Sketchy Bus Ride!!
Hey everyone! Can’t believe another week has gone by! I am so grateful for the Lord's help in helping me adjust to missionary life! He has really helped me this week and His hand has been so evident in the details of my week!
Time for some fun Australian things!
-Water is either scalding hot or way cold. Sometimes I turn it on and within 1 second the water is steaming and I may or may not have burned myself haha.
-Speed trackers...there are these big poles with speed trackers on them to track your speed. They look really weird. If you go over even 1 kilometer you get a ticket in the mail. My comp got fined a 600 ticket because he went 10 over the speed limit. They even have cars they park on the side of the road with speed cameras in them. And that is the only use for the car. Pretty much no one speeds here without a big penalty haha. I have to take my driving test tomorrow so wish me luck haha. I haven't driven a car in over a month now so it should be a party haha.
-There are switches for outlets. So you have to flip the switch for the outlet to work haha. Kinda annoying. Also the door handles on doors are all at shoulder level so that is different also.
-Instead of month day year when writing the date, it's day month year haha.
-Australian slang is pretty funny. Bad words like Damn and hell are used in everyday speech. My comp says them sometimes and it always throws me off haha. Or members will say it during a game at family home evening or something like that. It makes me laugh.
And I guess pelicans are dangerous. They attack people haha.
More random facts next week!
Ok ok so crazy story time haha. Just imagine me having a great chill Sunday morning. We go hop on the bus. On the bus, I am studying my Chinese flashcards on my phone and my companions are sitting in the seats next to me and in front of me. After 10 minutes, the sisters got on and so we all said hi then we all were just in our own thoughts or doing things on our phones…then a super strong guy in a wheelchair got on the bus. I thought awww poor guy. Then I kept doing my Chinese flashcards. Then I wanted to take a break from the screen and studying so I was just looking around. I saw him and thought of how much the gospel could help him in his life. I thought maybe I should talk to him if he gets off on the same stop as me. Then I noticed he was looking at all our name tags and just studying all of us. It was kinda menacing. So I avoided eye contact and just looked around the bus and was about to start looking at my flash cards again when I heard him yell “you!” I looked up and looked behind me and saw no one really, then I pointed to myself with a questioning face. Keep in mind, the whole bus is quiet and all of the sudden he just says “you”. He then says, “Yes, you!” At this point, my mind was struggling to comprehend that he was talking to me haha. He then says “How dare you speak to me like that!” I thought what?! I haven't said a word the whole bus ride haha. Then he says, “You have been speaking telepathically to me.” He is practically fuming with anger by then. He then says, “I never want to hear you say those things again!” My face was a face of shock haha. I was thinking what did I ever do to you? Then he says “You are disgusting” and starts swearing, especially the F word at the stop of his lungs. The rest of the occupants on the bus are all looking around like what is going on! Then he says something about “You need help wiping off the vaseline on your face.” or something to do with vaseline haha. At this point, I am starting to sweat bullets. I have yet to say a word. And I am terrified. The only thing that was keeping him from attacking me was that there were two steps that prevented his wheelchair from getting up. Whew. I look at my companions, but they wouldn't look at me in fear that he would turn on them. I just looked down in hopes that he would stop saying all this stuff. He finally just says, “Ugh, I am going to turn around so I don't have to look at your hideous face anymore.” Then the rest of the bus ride was rode in silence. I didn't dare move haha. When he got off the bus, I was so happy. He was very grouchy to the bus driver though. I think he wanted me kicked off the bus for something I never did haha. I was a little shaken up. Everyone was like ya he might have been a little schizophrenic haha. And as sad as this sounds, I am for once in my life grateful someone was in a wheelchair. Because if he wasn't, I might not be writing this email haha. Thankfully the sacrament meeting took my mind off it and especially because I was asked to give a spiritual thought/testimony on the spot. Fun times!
I was afraid to ride the bus back home haha. I hope to never run into that guy again. And of course, when I get on the bus to go back home we sit in the back with some aboriginal people who are very loud and angry for some reason. They were all passing along cigarettes to smoke haha. I was worried I was going to get beat up, but luckily they didn't pay me any attention just for sitting there haha.
Anyways…
My favorite part of the day is teaching! We are teaching so much! We only went to find people once this week since we were teaching sooo much! We have three areas combined into one area and we are the only Elders working this area! Sooo that means we get to teach people all day long! If I am having a bad day, and then we have a lesson I come out super happy and joyful and that lasts through the day. Teaching brings me so much joy! And I love the spirit that is always present! The Elders are telling me that teaching this much is not the norm. Usually you have 1-3 lessons a week, but right now we are having 3-5 lessons a day! I am very blessed!
