6 Months!
Good day everyone! Hope everyone had a great week! This week was so busy and long for me! I feel a little worn down, but I am happy because I know that the Lord will sustain me! We accomplished so much this week and are looking forward to next week with an eye single to the glory of God!
Australian things:
-There is a Chinese saying for football and it translates kinda to olive because the football looks like an olive. Kinda funny. But wow, I love the Chinese language!
-Alright here is a super Australian thing….on every recyclable bottle there is a 10 cent symbol if the bottle can be collected and turned in to claim that 10 cent…soooo if you can imagine there are people who are obsessed with getting all the 10 cent bottles. So we walk down the mall and there are these homeless people or just crazy people who dive into these garbage cans with tongs or just their bare hands and grab all the 10 cent bottles people have thrown away. They have these massive bags or shopping carts they pull or push along from rubbish bin to rubbish bin pulling out all the 10 cent bottles! That has become some people’s way of living. It is literally their “job”. Crazy! It blows my mind that someone could spend all day in rubbish bins pulling out cans to turn in! It is impressive how many they collect though.
-Ok the city sometimes is just crazy! The smells are from another world sometimes. The funny thing is that I can walk 5 feet and be assaulted with 5 different smells each foot I walk. I will not give the details of what kind of smells, but some are good and some are just horrendous haha. I am just amazed at how many smells can be thrown together!
-The best smell is a popcorn smell that comes from a pop up popcorn stand in Rundle mall! It smells so good and I swear they have this smell making machine that pumps out this smell to attract people! Very impressive!
Weekly Highlights:
-The best part of the past month and the past week has been our friend Dean! He is progressing soooo well! It is incredible! It blows my mind! We communicate through email, but he always responds in a timely manner. We meet with him every week and sometimes he brings cake, pizza, custard tarts, or drinks to share with us while we teach him. He has incredible experiences and morals that have set him up to learn the gospel of Jesus Christ. He showed up to church for the second time in a row yesterday and he rocked up in a full on suit and tie! Since it was only his second time the members didn't recognize him and thought he was a member visiting from another ward or branch in the area. Our branch president even asked if his records would be moved to the city…he was like what? and looked at us haha. He is a normal, smart, and genuine person. It is awesome! We give him invitations to read passages from the Book of Mormon and to watch some videos and he comes to the next lesson having read and watched it all, but what is even more impressive is that he pulls out a laptop and has a full on essay/report on what he read or watched! And then he is starting to read the Book of Mormon on his own without us even asking him…he then comes with questions and he just loves it! He is having spiritual experiences on his own which is a key to conversion! He says that he loses track of time while reading the Book of Mormon and that he finds so much peace and joy and power while reading the book! I have never seen the Book of Mormon take hold of someone’s mind like it has Deans! A true testimony builder of the power of the book! And because he is having these spiritual experiences on his own he is coming back for more and wants more knowledge. And he is so thankful and grateful. I woke up this morning with an email from him telling us how grateful he is that we always make the time to meet with him during our busy week and thanked us for sharing the gospel and love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love getting thankful texts, emails, or notes from people that I am teaching! It warms my soul! He is a chosen and elect son of God! And wow, I am so excited to see him baptized!
-We have another Chinese friend who we invited to be baptized this week and she said that she will think about it. She said that she loves everything we taught and wants to be a part of it! She said that everything really attracts her! We are hoping and praying that she decides to commit and be baptized!
-We had a cool experience where we saw our Chinese neighbor playing basketball. He asked if we wanted to play with him sometime so we said oh yeah! And then we exchange contact information and we decided to play Saturday morning at 6:45am. And the crazy thing is that this person followed up with us the night before! Usually, it is us confirming and following up with people but no it was him. I guess he really wanted to ball up! But no joke we wake up at 6:30 and are out the door at 6:45 and walk to the park across from our flat and we played basketball with these two Chinese guys for 45 minutes! It was the best morning workout ever! The best part was when they realized I spoke Chinese and decided to keep their Chinese comments between themselves from then on…..haha.
-Had so many countless experiences! Too many to write and count. Each day feels forever! It is incredible how much we can fit in one day or one week! I will never look at time the same! I am also changing and becoming so much! My opinions, my viewpoints, my personality, my perspectives, my everything is being changed and I am shocked at how the Lord is shaping and changing me! Excited to see what is in store for the next year and a half….
-Speaking of the next year and a half, this coming Wednesday I hit 6 months!!! Crazy to think I have finally hit 6 months! Time is passing quickly! To be honest, I don't want the mission to end. I am going to be mega sad when it comes to a close. I love life even though some days are brutal haha. A mission is truly the best thing ever! I don't want to leave the mission bubble! Thankfully, I still have a year and half to experience and learn! Lots and lots of learning to do!
Spiritual thought!
I want everyone who is reading this to stop and think about these three questions….
What do you value most?
What makes you happy?
What is the purpose of life?
We ask these questions to people in Rundle mall all day long! I feel safe to say that I have talked with almost all walks of life and with people from all around the world…and the answers they give to these questions give a lot of insight into the person…take a moment to reflect and see how you would answer these simple but soul searching questions…
A simple well known quote to keep in mind from President Nelson…
“the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives…When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation…and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. Just as the Savior offers peace that “passeth all understanding,” He also offers an intensity, depth, and breadth of joy that defy human logic or mortal comprehension.”
This is always such a good reminder! Whenever I feel sad, depressed, unmotivated, discouraged, lonely, or anything remotely bad, I stop myself and ask what am I choosing to focus on? And when I stop and ask myself what I myself am choosing to focus on I see that I am not focused on the right thing! It is silly sometimes because we choose to be sad or discouraged! It is all a choice! This life is full of choices and we are being tested or proven to see what choices we will make! Let us chose to be happy because we have reason to rejoice! We must have our focus on the things that will make us happy in this life and in the life to come! Jesus Christ is the way that leads to lasting happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come!
We have been asked as a mission to memorize The Living Christ the last 2 weeks. So I have taken the challenge! It has been fun! It is a powerful document testifying of Christ! I invite everyone to go read The Living Christ and ponder on Jesus Christ and how He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world!
We must be more valiant in upholding our testimonies! Don't let the things of the world make you scared from upholding the light of Christ. Through Jesus Christ and our testimony and conversion to Him, we are able to overcome the world.
In Revelation 12:11, an angel declared that Christ’s followers overcame Satan and his followers “by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.”
Now lets take a look at what the Joseph Smith Translation added…
Revelation 12:11–12. They “Kept the Testimony Even unto Death” The Joseph Smith Translation adds several words to Revelation 12:11: “They loved not their own lives, but kept the testimony even unto death” This addition suggests that Christ’s followers valued and loved their testimonies of the Lord and His gospel more than their own lives. There are multiple references in the book of Revelation to individuals who were tested and tried in the war against evil, even unto death.”
Joseph Smith and many others throughout history have died with their testimony. They will not deny it! Let us all press forward with a perfect brightness of hope in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us all strengthen our testimony and be consistent in defending the truth. The world is trying to change the truth and say good is evil and evil good. Let us stand for what is right. Jesus Christ is the ultimate truth and light that we must uphold and defend.
Please do what is necessary to make sure your testimony and conversion is strong. Conversion is an action. I invite everyone do something to show God that you are committed to following His son.
Have a wonderful week everyone and remember to keep Jesus in everything you do and say. He is the one who has the power and understanding to help you overcome anything that you want to overcome because He overcame all things to know how to help you overcome all things!
Photos from this week:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/
Love you all!
-See everyone in a year and a half haha :)
Cheers,
-Elder Jones (zhangzhanglao)
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