May 14 - 30, 2019

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Mandurah, Western Australia

This has been a really good week. It's gone by pretty fast! We helped our Ward Mission Leader (Brother Lolohea from Tonga) move out, though. It's so sad because he moved out just as I got transferred in. We've been doing a lot of language study for Elder Tebwaara so he can pass the Michigan Test for BYU Hawaii, but the Lord is teaching us both English 🤣.

This week, we met with one of the people we are teaching, Dannie, and she has agreed to be baptised on the 29th of June. And, we are teaching some else named Quincy who has agreed to be baptised on the 20th of July. The work is hastening!! We are also helping someone read the Book of Mormon. He didn't want to at first because he couldn't get into the story and found it boring, so we read the first chapter with him and tried to help him see all the detail that Lehi saw in his vision. Then, he said he would draw it out for us. We met up with him, and he gave us a few of his drawings. They're awesome!!!!

This area is going places. I really like it here in Mandurah. I'm grateful that the Lord has given me the opportunity to serve here with the people, the ward, and my companion!

I found a Taco Bell Hot Sauce packet in the fridge from 2017.

#blessed

Also, we had a broadcast from President Nelson for all the Saints in Australia. Then, we had another for the missionaries in the Pacific Area (Pacific Islands through Indonesia and Australia). Elder Gong and Elder Haleck (Pacific Area President) and all of their wives spoke as well.

Here are some cool things from the Australia broadcast:

• Elder and Sister Haleck didn't take long, they just bore their testimonies. 
• Elder and Sister Gong were sort of skipped because the internet cut out while they were speaking. It didn't reconnect until Elder Gong was giving his closing thoughts. 
• Sister Nelson spoke on Personal Revelation, which was an awesome talk!!
• President Nelson spoke on the Book of Mormon -- what it proves and what it refutes. He encouraged all the Saints here to read it more than ever. 

Here are some cool things from the missionaries broadcast:

• This was awesome as!
• Elder Gong spoke on companionship unity, and Sister Gong spoke on opening your mouth to everyone! She also shared a cool experience about how she thought someone wouldn't accept or even talk to the missionaries. The next minute, she met a couple of sister missionaries who wanted to introduce her to their friend who was scheduled for baptism, and it was the same person.
• President Nelson spoke on the Gathering of Israel and repentance and how vital missionaries are to that work.
• Then the Area Presidency and their wives also shared their thoughts and gave us some advice. Elder Ardern shared the importance of faith. . 
• It was a really good broadcast! 

Elder Kleven

PS - here is a picture of Zone Conference:

May 7 - 13, 2019

Monday, May 13, 2019

Mandurah, Western Australia

This week has been pretty fun so far. I've been transferred down to Mandurah, and my new companion is Elder Tebwaara!!  From the lovely island of Kiribati. The area and ward here are awesome! We have quite a few people to teach, and the area is pretty big, too. Hopefully, we'll be pretty busy!! This week there was a Tongan elder who came home from his mission in Brisbane, and his family and friends put on a big celebration for him that we were invited to!!

The ward is awesome! Every Sunday, they have a ward picnic that everyone is invited to, so with church, the RM party, and the ward picnic, I've had the chance to meet heaps of the members.

This Saturday, we also had a service at a community garden which was pretty good. 

That's about it... 

Elder Kleven

PS - Pictures of me saying goodbye to the squad in Merriwa

Kaurim

Richie

Bishop Grant

PS - Picture of Transfers

PS - Pictures of the new area - Mandurah

With Elder Tebwaara at the community garden in Mandurah

with Sister Laban, who is in my district, at the RM party

Apr 30 - May 6, 2019

Monday, May 6, 2019

Merriwa, Western Australia

This has been a really good week. It went by fast but really slow at the same time. So, big news, I'm getting transferred... Sad day.  But, Elder Cheek is an awesome missionary and will do a good job here. Not sure where I'm going yet; they'll call and let me know tonight. So, that will be cool. President is mixing things up -- still finding his own way of doing these things. 

This week, we found two new people to teach: Khan and Jonathan. They are awesome, and we have a return appointment with Khan for tomorrow. This week, we also had another exchange withthe Clarkson elders, and I was with Elder Hampel. 

The High Councilor over missionary work in the stake has been working with us quite a bit, and we are setting up a big stake meeting for the EQPs (Elders Quorum Presidents) and missionaries to discuss how we can have an effective MCM (Missionary Coordination Meeting) and Ward Council. So, that will be fun. 

Otherwise, not much else happened. 

Elder Kleven

PS: Pics of me saying goodbye to people I love in Merriwa:

Brother Daniels

Pete & Riley

Holly

Pete, Holly, & Riley