Mission Tour, Birthday, And The Return To Rundle Mall!

Well, well, well, G’day from Adelaide! I hope and pray that everyone is going good! (That is an Australian phrase.) So many things have happened and I am sorry that I have not taken the time to send an update. Here is the update from the past month!

Fun Australian things:

I added fun Australian things throughout the email…go and find them! 

Weekly Highlights: 

-On Tuesday I had a no good, horrible, terrible, very bad day….just kidding… but it seemed like everything went wrong that day! By the end of the day, it was almost comical how everything kept turning out for the worse! Sometimes laughter is the best medicine.

-I have been called upon for my Chinese abilities a lot recently! I was driving President to a stake mcm meeting when the zone leaders called asking for me to translate for this Chinese lady who had randomly walked into the church. So as I was speeding down the highway I was having this very random conversation with this Chinese lady. I ended up setting a time for a lesson the next day! It was a fun experience to be driving and translating at the same time! The next day we show up for the lesson at the chapel. The Chinese lady and her son walk in and look at me and say, “We are here to learn more, but someone was going to be here to translate for us.” They then start speaking in Chinese to each other….I then jump in and say “its me that is your translator!” They looked at me in bewilderment and surprise….it never gets old! 

-The next day a companionship needed us to join them for dinner with the owner of this Chinese restaurant! We happily agreed to go because it meant maybe a free dinner and I would get to speak some Chinese. It was down the forbidden Hindley Street haha. It was called gondola gondola and it was the best food I have ever had and tasted in my entire life! She bought a full course meal for us all and I couldn't believe how amazingly delicious it was! I was shocked! Pork belly, deep fried eggplant, wagyu beef, barramundi, mint lime chicken, and fried rice! No joke, I don't think I will ever have better food than what I had that night! It probably cost her 500 dollars based on the prices on the menu….

-The next day we picked up President and we hopped on our flight to Darwin! We got to sit next to President and counsel with him the whole 4 hour flight to Darwin! It was amazing! He bought us some nice toasties! (What Australians call grilled cheese sandwiches.) As soon as we got off the plane….we were hit with 40 degrees celsius and probably 80% humidity! It was brutal! But the full harvest moon was beautiful. I truly felt like I was on the other side of the country and the world! 

-The next day we had NT district conference! We attended the leadership session and of course the AC decided to break…so we were literally cooking in the chapel the entire time! 

-On Sunday we saw the amalgamation of Darwin and Palmerston branches. That was interesting to witness. I am learning so much about districts, branches, and mission presidencies! After church, we went and visited some of the ZL friends. We had a lesson with Caroloine. It was my second time teaching her. It was just surreal. She was sitting on the ground with ants crawling everywhere. She lived in an abandoned government housing that looked like it was in a tree. It was falling apart. It was in the middle of nowhere down this random dirt road that had mango trees for as far as the eye could see until we went far enough that it was just the Australian bush. And then we sat on coconuts while teaching the lesson. Never thought I would be sitting in Darwin at a place called Humpty Doo in the middle of nowhere teaching about the plan of salvation to an aboriginal woman while sitting on coconuts! 

Sunday night was the start of the mission tour with Elder Wakolo of the Seventy! It was amazing! He asked to meet with President and Sister Standley and then he had us join over zoom…I was a little nervous at first, but it was pretty amazing to witness what he asked and how he ran everything! We then had MLC over zoom right after that meeting. 

-Monday it was Darwin zone conference and that went really well! It was fun because Elder Wakolo treated us like APs. I learned so much from that zone conference and it got me really excited to get out of that meeting and do some missionary work! I didn't have to wait long…

A couple hours later we were in the security line at the Darwin airport….I was itching to invite some people to church or give a Book of Mormon away. We ended up talking to this military guy in the line and handed our card out and invited him to church. 

But we had just had a training by Elder Wakolo on the Book of Mormon and I was inspired at how many he had given away during his time as a seventy! 

