Another Transfer Completed!

Good day everyone! I have time for a quick update on my life down under! 

Fun Australian things: 

-The big huntsman spiders like to hide under the flaps in the car. (The sun visor thing with the mirrors on it that you can pull down.) They will crawl under them and then when you pull it down to look in the mirror you are staring at a ugly spider instead of your face haha. Not a pleasant surprise. 

-Australians say “good fun” when something is exciting. I have started saying it now too! It is funny to have all the new missionaries, when they arrive, point out all the funny things I am saying now! 

-Fairy bread! I had it for the first time! It was pretty interesting. It is a dessert that is a staple at little kids birthday parties. I also had a strawberry lamington for the first time. 

-I had way too much food this week! Too many meals and food! 

Quick weekly highlights:

-It was an absolutely crazy busy week! We got so much accomplished. Spent a lot of time at the airport and counseling with President Standley. 

-It was fun welcoming in the new missionaries! It is one of my favorite things to see them walk off the plane. Brings me back to when I got off the plane. 

-Sad to see all the departing missionaries go! It will be a weird day when I am the one being dropped off to fly home!

-Transfers were intense! Only about 10 companionships remained the same in the entire mission. So it was a lot of logistics and movements. I will be remaining as an assistant with Elder Mitchell. That means I have at least 6 more weeks of getting dunked on by my 6’10 companion. 

-We had some late airport pickups and some early airport drop offs! I wont say how many hours of sleep we got that night….

Spiritual thought:

I was reading in 3 Nephi 27 this week and there were some verses that stood out to me about the name of the church. It is Jesus Christ's church! 

“3 And they said unto him: Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the name whereby we shall call this church; for there are disputations among the people concerning this matter.

4 And the Lord said unto them: Verily, verily, I say unto you, why is it that the people should murmur and dispute because of this thing?

5 Have they not read the scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day;

6 And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day.

7 Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name; therefore ye shall call the church in my name; and ye shall call upon the Father in my name that he will bless the church for my sake.”

We do everything “in the name of Jesus Christ”. We pray, we serve, we teach, we testify all in the name of Jesus Christ. One of the baptismal covenants is to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. 

And then the spirit created this link in my mind! When we use the proper name of the church it is a way that we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ! 

So if you haven't already accepted the prophets invitation to use the proper name of the church, I would invite you to use the proper name of the church because it is a way that you can fulfill and keep your baptismal covenant to take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ! 

When we are teaching our friends out in the Australian outback we explain that the name of the church is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And it is Jesus Christ's church because it has Jesus Christ's name in it. They understood easily. A couple weeks later they told us that they had been invited to another church, but didn't go because it wasn't Jesus Christ's church. We asked them how they knew it wasn't Jesus Christ’s church and they said, “because Jesus Christ wasn't in the name of the church so we knew it wasn't Jesus Christ's church.” 

This just highlights how important using the proper name of the church is! And it is also a way to share the gospel in a normal and natural way! When we use Jesus Christ’s name we are bringing His light and power into our lives and into the lives of others! We also help people understand what church we belong to….we belong to the Church of Jesus Christ! 

I love a quote from President Nelson from the last general conference….it states, “Priesthood keys distinguish The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from any other organization on earth. Many other organizations can and do make your life better here in mortality. But no other organization can and will influence your life after death.” 

Please read the following verses that describe what happened after Jesus first visited the people in the Americas. 

3 Nephi 19: 

1 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had ascended into heaven, the multitude did disperse, and every man did take his wife and his children and did return to his own home.

2 And it was noised abroad among the people immediately, before it was yet dark, that the multitude had seen Jesus, and that he had ministered unto them, and that he would also show himself on the morrow unto the multitude.

3 Yea, and even all the night it was noised abroad concerning Jesus; and insomuch did they send forth unto the people that there were many, yea, an exceedingly great number, did labor exceedingly all that night, that they might be on the morrow in the place where Jesus should show himself unto the multitude.

Verse 1 is something that I want to replicate! I want this to be my future happy family. We go and worship Christ. Then we return home together and then invite others to come worship Christ with us! 

Verse 2 and 3 impress me! 

Look at those people. Observe. What are some things that we can take away from their actions?

There were some people who spent all night telling others that Jesus would be there on the morrow. 

Inspired question: Would you be someone who would spend all night telling others? 

This is a true sign of conversion. Knowing something for yourself and then acting to help other people come to know for themselves and come to Jesus Christ. 

And what about the others? They labored diligently all night to be at the place Jesus would be the following day. 

Inspired question: Are we willing to labor diligently to be at places where Jesus is? Or be in places where His spirit resides? 

I promise that as you continue to come unto Jesus Christ you will find lasting happiness and contentment. Take time for Him! Make time for Him! He is truly the life, light, and hope of the world! 

Have a wonderfully splendid week! Love you heaps!

Cheers,

Elder Jones (zhang zhanglao)