The Topic of Study for the Week is...Pride!

This has been a crazy week! Sister Chou Lee and I went out to Kalgoorlie for exchanges. It was so fun! I was there just a few weeks ago, but it was neat to go out and see those sisters. We trained for 7 hours inland to get there, and holy smokes, you would not BELIEVE how hot Kalgoorlie is! The sun is so harsh, you can feel your skin burning like five seconds after it touches your skin...I've been wearing so much sunscreen these days, it's my best friend!

Exchanges in Kalgoorlie with Sister Vaiula

Sister Waith and Sister Faivakimoana, two of my favourite people

Sister Chou Lee and I have been working really hard! On Saturday we spent all day out on the bikes, visiting people and cleaning up the ward list. On the way we found three new investigators, all who have SO much potential! Two of them, Apollo and Samantha, were talking about Jesus Christ when we stopped to talk to them. It was so cool, they said they knew there must be a reason that they met us at that exact moment. We are teaching them this week and I am SO excited!!

Taylor Rickard is getting baptized this week!! She is just the bomb. It is such a privilege to witness the Lord's preparation in the lives of the people we teach. She has been so prepared by the Lord to accept the gospel; it's incredible. She is amazing and we are SO excited!!

Sister Chou Lee told me I was sleep talking the other night. I was setting up a teaching appointment. "Is five o'clock on Wednesday okay?" Ha ha man missionaries are so nerdy and hilarious!

Soo...Australia is very hot. Like, very, very, VERY hot. It's gotten up to 38 Celsius this week....I don't know how hot that is in Fahrenheit, but it's REALLY HOT. And the scary part is, whenever I mention how hot it is the Australians around me laugh and say, "oh this is nothing. You just wait." ......family. I'm scared.

So the topic of study for this week is........drum roll.......PRIDE!!! We all have it, and we all think everyone else has it more!! I have an idea!! Lets all read "Beware of Pride" by Ezra Taft Benson!! Seriously though, it's amazing. When you read it, and President Benson mentions one of the....symptoms?....of pride, someone's name and face is going to pop into your head. And you're going to think, "oh yeah, they are so prideful, that's who he's talking about." DON'T DO THAT. He's not talking to them, he's  talking to YOU. All of you. Everyone in the whole world. Minus the kids at Pathway, they're perfect. But everyone else! Oh except for Joseph; he's also perfect.

A real Australian hat in the real Australian Outback

I have learned a million things on my mission. One of the biggest, is the power of the Priesthood. It is REAL power. It is the power we use to fight against Satan's power, which is also very real.

I had a really cool experience this week that I would like to share. So, my back has been really hurting since I got on my mission. Just the muscles are so sore and tight and knotted. It's gotten really bad over the past few weeks, and every morning when I wake up it KILLS. So one night, I was laying in bed, trying to fall asleep. I suddenly had a horrible feeling and I was terrified. I know evil is real, and I didn't see anything but I definitely felt it. We are serving in an area with a lot of Maori's, and Maori's are very spiritual - they are descendants of Lehi. Weird things happen around them. So I just had this terrible feeling. I said a prayer, and asked for angels to be around me, to protect me. Immediately the feeling was gone, and I felt so much peace and warmth and safety. I was just laying there on my stomach, enjoying the peace I felt, and suddenly I felt this warm, tingling feeling, start at the middle of my back at my spine, and it spread all across my back. I don't know how long it lasted, but I fell asleep before it stopped.

The next morning, when I woke up, my back didn't hurt. Like at all. It hasn't hurt since. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I do know that the Lord is very aware of us, and that He knows what we need without us even asking.

I am loving my mission so much! I have had so many incredible experiences. I know that this Work is the Lord's Work. He is much more involved in it than we realize.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Love,

Sister Bryce

SO....there is this Restaurant. It's called Nando's, and it's Portuguese, and it's delicious. It's my favourite restaurant and I'm SO sad we don't have it! The sauce is the best!