Schanck is pronounced Shank

G'day, everyone! Great week. We're approaching the end of test season with the students, so schedule is starting to fill up. We've been busy and working hard. Love the work, love the Lord. So grateful to be here. 

It has been a short week, since last Thursday was P Day and interviews with President were yesterday, so we really only had a couple days of full work amid lots of meetings. 

Fun experience yesterday - Elder Hadlock in the City had to attend a departing-missionary meeting in preparation to go home, so we got to take Elder Norby with us for the day. Great time, and a surprising amount of success. We attribute it all to Norby's charm and good looks. We found one neighborhood that, from the start, we knew was all Chinese. (There's a feeling you get - we as missionaries are very good at pegging the nationality of the family in the home before they open the door.) We knocked doors until the sun went down and found several families excited to be taught the gospel. We'll be following up in a few weeks. I can't wait.

As for our own investigators, things aren't looking quite as good as normal, but we're making do. We dropped several baptismal dates - most of them are still working with us, but need more time. But Ted is still learning and growing and preparing for baptism. We're looking forward to the 23rd.

Super early this morning, we went out with a member to Cape Schanck, along the southernmost edge of the eastern peninsula near Melbourne. Beautiful, beautiful sight. I'll have pictures up next week. For those of you movie buffs, that's the bay where the closing scene from Where The Wild Things Are was filmed - beautiful long beach, with the rocks jutting out along the two sides. Absolutely gorgeous. So early in the morning, on a Wednesday in the middle of winter - no one was there but the three of us. The hike in and out was lush and green with kangaroos hiding in the bushes.  Melbourne is a beautiful, beautiful country. I hope to go back to that little bay. 

Hoping to have good pictures and good stories for next week - the rest of this week is totally filled. Praying for good things to come our way - we know the Lord will bless us as we do our best to do His will. How grateful I am for the knowledge of the gospel, and for the light and truth that comes to us as we follow Him. I know our lives are full of trial, I know we meet challenges along the way. But what's the purpose of it all? To prepare to return home to Him. Trust in Him. Believe in Him. And it will all turn out in the end. 

I love and miss you all immensely!

Elder Blackhurst