These past two weeks have been.. exciting. Lots of changes and new things happening! The first big news change is I have a stomach ulcer... what!? Yes, you read that correctly. I had to go to the hospital this past week (which is why I didn't get to write last week) and I found out I have the beginning stages of a stomach ulcer. Yeah, NO FUN! It has made it pretty difficult to visit people and give service when I need to eat pretty much all day or else I get crazy cramps in my stomach. I'll be getting a procedure this week to see what's going on. But no need to be worried, I know the Lord will keep me safe. Something good will come from this in the end.
Now for some more uplifting, happier news! Transfers came and went this past weekend and I'm staying in Bankstown for 6 more weeks! But my companion has moved. My new companion is Elder Vaelua, he is from Samoa and he is the man! I'll try to send some pictures soon so you can see what he actually looks like. The other two Elders in our flat, Elder Willis and Elder Semu, also stayed so we get to all keep working hard together! I'm excited for this transfer with Elder Vaelua. We're going to experience heaps of miracles, I know it! :)
Speaking of miracles, we were asked by our beloved zone leaders to record 17 miracles (referencing the movie "17 Miracles") that we get to experience and/or be apart of during the month of July. WOW! That was such a cool thing for me. I never realized how many miracles actually occur in my life every day, all you've gotta do is look for them! I would highly recommend trying this! Maybe do it for a shorter period of time or something but trust me, it's a miracle in itself!

One thing that was interesting about this week was actually at church sunday. I was asked to teach the last hour of church in "Elders Quorum." That is the class for basically all the men 19 years old and up. I have no worries teaching lessons or public speaking so I said, "yeah, no problem. I'd love to!" Then the man told me the topic I was to teach about... Eternal Marriage. What? Out of all the men in the class, they chose the missionary who is the least experienced in this subject? Plus I'm not even supposed to be thinking about marriage right now, I'm a missionary for goodness sake. But I accepted the invitation regardless and taught the class. It went really well and surprisingly smoothly. We talked a lot about how families can be together forever and how life doesn't end at death. I am so grateful for the knowledge that our church has on this subject. Knowing that I will see my family again after I die. I love this gospel :)

Last night we had a lesson at our bishop's home. Just so everyone is aware. A bishop is the man who is "in charge" of the members in a certain area. For those of you reading this that know me decently well, my dad was the bishop in Andover for the last few years and was recently released from that calling. If you have further questions about what a bishop is or what they do, email me and ask :) Anyways, back to the story! Our bishop, Bishop Tufuga, is the man! We had dinner at his house last Sunday and he invited his two brothers and one sister to visit with us so we can get to know them and possibly teach them about our church. Then last night he invited us over again and one of his brothers, his sister, and his mother was there, all interested in learning about the church. I'm so excited to teach them more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and be able to witness the change that will take place in their life as they come to the knowledge of the truth! I love seeing the gospel bless families and bring them closer together! I love being a missionary! :)
I hope everyone has a fantastic week with heaps of miracles! Love you heaps!
Elder Macfarlane