Two “Orphans”

Howdy all! it’s been a busy week here in the down under. I wish when I say busy, it meant we were teaching a lot, but it’s mostly been catching Elder Serle up to speed on who’s in the branch, who our investigators are, and where everything is. We did get to do a little bit of teaching, but we unfortunately haven’t been unable to get very many lessons in. We have been doing a lot of service though. We went to the animal preserve we volunteer at, and Elder Serle loved it. He’s absolutely fascinated with dingos. We also were able to spend several quality hours shoveling mud in the rain, all good fun. Elder Serle and I get along really well. We have a lot of things in common, and have a lot to learn from each other. Its been a little scary, he considers me the lead missionary, so I’ve had to step up and and take the lead. We call ourselves “orphans” because the missionary structure (where you’re trainer is your “dad”, and if you have a second trainer you have a “step-dad”, and “brothers, cousins, and so forth”) has left us both “fatherless”. We’re doing well on our own, and I think we’ve been trained well enough to handle the area. Our ward mission leader is great though. He is a geek like both of us, (first geek I’ve ever met who prefers apple over microsoft), and is really exited to have us over on P-days to nerd out together.

I’ve found in a lot of ways my computer skills have served me well here. The family history center is basically dependent on me for help nowadays, and so far I’ve removed viruses, fixed internet connection problems, set up a new computer, installed (working on) family search software, and so forth. I’ve had to get special permission for some of them, but I think the family history center is in much better shape than when I got here. The family history center loves to see us, and there’s always something new they have me working on. We did some family history last week, and I found the line that goes back to Adam again.  This time, we actually only got back to Charlemagne, and then the line stops, but there’s a big poster in the family history center that shows the royal lines back to Adam, so we were able to trace it back from there.

I still really miss Elder Phillips, but I think I’ll be able to manage myself. He’s a fantastic missionary, and I know that he was called to serve in the area that he is needed the most. I guess that God must really trust us to have two missionaries in training in one of the toughest areas in the mission. (or so I’ve been told, I don’t have any experience to judge it by, although Elder Serle thinks it’s quite a bit harder than his last area.) There must be something down here that God wants us to do, so we’ll be trying as hard as we can to do it.

I had the neat experience of blessing a really sick lady of the branch a while back. She had overdosed on painkillers, and was in a really bad condition. We went back over to visit her this week, and she says that she feels the blessing we gave her saved her life. That was a very touching, spiritual moment for me, and I can see how the power of the priesthood is a great blessing in my life.

I love you all,

Elder Shelton

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