So we are sitting waiting for the flight and if you know me well I am very competitive! So I hopped two seats down and started talking to this influential aboriginal lady. She already believed in Jesus and I ended up giving her the Book of Mormon before we boarded the flight. Elder Mitchell, who is also a competitive person, couldn't be outdone by me so he was looking around like oh man…so he started talking to the lady across the seat from him and got President Standley and President Chatterton involved and ended up giving her the Book of Mormon! Then as we are walking onto the plane, President Standley turns to us and asks for an extra BOM. He said. “I want to join in the fun!” He ends up giving a BOM to the person he sat next to on the plane… who ended up being the deputy of the police in Alice Springs! Then the next morning, Elder Wakolo tells us that the person I gave the BOM to, came up to him after the flight when he was getting his rental car and told him she had left the BOM on the plane and was wondering if she could have his. He said, “Yes, if you let me read some scriptures with you!” It was pretty awesome! 4 Books of Mormon handed out in like 3 hours! Fun stories! 

-Tuesday we had zone conference in Alice Springs and that went well! We then flew down to Adelaide that night! Elder Wakolo and President got us into the Qantas lounge with them! Then we boarded the plane like the President of the US haha. I was privileged to sit next to President again! Wednesday we had zone conference in Adelaide and that went well! I also had an interview with Elder Wakolo which was incredible! 

Thursday we had MLC and had to take care of the NT Elders and Sisters that flew down for it. It was a spirit-felt meeting and I learned a lot again! Friday morning we had our final meeting with Elder Wakolo and then dropped the missionaries off at the airport and then had a meeting with President Standley afterward. 

-Saturday was my birthday! Yay! It was a great day, but an unusual day. Another birthday I won't forget! My last birthday in Australia! I received so many kind birthday wishes from the senior couples and various missionaries! Some even made me cookies haha. I also received many birthday wishes from past friends that I taught and of course my family! Thank you everyone! You made my day! 

I had a zoom lesson with Leo in the morning and then I had another lesson with Adam after lunch! We got xingfutang together and that was fun! We then had to go to the evening session of stake conference….I wasn't looking forward to it, but I was in for a surprise. We showed up and we walk into President Standley as we are entering the building. He looks at us and says, “Elders you need to drive me to the emergency room right now!” He gives us his keys and we start the 30 minute drive to the hospital! Poor President was in sooo much pain! He was dying…we later found out that he had a kidney stone.  I was driving as fast I could without getting caught by a speed camera. It got so bad that he asked Elder Mitchell for a blessing. So Elder Mitchell from the back seat gave President a blessing. Then we were hitting every red light in the city. President had to get out of the car and stand up to relieve some of the pain before the light turned green. Then one of the times right before we made it to the hospital the light turned green, but the car wouldn't go. It stalled out. We were all like what is going on! We had to turn the car off and back on, but at that point we had missed the green light. He was having me speed and get ahead of cars and whatever. I was a lane changing machine. I ended up going 90kmp in a 60kmph zone haha. Yikes. I broke so many road laws during that drive. I cut across three lanes and drove into the ER entrance of the hospital. He ran in leaving his briefcase and everything with us. We parked the car and made it in….

Then we found out that I might have to give President Standley’s talk that he was supposed to give at the evening session of the stake conference! So I start preparing a talk as fast I could think.  We start the drive back to the chapel when the stake president rings us and says I won't need to talk that night, but the next morning at the general meeting I would need to give a talk. So the entire time during the evening session of stake conference I was writing a talk for the next morning.  Long story short, President ended up making it to the Sunday morning session and I didn't have to give the talk haha. So that made for an eventful and unforgettable birthday! 

-Had dinner with Elder and Sister Peterson in the office and Elder Hung and Elder Pederson to celebrate my birthday Sunday night! It was a home cooked meal that was divine! I miss my moms cooking! 

