Thanks for the news and the package, I really needed those things! Starting in July, President Simmons will take over both missions, and be in charge of over 200 missionaries. The Australia Sydney mission will cover almost all of New South Wales. It is going to be a big change. Its because the church is already well established here, so they need missionaries in areas of the world where the church isn't. The church is really starting to push member-missionary workOur ward had a big Luau to kick-off ward conference on Saturday, and that is when we had the Hangi. It's basically cooking food in banana leaves in the ground. It was very good. I have been thinking about life after the mission when I move back here and get married to an Aussie hahahaha. I have had to speak in my last two areas, but I have not spoken in this ward yet. I am keeping busy here, so that is good. There is a lot of work and potential in this area, so I am looking forward to staying here a long time.Next week I will remember to bring my camera, and send you some pictures.Love, Elder Blake Gammon

January

Next week, p-day will change to Monday permanently. You'll need to write to me on Saturday. Well, this area has a lot of the lower class and poorer people in it. On of our investigators is a Fijian lady named Grace that lived in Las Vegas for almost 10 years. She was a manager at Tony Roma's. It was cool to catch up with her. We have met some crazy people here. It also has some nice suburbs. It is a lo tof fun to contact all of the Polynesians that live around here. They are generally more friendly than others. We also tracted an Iraqi family. They were cool! They weren't Muslims, but were some religion that worships John the Baptist. We are about to give them an Arabic Book of Mormon. I look forward to staying here a long time.It sounds like you are more concerned with what was behind my companion in the photo, rather than my companion himself. Haha I didn't even pay attention to those when I took that picture. It just happened to be where we were emailing. Those were some good photos of Kyan, thanks. There really isn't much to say. I wanted to hear more about what happened with Dad and the City.Love,Elder Blake Gammon

January News

The church is upgrading our email. They have been working with google for a better email service. I have a new email address, blake.gammon@myldsmail.net. Send the package to the mission office. You can hold off on the hair gel. The Bishop Monga doesn't have a close relation to Joe, but his father is from the Cook Islands so there has to be some relation. This area is great. The ward does heaps of missionary work. The area is a west of Sydney, and is less stressed out than the city.It's great. You can tell the ward that I have worked in diverse areas, and have had a lot of Polynesian companions. The work is difficult, but rewarding. I am also gaining too much weight. I also know that as our family makes the sacrifice for me to be doing this work, that the Lord will make everything turn out for the better.Love,Elder Blake Gammon

more December

Haha, I am now in Wattle Grove. My new address is 3/26 River Park, Liverpool. My last area was beautiful, but this area is on fire for missionary work. The members are all missionary minded. My new companion is Elder Uere (wet-ay). He is from Kiribati (bet you have never heard of it). He'll only be my companion for this transfer. The bishop of this ward is Bishop Monga haha. I have not met him yet, but I know that his dad is from the Cook Islands. I was happy to be transferred because nothing was happening in Ulladulla, but this Ward and area has a lot of potential. i will warn you next time that p-day is on Tuesday. It happens once every six weeks.

more December

Hey,This past week has been pretty good. We had the first convert baptism in the branch in over a year. We should a few more coming up as well. The Christmas spirit feels so much different during the summer. It doesn't even feel like Christmas. Other than that, nothing really exciting happened. On Monday we visited a volunteer firefighter who had investigated before. I traded one of Dad's medallions for a bunch of patches of the different fire depts. in Australia. Kyan's blessing looked really fun. It's about time! That's all for this week!

December news

We just had transfers the beginning of this week, and I am not moving anywhere, neither is my companion. We have a baptism on Saturday of a 14 yr old girl named Kai. Google "Mollymook Bogey Hole" to see where we are having the baptism. It has got to be the best spot for a baptism in the mission. Right now the coast is having what is called "King Tide". The waves are massive and powerful. It's awesome. Anyways, why didn't you tell me that Denalee Dear John'd Jacob? It was a long foretold prophecy, and I couldn't help but chuckle when Jacob told me. I wonder who she did it for....hahaThere also is no Thanksgiving here, that is purely an American holiday. My companion isn't American, so we didn't even celebrate it by ourselves.We are lucky to get at least 25 people at church every Sunday. One Sunday, our investigators made up about 2/5 of the attendees at sacrament. We usually have to sing without a piano, unfortunately.Well that's all for this week...

November letter

This week has been pretty slow. There really isn't anythingnew that has happened lately. Everyone here loves the banana bread that I make though. The branch president always asks me to bring it to branch activities. Not much has been happening lately. We have a baptism next week, but we are having difficulty getting our other investigators to progress. We have a study room in the attic of our townhouse, and every morning I bring up some crackers for these beautiful parrots that fly up and visit me haha.Everyone would be quite amazed with the scenery down here as compared to Las Vegas. The beaches are amazing! Anyways, that is too long to wait to get packages! Oh well.. At least I don't have the pig flu haha. Just about everyone in the area I am serving in is Aussie, unfortunately. I really like Polys; I wish there were more of them here. That is about it for this week, I am about to play laser tag with the missionaries in our district. Talk to you next week!

     Dear Fam..I am pressed for time today, but
we have been having a lot of success so far.
I am very grateful that we have been able to find,
and teachquite a bit. I'll send some some more
pictures next week, but for now you should just google
Ulladulla and Mollymook.Everyone here is a lot more
friendly than in my previous area that was crowded and
stressful. They actually do celebrate Halloween here, but
it is not a very big celebration.Driving on the other
side of the road wasn't very hard to get used to, but
it is very different.
Thanks for the pictures! They are great.I hope everything
is going great over there. I wish I could talk some more,
but I have an hour drive up to another city for zone pday
and zone conference.

