Go Train A Dragon :)
Welp another week finished! Crazy how time just flies by! It was a great week! Learned a lot, grew a lot, laughed a lot, and worked sooooo much!
Fun Australian things:
-A lot of the roads are sooo small here. Even though it is usually 2 lanes, half of one lane is filled with cars that are parked on the side of the road. So that means you have to take turns using the one lane. And Australians always give this signature finger/hand wave as you drive past. And if you do it back it is considered not very courteous….
-The double roundabouts are just wild! Soooo many roundabouts! And all the speed limits are less than the US. So when I get back to America, and get to drive 25 MPH I will feel like I am flying haha.
-College over here is called uni. If you say college people will think that is still “high school”. Very strange…
-I had some people ask if we celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Australia. To be completely honest I didn't even realize it was St. Patrick's Day and I totally forgot what that holiday was for haha. Long story short there is no St. Patrick’s Day in Australia haha. They have other useless holidays here haha.
Weekly Highlights:
-Tuesday was a beast day! We had so many lessons we didn't even have time to eat lunch haha. We had 3 back to back lessons right after our district council. And the lessons were all an hour plus long. We reviewed some things with Dean. Then had a little bit of a bible bash with James about the trinity, but hopefully we can pray and have God reveal to him that the trinity is false doctrine haha. Then we had a lesson with Henry (yuan hengzhu) and that was great! We then had branch council and that was a hoot! We have the trust of the members and that is so nice! I have worked so hard to earn the branch council member’s trust!
-Wednesday was probably in the top 10 worst days on the mission so far haha. It was just trash. We had to do an exchange and I got stuck with an Elder who didn't have motivation to do anything and didn't have a testimony. It was downright depressing. I have never met someone who doesn't care about anything at all. It blew my mind. It was a rough day of trying to make sure he wasn't breaking any standards and dragging him along….no fun…makes me grateful for Elder Butler each and every day.
-Speaking of Elder Butler, he is by far my most favorite companion I have had on the mission! We mesh so well together and we laugh and work hard each and every day! I would be happy spending the rest of my mission with this companion, but sadly that won't be the case haha.
-Thursday was great and we taught Alex again and he is slowly progressing. He is just struggling to believe in God. We visited the hospital twice to visit a indigenous lady Elder Butler knew from out bush. She was in the emergency room….It was probably the most tender thing I have seen in so long. For some reason, the Lord poured so much love and compassion for this lady I never knew into my soul. She asked for a blessing on her head after we had asked if we could say a prayer for her. And so in the middle of the emergency room with nurses coming and going there was a moment of peace and we were able to give her a blessing very quickly.
This was very special because this was Keaton Tilmouth's grandmother….and Keaton is the first indigenous missionary from Australia to serve a mission. So I felt honored to be able to give a blessing to his grandmother! The indigenous people of Australia have so much faith! It is truly so cool to see! They have more faith in Jesus Christ than 90% of people in Utah haha.
-Friday was an awesome day! We had our zone stewardship call and it went really well! The district leaders learned a lot and we were able to give a good training and have a good council! It made me happy! The spirit was present and that is all that matters. We had a beast lesson with Brother Peachman in which he realized he needs to make an effort to come to church. That was an incredible lesson where I learned things. We then had a great lesson with Joy. He is so special and has so many amazing questions! He has a big potential to be baptized if he could find more time to meet with us! He is elect!
We ended up going to xing fu tang. It is a Taiwanese boba milk place…and there has been a massive line for days now. It just opened so everyone has been going. We finally decided to go get some and wow it was pretty good! First time having boba….kind of interesting.
-Saturday was an insane day that left me exhausted! We found so many new friends that day! We met our finding goal for the week! It was crazy after our reject day on Friday. On Friday no one wanted to talk to us and everyone turned us away, but today was better! So weird how it works sometimes…
Street contacting is insane. I have never been more ignored, rejected, made fun of, glared at, sweared at, yelled at, despised, hated, and people running away from me than any other time in my life. I truly feel a little bit how the Savior must have felt….
We had some more confrontations with the bible bashers. It felt like we were in a competition for the souls of Rundle mall haha. And from the looks of it….we won!! No surprise there! And we got a shout out from Frank at Harvey Norman which was epic! Elder Butler and I were talking about how one of the lead bible bashers looked and sounded Scottish. He reminded us of someone from the movie How to Train Your Dragon. We thought it would be fun to tell him to go train a dragon next time we ran into him. Little did we know...we were walking back from lunch down an alleyway and then out of nowhere all the bible bashers came walking down blocking the whole path. They wouldn't let us pass. They were yelling all sorts of things at us! It was crazy. They told us we believed in a fake Jesus and so much other stuff. I looked the Scottish guy in the eyes and put my arm on his shoulder while he is yelling stuff at me and I said, "We believe in the real Jesus....now go train a dragon.” Then I pushed past him creating a gap for Elder Butler to get past. The Scottish guy was so busy yelling repent that he didn't really notice what I had said haha. We spent hours in that mall….I was so dead at the end of the day.