-The next week I had a lesson with Dean on Tuesday and he bought us pizza and ice cream and gave me le labo perfume for my birthday….I was shocked at how expensive it was! We had dinner at President Standley’s house that night with all the Chinese friends and new members which was so much fun! 

-Wednesday we went into the city to do some finding, and we went to china town to meet up with Z (zheng yu) for dinner. It was so good! He was an intimidating buddhist businessman who wanted to learn more about Jesus Christ. And for some reason, he thought I was from Texas and I played along…so that made it a funny time. He was asking what Texans eat and what life is like there….I was making things up left and right haha. As we were walking there, a beer bar bike thingy rode past us…and you can only imagine their drunken happiness when they saw “the mormons.” And so they were all shouting and laughing at us and yelling “Oh it’s the mormons…come and join us!” I smiled and waved! It's fun to be popular haha jkjk. It is October 30, 2024 and all the Christmas decorations in the city are up! It is crazy! It feels like the 4th of July, but it is actually Halloween time haha. Kmart and all the other stores are playing Christmas music! The Christmas parade happened in the city again and everyone in Santa hats and shorts is just not the vibe…I can't enjoy Christmas when I am sweating haha. That is why in Australia they put Christmas lights up in July and call it “Christmas in July” because it is dark and cold. But by the time December rolls around they have taken down the Christmas lights haha. 

-Had two exchanges. One of them was with Elder Hung! My first companion! He is finishing next month and it was fun to catch up! We ran into someone we used to teach and the friend took us out to a bougie gelato place called ovo down some random alley way in the city! 

-Spent lots of time in Rundle mall this week and that was sooo much fun! It never gets boring! I love speaking Chinese with everyone! 

-Saturday we had the stake trunk or treat activity. The only Halloweeny thing that actually happens in Australia haha. It went really well and we recruited the sisters to help us decorate a boot…because my artistic abilities are limited haha. But the best part about it was that there were some Chinese people that showed up! So that meant game time for me!  They didn't know who missionaries were and they were very hesitant when I first started talking to them…that was until I spoke Chinese! Then they were all ears haha. I spoke with them for 30 minutes and answered their questions and joked around with them. I got their number and they said they would invite us to come eat hot pot with them! I hadn't spoken that much Chinese in a while. I truly felt like I was given the gift of tongues in that conversation! I was amazed! Fun times all around! 

-Sunday was much needed! I hadn't had the sacrament in sooo long! It felt so good to reset, refocus, feel the spirit, and experience the power of Godliness. 

Quick spiritual thought: 

Elder Uchtdorf said, “Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness. 

Patience is a process of perfection. The Savior Himself said that in your patience you possess your souls. Or, to use another translation of the Greek text, in your patience you win mastery of your souls. Patience means to abide in faith, knowing that sometimes it is in the waiting rather than in the receiving that we grow the most. This was true in the time of the Savior. It is true in our time as well, for we are commanded in these latter days to “continue in patience until ye are perfected.”

I close now with this counsel to the Lord’s priesthood servants. Ponder deeply and diligently in the scriptures and in the words of living prophets. Persist in prayer for the Holy Ghost to reveal to you the nature of God the Father and His Beloved Son. Plead that the Spirit will show you what the Lord wants you to do. Plan to do it. Promise Him to obey. Act with determination until you have done what He asked. And then pray to give thanks for the opportunity to serve and to know what you might do next.”

Dc 76:40 And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us— 

41 That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; 

42 That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him;

19:41 Or canst thou be humble and meek, and conduct thyself wisely before me? Yea, come unto me thy Savior. Amen.

Keep staying focused on what matters most!

I invite you to keep seeking Jesus Christ! 

Ether 12:41

And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen.

Photos from the last month!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wwwL8cdmu1Ccu5Wu7

Have a great week!

Love you all! 

Thank you for all your prayers!

-Cheers,

Elder Jones (zhang zhanglao)