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

So this week was actually a pretty fast week. The saying "the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days" is definitely a fact of the matter, because before I know it I've already woken up and then I'm studying and then I'm tracting and then I'm having dinner and then I'm in bed thinking "Woah, that was fast". So this week we had our first District Meeting as the Eltham/Cook Island District, and that was a bit weird, but I'll get the hang of it as time goes on. With only 4 Elders in the District we each have to give a training basically every District Meeting, so that's always fun when the same four guys preach to the same four guys every week about missionary work. I also went on my first exchanges with Elder Puing who's from the Philippines and goes home in a few months. I don't think we'll be able to do another exchange this week, but that's all good because there's only a few of us in the district.

W/Elder Steele, one of my most admired Elders at Zone interviews

Friday we had DLC, and because of the train having problems we ended up getting there about half an hour early. I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to being a leader, and being half an hour late to a meeting with the ZL's and the other DL's just made me feel a bit more inadequate for this, even though it wasn't my fault. This while DL thing is really tough and stressful, and I've never felt more stressful about something in my mission in my life. What makes it tough though is that I don't think the other Elders like me, and they look at me as "an aspirer", which basically means that I try to kiss up to people in order to attain leadership positions. They're not the most obedient Elders, and I think that's why they don't like me, especially knowing that I wasn't the most obedient missionary myself at the beginning of my mission. It's really frustrating, and sometimes I feel like they're just going to refuse participating in District Meetings and things. I don't know, it's just rough. I am completely aware that through this I will grow in experience, but at the same time going through the growing really sucks. Through this I've definitely had to rely on Heavenly Father for more help than ever, and I've also been relying on the ZL's for a lot of help and encouragement as well. Things'll get better, I'm more than positive of that.

I also had my last appointment with the eye doctor on Friday, and he said that within the next month

LAST TIME AT THE BAYSIDE EYE SPECIALISTS!!!

or so I can go back and "cautiously" go back to using contact lenses then. I miss them, but we'll be reunited soon enough!

Saturday we had interviews with President Vidmar. It was really good to get to talk to him personally and one on one. He's such a great Mission President. He told me not to stress out on all of this and that I will become such a stronger missionary through all of this. I don't really know how to explain it, but he really helped me out a lot. Him and I also discussed my plans for when I go home, and the reality of returning has never hit me so hard as when he said I now have permission to go online to sign up for different colleges. Wow, do I really have to start thinking about that now? So as of now I have to start planning out life back home, because now it's become more real than ever that I have to start doing that because it'll come quick.

We were also able to meet with Ray, and that was a really good experience. He said that he's going to be out of town for an extended period during the beginning of August, so we had to exnay the baptismal date. BUT he is committed to finding out for himself if the Book of Mormon is true, and when he is available he wants to meet up with us once, if not twice a week. He will make an awesome member of the Eltham ward when his time comes.

We also have a few other investigators that we are working with, but I'll mention them as time goes on and they start to progress a bit further. We have a return appointment with Richard and Leanne this week for a feed and a lesson, and they're an awesome investigator couple in their 50's or so, and Richard's mother was actually a VERY active member in another ward who passed away a few months ago. Things will start progressing here a bit faster this week, I can already tell.

It's been a crazy fast week this week, and I'm expecting that this week will be no different, and in the blink of an eye I'll be sitting at this computer again next week telling you all about it. To my little brother Austin who recently got his call to the Philippines: if you have any feeling of inadequacy in your capacity, don't worry, because right now so do I. But Heavenly Father has called us both to areas that are past our capacities so that we can meet our Father in heaven's high expectations. Love you all, and I know that this work will always continually progress, and as always, God be with you till we meet again.

-Elder Landon Cook