WEEK 4

Sister Bumgardner & Sister Curtis at the temple

John 14:26-27  "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

What an insane week! There's a lot of stories to tell so stay tuned. 

First story: Earlier in the week we were door knocking on a road that's about a block from our flat. We had knocked on about 3 houses when we came to a house and a man was sitting on the porch. We talked to him for a while, got his number for a return appointment and went on door knocking. About 3 houses down when we were crossing the street, the man was out on the street just watching us but we didn't think much about it. Then about 10 minutes later we were walking back to our car and walked past the house. All the sudden I heard Sister Curtis go "what in the helen keller" . We looked over and without going into every little detail, the guy had been waiting for us on his porch and was flashing us. We walked REALLY fast back to our car and I think we were just in shock about it because we laughed about it for 15 minutes then cried about it too. I don't know what sicko just waits to do that to people that are just trying to help others but in the words of President Ence "there's just fruitcakes like that out there". 

Brisbane

Second story: We have seen so many miracles this week. During our weekly planning I felt so inspired, almost compelled that we needed to spend more time finding. So we came up with ideas and just decided to put more focus on it. We have found 4 new interested people just in this week! It was incredible to me because each time it wasn't something we had planned out but Heavenly Father put people directly in our path. Each time I honestly just opened my mouth and trusted that I would be given the words and I was! For the Brisbane mission 4 new people is really great so we're super happy about it! 

-Clint was one of the people we met while running in the park one morning. He was working there and we had said hi to him then kept running. The entire time we were running I couldn't think of anything else but that we needed to talk to him. Before I knew it I had completely changed the direction of where we were running and started running over to him. He was very willing to meet with us again and said he was interested in learning more! 

-Yogamaya was another new person we met. We had the idea to take a member a treat for her birthday so we went to a place called VeganYum. We started talking with the cashier there and I felt so prompted to talk to her about the gospel. She was very open and we set up a time to meet with her!

-Mouzi we met because we felt prompted to go visit a less active member who we knew would most likely not be home but kept feeling like we needed to visit her. Turns out she wasn't home but Mouzi lives across the street and he was outside working in his yard so we went over and talked to him. He actually had met with missionaries before but had lost contact with them so we set up an appointment with him!

-Our last person (I can't remember her name because it was very unique) we met door knocking and she is the only person that I have met so far door knocking that has actually let us finish our first sentence hah! She is Hindu and said she already knew everything about Jesus Christ. We told her that when it comes to Christ we can never know too much. We talked to her a little about the plan of salvation and gave her a pamphlet with our name on it so she could call us back! 

Third story: With the Coronavirus things have been a little crazy. There's obviously no church, district councils are over Skype, there will only be absolutely necessary transfers done, and we have been given $100 to buy emergency storage supplies because we are most likely going to be on lock down within the next two weeks or so. I was getting worried because we have zero food in our flat. The Lord is so aware of all of our needs no matter how small they are and he truly takes care of his missionaries.  My prayers were answered because we have had two members in our ward reach out to us saying that they had gone out and bought heaps of food storage for us. I literally almost started crying holding a box of food hahah. 

Heavenly Father has been preparing us for this time for years now. We are so blessed that we have a prophet who speaks directly with God to help protect us. We are so blessed that we have been directed to prepare for this time for years now. The world will not offer us peace but Jesus Christ will. I encourage each one of us to exercise our faith and remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the same regardless of what is happening in the world. We have the opportunity to anchor ourselves in Christ or be tossed into the sea of confusion and doubt. 

I love all of you and pray for you often! 

-Sister Aliese Bumgardner 

WEEK 3

Aliese's trainer, Sister Curtis

Moroni 7:48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

I've been out for a month! It feels like I just barely left yesterday! Oh my goodness everyone I love Australia so much! It is absolutely gorgeous here but very bipolar haha it will be so hot one minute and then pour rain for 10 minutes. The city at night is so beautiful I almost started crying one night when we were there because I loved it so much hahah. Here are some of the interesting Australian things  I've learned: the different ways to say "mate", they call candy  lolli's here, a bogo is a redneck, KFC really is so much better here it's ridiculous. 

This week was great! We are teaching a couple from China, Eric and Hannah. Eric was baptized a few years ago but Hannah is not a member. We have been teaching her since I got here! She has a baptismal date set for April! 

We were having a little bit of a hard time with a member in our ward and some things were said that made both Sister Curtis and I feel badly. So we were praying a lot yesterday for strength and go see her as Christ sees her. That same day we received a text from her asking if we could come over and help her neighbor. When we went over she opened up to us and told us about some of the things she has been struggling with. It was amazing to me to see how God works. Instead of taking away the situation He gave us an opportunity to serve her and be there for her, which in turn bettered our relationship with her because she could feel Christs love for her through us. 

