INTERVIEWS FEBRUARY 2015

One of our favorite experiences with the missionaries is meeting with them for interviews;
ONE ON ONE time is the best, but unfortunately doesn't happen enough!  While President Henderson is interviewing, I get to visit with the companions and find out important things like:  are they healthy? are they happy? are they eating well?  are they sleeping well? is their flat clean? how is their study journal?  are there any questions or concerns that I can help with?  We wish a happy birthday to those who had/have birthdays in February and let them know how wonderful they are!  We are incredibly proud of these great missionaries; they are learning languages, receiving revelation, understanding doctrine, teaching with power, being filled with the Spirit....seeing miracles! 
WE LOVE THESE ELDERS & SISTERS! 

MISSION MIRACLE

MEMBER INVITATION MIRACLE:  Sister Su'a and Sister Smith- We were so so happy to see this wonderful man be baptised! A returning member met him at a local campsite and felt prompted to speak with him. He was afraid to invite him to church, but knew he needed to! This great man came to church that Sunday and hasn't looked back! We taught him every day for 3 weeks from that first Sunday and watched as he experienced the mighty change! He overcome 10 years of drug & alcohol use and was willing to do whatever it took to be with God again! After he  was baptised he called and told his Dad he was baptised into the Mormon church' ---> GUESS WHAT??? HIS DAD & GRANDPARENTS ARE INACTIVE MEMBERS. His Dad was overwhelmed by the spirit and knew Heavenly Father was reaching out to him! No coincidences there! Heavenly Fathers plan is perfect :)

MISSION MIRACLE

GQ MIRACLE:  This wonderful daughter of God was found on the street staring at the menu in a restaurant window trying to figure out what to eat because she had just arrived in Australia and didn't know any English.  After one week of teaching her the gospel, she accepted the invitation to be baptized two weeks later on Feb 7, 2015.  She came to Australia wanting to find her purpose in life, feeling that something was missing back in Taiwan.  She had many difficulties and family trials growing up, but now she looks forward to building her own eternal family.  She says she has been so much happier since being baptized and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The Lord truly had prepared her to receive the restored gospel.

-Elder Li and Elder Andersen

MISSION MIRACLE

MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK MIRACLE

This precious daughter of God was found at the Sunnybank bus stop in April 2014.  She is from Taiwan and had no religious background at all.  It was a process of 5 months until she finally gained her own testimony of God's reality and knew that she should be baptized.  She was taught by Elder Low, Hilyard, and Andersen.  During this process, many members fellowshipped her, encouraging her to keep learning the gospel and have faith in God.  After about 4 months, she decided herself to fast and sincerely ask God if He was real.  The following day, she had a powerful spiritual experience that testified to her that God loves and cares about her.  And the next day, she choose her own baptismal date and was soon baptized on August 31, 2014.  She knows that God is her Heavenly Father and is so grateful to have the restored gospel and all the blessings it brings in her life.

MISSION MIRACLE

BOOK OF MORMON MIRACLE:  An Amazing Miracle happened in the Enoggera Ward On February 19th 2015.  While out knocking doors Last October before a Dinner Appointment, The Elders knocked into this beautiful sister.  She had never read the Book of Mormon, and had been studying the Bible searching for answers for the past 18 months. She gladly accepted the challenge to read and pray.  The missionaries were invited back in 2 weeks time, slowly, as she found answers, her rate of having the missionaries changed from every 2 weeks, to every week, to several times a week! She was finding answers to all her questions.  She was invited to Church, and 2 weeks later was baptized in Mid-December.  Following her baptism, Julie desired for her family to feel the Love and Joy she felt from the Savoir, and after much prayer and fasting, her daughter found interest in the Gospel.  On February 19th, she too was baptized and is officially a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  They now plan to attend the temple to help their deceased loved ones to receive the gospel as well.  They know, Families are Forever.

MISSION MIRACLE

This is a photo of a new convert who was baptized on Saturday the 7th of February 2015. His wife was baptized on the 22nd of November of 2014.  He used to be anti-mormon and didn't like the idea that his wife was getting baptized. They grew up in southern India in a province called Karla. There he and his wife were raised roman catholic and were baptized as one. He thought that he would die a Catholic yet the Lord said something other wise. On the beautiful evening of December 24, 2014; Elder Hatch and I recieved a phone call that this man received an answer to his prayer and gained a strong desire to be baptized. He eventually was baptized and now they are preparing him for his priesthood so that he may baptize his little daughter who is 8 years old. They too are working towards the temple.
 #familesareforever

-Elder Iereneo & Elder Hatch

MISSION MIRACLE

THIS WONDERFUL NEW CONVERT TO THE CHURCH of JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS has definitely been prepared by our Heavenly Father. She has been through the mighty change, she has found a place where she can call home and people that she can call family.
She LOVES it.
Sister Fau & Sister Utai

CYCLONE MARCIA FEB 2015

" Tropical Cyclone Marcia to reach Category 5 system at landfall”.
Our wonderful Saints and missionaries are safe and well after a cyclone hit land in central Queensland.  The hardest hit was Rockhampton and surrounding areas; there was water damage to the flat and the electricity is out (and could be out for weeks), but the Elders in Rockhampton want to stay and help the community and continue working with their investigators.  It takes more than a Category 5 cyclone to keep the Elders from working! 
There was extensive damage to the area....but the Saints are strong and resilient!  
564 involved fallen trees
492 involved structural damage
   111 involved roofs
   68 involved flooding
   62 involved lack of water Power
50,000 customers still without power in Rockhampton and Yeppoon.
1,800 power lines down across the region. 

There was some major flooding all around the region, but nothing stops the missionaries from working! 

Torrential rain forecast: Heavy rain led to flash flooding, with some 24 hour totals  in excess of 300 millimetres on the coast and nearby ranges.  AND IT RAINED FOR 48 HOURS STRAIGHT HERE IN BRISBANE! 

ARRIVING MISSIONARIES FEB 2015

WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST ABM MISSIONARIES!
We had a great group of missionaries arrive to begin their mission in the Australia Brisbane Mission; it was much smaller than expected due to visa delays, but they are powerful and ready to serve.  The arrive from the Philippines, China, Kiribati, and Australia. 

DEPARTING MISSIONARIES FEB 2015

These are GREAT MISSIONARIES!  

They have served valiantly and are returning as MISSION WARRIORS.  The group of missionaries who are departing now are beginning to represent the first groups of missionaries who arrived when we began our mission in July 2013; these Sisters have been with us from the beginning.  Some of the Elders arrived with us (there were a few who had been serving in other missions as they waited for their visas).  It makes saying GOODBYE a little more tender.  WE LOVE THESE MISSIONARIES!
They depart back to their homes in Indonesia, United States, New Zealand, 
China, Australia, American Samoa, Philippines, and Canada