Canberra Zone Week 25

Hello everyone!

 

Yes, it was transfers again and despite all opinions and guesses otherwise, Elder White and I are still serving here another transfer :) This will make almost 8 months that I have served in Canberra by the end of this transfer. I think the record is about 9 months, so that is what I am hoping to break hehe. We added 1 more missionary to our flat, he is from Mainland China. He only became a member of the church 2 years ago when a friend of his dad's told his family about the LDS church that he had attended in America. He and his mom made the trip to Hong Kong where they learned from the missionaries and were able to be baptized, then returned home to China. A few short years later he is now able to serve and help others come unto Christ. I personally think this is so significant because although there are branches organized in China, the church is still not allowed to be officially recognized and missionaries are not allowed to proselyte, and as such, the understanding of our beliefs is very limited, yet the work goes on so that others can continue to find the truth. I love this work! It always brings happiness to people's lives when they live it.

 

This past week we were able to be visited by Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It was an awesome conference that we had. We had to drive up to Sydney, stayed in one of my old flats when I served in the Cantonese branch, and so I was able to speak some more Cantonese which was cool. Then we woke up early in the morning and drove the rest of the way up to the conference. We had to cross mission boundaries, so It was definitely a special thing because normally leaving mission boundaries gets you into BIG trouble. The conference was spectacular though. We had 414 missionaries in attendance and each of us had the opportunity to shake his hand. I was hoping he would mention something about us meeting before, since I still remember the day I shook his hand 6+ years ago, but he didn't, so it just goes to show he is still human and doesn't remember everything :) His wife though is from the same small town as one of our flat mates which is pretty cool!

 

So yeah, things were pretty great this week, have to go soon, but all is well! Keep up the great work everyone, prayer works, and it is just simply awesome!

 

Here is my Letter to President:

 

This week was another great week for sure :) I am excited to stay in Canberra for at least another 6 weeks! Things continue to look up for our area and the ward since we keep adding new investigators and the ward's weekly sacrament attendance continues to increase. Especially with the establishment of a new stake presidency and some of the callings being changed for ward members, good change is in the air and I feel it is having an effect on the members. Hopefully they will continue to "catch the wave" and receive the joy that is always available from missionary work. 

This week we were able to see a great miracle in Ethan. A little over a week ago one of the members posted several fliers up at one of the Universities that had some of the questions of the soul and had our contact info for if they wanted to learn more. Then, earlier this week we get a call from a young man named Ethan who was curious what the purpose of life is. We met with him to find out that he has met with missionaries in the past up in Northern Australia and now is very interested in meeting again with us. He has already read the Book of Mormon and believes it as true, the thing that is preventing him from baptism as we discussed is family pressures since his entire family is Catholic. Things continue to look better for him though since he reads the Book of Mormon frequently and came to church this past Sunday with us as well. The thing is he technically doesn't live in our boundaries and would be attending another ward, and so we will pass him to the other elders the next time we meet with him this week, but I am very grateful we could help him so far in this stage of his progression.

This week I really enjoyed reading of Alma 5 at the same time as studying about asking questions and listening in Preach My Gospel. In this chapter, if I counted correctly, Alma asks over 40 questions in the 60 odd verses. It definitely made me think more about how often I am asking good questions and what I need to change in order to have my questions achieve the desired results. I love the examples we have in the scriptures to learn from.
As I continue to read the Book of Mormon I continue to grow in my love for the Savior. I love the verses where He speaks directly. Everytime I read of His actual words, I can feel such power and clarity that cannot be compared to. I know when the Lord's words are written down, the Spirit carries them into my heart and as I apply them, I become a better person. The same will happen to each and every person who reads and applies the principles taught in the Book of Mormon. 

 

Love Elder Shafer