Hidden Treasures

G'day, How ya going mates?
Thanks for the emails Mom, Dad, and Matt.
Matt, is your mission updating to the new myldsmail? It's not working for me for some reason.
Mom, thanks so much for the recipes I asked for. I will enjoy making them and sharing them with our friends.
I hope everything went well for Sara Bs family Birthday bash! Give her a big squeeze for me and tell her I say happy birthday! Did she have fun Val? Kristin that's cool that your at Mom and Dads right now. I guess it's still Sunday there. So Mom say hi to Kristin and Sydney for me while they are there at home.
Mom or Val thanks so much for the pictures of the kids you sent last week! They are all getting so big and cute, especially Emily. And it was one of the highlights of my week to get a package full of Valentines for me a month before Valentines Day. I was so suprised! You caught me way off guard with that one. I gave that big one to Elder Paki. He has it hanging up on his wall, as do I with mine. I sure miss those kids.
Matt, things have been picking up with the work here but not as exponentially as you and Travis's areas. That is awesome to hear the success rates you guys are having. It is also good to hear that your ward mission leader finds you people to teach and sets up appointments. We struggle just getting ours to teach gospel principles class on Sunday. He is a lot better than he used to be though, he is improving.

Kristin and Pete are going to Hawaii!! Lucky ducks. What Island are they going to... what ward will they be attending?
I can't believe the kind of success that Travis is seeing in Madagascar, that just blows my mind. But I just read this week of Alma baptizing 3500 souls into the church. With faith nothing is impossible.
Mom and Dad thanks for always being so supportive, and sending good uplifting emails every week, and answering all the little questions - that really helps. Thank you heaps for the prayers, they work.
Dad, thank you so much for the BYU updates, you have no idea how much that means to me. I'm sure Matt gets plenty anyway, still living in America, and being Unga's companion. But I don't get anything here in Australia. The only normal American up here (Elder Wallace our senior couple missionary) and he is a Utah fan. So I guess normal wouldn't really be the right word for him. haha.
Its good to here BYU basketball is tearing it up and our football players are doing well and making good choices. I'm so sad they will all be graduated when I get home. But I guess when I get home I will just see the guys that played at my high school playing at BYU.
Did Max Hall play quarter back in that East-West all star game? Is that a new thing that they're doing?
Lizzy's reception sounds fun, not everyone gets a live brass band at there reception.

Dad you don't have to be to overly concerned with me being to distracted with communications from home. Other than your emails and Val's package last week I haven't gotten anything in ages. And my friends have all forgotten about me. So I have plenty of time to think about whats most important. Thus we have seen the work pick up here in Rockhampton as of late.
Dad you are definitely right about how going out of your comfort zone is when you are the most productive. That's what the whole mission is about, and trust me there are plenty of interesting people up here in Rockhampton to invite me out of my comfort zone. I'm learning to love and serve them. Transfers is at the end of the month. We're hoping that Paki will stay, but seeing that no Missionaries in Rockhampton have ever stayed more than 3 transfers, the odds don't look to good for him. Its too bad, because we will have a lot of success at the beginning of next transfer. There will be some blessings here that will have come from his diligent service after he has left. They will be something like hidden treasures to him.
In sec. 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants we are taught about promised blessings that we receive when we keep the Lords commandments. One in particular that it lists is Treasures of wisdom, even hidden treasures. Some of the blessings and successes we see in life don't come right away, but we eventually see them come into view down the road. I got a letter from Elder Finau thanking you and Sheyene and I so much for the letters and love. Mom, he said he was going to laminate and hang up the $10 you sent him. He also said that Rose, a kiwi solo mum that we tracted into in Waterford together had a baptisimal date. So even though I wont be there to see it, it makes all my diligent hard work and tracting worth it.

Then a few days later I get a call from my other old companion Elder Hales who now works in the mission office. He told me that Dawn Talbot said, "Hi". Dawn was a lady that we found tracking together in Waterford. We taught her the first two lessons and then she was evicted and we helped her move out, maybe i shared this with you at the time (back in June or July). She moved into the sisters area and I heard from them occasionally that they picked up teaching her and that she was up and down. the last i had heard they had dropped her because she couldn't keep commitments because she had to work as a manager at (Micky D's) on Sunday to support her 5 kids since her husband up and left her. Elder Hales informed me that she was baptized on Friday, and that she called in him to Baptize her. He went from Brisbane down to Logan to baptize her on Friday, and she told him to tell me hi and that she wished I could have been there. I always had a really good feeling about her ever since we tracked into her. I remember that, right before we knocked on her door we said a prayer on the previous houses porch that we would be able to find a family to teach and baptize that day as we tracked, as that was the focus in the mission at that time.
The Lord answers in his own way, and in his own time, but he does answer. She has 4 daughters and a boy that will eventually follow her example and be baptized and the Talbot family will be able to be together forever. These are just some of the hidden treasures I have seen this past week that I wanted to share with you. So some of my tracking has now payed off.
I hope ward conference was good mom and dad.
Matt sorry, this is along one again. Matt congratulations on all your success. You should send me some stuff back though when you find some time. I've been pretty slack about writing lately as well. I still can't believe you guys are companions. Matt thanks for your testimony in your emails it helps strengthen mine.
Chris Miller if you are getting these emails: What up? Hope everything is going well in your preparations. If you have any questions or need any help with anything about the mission just ask me and Matt. God bless you brother, I can't wait for you to join us in the field.
I think I'm starting to remember Brady Wright... Short kid who asked Kendal Murray to the dance before i could... yep, yep its all coming back to me now. He was a pretty tight kid though. I remember he was in one of my early seminary classes. What's with Kelsey writing Elder Kau and shes has never even written me yet?
Its good to hear Harvey will stay another year! I wish he could stay 2 more years!
John and Sierra I have the same questions for you as Matt - where did you move? How is school? Tell Sheybee to wait till I get home before she gets married.
Has anyone seen Mark lately, I miss him. Someone say hello to him for me. He hasn't written me back in ages.
Oh Sierra, this really cool young couple in our ward (with a little boy James and a 2 year old girl Emma) asked me if I could get some Tootsie Pops and Peanut butter M'M's sent over from the states, cause they don't have them here. Could you send some for them? They are really cool and about the same age as you guys. you should look them up on face book (Jess Swann and Stephen Swann in Rockhampton, Australia).
Love you all. Ofa atu. Love, Elder Prina