Stranded On An Island
Two emails in a row! Hope everyone's week has been great! It has been another adventure of a week for me!
Fun Australian things:
-Australians love honeycomb. They will have honeycomb ice cream at the stores, honeycomb covered chocolate, honeycomb flavored candy….
-Kangaroos and wallabies are the funnest animals to watch jump around
-Koalas make weird grunting noises.
Weekly highlights:
-We had MLC and it went very well. It went for 4 hours and so it was very long, but productive. The new mission president is making changes and it is interesting to watch how the missionaries react to the changes.
-We ran exchanges on Kangaroo Island!
-The ferry ride across on sea link was fun. We spent the 50 minutes on the top of the boat with the sea breeze in our faces. It was picture perfect. I spotted some dolphins and they swam toward us jumping out of the water. They ended up jumping out right before going under the ferry. Then, with the sunsetting, I watched them jump around into the distance. It was an incredible sight. It was fun to rock and sway with the boat!
-There was a massive storm that blew in while we were on the island. They had to shut down all plane flights and boats going to and from the island. Everyone on the island was talking about it. We were literally stranded on the island. It was pouring rain all day long. Anytime we got out of the car we got soaked!
-I experienced the eye of the storm Friday. There was an hour or two where it cleared up and the sun came out. I was like “Oh the storm is over,” but the locals were like “Oh no, it is just the eye of the storm.” Sure enough, an hour later the storm was back again and it was absolutely crazy with the rain and wind. The wind was clocked at 100 kmph!
-I saw lots of koalas in the trees! They always looked like big fur clumps haha. I saw a lot of kangaroos and wallabies too. I also saw some seals in Pelican Bay. As we drove away from Pelican Bay, I saw a massive pelican statue. And right above it on a street lamp was a real life pelican just chilling.
-I saw some dragon boats for the dragon boat festival!
-Visited lots of members and friends. The social atmosphere on the island is very hard to describe. You can tell that these people have been living on an island for 40-50+ years. We were trying very hard to help them see how they need Jesus Christ in their lives. Everyone loved to chat and talk!
- On the ferry ride we made an incredible realization. We 4 missionaries had traveled around Australia preaching the gospel in every mode of transportation. We had taken a plane, boat, bus, train, bike, car, tram, taxi, and our own two feet. We felt very blessed to be in the service of our God.
-Had dinner with the branch mission leader while overlooking the ocean and harbor with a full moon illuminating the water.
-On the ferry ride over back to the mainland it was pretty rocky. We spent some time on top of the deck watching the boat lean and tilt back and forth. We then decided to go inside and while we were walking down we were getting thrown against the walls. It was impossible to walk straight. Pretty fun boat ride, haha. We then sat across from a Chinese family and so I was able to talk Chinese with them for 20 minutes! Fun times and fun memories!
-My companion and I are celebrating hitting our year mark by going to 48 flavors (a local south Australian ice cream company) and getting ice cream! I am planning on getting the white chocolate macadamia caramel ice cream. It can't get better than that right?
-We also have basketball and a baptism planned for today also!
Spiritual thought:
Here is something that stood out to me this week.
“It is the grand truth that in all that Jesus came to say and do, including and especially in His atoning suffering and sacrifice, He was showing us who and what God our Eternal Father is like, how completely devoted He is to His children in every age and nation. In word and in deed Jesus was trying to reveal and make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven.
He did this at least in part because then and now all of us need to know God more fully in order to love Him more deeply and obey Him more completely.” Jeffrey R. Holland
We all need to know who God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are. The guide to the scriptures has some great definitions/summary and scripture references on the roles of each member of the Godhead.
The more I study about the Godhead the more I am astonished at how they truly work together to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” I am beyond grateful for each member of the Godhead and the sacrifice they each have made for us. It makes me think “what more can I sacrifice for them.”
This week I have also been filled with joy and gratitude for my Savior and His redeeming power. Both the power of the resurrection and the power of His atonement! I stand in wondering awe.
Please read the following scriptures:
John 6:59-69
59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66 ¶ From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
The world says that the teachings and doctrine of Jesus Christ is a “hard saying.” The laws of God and the laws of the world are very far apart.
There will come a time in some way, shape, or form…….when we, like the twelve, are asked by Jesus “Will ye also go away?” What will be our answer to Him?
I want to reaffirm Peter's answer. Lord, to whom shall we go? Brothers and Sisters there is no higher alternative than Jesus Christ. There is no higher alternative than the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no higher alternative to the joy, peace, power, and eternal life Jesus Christ offers us. There is no higher alternative to the absolute truth found in the Godhead.
Find something better, find something more complete, find something more fulfilling, find something more redeeming, find something more hopeful and joyful, find something more healing to your heart and mind, find something more powerful than Jesus Christ and His doctrine and atonement! You will find nothing.
Jesus Christ has the words of eternal life. And I invite you, if you have or haven't already received a witness from the spirit, to gain or receive another witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. We need a continual witness of Him. He is The prince of peace in a world of waves and turmoil that is threatening to overpower us….Jesus Christ is the light and life of our lives. Turn to Him.
We read this week in Alma 30:
60 And thus we see the end of him who perverteth the ways of the Lord; and thus we see that the devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell.
Jesus Christ will never leave us, He will never abandon us, and He will never drag us down to hell. He will come to us, He will rescue us, He will bring us and our families to live with Him again. As we are covenant connected with Christ and keep our eye single to His glory, we may have the peace and rest that we all need in our lives right now. Come unto Him and be perfected in Him.
Here are the pictures from this week:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/
Have a wonderful week! Love you all!
Cheers,
-Elder Jones (Zhang zhanglao)
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