Hello Family!
Happy belated Australia day! Last Saturday was AU day here, so that meant lots of people walking around with flags and.... well honestly, lots of people drinking alcohol and being crazy. It was still a great day though! Life was pretty normal for us on that day. This week was a bit sad in the fact that we had 3 potentials drop. Simon, the underground Christian, has come across some opposition from his family and Pastor and is not interested in learning about how Christ still works and speaks today the same as he always has, but instead believes that when Christ said "it is finished." that all was finished, and thus, there could not be prophets and speaking to His children today. It was very sad to say goodbye to him on the phone since he was not willing to meet again with us. I wish him the best though. There are so many people here that come across Anti-Mormon materials or people that Anti our investigators. It's all opposition to the work going forward though because we still have many that keep progressing and moving forward in the Gospel. There will always be this trend. It reminds me of Joseph Smith's statement of the Standard of truth being erected never to be hindered. The members here are so amazing in their testimonies and what they are willing to sacrifice for the gospel. It truly is humbling and such a privelidge to live here and experience the things that I do. People have asked me what my favorite part of missionary work is, and I can't remember if I already shared it, but I will again anyways. I think my single favorite moment is hearing people pray to their Father in Heaven for the first time. It is so genuine, precious and special. It reminds me of the experience that Lamoni's father had in Alma 22 when people kneel down and Pray and thank their Father in Heaven "for allowing me to meet the missionaries and to learn about you." Seeing them progress from that point on just keeps that joy increasing, but being able to participate in a person's first prayer ever is sacred in my opinion. The other two that dropped are because one went back to China for a while, so we cannot contact them there, but we hope and pray he will make contact with the Chinese members. And the third we have not been able to contact after our first lesson. On the other hand though..... I was able to see several miracles this week!!
1.) Jay- Walking down the street contacting, I was scanning the up and coming crowd to see if there was anyone I felt specifically prompted to speak to. I looked to my left and saw a man sitting by the stairs smoking a cigarette, I smiled, turned back to survey the crowd, when I was thinking "maybe I should go back," the really weird thought came to my mind "he will call out my name." He did! Well, he said something very similar. He said "Hey! are you a missionary??!" I was dumbfounded and turned back and said "Yes!" long story short, he feels that recently he has been losing his faith and that God isn't answering His prayers. We were able to meet with him..... He's a curious situation but we have a return apt set up with him later this week after he takes His IELS test (test needed to pass to ensure foreigners have enough english capabilities to stay in AU and work) so we will keep him in our prayers and hope that he comes back!
2.) Candy- Elder Wan and I had just finished a lesson and I was excited to get out and start finding ASAP, so I asked him, "can we say a prayer and go find until our next apt?" of course he agreed and we said a prayer and I asked where we should go. I had the name of the only park where we can contact come into my mind and so we decided when we left the building to go that way. Right when walking that way, the sister missionaries were walking up the street with Candy. We met her and showed her the Chapel and then had a lesson with her. She's really keen!! And Her boyfriend also is interested in meeting with us she has said. So that was another minor miracle. Now we have 2 investigators we can teach in Cantonese! :) It just reminded me of the importance to always be out and doing and productive and allowing the Lord to guide our footsteps as we move our feet. If we had taken a minute longer, not said the prayer, turned right instead of left... etc, who knows if we ever would have met her because she didn't speak very much english. Anyways, my time is up for this week. I love you all so much and am so grateful for all that you do in supporting me!!
Love,
Elder Shafer
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