A little bit of everything

So for the last month I have been keeping track of things to include in my next blog. It didn't take long for the list to keep growing so unfortunately I may have to utilise multiple blogs to explain all that's been happening!

Over the last month we have had wonderful missionary experiences! We've continued to teach with the sisters and one sister called me to say they had a miracle! A spanish woman we have been teaching had agreed to read the Book of Mormon - unfortunately she is not continued with this commitment since then. However, another Chinese investigator named Bob (Qai Shun - don't know if that's spelled right) that we had helped give rides and teach made the commitment to be baptised! (see blurry pic to the right with the sisters)

He asked Matt to baptise which just happened this last Saturday! I have a pic of them all dressed up in white somewhere but I seem to have lost it. It was an awesome baptism though! That night we also went to teach another investigator with a baptismal date this month. Melvin is a soccer player from South Africa and has so much faith! The other investigator we have been helping teach is Will who is has his own holistic clinical practice (if that's what you call it). Unfortunately his dad is severely ill in the hospital and this has really hit Will hard with all the anxiety and he is now taking on everyone from his father's business and his own. That's a lot of clients! We're trying to get him to come hang out, and of course Matt has wanted to have a chat about natural remedies since they are both big into that. We have been sad to see some missionaries leave, but now we have lots of elders in the ward as well. Two of them are Spanish speaking and I'm hoping they will assist the Spanish sister I've helped teach. All is good in the ward here and our little group is slowly growing!

We have had some changes to our home over the last month. Matt spent a holiday weekend and painted all of the doors and the stair railing in our house (see pic to the left of the original door colour and the primed stair rail). It looks so much better!! The other awesome addition has been our adorable kitten Shade! We went to go visit Shade before we could pick him up and Matt had fun with all the baby animals the breeder had including puppies, kittens, and baby chicks as well as stick bugs. He loves to cuddle and play which is perfect for our family. As I study he will play by himself or sleep on my lap. Matt's favourite is the flips and jumps he does. As a bengal Shade will be able to jump three times his length and he has easily surpassed our expectations in jumping. He is also VERY fast and sometimes when he catches the toy he tries to tug it from you like a dog. It's amazing the strength his little 4 lb body has! I've also been able to get him to fetch occasionally. I'll throw a ball and he'll grab it, play with it, and then bring it back to me. He's awesome and such a great addition to our family!

A lot has also been going on in Australia over the last month. A while ago there was the International Fleet Review where loads of naval ships and pirate looking ships called tall ships arrived in the Sydney Harbour. Prince Harry came from the UK to look over the ships from all over the world and ships were open to the public to see for about a week. Not too long after that the bush fires started where many people in the Blue Mountains and other areas had to evacuate. Although Matt and I are far from areas that were affected it was so bad that firefighters from around the country came to help. As for holidays not much has happened. Halloween is not very big here, and of course they don't have Thanksgiving or Black Friday. However, the Melbourne Cup (horse race) is quite huge and there are traditional dresses and hat worn for that day. Although the outfit is mostly for those actually going to the race, apparently some in the work place also dress up.

Well that's it for now! I'll post another soon with more details about my cooking creations, school, books, and fun with friends!