Tom And Jerry

Well I am back again with another email this week as promised!

 Let's get into it!

Weekly Highlights:

-We had an up and down week! Monday was rough. We ended the week on a high and then p-day hit and everyone got depressed for some reason. I was asked to give a priesthood blessing to someone who was thinking about going home. Thankfully she has decided to stay! It was a special blessing! Amazing to see the power of God manifested in priesthood ordinances!

-But then on Wednesday all the Elders in the city put someone on date! So now we have 18 people on date in the city district! We were all on cloud 9! We put our friend Matteo on date! He found me on facebook and directly messaged me! He said he was just scrolling on facebook one day and saw my profile pop up. We had no mutual friends or anything. He clicked on me and saw that I believed in Jesus Christ! He reached out and now he is on date to be baptized!

-Two twins from Columbia I have known for almost 2 years took us out to Benny's burgers for dinner! That was delicious! Fun times!

-We got to teach another Elder’s Chinese friend over zoom! His name was Tom. Elder Sun said, "Oh wow that is my english name too!" I then said my name in Chinese. It translates to Jerry in English. He then looked at us and said, “Wow, it is literally Tom and Jerry!" Elder Sun and I looked at each other with surprised faces because we hadn't realized that ever before haha. The next day on Sunday he came to the music devotional and said to the Elders as he pointed to us..."Hey look it’s Tom and Jerry.” We just laughed when we heard that! 

-Thankfully, unlike Tom and Jerry, Elder Sun and I get along really really well! We are lifelong friends at this point! He will be my longest companion on the mission after this transfer!

-We had a ward party to celebrate the Marden ward being formed for officially 1 year now! The missionaries made a fun kahoot for it! One of the questions was who is the tallest Elder in the ward...and everyone picked Elder Mitchell, but they had not realized he was not in the ward and so everyone was confused when it was me! 

-Elder Sun went to Sydney to get his student visa! I had been role playing with him for the past 2 weeks! It was a miracle that he was able to go with everything that was happening in America. It was divine planning! God orchestrated it perfectly and allowed Elder Sun the opportunity to go for his interview. He flew out and was successful! Many prayers, fasting, and hard-work paid off! So happy! 

-I was able to trio with Elder Hu and Elder Gunderson for a couple days while Elder Sun was in Sydney. That was fun! We found 8 people together and taught sooo many lessons in Chinese! My Chinese came back! It was crazy! I had the gift of tongues for a couple lessons! I was having so much fun teaching and testifying in Chinese! Gives me motivation to continue to learn Chinese after my mission!

-We went finding and I got a little mad at watching people reject poor little Elder Hu! I have never felt mad at people rejecting us, but when I saw Elder Hu get rejected in such a rude manner, it made my heart sorrowful. I think of my own siblings and it pains my soul to think of people rejecting and looking down upon them in such a way. It really makes you feel how Jesus Christ must have felt being rejected and also watching His fellow servants being rejected!

-Our zone hit a record high of 100 new friends found in 1 week! We only have 10 companionships in our zone! The mission found 212 total friends that week and our zone found 100 of the 212! It was a miracle! Elder Sun and I had set the goal 2 weeks before, but then everyone got sick so it got brushed aside. However, we all worked hard and a miracle happened! It was crazy! Saturday night we had 90 new friends! So Elder Sun and I texted the whole zone asking for a zone effort to find 10 friends on Sunday! And we did it! We kept updating the zone throughout the day which was fun! When we had 99 we asked who would find the 1 lost sheep! It was truly leave the 99 to find the 1! And the STLs found the 1 yay!

-A member took us to an all you can eat buffet. Let’s just say that was very exciting at the start until you realized that you have to eat a lot or else you are wasting their money. So we all left a little full and feeling very fat...

-We all got sick...that was not fun! I recovered decently quickly, but it was still no fun! It was freezing cold and raining the whole time that I was sick so it made things worse haha.

-Shaun Leo, one of our new members, gave a talk on Sunday! He asked to give a talk! He wasn't asked haha. That is unheard of! He said that God was prompting him to share his experience! Shaun was the first Chinese person I talked to in Australia! And it was such a special experience to see him baptized a couple months ago! It is incredible to see the changes that he has made in his life! He used to be so stubborn, but God has been able to change him! We were texting the day before and he said some things that warmed my soul! Jesus truly changes people....read this! He was hanging out with some of his school friends and I got this text. 

"Jesus Christ and you guys change me too much. I can’t go back I think … some normal things.. like play together. Sometimes it puts me in a difficult position. My standards for people have started to rise — I’ve distanced myself from alcohol and rowdy environments, and I can’t stand small-scale gambling games anymore. This has made me feel out of place with the mainstream I used to be part of."

The next day he gave a beautiful talk and showed the fruits of his repentance! Change is possible because of someone's faith in Jesus Christ!

-We found two Brazilians! We taught them a lesson and they were crying! We also taught a Chinese friend named Dixon and at the end of the lesson he was in tears...

I have never seen a Chinese guy cry. That is unseen and unheard of. Jesus Christ is truly touching people's hearts and minds through the spirit!

-We are teaching an Aussie guy! And we put him on date to be baptized! This Sunday he brought his mom to church with him! The ward was shocked to see an Aussie 29 year old guy and his mom pull up to church! And better yet, he was wearing a white shirt! Miracles truly do happen! And that is really apparent when an Aussie comes to church!

-We had a mission tour. President Elder Meurs came to our mission. It was amazing to listen to his counsel and guidance. Learned so much. Always amazing to have the Lord's representatives come and teach us! Adelaide mission is doing very well comparatively to the other Australia missions. 

-Elder Sun and I are having so much fun together! I am learning so much from him! I am ready to finish out this last transfer strong! I have a couple more friends that need to be baptized before I can come home satisfied! 

Spiritual thought: 

I love John 15 and the beautiful words it holds! 

We sometimes forget how much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us!

The reason WHY they do everything for us is LOVE! And the reason WHY we do everything for them is LOVE! It goes both ways! Love is so powerful! Sometimes we just forget the most foundational principle in our relationship with God! It's so simple! Just LOVE!

John 15:

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

 

Jesus loved us so much that He laid down His life for us! He went through the most excruciating thing to experience for us! And all we have to do is Love Him back! He suffered all things so we might not need to suffer if we but turn to Him! 

We pray for things we need or want all the time. But something remarkable is when Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed to take all the punishments of our sins/mistakes, He prayed to feel everything we felt, He prayed to experience and descend below all! He did this so He can have the power to succor and help us overcome everything! He was totally selfless! He always turned out in love!

The next verses also stood out to me! 

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 

19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Many times we want the world to choose us! We want to stand out! But how more important should be our desire to be chosen and trusted by the Master Himself!

Ether 3:

14 Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters.

Because of Jesus Christ we have the potential to become all that we are designed to become! Because of Jesus Christ we can reach our full potential! It is all because of Jesus Christ! 

I testify that He lives! He loves you! 

I invite you to say a prayer tonight and ask God, your Eternal Father one question: Ask him if He and His Son Jesus Christ love you. Then I invite you to finish your prayer in the Name of Jesus Christ and then pause for 10 seconds and wait for the feelings and thoughts that come to your mind and heart! I promise you will feel something special!

I love you all! The joy of bringing souls to Jesus Christ is incredible!

Have a splendid week!

Cheers,

Elder Jones