We did get GYG’s for lunch which was sooo good because it is the only Mexican food place in Australia. We had a lesson with Jackson and he brought us xing fu tang as a gift and wow that made my day! Tender mercy from the Lord after all day of finding! More boba for me haha. We then had a lesson with Cloud! At the moment he is probably the friend that is most progressing! We had a wonderful lesson and we taught the plan of salvation and his only question was, “What do I have to do to get to the celestial kingdom?” We then taught the gospel and his question after that was, “How do I get baptized and how do I get the holy ghost?” Elder Butler and I have really hyped up the holy ghost and so he really reallly wants it. It is epic! His lessons are so spiritual and he is beginning to believe in God after saying prayers each day this past week! So special and tender!
I love being a missionary!!
-Got called on to play piano last minute at church and I am so eternally grateful for my piano teacher Jody helping me know how to play the piano!
-We met a Chinese man on the street on Saturday and he agreed to come back and meet with us the following week. A newly baptized Chinese member on Sunday sends us screenshots of something on a weichat groupchat….it is this Chinese guy from Saturday explaining what had happened and even a screenshot of our texts and asking if these tall good looking white guys were dangerous or not. It is pretty funny!
Spiritual thought:
I first want to share a really good quote on faith!
Alma 32:21.
Faith and Hope
President Boyd K. Packer helps us better understand the meaning of faith: “Faith, to be faith, must center around something that is not known. Faith, to be faith, must go beyond that for which there is confirming evidence. Faith, to be faith, must go into the unknown. Faith, to be faith, must walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness. If everything has to be known, if everything has to be explained, if everything has to be certified, then there is no need for faith. Indeed, there is no room for it. … “There are two kinds of faith. One of them functions ordinarily in the life of every soul. It is the kind of faith born by experience; it gives us certainty that a new day will dawn, that spring will come, that growth will take place. It is the kind of faith that relates us with confidence to that which is scheduled to happen. … “There is another kind of faith, rare indeed. This is the kind of faith that causes things to happen. It is the kind of faith that is worthy and prepared and unyielding, and it calls forth things that otherwise would not be. It is the kind of faith that moves people. It is the kind of faith that sometimes moves things. … It comes by gradual growth. It is a marvelous, even a transcendent, power, a power as real and as invisible as electricity. Directed and channeled, it has great effect. … “In a world filled with skepticism and doubt, the expression ‘seeing is believing’ promotes the attitude, ‘You show me, and I will believe.’ We want all of the proof and all of the evidence first. It seems hard to take things on faith. “When will we learn that in spiritual things it works the other way about—that believing is seeing? Spiritual belief precedes spiritual knowledge. When we believe in things that are not seen but are nevertheless true, then we have faith”
Faith is so important because it truly can move mountains!
I read these scriptures this week and they hit me hard at how significant they are!
38 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the thing which our fathers call a
ball, or director—or our fathers called it Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it.
39 And behold, there cannot any man work after the manner of so curious a workmanship. And behold, it was prepared to show unto our fathers the course which they should travel in the wilderness.
40 And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.
(This is so crucial to realize! That if we want to be guided by the Lord we must have faith! They had to have faith to allow the compass guide them! We have to have faith to allow the Spirit to guide us!)
41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;
42 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.
43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.
44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.
45 And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.
46 O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.
Please read those last 5 verses carefully! Make sure you are not being slothful because of the easiness of the way! It is as easy to give heed to the words of Christ as it is to look at the compass and follow it! These last 5 verses teach some powerful things!
Think of what your Liahona is in your life…..
what is your compass….
what should your compass be? Friends, teachers, social media….?
Over the years several General Authorities have described different means in which the Lord continues to guide us in our journey of life, like a Liahona.
Elder W. Rolfe Kerr compared the words of Christ to the Liahona: “So we see, brethren and sisters, that the words of Christ can be a personal Liahona for each of us, showing us the way. Let us not be slothful because of the easiness of the way. Let us in faith take the words of Christ into our minds and into our hearts as they are recorded in sacred scripture and as they are uttered by living prophets, seers, and revelators. Let us with faith and diligence feast upon the words of Christ, for the words of Christ will be our spiritual Liahona telling us all things what we should do.”
President Thomas S. Monson compared the Liahona to an individual’s patriarchal blessing: “The same Lord who provided a Liahona for Lehi provides for you and for me today a rare and valuable gift to give direction to our lives. … The gift to which I refer is known as a patriarchal blessing.”
President Spencer W. Kimball compared the Liahona to the light of Christ, or our conscience: “Wouldn’t you like to have that kind of a ball … ? “… The Lord gave to … every person, a conscience which tells him everytime he starts to go on the wrong path. … “… Every child is given it.”
Elder David A. Bednar compared the Liahona to the gift of the Holy Ghost: “As we each press forward along the pathway of life, we receive direction from the Holy Ghost just as Lehi was directed through the Liahona. … “The Holy Ghost operates in our lives precisely as the Liahona did for Lehi and his family, according to our faith and diligence and heed. … “And the Holy Ghost provides for us today the means whereby we can receive, ‘by small and simple things’ (Alma 37:6), increased understanding about the ways of the Lord. … “The Spirit of the Lord can be our guide and will bless us with direction, instruction, and spiritual protection during our mortal journey.”
Hopefully these words of the modern Prophets and Apostles can help you better understand what a good compass or Liahona in your life could be!
This is a really good talk on grace! If you want to understand God’s grace better, I suggest you read this talk!
https://speeches.byu.edu/
Thank you everyone for reading these long emails! Enjoy your week! And I am always grateful for your prayers for my friends and me.
Love you all from Australia and back!
Cheers,
-Elder Jones (zhang zhanglao)
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