Story Time/Stressful Baptism Week
Another crazy week! Always so many ups and downs, but it always ends amazingly! There is always so much adversity or opposition before something incredible happens!
Weekly Highlights:
-Anyone who saw Elder Sun and I eating dinner would laugh. I eat with a bowl and chopsticks each night and he eats with a fork and a plate! It's quite hilarious! He cooks some amazing food for me! Except sometimes it is really spicy. He is from the spice capital of the world! So when he says its a little spicy that means I will be dripping sweat by the end of the meal! We had one meal this week that was so spicy, I got canker sores all over my mouth after I had eaten it!
-Tuesday we got news that we had to be out of our branch building by the end of 2 weeks without any news about another building....so that meant we would be "homeless" for a couple months. But then a couple days later President came in clutch and put his foot down and we now have the building until July!! So happy! One of the many miracles of the week!
-We had MLC this week, but it was very anti-climatic. We had someone from the church headquarters visit us and he gave some good trainings!
-We had a lesson with Adam and he is changing! It is amazing to see. He said it was his birthday the day before and he went to Wollies to buy whiskey, but then remembered the word of wisdom and that God does not want him to drink so he left Wollies without any whiskey and did something else to celebrate his birthday!
We asked him what his next step was in growing closer to God and he said baptism!
He is very good at saying prayers. He said he had gotten in bed the other night and then realized he had forgotten to say a prayer so he climbed back out of bed and said a prayer and asked God lots of questions.
-We had 3 lessons with friends that are so close to baptism! They each have one little thing holding them back. They each have gone from not believing in God to believing and exercising faith in Him. The most precious part this week was having a lesson with each of them and hearing them say a prayer. It is clear that they have been praying and the prayers they said were so heartfelt and earnest! They prayed for us and our missionary work! It truly put a smile on my face and made my heart so happy to see their slow but steady conversion to Christ!
-The highlight and miracle of the week was Zhang Ming getting baptized! It was a hectic week and very stressful, but the ending was amazing and transformational! He was still smoking 4 times a day on Wednesday. We had to tell him that he couldn't be baptized unless he stopped smoking! He wasn't very happy about that! Long story short, it was a very stressful week until we made it to Sunday! We weren't sure if he had stopped or not so it was a game time decision if he would be baptized or not. He really wanted to and had set his mind to it. After the sacrament meeting he told me that he had stopped smoking and was angry at everything because he had stopped. He couldn't sit still and it was clear that he was going through withdrawals. President Standley talked to him and we thankfully made it through the second hour of church. We then had the baptismal program. He was grumpy up until he was baptized! And then he transformed! He came out of the water so happy. First time I had seen him smile that day! He was confirmed and literally his countenance had changed! He was brighter!
He said he felt so much peace! Later he sent us a text that made my day - "Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement! I'm truly touched and so grateful to officially become a child of God. Today was such a special day for me. I really did feel that peace and joy you mentioned--something I've never felt before. I know it was the Holy Ghost, and I felt so loved by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Your support means so much to me. I will always remember how I felt today and do my best to stay on this path of faith. Thank you for sharing this moment with me and for your love and encouragement.”
I love testifying of Jesus Christ each and every day and each and every lesson! It is truly amazing and I love it!
Prayer lesson experience.
I love teaching friends how to pray. Some of my most tender and special experiences have been watching friends say a prayer for the first time. Especially the Chinese friends who have been atheist their whole life.
We had one such lesson in which we taught prayer to a 19 year old Chinese guy. Once he understood prayer, he asked a couple clarifying questions and then put his head in his arms and closed his eyes.
The room went quiet.
We had a Chinese new member who had been baptized the week prior join our lesson and when he saw this friend start praying he looked at us, smiled, and then closed his eyes and started praying.
I looked around in awe. I couldn't help but have the biggest smile on my face. It was surreal.
I then had the opportunity to close my eyes and offer a prayer of gratitude. The spirit was so strong in the room. It was amazing. Truly incredible.
The friend eventually looked up from his prayer and the new member opened his eyes and we continued on with the lesson.
Prayer is powerful! A direct communication with our Father in Heaven! Just imagine a 19 year old kid learning about prayer and the possibility that God is real for the first time and then he has the desire to pray and try to connect with this unseen power that we call our loving Heavenly Father!
It is amazing to watch friends who have never believed in God develop a meaningful, personal relationship with Him! It is a miraculous process to watch! I could name friend after friend who never thought God could be real. And now if you were to ask them if God is real they would wholeheartedly tell you that He lives and they have felt Him and have a relationship and connection with Him! They could tell you specific experiences where God has helped them!!
I am but a humble instrument and guide in God's hand for these friends to come unto their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ!
Disciples vs followers
What is the difference between followers and disciples?
Jesus had a lot of followers. They would mindlessly follow Him and do things He said. They acted without thinking. Their conversion was surface level.
Jesus had a few true disciples! They were those men and women who asked questions and desired to know more! They were those whose conversion was deeper than just seeing a miracle. They had a knowledge from the spirit of God that Jesus was the Christ. When confused they would search, ponder, pray, and ask Jesus for help to understand, whereas the followers would walk away confused and thinking that "these sayings are hard.”
Let us be disciples of Christ! Let us stand firm in the faith of Christ!
However, in this day and age it is getting harder and harder to be a disciple of Christ. We have to actively choose to believe and be a disciple of Christ!
In Matthew 24 it says
"22 For in those days there shall also arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant.”
Who is the elect according to the covenant? It is baptized members of the church. So what will we do to remain focused and steadfast in our faith?
In John 6 it talks about how even some of Jesus’s disciples turned back on Him. Imagine walking and talking daily with the Savior and then leaving Him because you cannot accept or don't desire to understand the higher truth and law He is offering!?
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
I love the power of these scriptures!
I would pose the same question to all who question or start to waver in their faith. "To whom shall ye go?"
Jesus Christ is the light, life, and truth of this world.
There is no higher alternative given in the world! It is the only and true way to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come!
2 Nephi 31:
20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.
21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
We were teaching a muslim this week. He had a question. He asked "Well I believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ also, but how do you know it is Jesus Christ when He comes? How will you know it is not just a random person, or an AI generated hologram, or some other unimaginable design of some person. How will you know that Jesus is truly the Christ when He comes again?"
This question made me ponder. It made me wonder if my relationship with Heavenly Father and the Savior is close enough that I will know and recognize Him when He comes again?? I thought about if I am in tune/close enough with the Holy Ghost to receive that confirmation in my heart and mind that He is the Christ when I see Him in person....??
I want to close by testifying that Jesus is the Christ! I know Him to be true and living because it has been manifested unto me by the power of the Holy Ghost!
3rd Nephi 5:13
Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.
Oh how I love being a missionary!!!
Here are the photos: https://photos.app.
Have a wonderful week!
Cheers,
-Elder Jones (zhang zhanglao)
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