Merry Christmas! Jesus Christ!

Merry Christmas!! I am writing this on Christmas day for me and by the time it gets to you it might be Christmas day for you! I hope everyone is enjoying this most wonderful time of the year! Enjoy all the little moments! There is always so much happening, but take a moment to soak it all in! Take in all the smiles, laughs, music, joy, food, family, fun, and the spirit of Christmas! Live in the moment! Live with no regrets! 

Fun Christmas Australian things!

-Australians start celebrating Christmas the day after Halloween!

-Christmas vibes are shorts and a t-shirt.

-Rundle Mall is filled with Christmas trees and blow up Santa’s! Other than that there is not much decorations around the city. Rundle mall is just about it for decorations. Some houses have mini Christmas decorations, but nothing like America.

-Christmas bbq’s are a big thing.

-No turkey over here. They love fish instead!

-No reindeer over here…just kangaroos to help Santa!

-After Christmas there is a thing called Boxing Day! It is like the post Christmas sales! I guess it is a big day for all the stores! 

-Not everyone celebrates Christmas, but everyone is taking advantage of the day off haha. 

If anyone is wondering what my Christmas is looking like haha….

-Got up and made a smoothie

-Called family and wrote emails

-Sent a text to 218 people wishing them a Merry Christmas and praying that they can feel God’s love through Jesus Christ birth!

-My companion gave me a Christmas present of a sock (stocking haha) he hadn't worn, 20 dollars, and some toothpicks haha.

-A sweet old filipino lady that we always talk to at the bus stopped by this morning and gave us a Christmas present! She gave us some Christmas food (3 frozen dinner meals haha) and then 100 dollars!!! She is sooo nice and we were shocked by her kindness! 

-Some rice, eggs, and an apple for lunch

-Cant go to the store to buy food because everything is closed so we will see how long I can survive on what I got left haha.

-Gave myself a fat nice Christmas present in the form of a nap.

-Played some basketball.

-Our Sir Lankan neighbors surprised us in the afternoon and brought us a 5 course native Sir Lankan Christmas lunch! It was soooo good! Their kindness is so incredible.  

-For dinner we invited all our Chinese friends who don't celebrate Christmas to come have hot pot at the branch with us! We have soooo many Chinese people coming! We will show the Christ Child video and explain why we have Christmas and then eat hot pot and brownies. Sadly no dinner for me because last time I had hot pot it destroyed my mouth haha. 

-Hope you enjoyed hearing how my Christmas is like in Australia! Fun memories being made! It honestly just feels like a normal day. 

Quick overview of the week!

-Went on exchange with the APs! They are so fun and it was epic! It was surprisingly one of the more laid back days I have had in a while. Learned a lot and it was just very enjoyable! 

-Had a great week this week and saw the Lord's hand in helping us accomplish our goals! 

-We had some incredible lessons with some incredible people! So many choice souls the Lord is blessing us to teach! I feel so honored to be the one to teach these people! Like truly humbled and honored!

-My companion and I are like brothers now. We are literally family haha. We are so united it is unreal! We get along perfectly! We have been together for almost 5 months now! We teach, find, and do everything in unity! It is a true miracle and blessing! 

-The coolest experience this week was being able to teach the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the why behind Jesus Christ in back to back lessons! It was incredible! The coolest thing that I have to share is that after we finished teaching the Atonement of Jesus Christ we asked a question. We asked “after learning what we just taught, what does it inspire you to do?” In BOTH lessons our friend leaned back and thought for a second and then said repent! Like it was crazy! These friends didn't know anything about Jesus Christ before the lesson and then after teaching about Jesus Christ and His atonement they are inspired to act and repent! Like truly amazing! The spirit was in both those lessons!

-Played like 10 hymns for sacrament meeting. I was pretty much the entire program haha. 

-Had a good week and there are so many experiences and I don't have time to share them all!

Spiritual thought!

