We got to video call with Brayden Sunday afternoon (his Monday morning) and hear how his travels went, get caught up on everything that has been keeping him busy the last week. A gross story he shared in his letter about his flight:
Let me tell you about some of the significant parts of my week. On the long 15 hour plane ride to Australia, we hit a pretty big bit of turbulence, and the plane was going all over the place, I was having a blast, because it made it seem like it was a Rollercoaster, but apparently a guy a couple rows ahead didn't think that. I looked in the aisle and there was vomit all over the place. It was really gross. The flight attendants were not happy about that because he was about 3 steps away from the bathroom. It was kind of funny.
He did not, thankfully, send a pic of that but we did get a picture of Elder Beattie and Elder Mecham having fun in the Sydney airport while they were waiting for the their flight to Brisbane. They also ran into an old New Zealand mission president who spoke with them and gathered 2 more missionaries heading to Brisbane for that last flight.
Elder Beattie's first area is the Gold Coast. It's south of Brisbane and goes into the New South Wales State covering 3 wards. In his letter he did say "This area that we are in is apparently not super great for missionaries. People don't really want religion in their lives, and I have been able to see that. It is a little bit sad. It's fine though, they just need to be worked on a little. That's my job." Madison is sure this is where Chris Hemsworth lives so we asked Brayden to keep his eyes open.
He mentioned that the first couple days were rainy and the weather is unpredictable which the locals are blaming on a recent volcano eruption that happened near by. Thankfully because the area he covers is quite large he and his companion have a car so the rain hasn't been an issue.
His companion is Elder Soli and he is from Sydney Australia, has a few more transfers to go and Brayden thinks he will be able to learn a lot from him which is great.
Elder Beattie went on splits where he got to ride a bike all over, he and Elder Soli served at a local mall wrapping presents for a local charity, and he was able to see Elder Mecham at the choir practice they were both at.
The first few days seem like they've been spent adjusting to this new life, a pretty steep learning curve. Although everyone he's met has been kind, it's all new and different. Even driving on the left side of the road seems so foreign and uncomfortable. Even though there has been a lot of hard changes to get used to he has some positive stories to focus on:
I got to go to a ward Christmas party and they had a fried chicken lunch that was delicious. They had so much chicken it was awesome. I was so full after that that it wasn't even funny. The members in that ward are so kind and welcoming. It is awesome. After that activity we went over to a member's family's house to teach a lesson, but only the father was there, so we just taught the lesson to him. We taught about how we need to trust in the lord with all of your heart. I was able to share my testimony about it, it was really cool.
On Sunday he went to farm that was three hours away from where they live and inward towards the outback. The reason they were allowed to travel so far was because there was five non-members there along with a group of church members. This was where they held their sacrament meeting, just a small meeting with 15-20 people total. During the sacrament meeting there was a one inch long hornet that was flying around and it was kind of scary, also during the sacrament prayer a bull got through the fence and was running all over the place so some people had to go and round it up, it was kind of funny.
While they were there they were able to teach the five non-members the first lesson and he things they were interested and set up a meeting over zoom within the next few weeks.
Brayden saw the ocean for the first time very briefly but not from the beach (not allowed). He said the waves were massive!! He also saw his first Kangaroo but sadly it was too far away for him to get a good picture. Hopefully he'll see more and get some good pics.
Emoji of the day:🐄
Slang word: Maccas (meaning: McDonalds. Example: hey, do you want some Maccas?)
When we spoke to Brayden, he mentioned that his plans for the rest of the day included some grocery shopping and some touch rugby. Maybe he'll be able to gain some new skills to apply to his rugby game when he gets home in a few years. Can't wait to hear from him next week and know how it went and what it was like playing against Aussie's.
A few of the other pictures from the past week include a naked Christmas tree (which maybe will get some decorations? I forgot to ask) and a handsome lizard. Also, even though the pictures suggest otherwise, Brayden has yet to try Vegemite but promises a video for when he does.
Hopefully things will become more familiar and he will be busy with the work, getting to know and love the people and things will feel less foreign.