Love,
Elder Gammon

Blake letter October 27, 2009

My area is probably the most beautiful area in the mission. We live in a 3 story townhouse that overlooks Ulladulla harbor. We have not yet met the whole branch yet because this past Sunday was "District Camp." The three branches on the south coast got together at a beach resort and had a bunch of activities. It was really fun. Everyone in my district loves Bang! I am hoping you can get the expansion for it and send it to me (ask Shane about it). The work here is a lot different from my old area. Everyone here is a lot more laid back and nice. We have a lot of driving. My companion is still working on his English; I am helping him with his grammar and pronunciation.
Lucky you mom! You have a whole new set of responsibilities and work ahead of you, rely on the Spirit! It's great that everyone is getting mission calls too. I did get the package with my jacket in it, and I am looking forward to the next one. You could send the next one straight to my address which is: 2/10 Dolphin st., Ulladulla 2539. Well thats all for this week! Talk to you next time.

Love,
Elder Blake Gammon

Blake's new companion

Blake letter October 19, 2009

I got transferred! My new area is called Ulladulla. It is on the south coast of Australia. My new companion is an enormous Tahitian. His name is Elder Tematafaarere. During transfer meeting, everyone laughed when we were assigned together. President Simmons brought us both up to the pulpit to make an example of the revelation he received. I am the senior companion because he needs me to help improve his English. We have a large area, and I am driving. Ulladulla is beautiful. We live in a three story townhouse that overlooks Ulladulla Bay. It is also warming up here as summer approaches; the weather is really nice. This is going to be a very interesting transfer. Our address is 2/10 Dolphin St, Ulladulla Australia
We also had a big cultural night on Saturday, and we had food from all different cultures, and Polynesian performances. The Cook Islander performance was generally accepted as the best one. It felt like I was back at Heather and Buddah's wedding.
I have been eagerly waiting to see the baby. That's all for this crazy week!

Sydney dust storm 9,29,09

Letter for Sept. 29, 2009

This Sunday we spoke in Sacrament about our wonderful families. We are really trying to mobilize the ward behind the missionary effort. That has been quite successful so far; we are getting a lot of referrals. John should be getting baptized on Saturday if everything goes as planned. Unfortunately, we won't be able to watch conference until next weekend because the live satellite broadcast would air during the middle of the night here. I haven't gotten sick yet, but my companion seems to be getting sick all of the time. Wow, I was just going to ask for that banana bread recipe because we have a bunch of ripe bananas. Thank you! Every loves the cookies too. Cookies aren't very common in Australia, so they love the American food. The dust storm was crazy. They are very rare in Sydney, and it was very odd to wake up and see red everywhere. Unfortunatley, I haven't seen any crazy animals yet because I am in the city basically, but I will eventually. Thank you for the email! I can't wait to hear more!

Love,
Elder Blake Gammon

Letter for the week of Sept. 2, 2009

There is so much to say, but very little time to share it all. John, our investigator with a baptismal date, hasn't quit drinking but I believe that he will be able to quit drinking after he moves out of his nursing home. My companion and I are starting to move away from personal finding, and more towards working with members to find investigators. We have people dodging lessons left and right as well. We have an eight year-old girl that we are teaching that would only go to sacrament if we made her a cheesecake. So I did, I made her a double chocolate cheesecake, but then her parents didn't let her go. :( It was actually really good for being the first time that I have made a cheesecake. There is also a old guy in the ward that calls every morning at 7:00 and makes animal noises for us to guess what they are. He is somewhat mentally disabled of course, but he is a funny guy. We also have an old indian lady in the ward that delights in having missionaries over to her house to have them slave away in her backyard under the scorching sun. Even the members and the Bishop have acknowledged that she is too demanding of the missionaries. She has us perform redundant an unproductive chores in her backyard, but I do it cheerfully.......nah Anyways, it's great to here from you. I knew the batmobile would start declining..I just held it out until I left. I am sad that I won't be able to see little Stuey for two years. I hope Taylor is doing well in high school too. That's funny how grandpa has a laptop, and is in to facebook as well. You need to keep me updated on current events. I just found out that Ted Kennedy passed away from a less active lady. I am about to go make grandma's cookies now! If it didn't cost $3.00 to write a letter, I would write more. I am thinking about buying a really nice pen that I found though. I need more P-day clothes. The restrictions on what you can send me aren't that strict. Just make sure that it isn't prepared food or such. You can look it up online.Until next week!

Love,
Elder Blake Gammon

Sydney South Elders

My guess is downtown Sydney!

Blake letter August 11, 2009

The work has been slow lately. Our appointments have fallen through, and my efforts in finding have been fruitless. I am keeping the faith though. We also just received a car, and I honestly would rather walk. The traffic and roads here are insane. On Monday we had to drive over a one lane bridge on a two-way street, and drivers do not care about pedestrians here. We are always fed though. I decided that would eat whatever, and just lose it when I come home. Last week my companion and I were taken to a buffet by an older couple from the Cook Islands. They know Buddah's dad. His name is Iangi Teaukura and I forgot her name. Another Sister in our ward, named Teena Dover is related to Bro. Williams in Beverly Glen. Can you send me some recipes, such as Grandma's cookies? I can make stuff for investigators. I had new missionary training on Monday as well, that was fun. Anyways, I hope the work will improve in the coming days.
I love and miss all of you,
Elder Blake Gammon