It
is so crazy that Christmas is right around the Corner! It doesn’t really feel
like Christmas here in Australia… remember, it’s summer down under, and I definitely
miss all of our family’s great Christmas traditions. But then I think of the
sacrifice our Savior Jesus Christ made for us, and it makes me feel better. He
knows what we are going through; He knows the righteous desires of our hearts;
He knows our needs; and He will never leave us alone to navigate the many
challenges we will face in this life! What an incredible gift from a loving
Father in Heaven.
I'll have a Blue Christmas without you... Sorry I couldn't resist!
Tuesday
(12.16.14):
The
day definitely started out a bit frustrating. Our investigator named P
confirmed with us Monday night that he would be at his teaching appointment on
Tuesday morning, and then didn’t even bother to show up! I hate it when people
do this because it’s kind of like they are wasting the Lord’s
time!
On a
more positive note, we did get to teach a girl named C from Columbia. I had GQ’d
her a little while back after recognizing her from somewhere. Turns out she
went to a Baptism back in August and loved it, but then got busy! Anyway, after
teaching her a couple of missionary lesson, she now has a baptismal date set for the 17th of January! Everything leading up to C’s acceptance of a baptismal
date was pretty amazing. We taught a really rad Gospel of Jesus Christ Lesson incorporating
the "He is the Gift" message www.mormon.org/christmas ; (everybody needs to watch this video about Christ's birth. It is amazing) and then asked her what gift she thought
she could give back to her Heavenly Father this Christmas season. Without
hesitation C replied, “Baptism!” You can’t answer any better than that!
Then
we taught K the Plan of Salvation. K is the really smart guy that reads the
Bible in Hebrew… we taught him last week. Our discussion went awesome, except for
a little part regarding our premortal life! Having grown up in the gospel, we
take for granted the understanding of those gospel principles we posses. Sometimes, people need time to let the
gospel “sink in.” However, with a couple of scriptures we are going to show him
this week, I have no doubt the Lord can help K understand and accept our belief
in the premortal existence.
We
also met with L again tonight to try and build up his faith. Remember, he is
trying to quit smoking this week as his Christmas gift to God. Our discussions
with L are always encouraging and at the end of our conversation he gave each
of us a nice Christmas card.
Wednesday
(12.17.14):
This
morning was a little rough. We taught P again, but by the end of the lesson it
was obvious he didn’t want to accept the gospel so we had to part ways... It is
really hard for me to watch people turn away from the truth. I develop such a
love for them as I work to bring them closer to Christ; and I know their life
is going to be more difficult without the Savior in it.
When
your day starts at the bottom of the barrel, there’s nowhere to go but up. Our
day definitely got better! We
taught C today and that’s always a good time :) He is so prepared for baptism…
we just need to get him to his 18th Birthday. I so love building his
faith through Book of Mormon stories and videos! Today we showed the video and
read in the Book of Mormon about the time Nephi shocked his brothers through
the power of God. C thought that was so amazing! After C, Elders N, O and
myself (sorry about the alphabet soup… but privacy is important for the people
we meet) met with N to review the questions she would be asked during her
baptismal interview tomorrow… what a testimony she has gained :) YES!!!!
Thursday
(12.18.14):
N
passed her baptismal interview! After the interview, she asked if I would
baptize her because I was the one who called and invited her to come to the
Church to talk with the missionaries :) That made me feel really good:)
Do
you remember D (the Jewish girl) who we taught when I first arrived in
Melbourne? She was so golden, but struggled to make it to church on Sundays.
Well, she actually called to see if we could meet with her! Unfortunately, she
just hasn’t changed yet. She says she wants to follow God, but she isn’t
willing to take time off work to attend church on Sunday. It’s really sad because
I feel like she is just nervous and scared… Faith definitely has to precede the
miracle. We will definitely keep praying for her.
So
here’s something really cool… C
(the guy waiting to turn 18 so he can get baptized) is already doing missionary
work! He brought a SUPER KEEN Chinese girl to the branch today. She actually
said she wanted to follow God! So we started teaching her the lessons. C is so
cool… He is practically a member! He already refers to the Mormon Church as
"his Church."
Friday
(12.19.14):
We
taught some good lessons today!... Not really to many
investigators, but to some recent converts, and less active members of the
church! It is important to find a balance in the work so we can still help everyone
come unto Christ; whether they are a member or not.
We
taught a less active girl named J. She is from Virginia and is backpacking
around the world for 5 years! She has a pretty crazy life with the backpacking
and all, but has made the decision to come back to church… which is AWESOME! We were scheduled to
teach “I” a lesson today but it ended up being a venting session. He just sometimes
needs to meet and talk out loud to us which I am happy to do! He always has
some funny stuff he says:) Like this time he was talking about how he taught
some self defense to some other homeless people and how it is a way to control
his inner peace! He is definitely a character!
Afterwards I GOT MY REAL FIRST
EVER MEMBER FEED! This was amazing! It is a part member family named the G’s! The
wife is a member but her Husband isn’t… but he is soooo smooth! He actually
built a yacht and spent 10 years sailing around the world.
Mr. G and I quickly found we have a lot in common... we love nice cars!
They also converted
a HUGE Pub into their house! Man it was awesome. After dinner the husband and I
started talking about cars, and he said, "I actually have a car museum
down the road if you want to check it out!" It was just an awesome night
at their house! Even though I love doing missionary work in the city, tonight made
me excited to be in a family ward whenever that might be :)
Saturday
(12.20.14):
I
had my 4th Baptism today… it was so great:) I love baptisms. When I baptized N,
she just started laughing when she came out of the water. You could really tell
she was feeling the joy the spirit brings, big time :) The baptism kept us busy
for most of the day!
N's Baptism. What a wonderful day for all of us.
However, I did find time to drop into a Catholic Book
store and buy an Apocrypha to start reading. I’ve been asked about it while
GQing and I want to be able to answer intelligently. But, the look on the nun’s
face at the counter, when I walked up with my Name Badge on, was PRICELESS.
Sunday
(12.21.14):
We
had a nice sacrament meeting today. But I also realized no matter how many of
our contacts actually make it to church, as long as we are obedient and truly
trying our best that is all God expects of us!
All
in all an awesome week!
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