malo e lelei

so... I finally saw a kangaroo!! and a huge spider! wahoo! its finally starting to feel like Australia! :) also this "winter" weather is super rough... not. it has been super nice and warm lately, just like it is in may/june back home. I love it! its great! but this past week has been soo great! I love the mission. and I love my zone! im so nervous for transfers cuz I don't want anyone in our zone to leave.. oh well :) but this last p-day, we had us, and like 4 others companionships of elders that all came to a church and we played ping pong for hours! but sister mewa didn't want to play so it was me, and like 8 elders. it was so fun! except the elders would gang up on me every single time... ahh man! it was so fun! :)

so this week we had tradeoffs with the STL's and I got to be with sister Bauman! best day ever!! I just love her so much! she reminds me a lot of lynae barlow, so we just had a ton of fun preaching the gospel all day! I hope we are companions sometime!!

oh funny story.. so the elders in our ward lost their phone a couple days ago, so we have been making fun of them and stuff for it but then last week, sister mewa washed our phone in the washer... so then we were both phoneless.. what a pain! hahaha but its ok because we got a new one the next day at the specialized zone training with president Henderson and another zone. it was so good!! and they have really been changing some major things in the mission, but it is going to help us and push us so much! we will get 120 baptisms in august!!!

so on Saturday we had our first baptism!!! cute little hayzel! but she is 8 years old but I guess it counts as a convert because her parents aren't members but they will be soon! :) but it was hayzel and her 3 cousins baptisms and they had me and my comp give the talks, so that was fun! but they showed up at 4:30 when it was supposed to start at 4 so that was awkward but apparently that's how all polenesians are! and then they had a huge feast afterwards and we walk in and there was an entire pig on the table. it was huge!!!! but I love the maori people! they are my favorite!

also mom, you will be happy to hear but I have been playing the piano for zone meetings and district meetings and a little in church too... so thanks mom :)

so today we got to go to the temple! it was soooo good!!!! the cute little Brisbane temple in the city, love it. but we had to go to the 8:00 session so we had to get up at like 4:30... it was so earlly... but then we got to ride the train with all the elders which was super fun! I love being a missionary!! well I love you all!!!!!! have a good rest of the week! Ofa Atu!

-Sister Alldredge

LOVED ONES!!... 

oh how i miss you, and there are some times during the day that i think about you and just want to hug each one of you so bad but then i just think, i can hug them for eternity, 18 months is nothing! :) but this week was really good! we saw a lot of miracles and had some crazy/super awkward experiences! haha but i also hit my 1 month mark this week! and it was so funny, so i got done working out and i go in the bathroom after sis mewa got out of the shower and all of these balloons were all over the bathroom, hahaha and then i come downstairs after i get dressed and she pulls out this sparkler she had under her blanket and lit it and was yelling and saying happy 1 month mark... ahhh she is so fun! i just love her! it was also her 1 year mark on thursday so we got to celebrate both this week! 

so a SUPER awkward/hilarious thing that happened this week.... so we got to a former investigators house just to see if they are still interested and stuff, and we walk up and the mom was just leaving but the dad said we could come talk to him and his mother in law. and they were both from india but he was crazy!!! so we were just getting to know him and asking what he did for work and stuff and then he tells us that he was a fitness model, and then he pulls out his phone and shows us a picture of him shirtless flexing... so awkward..hahahha so me and sis mewa were just like looking at eachother and then tried to change the subject. so then we were talking again and he brought up how coconut oil makes your hair thicker and he was saying i really needed it... haha so as we were leaving, he was like, do you want to try some in your hair? and so i was like, sure! why not? cuz i thought it would just be a little bit, so all of a sudden he starts pouring it onto my head and then he starts massaging it into my head!!! i was like dying at this point.... and so i was like, ill do it!! and he was like no, i know how to do it. so i look at sis mewa and she was trying not to laugh and it was so awkward... then his wife walks in from picking up the kids and he was massaging coconut oil into my hair... which was so awkward, but she acted like it was totally normal! oh man, it was hilarious! so then we leave and me and sis mewa were just laughing our heads off because he put on enough to cover my whole head when i just thought he was going to do a couple drops and we didnt have time to go shower and rinse it out, so for the rest of the day, i had oil all in my hair. so yeah, that will be a fun story to tell to my kids! :) 

so a crazy experience that happened was this week... we were knocking doors last week and talked to this really spiritual lady that said we could come back this week, so we go to see her and she invited us into her home but told us not to touch her crystals that she had. so we got in, and there a these HUGE like as tall as me crystals everywhere and she had a ton of statues and stuff, and then we go to her back patio and she has this big brass pyramid thing with blocks with symbols on it everywhere and a knife and scissors on her table and stuff so me and sis mewa started like freaking out! we didn't know what to do.... so we just told her we didn't have much time cuz we wanted to get out of there! so as we are talking to her, she tells us all of this crazy stuff she believes and then after like 10 mintues, sis mewas leg fell asleep and she was like, "thats because your body isnt ready to hear the things i have to tell you." it was super weird.. and kind of creepy! 