We had the chance to visit with the SWEETEST older couple in our ward this week. The wife is still very active but the husband isn't. It was a huge blessing because the husband Ray sat in on the lesson with us, last time he left. As we were talking he began to talk about his conversion story. He remembered every single detail of his conversion moment and as he was telling us it was so powerful and I could see that he still had a testimony. We promised him that as he would remember back on that time that he would remember how he felt and that Christ knows him and loves him.

A really powerful lesson that I have learned this week is promised blessings. As part of our calling as missionaries we have the authority to promise blessings and the Lord will honor them. I have been able to see that so many times this week and feel the power of those promised blessings. Christ is laboring alongside us and is magnifying our work! 

A thought that I shared during district council this week was: In an orchestra, there are many different instruments that play different harmonies, tunes and melodies, with each having a different sound. That is what makes an orchestra beautiful! Heavenly Father refers to us many times as instruments in His hands. As His instruments, each of us has a different tune and a different role to play. As we realize our different melody, we will contribute to Heavenly Fathers symphony in our own unique and powerful way. 

Always remember that we each have a place in Heavenly Fathers symphony and that we can contribute something great. He needs each one of us to find purpose in being one of His disciples and then Come and See, Come and Help and Come and Stay. 

I love all of you and I pray for you daily! 

WEEK 2

Helaman 5:12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

I'm in AUSTRALIA!!!! Let me tell you, 30 hours of traveling? That's just golden. Oh my goodness Australia is BEAUTIFUL! I love it so so much here!! My hair is of course an Afro which I expected hahah. I am serving in Enoggera which is a little outside of Brisbane City. My trainers name is Sister Curtis from Kaysville! She is hilarious and we get along really really well! The jet leg has hit me really bad at times but the Lord is strengthening me a lot. We are teaching about 7 people right now and then several part member families! They are all amazing and I've been able to jump right into teaching! I've really been blessed with adjusting and just hitting the ground running! 

Australians are all very blunt, straight up people which I love hahaha but that makes door knocking very hard. We were door knocking on Saturday and started walking up to one house and the man who lived there just stuck his head out of the very top window of his house and yelled "no no no no" in his Australian accent until we left hahaha. 

We found someone new to teach this week! Sister Curtis and I have absolutely no food in our apartment so we had to go out to eat one night and I kept feeling like we should go to this Thai place we had talked about. We started talking to our cashier and she told us she had an interest in the gospel and wanted to meet with us! We are teaching her tomorrow! Who knew the Lord could use my craving for curry as a missionary moment Haha. 

On the plane ride from Salt Lake to LA I wasn't sitting by any of the other missionaries traveling with us. I started talking to the woman that was sitting next to me and we ended up talking for the entire flight. She told me about her son, her parents, her friends and a lot else. She was awesome! Towards the last 10 minutes of the flight I asked her if she would do me a favor and she said yes, I then asked if she would write down the name of the churches website and look through it for some of the answers that she has been looking for. At first she hesitated then she said "yes, for you I'll do that because I'll never forget you". She told me about how her son was supposed to come on that trip with her but couldn't. It was amazing to me to see how carefully the Lord plans out our lives so that we can be in the right place at the right time. If her son had come I wouldn't have been the one to sit next to her and wouldn't have been able to share that message with her! 

My last week at the MTC I had an incredible experience as well with Sister Broadhead. She was having a really hard time one night and had gone to bed crying. She had told me earlier that she didn't want to talk about it so I thought she probably just wanted a moment alone. I was laying in bed when all the sudden I heard the word "help" in my mind. Without giving it another thought I got out of bed and went and sat on her bed. I sat there with her and just comforted her until she seemed to be doing a little better then went back to bed and didn't think about it again. A few days later she was talking to her friend and of course I was standing right there. She told her about her side of the story which was that she had been praying asking for comfort when the words "daughter be of good comfort" from Matthew 9:22 came into her mind. She said not even 5 seconds after she felt a hand on her shoulder and it was me. 

The Lord uses each of us as his instruments to convey his love. He is so aware of our every need and will be there for us. President Lasuer the MTC president told us something in our departure devotional that really stood out to me.  

" We are artists painting a picture of Christ. Our palette is our virtue, our discipleship and our love of God. Our canvas is our conduct, and with every social interaction we make another brush stroke". Always remember who we are representing and be an artist for Christ. 

I love all of you!! Keep emailing me! 

-Sister Aliese Bumgardner