G'day! How ya goin'? I finally made it! After about an eternity in
airports and on planes it's so great to be here! We actually missed our
flight from LA to Sydney and ended up on a flight about an hour later.
So we got to Sydney all good and then Brisbane after that, but
unfortunately, my baggage did not. It didn't come until the next day
after I got here. That was the best feeling pair of socks I've ever put
on in my life! I am serving in the area called Capalaba. It's hot. We
have a car but we are going to share it with two pairs of sisters, so
we'll be doing some biking in the weeks to come! We have KFC all the
time. I don't know why exactly, that's just what we always have. They
also have this chicken place called Nando's. It really good grilled
chicken and you choose your sauce. My companion asked me if I liked
spicy food and I said ya. So he asks if I want the extra spicy one (it
was the hottest sauce you can choose). I figured he was asking because
he wanted that kind and we were buying to share. Turns out he can't
stand it. He got mild. So I get my chicken expecting it to be super hot
and it was like, maybe a 5 out of ten. He was freakin out. He's all
"you're a legend bro." So apparently what these people call spicy and
what I think is spicy is something totally different. It was funny. Some
members fed us this curry chicken stuff, and Brother Stripland was like
"that's got some kick to it." It had about as much kick as broccoli
chicken casserole.
My companion is Elder Paia' aua. He's a Samoan from New Zealand. He's a
pretty funny guy. He's also the district leader. He is my trainer too,
but luckily I probably won't have to go through the whole 12 week
training program again.
When I first got here they had us fill out some papers and listen to the
vehicle coordinators give a little training and then the Assistants
took a group of us and said, "lets go tracting!" So I got to go knock
some doors with a brand new missionary from Mesa, AZ. It was pretty
cool. We had a baptism this weekend. A 13 year old boy named Cody. I got
to teach him once before his baptism. We turned on the faucet to fill
up the font, then when we came back later to check on it there was a
lizard swimming around in it. He got confirmed yesterday.
I sort of freak out a little when we're driving and we come around a
corner. My American brain says "you're turning into oncoming traffic!"
The
other day I woke up to go work out and there was a gecko on the
ceiling, so I caught it and took a picture of it on my arm. Turns out my
companion is afraid of snakes and lizards.
We've got a great zone. Elder Hodges is in the same one with another
elder from the States. One of our zone leaders is from New Zealand and
the other is from Fiji. They have a trainee with them waiting for a visa
to go to Johannesburg South Africa. He's from Tazmania. We have a
couple sisters from New Zealand and one from the states (I can't
remember where) and one from Burma? She's Burmese I think.
It reminds me a lot of California out here. It's very green and there's a
lot of nice houses and nice cars and people aren't quite as friendly as
Idahoans. We had some random guy flip us off as we drove by one day.
All the stores and things are really nice and new looking. The cash
looks like monopoly money.
Yeah I kept the boots just in case we ever did a hike or something. I
had room for them (barely) so I thought why not? They saved my life in Blanding. I'll take good care of them. I'll
be especially careful not to rest them too close to open flame and melt
them out of shape.
I still feel like I'm getting caught up on sleeping and I'm still
adjusting to a whole new world but I am healthy and happy and busy doing
the Lord's work! So in my companion's words, "it's all goods". I need
to take more pictures so I can send you some. All I've taken pictures of
so far is the lizard and the baptism. I hope everything's going well in
Middleton! I love you all! It was great to talk to you guys on the
phone and I'll talk to you again on Mother's day.
Love you Dad
Elder Hayden Thieme