but guess what.. im having my first baptism this week!!! so pumped!! she is 8 years old but her parents arent members, so they said that counts as a convert i guess...but hopefully we will be able to teach her parents and help them to be baptized too! but i will send you pics of the baptism! because it is hazel, the 8 year old, and her 3 other cousins who are 8 and we are teaching them all! its super fun! 

also we had dinner with the bishop and they are thinking they are going to utah in october for conference so that would be awesome if you could meet them!!!! they are so cool and they took us to a thai restaurant for dinner last week! dinner appointments are the best, i just love the members in my ward! 

oh by the way, we have temple week next week so i will be emailing you on wednesday, or i guess tuesday night for you guys! but we get to go to the temple every transfer! isn't that so lucky?! im in the best mission in the world.  Also that means that transfers are coming up... which scares me! sis mewa thinks she will be transferred because she said when goldens are doing pretty good, they like to get a follow up trainer. or she thinks im going to train for my second transfer because a couple missionaries have done that in our mission! i just laugh at her because there is no way! and that would be really scary!... haha 

but I LOVE YOU!!! and i love emailing and hearing all about what is going on! please send me more pictures over email! you are the best.

-Sis Alldredge

namo! (hello in sis mewa's language called garihe)

how are you all?! ahh I just love emailing home, its seriously the best thing ever! :) but this last week was busy busy busy!! we got a lot done and a huge improvement from last week when sister mewa was sick! so that's been really good! and I don't have much time to email so I will type as fast as I can! first of all my companion is CRAZY! seriously, but I love her so much! like whenever we go knock doors she has this certain knock that she does everytime and it takes her like 5 minutes and then she yells hello into the house, and I feel like everyone thinks we are so impatient but its so funny... also she has a terrible habit of not washing her hands but don't worry, as soon as I realized she didn't I put a stop to it. I ask her every time now after she comes out of the bathroom if she washes her hands and so she has been good not to forget now :) also she sings a lot, and she can sing just fine when she sings the melody but she likes to make up her own harmonies to every song she sings and man, is she way off key! hahahaah but its seriously the funniest thing ever! also all she likes to eat are veggies so she buys like 5 bags full of frozen veggies and then she will cook them and eat them for breakfast lunch and dinner. so weird.. and she has a huge crush on the AP of the mission but he is leaving next transfer so she has been pretty emotional lately, so I have had to help her deal with that, but the nice thing is that she can take it when I am straight up with her about stuff, so we get along great! so yeah that's my companion!!

but this last week we met a lot of different people! one person we talked to told us that there is a city in the middle of the earth and that you can get there by going on a boat in the summer to the north pole and there is a portal there and that's heaven... oh man I was trying so hard not to laugh! but we also got to visit some of our investigators, but we have this one investigator who knows its true, he is just waiting for god to answer his prayer, and he knows he will answer, he just says god is busy answering everyone elses prayers right now, so we are trying super hard to help him!! also we met a guy names kelvin this week. he is solid. he has already read half the book of Mormon, he just has questions about the pre earth life and stuff so we will answer them this week and hopefully be able to set a baptismal date!! our mission is very big on inviting non-members to be baptized on every lesson, and that has been kind of hard but im working on it!

so we had golden orientation (training for new missionaries) and it was AMAZING!!!! seriously. I love our APs and my mission president and his wife so much!!!!!! they are so knowledgeable and I learned so much! but the first day they focused a lot on our mission goal type thing, which is to have a mighty change of heart. we talked a lot about how we have to let go of certain things to be able to become more Christlike and man, I want that more than anything! and there are so many things I need to let go of and so many weaknesses but I am trying the best I can!!!! that night we also walked down to dinner together but as we went we street contacted and that was super fun! then had more training and then we were going to do a role play with the mission pres and his wife as the investigator, and so they asked for a volunteer and my companion for the day who was also a new missionary (and who is just learning English) volunteered, ha ha, so pretty much I had to teach the mission president and his wife in front of everyone! it was very intimidating but it was a really good experience and they told me afterwards that I did a very good job! so that was comforting to hear! then the next day we got up at 5:30 and ran from our hotel to the temple, did a workout called snap gravity that is in our mission (best thing ever) and then ran back to the hotel. but when we were running, brisbane was all lit up in the darkness and it was soo pretty! ill send you a picture of what Brisbane looks like! then we changed and showered and went and had more training! and then our trainers came back and we did some role plays and stuff and then president asked if anyone had any of the 6 recitations that we have memorized and I have really tried to memorize all of them and I have 5 of them down right now! so then me and my companion went up and recited my missionary commission, and then president said that was the first time in ABM history that 2 people had had the commission memorized by golden orientation! so that was really cool!

