Crab Fishing!
Well, well, well, another week in the hot, humid, Australian sun! It is starting to get humid now and the sun is the strongest thing in the world! You feel like you are getting fried! It is the weirdest thing ever! My poor companion is a red head and so he just gets burned up! Thankfully, I have gotten around sunscreen so far….see how long that lasts…
Hope everyone is doing well! Hope the first week of 2024 went splendid!
Australian things: bikes
-you can't have a bike rack on a car without a bike on it! It's illegal! And it doesn't make any sense! It is annoying to have to take the bike rack on and off and put it back and forth from the boot of the car depending on if we are using the bike or not!
-Bikes are just so weird here! Everything in Australia is flip flopped so why not the brake! Usually your right break is the back brake and the left break is your front brake. But in Australia it is the opposite! It really caught me off guard the first couple times haha. I was like wow something just feels wrong but I can't figure it out!
-The shifters on Australian bikes are also designed kinda poorly! It makes you take your hands off the brakes to shift! So that is kinda dangerous, but whatever! Everything in Australia is dangerous and trying to hurt or kill you haha. Even the bikes I guess :)
-There are these cool bike paths in some parts of the city!
-You can’t take bikes on the buses.
Weekly Highlights:
-This week was a good week! We had some awesome lessons and some good experiences! We went on two exchanges and so that was kinda tiring, but good! Helped the other Elders learn and grow all while learning and growing myself haha.
-One of the members took us out to eat in what he considered the “best Chinese restaurant in Adelaide.” And I would agree after eating there! It was soo good! We ordered so much food and Elder Gardner and I devoured everything! It had been a long day and we were starving so it tasted so good! We had some classic super spicy bullfrog and I was privileged to crunch through the spine. Had some amazing authentic beef and pork dishes and wow it was so good!
-One of our friends is progressing so well and we only communicate through email which is really weird, but he is responding so that is all that matters!
-Talked to some Taiwanese guy on the street and invited him to church, and he just rocked up on Sunday! It was epic!
-The saddest news is that one of our really good friends, Freeman, who was going to be put on baptismal date the next lesson, suddenly decided to stop meeting with us….we were devastated!
-I have a major testimony of talking to everyone! Literally everywhere we go we just talk to everyone! And wow we get so many phone numbers! I just stood at the bus stop for 30 minutes yesterday and watched people walk past and then would stop one of them every so often as I felt prompted and we would get their number every time haha! The Lord truly works miracles! The spirit is truly in the work! It is amazing to see myself grow and become more and more what the Lord wants me to become!
-We got to go crabbing last P-Day! It was awesome! We caught two big crabs and we brought them home and cooked them and ate them! It was really tasty! Fresh crabs straight from the Australian ocean! Crabbing is a very relaxing way to spend your p-day! Fun pictures!
-We had some really funny stories that I don’t have the time to write, but just know that I am having a good laugh every once in a while! Mission stories are just the absolute best! I am looking forward to telling my future kids all about them as they go to bed! And knowing me, I will exaggerate them all haha.
Spiritual thought!
A quick quote on the value of a testimony! We have heard President Nelson counsel us about working for our own testimony and helping it grow! I challenge everyone to look and analyze their own testimony and see what they can do to make it stronger! Seek, ask, and receive those spiritual experiences!
Elder Richard G. Scott (1928–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles described the power of testimony: “A strong testimony gives peace, comfort, and assurance. It generates the conviction that as the teachings of the Savior are consistently obeyed, life will be beautiful, the future secure, and there will be capacity to overcome the challenges that cross our path. A testimony grows from understanding truth, distilled from prayer and the pondering of scriptural doctrine. It is nurtured by living those truths in faith and the secure confidence that the promised results will be obtained. … “… Your personal security and happiness depend upon the strength of your testimony, for it will guide your actions in times of trial and uncertainty” (“The Power of a Strong Testimony,” Ensign, Nov. 2001, 87).
The Book of Mormon is truly incredible!
The Book of Mormon belongs to the spirit. The spirit is who whispered the things that were written. And it was written for our day and many of the prophets saw our day and are writing to us specifically!
Who inspired, defends, and testifies of the Book of Mormon? The spirit! Let the spirit speak to you as you read the special Book!
I invite you all to write one compelling question right now that you have in your life and then I invite you to find the answer in the Book Of Mormon! As you prayerfully seek the answer you will find it!
There is a cool scripture about the Book of Mormon that I found recently! 2 Nephi 30:6. “Then they shall rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and delightsome people.”
This is talking about the amazing results of reading the Book of Mormon! Who doesn't want to have the scales of darkness fall from your eyes? I don't know what darkness or uncertainty you have in life but the Book of Mormon can make that darkness or uncertainty become light, truth and clarity! And who doesn’t want to become a pure and delightsome people! That sounds amazing! The Book of Mormon has power in it!
I would consider the coming forth of the Book Of Mormon as a modern day “parting of the red seas”. The whole process from start to finish of obtaining the plates and translating it, to them finally being taken up by the angel Moroni is a miracle! God was in every detail and had planned everything with God-like precision!
Now for a final thought about the Book of Mormon…there is an element of faith involved with it! God loves and honors our agency and will never take away the freedom of choice! We all have to choose to believe that the Book of Mormon is true or not. The Book Of Mormon will never be disproven or proven by science or evidence alone! It is perfectly balanced between the two sides to create an environment for faith!
So after looking at the facts and evidence there is no clear way to prove or disprove this book! I would consider the facts and evidence as enough to prove it a true book but many think otherwise. So it comes down to having God Himself manifest the truth of the Book to you! The incredible promise in Moroni 10:3-5 is something we read with our friends so much! The spirit testifies of all truth! I ask that as you read the Book of Mormon continue to pray and ask if the things you are reading are true or not. I have had the spirit witness to me on multiple occasions that this book is true and I pray that everyone may have that sure but quiet witness from the Holy Ghost.
To leave the church or discount your faith you would have to go around, over, or under the Book of Mormon.(paraphrased from Elder Holland). There is no way but through it! You have to read it, study it, and ponder its words! And the fact always remains that we have this book before our eyes! Please read and sincerely ask God if it is true!!
I love this Book and it is truly written for our day and witnesses of Jesus Christ!
"It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called "the words of life" (D&C 84:85), and no where is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance."
Ezra Taft Benson
Stop making excuses for your sins! Start repenting! Repenting is about making bad people good but it is also about making good people better people and better people Saints! Truly wonderful! Such a great gift!
What is the most important part of a car? The part that doesn't work haha. What is the most important part of us- the part that is broken or doesn’t work. So we repent so we can be fixed of our “broken parts”. We are repenting to receive—receive the atonement and its effects and receive the Holy Ghost! We don’t pay for anything- It is already paid for by Christ! Repenting to become… Repenting opens our capacity to receive! It allows a change of heart! It allows us to receive all that the Father hath! Enables us to continue to hold onto our agency. If we couldn't repent we would lose the ability to choose! You can't make people perfect by taking away their agency! We fought a war in Heaven over this! Because of the Atonement we have agency! Never be afraid to repent! Be Honest with Him! He knows you! I testify of that!
Here are the pictures for this week!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/
Love you all! Have a great week! Remember Jesus Christ in everything that you do!
Cheers,
-Elder Jones (zhang zhanglao)
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