't actually picked up much Chinese. I know a few phrases and a lot of useless things. Yesterday I learned "I will destroy you." Which is pretty funny using it to find. You ask the people if it means that you like their shoes, pretty funny. The Chinese people are so cool. I really enjoy serving around them and I'm looking forward to my (now almost required) vacation to China in the future. 

Well, thats a long email. But thats my week. Ill send some pictures as well cause we took some this week. 

HEY GUESS WHAT??????? WE'RE GOING TO THE REAL BODIES EXHIBIT TODAY!!!!!!! YEAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! IM SO PUMPED!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!! 

Well, I love you mom! I hope you have a great week!!!!! 

Love Christopher. 

1)Lisa was leaving...very sad day but its all good. She'll be back at some point. 

2) this is (from left to right) Amber, Catherine, Julia, Elder Fang.  Amber is a member and Catherine and Julia 

This is sparta

Well, as a famous poet once said, "Hi." Think about that quote for a minute. If you do, it'll blow your mind. 

Well everyone. I hope you are all having a great day! 

This week has been a good one. To start, my companion was almost too sore to walk for the first few days this week (he's used to having a car so walking has been killing him. Hahhaa). That was fun though cause we walked really slow all over the city. Hahaha! 

It was a week of miracles (sort of more than usual but not tooooooo crazy). I guess i say this because it was a really productive week. We were able to help out a lot of our friends with their concerns. We are still working with Yvette on finding her dang answer... but she'll get one!!! I'm excited for when she does! 

Lisa leaves for China (she'll be gone for 3 weeks- 3 months. She doesn't know) next Sunday, so we will go to the temple with her this week (hopefully!) Tou is getting the Melchizedek Priesthood and so is Vincent. Ash will be getting the Priesthood soon, and Archie had a great day today! So all is going great for them! I'm so happy for them because they are finding joy in the gospel. Vincent and Tou are awesome. They really enjoy serving and Ash is great too! Archie has struggles at times, buy I love him to death. I'm excited to hear tonight why he had such a good day. 

I guess I'll just close by saying, God answers prayers. When you're down, when you don't know what you're doing and you don't know why things are happening the way they are, you can always turn to Him. He will help you. I know He will. And I'm so happy and grateful that He does. 

I love you all. I hope you have a great week!! 

Love 

Elder Maxfield

At the water, we take pictures.

Hello!!! What is going on??? Well this week was so fun and busy and crazy and nuts and wild and.. well, I think you get the point. Its been a good week though. 

First things first. I got a new companion, same area. This is actually the first time I've stayed in an area that my companion is leaving. Hahha so that's kinda strange. Its pretty fun though. Elder Fang is my new companion. My brotha from Taiwan. He's been out for about 17 months and this is his third area.. wow! I don't think I would enjoy that. Hahaha. Hes from the southern portion of the mission, so its interesting to see the culture from there. Hes awesome though. I really like him. He is adjusting to the city life, but is doing a great job! I really like him a lot. 

Also, we had a mission conference this weekend where we were told the rules of the mission and how to use the phones and stuff. So that was all good. It was good to see some old friends again. Like ELDER FERGUSON!!!! THE MAN!!!! I miss him. Hes a cool guy Hahahaha. So that conference was really fun. 

Then we had Lisa's baptism!!! Woohoo! She was sooooooooo nervous, but we took heaps of pictures and she was okay. She is gonna be a solid member. Now she wants us to go find her a cute boy that we can baptize and she can date. Hahhahaha so im liking where she's going with this idea. She'll have to help us fellowship sometime. Hahah just kidding. We dont convert people like that. Hahha! But she is really cool. She'll be a good member. 

Well, this is going to be another exciting week.

Love you all heaps though!!!! 

Stay awesome! 

Elder Maxfield. 

Sorry this is so late, busy day

Wow! What a week!! Its been sooo busy! I'll be short because I don't have much time.
So basically, transfers were this week. So Elder Tobler is leaving on Tuesday for Wollongong. I'm getting a new companion. He's from Taiwan!! he speaks Chinese!!!!! Yeah!!! I'm so excited for that!!

In other news, Lisa is getting baptized on Saturday!!!! She is so solid!! She has such an awesome testimony and the reason why she's getting baptized!!! I am so happy for her!!! She's super upset that Elder Tobler is leaving but I think she'll be okay. 

Overall, all is going well here. I love it here, I love the people! It's so fun! And it's so amazing to see people come to know that the gospel is true! I love it. 

I want you all to know how much I love my Savior. He has made me who I am now, and will help me as I move forward. I love Him, and am so glad that I have been raised in a home that centered our lives on Him. 

