Kangaroo Meat and Strawberry Tops

12 days in Australia, but I feel pretty comfortable so far. My trainer's name is Sister Craig, and she's pretty great. Well, we're pretty similar, and want to make the most of our time that we have here. Our area is in the Firle Stake, and we cover 2 congregations, Firle and Morialta. There are so many members to meet, and meeting everyone and remembering all their names gets a little tricky. The easiest way to get to know them is when they invite us over for dinner. The meal we had last night is what inspired the title of this email. We had spaghetti, and it tasted pretty normal, the sauce had meat and vegetables in it. But after we were finished, our host told us that the meat was actually minced kangaroo meat. I totally would have eaten it if she'd told us beforehand, but this way I didn't have any prejudices going into it. Apparently, it's pretty common to go and buy kangaroo meat, it's right there in the supermarket next to the chicken. She also gave us a fruit smoothie, with green flecks in it. When we asked what they were, she said strawberry tops. They just throw the whole strawberry into the blender! I thought it was kind of strange, but that's my experiences with Australian food this week.

We got to meet with an investigator named Viviana this week who hasn't had the missionaries over for a while. My companion said that the last time she was there, Viviana didn't seem that interested in our message. But when we went on Saturday, she had lots of questions for us and wanted to know more about the priesthood of God. I think she felt the absence of the Spirit in her home when she wasn't learning the Gospel, because she just didn't want us to leave. Hopefully that will continue, and we can keep helping her come closer to Christ.

I love being able to study the scriptures every day. We get one hour set in our schedule of just personal study of the scriptures and Preach My Gospel. I've been reading this week in the Book of Mormon, when Jesus visited the people in the Americas, and I feel so blessed to be able to read His words, and the message of love that He has for everyone. When we follow his commandments and His gospel, He can bless us in this life and the next.

Sister Townsend