******* LANDON J. COOK ******* Melbourne, Australia Mission April 2015

Man, it has been a wild week. Honestly I'm exhausted, but it's all good because that means we're working hard. I think. Anyways, that guy we went to taught last week, his name is Wijeya, and he is about 50 or so and is from Sri Lanka. Our first lesson was kind of weird, and I think it's because he was a little drunk. He was talking on how the sky is God (or something like that) and when we taught he closed all the doors to keep the "vibrations" in the room. Eh, it was a little strange, but it was a good thing that Job Tai was there to help us out. The next few lessons went a lot better and we could actually feel the spirit, and when we mentioned General Conference to him he seemed really keen to come on Saturday and Sunday, but he didn't show up to any sessions, and I think it might be because he was previously drinking and he felt ashamed to go, but when we asked him about it he denied he was drinking (even though we could smell the alcohol on him). Our lesson on Sunday was tough to teach because he was all over the place and our lesson wasn't as organized as it should've been. He speaks fluent English and is very keen to be baptized, but there are a few things he needs to work on. He smokes and drinks a lot, but he doesn't like to admit to either when we ask him, so yeah, there's that. He is a great guy though, we just need to be patient with him. He even offered to take Elder Wade and I to some seahorse sanctuary for helping him move some furniture to his house, so that's really cool.

We also met with Maddi Williams, and she's the granddaughter of a member in our ward and she's been coming to church for almost the past year. We taught a good lesson with Brother and Sister Furlan, but the lesson went a bit long. She said she isn't ready to be baptized yet because she wants to know if the church is true or not, so we'll keep working with her.

Friday we had our interviews in Hobart, so that was an all-day thing because it's a three hour drive there and a three hour drive back. Interviews with President Maxwell are always my favorite; he just has so much spiritual insight to help anyone out. It's a sad thing that he's leaving next June or so, but that's just how the cookie crumbles.

General Conference was amazing! I loved each and every one of the talks, especially the ones about parenting, because in my life that's been one of my biggest concerns recently: when I get back and start a family, I want to be able to raise my children in righteousness and in the gospel, so I made sure to pay especially close attention to those ones. But in all, it was great. I loved the one about "Ponderizing" a scripture every week, and I'm gonna start applying that in my life. The scripture the Spirit led me to was Mosiah 2: 5-6 about the people turning their tents towards the temple. I could tell President Monson was struggling, but he is such a man of inspiration, nothing short of a prophet of God

That's about it for this week, and after this Elder Wade and I plan on going to a zoo where we can feed kangaroos and Tassie Devils OR go to some caves out in Mole Creek about 30 minutes away, so today'll be a good day. So mom asked me a few questions is a letter I got from her this week, so here are the answers:

No, I haven't gotten even the slightest tinge of an Aussie accent yet, but I'll work on that (because trust me, I want one)

The weather is warming up, but the temperature will fluctuate throughout the day quite a bit, so it's kinda tough planning what to wear.

I did get the letter you sent a few days back, and thank you so much for that! I love letters! And tell Sari I got hers last week too. Actually, a few months back Grandma sent me a letter and I got it, and it had money in it as well. Can you thank her for me? I've forgotten to say that I received the letters every week, but tell her thank you so much for the letter and money.

I think that's it everybody, but I have one favor of you all to ask: please pray that my companion's drive to work will increase. His enthusiasm is almost at zero, and it's hard to work when all your companion does is nap all day. Seriously, that isn't as much as an over exaggeration as you think it might be. I've done nothing but tried to lead by example. I get to studies on time, wake up on time, listen to good music, try to give him uplifting encouragement and correction to be a better missionary. I have talked to President Maxwell about it, but I asked if he could not say anything to him because I know it would infuriate Elder Wade and crush our companionship entirely, and if we have to spend another transfer together with him knowing I am upset about his disobedience it'll be "not so good" for another 6 weeks. Forcing a companion to work only sours them even more to working, so I don't know what to do. I just know that this trail is put in front of me to help me learn something even though it's tough. I'm busy all the time which makes it harder, but thank you for raising me to be a clean person, even a little OCD. For the past few days I've actually gotten out of bed half an hour early to make him breakfast and coax him out of bed on time with French toast. It's been working, but I need him to realize I can't baby him and hold his hand into being obedient. I need help on what to do, and I've done (I think) almost everything in my power to try to encourage him without getting punched in the face (he absolutely HATES correction, and there's a lot that does need to be "straightened out"). I need some kind of help, advice, inspiration, ANYTHING to encourage him, but I guess the best thing right now it to ask for your prayers that he'll have a change of heart.

Anyways, thanks for the prayers in advance, I love you all, and as always, God be with you till we meet again.

-Elder Landon Cook