The other best part about teaching is that it is all in Chinese! We have one Australian we teach, but the rest are from China! It is so fun! And it is even better when they comment on my Chinese! They tell me I am decent, but I know they are being nice! I got a lot of improvement to go. The other Elder doesn't know much Chinese so it is me and my Taiwanese Elder that do all the talking! It is so fun to teach in Chinese and the Chinese people really appreciate it! One guy said he felt it was his destiny that God sent him to Australia to meet us!
One time we came out of a lesson and the sisters started talking to us…and I responded to the question they asked me in Chinese and I didn't even realize. They were like, are you talking to us? And then I realized I had spoken my answer all in Chinese! Pretty funny! They didn't think it was that funny though haha.
Trying my very hardest to keep learning this difficult language! I know with the Lord's help I can do all things!
Still starving every day because I don't have enough food or money for food haha.
Spiritual thought!
This week's focus was on prayer! We must improve our daily prayers! As I prayed more and focused my thoughts on Jesus Christ, I saw so many mini miracles throughout the week!
Prayer is very simple. But if you don't exercise faith and diligence it won't work. Just like the liahona our prayers work according to our faith. And by small and simple things (like prayers) are great things brought to pass. Like Alma said in chapter 37 verse 36 we must "cry unto the Lord for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea let all thy thoughts be unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever. Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings." This is such a great scripture on how we should treat prayer! Prayer is literally our communication with God!
I love this quote by James E Faust, "Access to our Creator through our Savior is surely one of the great privileges and blessings of our lives. I have learned from countless personal experiences that great is the power of prayer. No earthly authority can separate us from direct access to our Creator. There can never be a mechanical or electronic failure when we pray. There is no limit on the number of times or how long we can pray each day. There is no quota of how many needs we wish to pray for in each prayer. We do not need to go through secretaries or make an appointment to reach the throne of grace. He is reachable at any time and any place"
I also feel like our prayers can be the same old same old all the time, but this quote helps illustrate how it should be -
"Prayer is a privilege and the soul’s sincere desire. We can move beyond routine and “checklist” prayers and engage in meaningful prayer as we appropriately ask in faith and act, as we patiently persevere through the trial of our faith, and as we humbly acknowledge and accept “not my will, but Thine, be done.”
“As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part”
I want to invite everyone to pray more often and pray with more sincerity! The Lord loves and wants to hear from his children! As we pray, I promise we will draw closer to Him and develop a relationship with Him! Sometimes we don't know if an answer to a prayer was a coincidence or an answer to our prayer. I think that when we pray the Lord who has all power over the elements, places, people and things to help answer our prayers. And He won't have some magic sparks flying around your answer! You must look for your answers and then attribute your answer to the Lord! Then as you do this and thank Him for His guidance and miracles that you see because of your prayers, He will bless you with more answers and help! I promise that prayer is so vital to our spiritual well being! Make time for the Lord! As I have made time for good heartfelt prayers, I have seen new power, guidance, and a closeness with my Savior I have never felt before! I usually have given my nightly prayers right before hopping in bed. I usually am so tired that it is a horrible not genuine prayer. I am now forming the habit of praying at 9 when I get home from the day. Then after I pray, I go make dinner. This helps me actually say a good prayer and connect with my Savior!
Here is some more advice about prayer from Elder Richard G. Scott…
“The Lord will hear your prayers in time of need. He will invariably answer them. However, His answers will generally not come while you are on your knees praying, even when you may plead for an immediate response. There is a pattern that must be followed. You are asked to look for an answer to your prayers, then confirm that it is correct. Obey His counsel to “study it out in your mind.” Often you will think of a solution. Then seek confirmation that your answer is right. This help can come from prayer and from pondering the scriptures, at times by the intervention of others, or from your own capacity, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. At times the Lord will want you to proceed with trust before you receive a confirming answer. His answer generally comes as packets of help. As each piece is followed in faith, it will unite with others to give you the whole answer. This pattern requires the exercise of faith. While sometimes very hard, it results in significant personal growth”
This is a great talk that helped me out this week! It is about finding joy in the moment! It really puts life into perspective! We must find joy in each day and just live each day to its fullest extent. Life marches on and soon we will look back and miss certain things from each stage of life! Find joy in the moment! Don't look ahead thinking you will find joy later. Find joy NOW! And it helps to have joy when you are focused on the Savior!
Fun pictures! Sorry for the bad quality in some of them! Gotta try some authentic Chinese food and that was an experience I won't forget haha.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/
Until next week!
Love you all!
-zhang zhanglao (Elder Jones)
Comments
Post a Comment