Eighty-sixth Week - September 15, 2015

Hello, Everyone!!

It's been a fantastic week to be a missionary in the world's greatest mission (Sorry, Elder Copeland & Elder Wilde Jr.)!!!!!!

On Monday, we were able to have a Zone P-day at Coogee Beach.  It was a great opportunity to get together as a Zone and enjoy some time together.  It was a bit warm out that day so we did not venture onto the beach, but we still had a great time!  The first picture is with the entire Zone . . .

and the second one is with Elder Stockman (Aus) and Elder Honemau (Tonga).  

 

We had heaps and heaps of fun!!  Finally, Elder Orr and I were able to snap a quick picture before getting back to church!! 

 

Tuesday, Elder Orr and I went down into the city to help clear out an apartment that the Mission is getting rid of.  Everything was going fine and dandy until I made the mistake of over tossing the keys to the other Elders.  Elder Yang and Elder Hsu were trying to get to the ground floor from the basement as they needed the key fob in order to get the elevator to work.  I had the keys in my pockets and was also trying to back the Senior Elder so he could get the trailer in the proper position.  Well, I underhanded them a bit too hard and they landed perfectly on the upper shelf where all the electrical wiring is.  I have to say that Elder Leister handled the news like a champion.  He remained surprisingly calm and upbeat about things, but you could tell that he did not know what to do next.  Well, being the Elders, we decided to grab a desk and then a small ladder and go searching.  I attached a picture so I hope that it helps to describe what we were all looking at.  At the end of the day, we got the keys back and everything was moved out of the apartment. 

I don't know if I have ever told anyone about the city church, but I took a couple of pictures this week in hopes of telling you why it is so unique.  The Church is located at 185 Liverpool Street in the city.  If you did not know where the church was, you probably would have a really hard time finding it.  It takes up two floors of a business building and has something we call the "Teaching Center (not Centre)."  The Teaching Center is a quiet place where the city missionaries bring their investigators and teach them.  It is equipped with almost everything one would need.  Additionally, there is a backroom for the missionaries where we each have a shelf in a locker for personal things, a computer, and a full-on printer.  Yes, we are treated way too well here in the City!! 

 

Elder Orr and I have been trying to slim down in order to come home looking "real nice."  In the morning, we wake up at 5:45 am and work out for about an hour (it's about an hour by the time we roll out of bed).  I took a picture of our little gym on our terrace. 

Since it is warming up here now, it's gotten really nice to work out in the morning.  Additionally, on Saturday morning, Elder Orr and I go to a boxing class that is put on by a member.  This week we did an ab workout where we all had to lift a rope above our heads and then do sit ups.  We had to keep the rope as close to perfectly straight as we could.  After the workout, we took a picture with the member that hosts us every Saturday morning!

 

 

 

I threw in two pictures of Elder Orr and I that were taken by a member the other day who is really into photography.  I think they turned out quite well!! 

 

In addition, today was Temple P-Day and as a result, we were able to go do a session at the temple.  Oh how I love the temple and how grateful I am for the ordinances found therein. 

This Sunday previous I was asked to speak in Sacrament meeting on "Loving one Another."  I have come to learn that if there are other speakers before you, then usually they will take a lot of the material you planned to use.  Such was the case with me.  I would like to share with you a little about what I ended up speaking on as I think it is applicable to all of us.  In his April 2014 General Conference talk, "Love--the Essence of the Gospel," President Thomas S. Monson said, "All important will be our ability to recognize someone's need and then to respond."  In conjunction with that, I felt prompted to talk about Home and Visiting Teaching.  The Savior's earthly ministry was one of lifting, healing, and helping those in need.  Indeed, his pattern of ministering was one on one, one by one.  He continues this very method and practice today and works through Home and Visiting Teachers to administer the very love that brings us closer to him.

We may feel, from time to time, that we are too overwhelmed with our current demands.  We may think that our contribution of time and love to a family or sister in need will not dramatically change one's lives.  We may feel that there are simply too many people to help and how could we ever accomplish such a feat.  Such a response we should all have is echoed in Elder Holland's October 2014 General Conference address, "Are We Not All Beggars?"  In his talk he said, "A journalist once questioned Mother Theresa of Calcutta about her hopeless task of rescuing the destitute in that city.  This remarkable little woman shot back that her work was about love, not statistics.  Notwithstanding the staggering number beyond her reach, she said she could keep the commandment to love God and her neighbor by serving those within her reach with whatever resources she had.  “What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean,” she would say on another occasion.  “But if we didn’t do it, the ocean would be one drop less [than it is].”

It seems to me that the greatest acts of love are ones that come when no one is around.  It seems that the greatest acts of love are done out of pure motives.  Such is the case in three of my favorite scriptural highlights of love they being, firstly, the humble birth of the Savior in a quiet manger because there was no room for them at the inn.  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Begotten Son" (John 3:16).  Yes, the greatest man who loved much carried the burden in a quiet garden while his closest of friends slept.  The pain felt in the Garden of Gethsemane was more than any mortal could bear, yet he endured it while no one else was around.  Finally, a young boy seeking for truth found himself in a grove of trees.  While alone he offered up the desires of his heart and shortly thereafter the last and greatest of all dispensation, yes, the dispensation of the fullness of times was opened.  A loving Father and Son appeared the the young Joseph calling him to a sacred and holy calling.

You may wonder if your contribution will ever make a difference, but I can promise you that it will.  We are the means by which the Love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens every sorrow, and gladdens every heart.  We are the means of the Savior continuing to minister one on one, one by one.  The greatest joys that will ever be felt in our lives will come as we love one another as He has loved us.  I pray we may never be too busy and never too burdened to visit those the Lord has entrusted us with. 

I am so very grateful for each of your prayers and the dedication that each of you have in serving the Lord.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  Words cannot describe how much I appreciate each of you in my life. 

Love,

Elder Wilde