I love you all heaps! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!
Elder Maxfield 

Transfer call steak night

Sherry!

The thoughtful three!!! Idk why we are called that, but see! We're thinking hahaha!!!

AT THE WATER!!!! OHHH AT THE WATER!!!!!!!

Man, this week was great!!! I'll just get right into it. 

ASH GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! He's the man!! He's so funny! First of all, it was a pain trying to get his information, like where he was born, his parents birthday, etc.. He knew none of that information and didn't want his parents to know he was getting baptized (they're in China). So it was a little difficult, but we got it!! Moving on to his actual baptism; it was great! Ash told us afterwards that he could feel the Spirit strongly right before he was baptized, and then while he was in the font, and after he was baptized. He's the man. We taught him yesterday after church, and he seemed so keen to learn more about what's next for him. He was like 'wow, there's a lot of stuff to do." He's hilarious. Oh, by the way, during his baptism, he got in the font and was like, "OH! Hi everyone!!" and waved at all of them. Then after he was baptized, he blew them all a kiss. Just a funny guy. The Spirit was there though. 

Also! Archie!! I haven't talked much about Archie, but he is one of the recent converts that we look after. He really has struggled with moving forward and progressing in the gospel. But we've been talking to him recently about the Priesthood. He finally received it yesterday!!! It's great! And after his interview on Wednesday with Bishop, he seemed sooooo happy! He had a huge smile on his face! It was so good to see. He's an awesome guy. 

Umm what else, we had a lot of planning this week and  a lot of lessons that we taught. I'm really excited for these next coming weeks because I think we will see a lot of progress in the area and with the people we are teaching! It'll be awesome! Hopefully I get to stay after next week! (Transfers are next Tuesday(not tomorrow). 

Couple trade-offs as well this week, went with the Assistants to their area. That was a lot of fun! Elder Sibbett is hilarious. Like, such an odd guy but so funny! 

And finally, we had today. Today has been so fun! Played soccer this morning, then went to the other Elders' flat and had a weet-bix eating competition. If you don't know what weet-bix is, its basically a cereal, but its 97% wheat. And it's just in a brick form. hahahaaha So yummy! So I was able to eat 15 (a serving size is 2 biscuits btw). The champion today ate half a box by himself.... 42 biscuits. hahahhahahahahahahaha. I have no idea how the heck he did that. Elder Bowers is the man!! Next week we're gonna buy McDonald's out of all their fries. (Well that's the idea.. doubt it will happen, but could be fun). 

Well, love yall heaps! Have an awesome week and hope school doesn't hurt anyone too much. I guess I'll just stay here, not going to class. Love yall!!!! 

Elder Maxfield

Chickens, pot-luck, and miracles!

What an awesome week! I mean, Im sure thats pretty obvious to tell by the subject line though. Who doesnt like chickens? Hahaha 
We kicked off the week with a trade-off. I went over to Summer Hill with Elder Krauser. Guess where he used to live? NEWPORT BEACH!!!! So naturally we talked all day about the different food places there. Hahhaha Chronic Taco, TK, burger, etc.. so good!! It was a pretty dang fun trade off. We started off the day with some door knocking, and as we pulled up to the street we were going to knock, I saw a house with 2 super cute dogs in the front yard. So cute!!!!! Then, after petting them, I look on the porch, and theres a chicken there. Hahhahahahahha somebody in the middle of the city suburbs has a chicken. Hahhahahahha! We knocked the door and no one was home. But we found some cool people to teach later on in the day. 
Dont worry, the "pot-luck" we had has nothing to do with the chicken that we saw on that dude's porch.  But, it has everything to do with the fact that we bought too much lamb this week. So we decided to have some Elders over for dinner (they live like 2 floors down from us). It was pretty cool. Got to hang out, see how their work was going, and had some MEAN peach cobbler. Hahha 
Cool, now for the best part! MIRACLES! Ill start with the funny one, then move on to the super awesome one (even though theyre both awesome). So, you remember Amy? The girl who yelled at us last week at the park? Yeah, we're teaching her now. Hahahhahahahhaha. She came up to us during a lesson again and with probably the crudest language Ive heard in a while, started to vent to us about how crappy her life was. This was all basically yelling too. So, not too great.. the guy we were teaching (Winston, the man!!) was pretty understanding. We calmed Amy down and Elder Tobler got her to sit down and he taught her while I taught Winston. Hahhaha. Now we have a return appointment for this week! Woohoo! She just needs some help in her life. 
Okay, for the other miracle!!! LISA!!!!!!! THE COOLEST PERSON EVER!!!!! So, we met Lisa probably 2 weeks ago. She sits on a street corner next to an advertising sign for her work. Thats what her job is. Sooo boring. But, thats good! Because she has time to read and watch videos and do all sorts of other stuff. But Ill rewind for a sec. So, we met her, and she came to church and had a quick lesson on how to pray and who God was. She texted us later and thanked us for helping her learn about God. So, fast forward a week and a half. We see her Friday last week at work; guess how much shes read? Shes in Enos!!! Shes read a third of the Book of Mormon!!!!!! Shes also going out on LDS.org and studying about the Plan of Salvation etc... she is soooo awesome!!!!! We had an awesome lesson with her and taught the first half of the Plan of Salvation (btw if you dont know what that is, hit up the missionaries around you. ) and then the gospel of Jesus Christ. She is planning on being baptised on the 11 of August!! We have a lot of work to do with her to get her ready, but we are so excited for her. Shes a super awesome person!! 
Well, yet another week in the books. Never stops getting exciting here in 'Straya. (Thats Australia for you Yankee blokes). Hope yall have a great week! Love you heaps!!!!
Elder Maxfield 