the next couple days we taught and we also went to Bribie Island. it is a cute little island apart of our area, you will have to look it up on google maps! and we were talking to a lot of people but no one was interested and no one was home that we were trying to visit so we were kind of having a rough day. then my comp told me to decide where to go and so I picked someones house, but they weren't home. so we go back to get in the car and I had the feeling we should go knock on someones door across the street. so we go knock and this cute single mom opens the door and we talk to her and asked if we could come talk to her again sometime and she was like, can you come in now? it was so cool!!!! I love the spirit! and so we taught her and we have a return appointment with her in a couple weeks! but im so excited to teach her!

we also went to our ward for the first time yesterday and the ward is awesome! but all of the Polynesian people laugh at me because I can't understand them/ cant pronounce their names.... oh man.... I have made a fool of my self so many times but its ok, because they don't get mad, they just laugh at me and I can deal with that! :)

but I love this gospel! I love you all! im so grateful that I can be on a mission, and man is it hard but so worth it! I miss you guys and I hope all is well!!!!! OFA ATU!!!

AHHH! so much as happened! so im in australia..... what?! its so beautiful! i love it! and also its like 18 degrees Celsius, whatever that is... but it feels super nice! not too hot not too cold! but lets see... so mtc was so fun!! and i miss my district so much! but im so happy to be in the field! so the day we got our visas was like the best day ever! our other companion sister grawrock didn't get her visa so she got her temporary reassignment to washington so we were wondering where our reassignment was because we thought for sure we were going state side so we went to the travel office and asked them and they said that we had got our visas!!!! me and sister kunz we freaking out!!! we couldn't believe it! but that feels like ages ago... so then the day came that we were leaving and we said goodbye to our district which was so sad! elder faamuli was bawling! it was so sad! but i was just too excited so i didn't cry :) but then we got on the plane and flew to LA but on the plane, me and sister kunz go to sit down and we realize someone was sitting in between us so we walk back to our seats and it is this big guy covered in tatoos,, hahahah so we just sit down and he looked super thrilled to be sitting inbetween 2 sister missionaries! hahaha and we tried to talk to him but he totally ignored us.. haha oh well! but we finally got to go on the plane to australia and everyone had australian accents and it was crazy! and everyone was talking about lollies (candy) and calling me mate and talking about the rubbish bin (garbage) and stuff. 

but then after like 15 hours we finally got to australia! and i met my mission president, president henderson and let me tell you.... he is going to be a prophet some day! i love him so much! i cant even describe it, but whenever he talks, it just motivates me to try every single day to be a better person and missionary! im sure all missionaries feel this way about their mission presidents! and also his wife is the sweetest lady ever! i love her so much! and they are literally perfect! seriously... but we got there and they drove us to the mission office and then to the mission home and we had lunch and then our trainers came! and let me tell you.... i have the best trainer ever!! her name is sister mewa and she is crazy. but we have so much fun! but when she came, she had lost her voice so she couldn't really talk.. hahahaha but she is from papa new guinea and she is 23 and she never stops talking! haha and then they told me i would be going to centenary lakes and that i would have to drive because sis mewa cant drive. so that night i drove on the opposite side of the car and the opposite side of the road and it was so scary. but im getting used to it! and its super fun! 

so we went to our flat and got settled in but the next day sister mewa was getting sicker so we had to go to doctors appointments and stay home which was a bummer. we had to do that for 2 days and then finally sister henderson called me and said that she wanted me to go work so she had me go with the sister training leaders and sister mewa went to the mission home for the weekend, which was sad, but i was able to go teach a lot of people and go knocking doors and stuff! it was so fun! i love teaching! and i love the stls! their names are sister bauman and sister yeh, i love sister bauman. we are pretty much the same person and we just laugh all the time! so it was fun to be with them but sunday night we went and picked up sister mewa and now we are back home and its finally p day! after not emailing for like 2 weeks... :) but its seriously so good to hear from you guys! 

but funny story.. so we had mini missionaries come for like a day and there was this 17 year old girl that came and she was... insane. literally me and sister bauman were going to go crazy. hahahahahahaah but there was another mini missionary too so there was 5 of us and we didn't all want to go teaching, so sister Bauman and sister Yeh and the crazy mini missionary went and taught a lesson while me and the other mini missionary knocked doors, so we got around for like 45 minutes and then get back to where they were teaching the lesson and their car was gone. so pretty much they left us stranded. hahahah i was just laughing about it and the mini missionary was like freaking out a little bit so we just stayed and talked to the family they had taught for an hour before they came back... hahahaha so yeah, it was super great! but i love teaching and i love being a missionary and i love australia! even though they don't have american cheese or panda express, but life goes on! :) I LOVE YOU!!!!! AND I MISS YOU! have a good week! 

Sister Alldredge

Sister Alldredge with President & Sister Henderson

Sister Alldredge & her trainer, Sister Mewa