Me with Brother Bryson Worsencroft after he was released over the phone

Hello amazing family! Yes, it is true, I'm long gone from Launceston. Really disappointing, but that's okay because I'm sure I will love this area as well. Tuesday was the day of our Transfer meetings, and it's always depressing seeing these missionaries who have loved their missions so much go home, especially knowing that Elder Worsencroft, my trainer, was amongst those missionaries to go home, and I know that someday soon enough that I will be at that time of my life to go home too.

Me with elder Worsencrost (Yes, we were all crying) REAL men do cry

Tuesday night I got to meet my companion, and his name is Elder Vaiouga, and like Elder Wade he's been out for the same time that I have, he is VERY obedient to the rules of the mission which I LOVE!!! But we are actually taking over Elder Stokes' area and doubling in, and neither of us have ever done that before so it was really stressful: we don't know the area, the investigators, the members, nothing. We were confused on the area, so we decided to have a look at the almighty Area Book... which hadn't been updated since 2011... We. Were. Stressed. For all the prospective missionaries out there, ALWAYS UPDATE YOUR DANG AREA BOOK!!! It saves you from all your work being worth nothing. So because the Area Book wasn't updated, we had no idea who the investigators were, if there were any, so we were lost. And plus, Elder Stokes and his previous companion left the place absolutely THRASHED; broken glass on the floor, rotten food in the fridge and cabinets, it was just terrible. We spent the rest of Tuesday night cleaning up the flatt to say the least.

Because of the terrible Area Book we have been doing a lot of finding and door knocking. It's a lot different than Launceston because people down there are a lot nicer, but that's okay because we know that our efforts that we put in is what matters, not our skill or our numbers at the end of the week. With a total of ten hours of door knocking we found only one new investigator, Paul, but he does seem keen to learn if God is really there and to have us teach him, and we are going back on Wednesday, so PLEASE keep him in your prayers that he will feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost to have us come back to teach him.

A little frustrated on our decisions of where to tract

So the area is really bush, or in America, country. Lots of farmland and open areas. A funny experience happened when we prayed about which street to go contacting on, and we decided to go to some place that turned out to be 30 kilometers away, but we felt like we were supposed to go anyways. The next day we put it into action, and it turns out that the street we felt inspired to go had no houses on it... It was completely bush, but we went to the street next to it instead. It was really hot that day, but we got a good laugh out of it anyways.

So a spiritual experience, kinda. For me, but not for the guy we were talking to. We were knocking on this guys door, and long story short he said he's a Christian and we said so were we, but as we concluded our conversation I ended with my testimony that I love Jesus Christ and what he's done for me more than I love my parents, and he started to get on my case that it's the crazy God-loving fanatics that cause all the wars in the world. First of all, it's not religion that causes wars, it's crazy people with beards and guns that shoot people in the name of their god that causes wards, but that's besides the point. Secondly, there is no doubt in my mind that I love my Savior more than anyone else. Let's put it into perspective, shall we? If my parents, whom I love so dearly, asked me to drop my love, career, educational, and financial life, to go to some random foreign country for two years, proclaim my love for them to thousands of people that I don't even know, get rejected by tens of thousands of people, DO THIS FOR TWO YEARS, and on top of it pay $10,000.00 to do this? No way! But if Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father asked me to do the same thing? My response: Yea Lord, thou knowest I love thee. Even though he couldn't feel my love for the savior, I know that I could.

Me relaxing on the Plane beck to the mainland

The church is true everybody, and I love it. My testimony is bashed from every possible corner and
way, but I will and can be strong. I will not let my testimony falter. I love you all, I love this mission, and I love my experiences. And as always, God be with you till we meet again.

-Elder Landon Cook

Ponderize: Helaman 5:18

Saying goodbye at the Airport :(

Elder Vaiouga was making Suits on the Loose (silly LDS Mormon movie) references the whole time we were out there..

Our only source of air conditioning in the flatt: a $12.00 fan and a bowl of cold ice water. Doesn't really work, but we just tell ourselves that it does in order to stay alive. It gets like 90 degrees in our flatt in the afternoon, but the huge window towards the west without any blinds doesn't help at all

 As a mother of a son on a Mission ... this breaks my hear!  I am
Grateful Elder Landon Cook has a good spirit and knows his purpose :)

Preaching to a dog (the only living thing besides plants that seem to listen)