Letter from July 22nd and 29th

July 22
-Are there any of the aboriginal communities you visit that have become your favorite? 

 I came in an interesting situation because one of the communities that we visit, all of the people are in town, so I haven't seen them out there, but the times I have stayed in town we visit them at their houses here. I have really grown to love them, they are probably the most progressed in the gospel at this point, they have a few worthy priesthood leaders. Then I also really like the other 2, Engawala has quite a few members so that one is cool to visit. And Harts Range there is not many members but it is still cool there.
-Are there any that don't seem to welcome you as well? 

There are just a couple families in Engawala and Harts Range that don't really like talking to us but they aren't hostile towards us.
-Is it mostly the women that will listen to you? 

Yes. Mostly women and kids but there are a few men that are good.
-Do they have a lot of domestic dogs or are there just dingos that run around? 

They have heaps of domestic dogs butIi don't know if I would call them domestic. They are pretty dingy. Missing fur or skinny. But yeah. There are dingos also but they don't really come into the communities, just if you camp outside them. And that is also why they have dogs to fight off the dingos. Like the community that our shed is in, we can hear dingos but then our dog Mcnight fights them off.
-It seems like I read a story of a baby that got carried away by dingos there. 

That is a true story, I heard there was a big debate whether the mom killed the baby or not, but they finally decided it was a dingo. interesting.
-How is your new President? 

New president is awesome!
-Have you had much chance to spend some time with him? 

We got to have a personal interview with him and that lasted 15 minutes then we had a training the next day for the whole day so we spent some good time with him.
-Are there any of the aboriginal women that like to mother the missionaries (sometimes to the point of spoiling) or do they just think you should be men and take care of yourselves? 

They think we are men and can take care of ourselves and they are right. ha.
-Are you happy with the missionaries you are working with? 

Yes, we all have different backgrounds that help the work a lot, but unfortunately we just found out that my comp Elder Hepworth and Elder Teeples are leaving, me and Yamamoto are staying.

Keep smiling. One of my favorite scriptures- 2 Nephi 2:25 We are here to have joy, keep enjoying life. Love you heaps!

Elder Hyde


July 29
-Tell us about your new comp?

My new comp is Elder Visesio, its a tongue twister. He is fairly new in the mission but is already a great missionary. He is an islander with Samoan blood born in New Zealand but lives in Brisbane. He has 4 siblings and he is the oldest. He is very humble and funny. The other new comp is not a new companion for me. He is Elder Sie. The one I served with in Elisabeth. He is even funnier and more focused then before so he is great. It was sad to see the others go, but we are going to accomplish miracles with these elders.

-Have you had any funny experiences with the aboriginals there?

Um well, one that was kind of weird but funny was Elder Sie got peed on by one of the kids in Engawala. There are heaps of little things that are funny that happen and I tend to notice them more when I am looking for them so I will look for more of them so that I can write you more.

-Do they play rugby or do anything like that you could join in on for P day?

Right now it is their footy season so they play that but their practice isn't on Monday so we can't play with them but we go on the other days and talk with them just to build the relationship, because there are some potentials on the team also.

Thanks for writing. Just thinking, we have this vision that we want some of the aboriginal families to make it to the temple by October because that is when the branch is going down to Adelaide to go. Could you include them in your prayers that this may be possible. Thanks. Love yous heaps.
Love Elder Hyde