Fifty-first Week - January 12, 2015

Hello, everyone!! 

Well, I guess I should start with the gossip!  After serving in the Greenwich Ward, and my first area in Sydney for 9 months, I have finally been transferred.  The funny thing is that I am only ten minutes away from my old flat!  I am now serving in Ryde Ward which engulfs Greenwich Ward along with three whole stakes.  Ryde Ward is the only Chinese speaking ward across Sydney which spans both missions.  I have to admit that I was pretty surprised when I found out that I would be serving in almost the same area; however, I was excited to hear that I will be in the Chinese speaking Ward, and that I will be to travel to a wide variety of places around Sydney to teach the Chinese people.  My new companion is Elder Hsu who is from Taiwan.  In addition to that, I am also living with my first companion, Elder Lee! It seems like the mission is too small.  All in all, I am grateful for the time I spent in Greenwich Ward and the people and experiences that I had while there.  I know that I will remember them throughout the rest of my life. 

 

 While it was a roller-coaster weekend of emotions, it was nice as we were able to have a baptism with someone I had been working with for my whole tenure in Greenwich. Admittedly, she changed her name half way though me being there.  Her first name was Shirley, but she later changed it to Sylvia.  For the longest time, Sylvia had been held up from being baptized because her parents would not allow her.  Finally she decided and received an answer that it was more important for her to do what Heavenly Father asked.  It is from this experience that I have learned one of my most precious lessons on my mission. As I sat in the pew during her baptism, I thought back to the many lessons and times she had been to church.  I came to the understanding, through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that the actual baptism isn't the miracle.  Often we get so caught up in saying that the ordinances are the miracles, that everything before it is nothing in comparison to that particular moment in time.  I would suggest that the miracle is every step towards the water and every step after the water.  The baptism or the sealing in the temple are results of miracles.  In addition, and by the same token, if someone is not baptized we count everything as nothing, but how terribly wrong we are.  Regardless of what a person chooses, the change is a miracle.  Change to the slightest degree is a miracle.  As people change their lives, it is evidence that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of change.  It is my invitation that we look at miracles as they really are, and may we see the Lord's hand in our lives. 

Last Monday we also had quite the interesting P-Day.  As many of you know, I am able to drive here in Sydney.  Before we go any further, no Mom, I did not get in a wreck. Continuing on with the story, we are blessed to have a very old GPS that has not been updated with roads and whose graphics are not the best.  We decided, as a District, that we would go to a park that is right under the Harbour Bridge to have a picnic.  With us having the car, we decided that we would drive down and find parking.  While on our way down, the roads tend to twist and turn into one another, and it is almost impossible to differentiate between the roads as the guiding lines on the GPS are so fat that it covers up three lanes at once.  Well, one wrong turn led to another wrong turn and the GPS couldn't correct in time, so before you know it, I was driving out of my area on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and into the city.  Needless to say, we had to call the Mission President and let him know what happened.  We eventually made it back to our area after our GPS gave us the scenic route of the city.  All in all, we were able to get to the park after a $3 detour over the Harbour Bridge and enjoy laughs as we sat around one with another!! 

Well, my time is far spent.  I am grateful for each and every prayer that is said in my behalf.  I know that I could not do this without you, and I thank you for everything that each one of you have done for me!  

 Love,

Elder Wilde