1) Chicken!!!!

2) Pot-luck

3) MIRACLES!!!! (Lisa is the one next to Elder Tobler)

4) Futsal this morning!!!!

Happiness seems to be the theme!

Hello everyone!!! Hope youre all doing well! 
Man, this week was pretty good. We had trade-offs on Tuesday with Elder Bowers and Elder Williams. So I got to go to UNSW!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!! Yep, its still as awesome as I remember it! The people are soooo nice!!! That was super fun to be there again. It really was a good way to start off my week. We met a lot of cool people and taught some really good lessons. 
Other events in the week... while we were teaching Archie (a recent convert who struggles progressing) at Victoria Park, Amy walks up. Amy has run into Elder Tobler before, and she does not like missionaries... hahahhaha but shes kinda crazy, so it was just funny. Shes university age, and walked up to us and was just like, why the (colorful language inserted here) are you guys always here??? Go somewhere else? Why are you always trying to seduce these people? (Id like to remind you all that we were teaching a dude right then. Hahahhaha) Then she said "why do they always send out the best looking people to seduce all of us innocent people?" Well, I couldnt pass that opportunity, so I just said "Oh man, so you think Im attractive?" Hahahhahahhahahha she couldnt gather her thoughts for a solid minute. So funny!!! But she ended up leaving. We saw her later in the week though. Pretty crack-up. Also during that lesson, there was a dude mumbling in some language to himself anf hitting a tree with a stick. Then he started yelling at the tree. Hahahahhahahaha. Umm I guess the only other thing is that we cant yet tell if one of our investigators is in love with Elder Tobler or just is nice and cant speak English very well. Im leaning toward the first one, but Elder Tobler denies it. Hahahhahaha!!!!! 
So, onto the theme for this week. Man, overall, I was pretty happy this week. Like, Im usually happy, but this week it stood out to me a bit. All week Ive been studying about how the gospel can help individuals who are already happy (even if they are already members). So Ive been studying about that, and Ive found one thing that really really stands out. As people live the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit) will come reside with them. For those who have not been confirmed a member of the church, they can feel that Spirit when they do good, when they read their scriptures, pray, come to church, etc... That Spirit naturally brings a subtle sense of joy and peace. Thats what the Spirit does. However, that Spirit will soon fade as they move on with their day.
For those who have been confirmed a member of the church and have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, they can feel that Spirit all the time. This simply is because that gift has been bestowed upon them by the Priesthood (the power of God given to men on Earth). As members of the church go through their lives, they strive to consistently read, pray, go to church, serve, etc.. With these consistent efforts, the Spirit is a permanent residence in the heart and soul of these individuals, only leaving when mistakes are made, but to return quickly after these mistakes are fixed. 
When people feel the Spirit for the first time, it is a small, almost un-noticeable feeling that brings a quiet peace and subtle joy. As people grow and begin to be more comfortable with that Spirit, the feelings grow stronger and the joy felt increases until the day that we will be filled with a fullness of joy. 
The gospel truly does bless lives. As the Prophet Lehi said, "[This] fruit [is] desirable to make one happy." Every one of us is invited to partake of this fruit. True happiness can be found nowhere else. It may be found in parts and pieces, but true, eternal happiness can only be found by following the example of our savior and by living His gospel. I know this to be true. 
Hopefully that all made sense, if not, email and ask me. :) I love you all heaps! and hope you have an amazing week!!!! 
Love Elder Maxfield