Tender Mercies Of The Lord :)

Good day everyone! Happy new year! I got to start the new year before everyone else! Right now you all are stuck in 2023 haha. Not only are we in different continents, we are in different years right now haha. Australia is truly the future! It was a good week, but also kinda slow in some ways. My companion got sick and that was unfortunate! The miracle is that I am not sick yet. He was mega sick all week, but we pushed on and got things done. The whole branch is kinda infected now and everyone is sick now haha. I have no idea how I am not sick being around him 24/7. Literally a miracle! Pray for me to keep being healthy! 

Fun Australian things!

-It is called silly season over here right now. With Christmas and New Year’s everyone is drunk out of their minds…so they call it silly season because everyone is silly haha. We talked to one guy who was drinking on a bench in Rundle mall and he wouldn't talk to us and so we walked on…an hour later we walked past him again and he is passed out on his back just absolutely drunk out of his mind. The poor guy. The pose reminded me of what Laban would have looked like when Nephi found him haha.

-New Years over here is not too big. The biggest thing is they do fireworks on the beach. Thankfully, our flat is far enough away from the beach that the fireworks were not too loud. 

-Literally everything has a different name in Australia. It may be the same thing that America has, but they have to change the name to make it Australian haha. It is the funniest thing. Whether it is medicine, food, stores, you name it…it has a different weird name. 

-There is a secret joint military base between America and Australia in our mission. 

Weekly Highlights!

-We have 4 people who could be put on date for baptisms in the next couple weeks! We are so hyped! 3 of the 4 are from China! Truly the Lord is blessing us for all our hard work!

-We had so many blessings this week and the Lord is blessing us so much!

-Had some awesome lessons and so many of our friends are progressing! We love teaching the atonement of Jesus Christ soooo much! The spirit is so strong in those lessons!

-I am getting better at following the spirit and it is crazy what happens when you follow the spirit! 

-Our hot pot on Christmas turned out amazing! We had like 20 Chinese people rock up and it was a party! They all loved it! The best comment we got was “Wow, I thought I was going to be lonely this Christmas, but not anymore!” They were so surprised that two white guys were hosting a hot pot haha. 

-One of our Chinese friends that loves us drew a picture of my companion and I and it is incredible! It totally captures the essence of our companionship! I will put it in the pictures this week….

-We saw an aboriginal busker going crazy with a didgeridoo in the mall! 

Spiritual thought:

Sacrifice:

Remember that sacrifice is the truest form of love. 

Heavenly Father sacrificed His Son for us, Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, and the Spirit sacrificed his body for us. They sacrificed because they loved us and desire and care about our eternal welfare. 

What do we sacrifice? 

Our will! God has given us agency. Our will is the only thing we have to give to Him. Will we choose to follow Him? He will never force us to choose Him. That is why when we sacrifice our will and desires to Him, it is so powerful and a sign that we truly love Him! Jesus Christ is the perfect example of this! When He was in the garden, He sacrificed His will to the Father! And that is exactly what we need to do also! Follow Jesus Christ’s example and give your will to God! 

2 Nephi: 23 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.

24 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the WILL of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh;

What is something else we can sacrifice for God?  President Nelson gave us an idea! Sacrifice our favorite sins! He said that we need to be "willing to “give away” (sacrifice) even our favorite sins." 

Bring to the altar of God a broken heart and contrite spirit. All God wants is you to submit to Him and bring and give Him all that you have!

Gratitude! Some nice thoughts on gratitude.

“Counting our blessings is far better than recounting our problems.  No matter our situation, showing gratitude for our privileges is a unique, fast-acting, and long-lasting spiritual prescription.”   President Russell M. Nelson

"Being grateful in our circumstances is an act of faith in God. It requires that we trust God and hope for things we may not see but which are true. By being grateful, we follow the example of our beloved Savior, who said, “Not my will, but thine, be done.” True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will. In any circumstance, our sense of gratitude is nourished by the many and sacred truths we do know."

How blessed we are if we recognize God’s handiwork in the marvelous tapestry of life. Gratitude to our Father in Heaven broadens our perception and clears our vision. It inspires humility and fosters empathy toward our fellowmen and all of God’s creation. 

Gratitude is a catalyst to all Christlike attributes! A thankful heart is the parent of all virtues. The Lord has given us His promise that those “who [receive] all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto [them], even an hundred fold, yea, more.” 

May we “live in thanksgiving daily”—especially during the seemingly unexplainable endings that are part of mortality. May we allow our souls to expand in thankfulness toward our merciful Heavenly Father. May we ever and constantly raise our voices and show by word and deed our gratitude to our Father in Heaven and to His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ." Elder Uchtdorf

"You do not need to see the Savior, as the Apostles did, to experience the same transformation. Your testimony of Christ, born of the Holy Ghost, can help you look past the disappointing endings in mortality and see the bright future that the Redeemer of the world has prepared. 

The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful.  

How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings." Elder Uchtdorf 

We hear about a peculiar people a lot! I thought we could have President Nelson clear up what this word really means! 

"In the Old Testament, the Hebrew term from which peculiar was translated is cgullah, which means “valued property,” or “treasure.”we can see that the scriptural term peculiar does not mean “strange” or “odd” at all.

It signifies “valued treasure,” “made,” or “selected by God.” 

Peculiar is used in only seven verses of the Bible. In the Old Testament it is used five times. In each instance, it has been translated from the Hebrew term that means “valued treasure.”

Thus, for us to be identified by servants of the Lord as his peculiar people is a compliment of the highest order. In the New Testament, peculiar is used two times. In each instance it has been translated from a Greek term that signifies “possession” or “those selected by God as his own people."

Isn't that incredible!! Love our living prophet! 

Hope you read these thoughts and take a minute to think about our Savior and how we can be a better disciple! 

I am going to the beach today to crab fish!! And then probably cook the crab up later this week! Hopefully, some fun pictures next week!

Here are the pictures this week!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MnH9t9fon7SKCARk7

Love you all! Miss you all! 

Cheers

-Elder Jones (zhang zhanglao)