Many of us worry about making the same mistakes over and over again. The Lord does not care about this as much as He cares about your attitude! If you are humble and try to correct those mistakes, He will help you become! You must have an attitude of being humble and turning to the Lord and relying on His atoning grace! And then He will make those weak things become strong! “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”(Ether 12:27). He gives us that power to become! So have a humble attitude and turn to the Lord and have Him lead and guide you into a celestial being!

The devil likes to play mind games. Stop playing those mind games with him. Stop feeling sorry for yourself or counting your weaknesses. You are who you are! Start progressing and stop looking back! The Lord is there to push you forward and upwards! Don't get stuck in an endless downward spiral of a mind-loop that the devil loves to trap people in! Free yourselves! Think Celestial. 

Jesus Christ and His teachings are incredible!

By following His teachings, we can inherit a place in the celestial kingdom. He did His part to help us return to our heavenly home. It is now up to each of us to do our part and become worthy of exaltation. It is our agency and our freedom to choose! His birth and life and sacrifice all have been given for us! He loved us so much that He willingly sacrificed His life! It is up to us to take that gift He gave to us and use it! It’s the best Christmas gift ever given! Now please unwrap it and use it! It is sitting under the Christmas tree! It is our choice whether we take it and unwrap and use it in our lives or if we just leave it sitting there. Don't leave it! Use the miraculous gift given to us! 

Jesus Christ! Say His name! Preach it, teach it, say it, use it, make it come alive! Get the name of Jesus Christ in your system! You have covenanted to take His name upon you! So hold true to that covenant! “We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to the prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:26) 

I invite you to live, breathe, and talk Jesus Christ! 

How can the bearers of the gospel not be happy! We are the bearers of the good news! That is what the gospel is! Good news! So be happy!

If you truly have Jesus Christ in your life and your heart, you should be happy! You know where to go for a remission of sins, you know the reality of this life, you have purpose, meaning, and understanding! Life is difficult sometimes, life can be annoying, life can just be down right hard and unfair. However, you have knowledge! In the end, all things will be made fair by Jesus Christ! Because of Him all things are possible! Remember what you believe! Remind yourself of eternity! Zoom out! Sometimes we take such a finite perspective! Take an infinite perspective! When I think of these things and the knowledge I have and my relationship I am growing with my Savior, my heart becomes full and filled with joy! I desire that joy and happiness for everyone I come in contact with!  

Are you suffering?

The Lord does not want us to suffer! Repent! If you are suffering while repenting you are doing it wrong! Christ has removed the suffering of repentance! Joy of daily repentance as President Nelson has taught! Be happy! Happily Repenting! 

“Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves–to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.” Always remember that it is your choice! And I hope and plead that you choose to repent and obtain eternal life! (2 Nephi 10:23).

Don't suffer any more! 

“I, God have suffered these things for all that they might not suffer if they would repent” (D&C 19:17). Jesus has suffered everything for you already! Repentance is not suffering! Repentance is a joy! 

President Nelson taught “Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”  

There is a strengthening power of daily repentance! Look to “Jesus Christ, who stands with open arms, hoping and willing to heal, forgive, cleanse, strengthen, purify, and sanctify us.” Just looking at what Jesus Christ offers, who wouldn't want to come unto Him?

Repenting is sooooo powerful! Jesus Christ is “inviting us to change our mind, our knowledge, our spirit–even the way we breathe. He is asking us to change the way we love, think, serve, spend our time, treat our [family], teach our children, and even care for our bodies.” 

Repenting is becoming! Repent and change! Repentance is the key to becoming who our Heavenly Father wants us to become! 

Well many might say Christmas is hard away from home. I will say that I do miss my family a lot. However, I am able to be happy because of the gift that Jesus Christ gave me! I have true joy right now! I know and understand these grand truths of eternity! I can rejoice and sing praises to His name! If I catch myself being sad, I just have to remember in whom I believe and then joy comes swooping into my soul! Like there is no need to be sad because I know and am striving to come to know Jesus Christ! 

Merry, merry, merry Christmas! I am praying for you all from Australia! Enjoy the cold weather :) 

Love you all! 

-Elder Jones (zhangzhanglao)