"The trials that we face are not to you BUT FOR YOU!"

It's Monday! What a great day it is to be in the Lord's Vineyard and to be serving Him! I hope you are all having a great day as well! How was your week? I hope it was as amazing as mine! How did you go with your challenge from last week? Do you remember what it was? I hope you each took the opportunity to EXTEND or STRETCH your hand to be of help to someone else! If you haven't yet recognised an opportunity to do so, pray for one! It will come! I promise you that! 

I have another quote that I have felt impressed to share with you all today! It is by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf! For those of you who don't know who this is, he is the Second Counsellor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! He is amazing and these words which I am about to share are awesome and applicable to all!

"No matter what our circumstances, no matter our challenges or trials, there is something in each day to embrace and cherish. There is something in each day that can bring gratitude and joy if only we will see and appreciate it."

Do you ever find yourself living the #struggle? Do you love your challenges and trials? Do you look for opportunities to learn something from the hard time you are facing? 

Well, I, for one struggle! BUT I LOVE my struggles! I learn so much from them and I know that they make me stronger!  My favourite scripture about trials is 1 Corinthians 10:13 with some words that I add:

"There hath no temptation [trial, challenge, circumstance] taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted [trialed, challenged, given a circumstance] above that ye are able; but will with the temptation [trial, challenge, circumstance] also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 

This scripture always gives me the comfort and the knowledge that we never receive or face a trial or challenge that we cannot bear- that we cannot overcome! How awesome is that to know? I want you to think about a time where you REALLY struggled, where you were tested farther than you thought you could bear. Have you pushed through it? Have you overcome it? I hope the answer is YES! 

This scripture has helped me before my mission but is especially applicable now! I know that every hard time that I have is for my benefit! Is for my growth! My saying is: "The trials that we face are not to you BUT FOR YOU!" If we remained in a life where we never face hard times, where we were not pushed to near breaking point, where we were comfortable in being the way that we are, would any growth be happening? My answer to you is NO! You would not! You would become weak, ineffective and for sure not a worthy instrument in the Lord's hands because there is no way that you would be progressing and becoming the person he sees the potential of you becoming. 

There are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve and we may be tested to our limits. However, such difficulties allow us to CHANGE for the better, to REBUILD our lives in a way that our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to BECOME something different from what we were. To BECOME better than what we were! More understanding than what we had. More empathetic than we were. With stronger testimonies than what we had. And an increased faith in the Saviour and our Heavenly Father that they know all and we may come out conquerors as we put our trust in them!

How grateful I am for the hard times that I face. How grateful I am for the times when I have been pushed to near-breaking point. How grateful I am for the circumstances that I have been able to see myself grow, gain strength and learn! 

My invitation this week is to face your trials, your hard times, your challenges with the mindset of learning something! With the attitude that you know that this specific trial was given to you because the Lord TRUSTS you and knows that you will come out CONQUEROR! I know that this is true because I have seen it in my life! I have seen how I have been shaped and moulded, grown and gained strength through my hard times! I promise you that as you look at your trials with a grateful heart, with a WILLINGNESS to learn something from them they will no longer be something that you have to just get through; it will be an experience you will ENJOY because you can see yourself BECOMING better! 

Love,

Sister Roos (: (: 

Sister Ma! She is serving in Mortdale and is AMAZING! She's from Roskill too

Elder Aiono! We were at MTC together! I saw him when I was in Sydney at the beginning of last week!

 Elder Kerr and Elder Hideshima - new elders in Bathurst

Sister Chan and Sister Aloua. Sister Chan is the new sister in our zone and sister Aloua is transferred up to Mortdale

Sister Niu's family sent me a "greenie box" how grateful am i for an amazing companion and a great aunty and family in hawaii!

 The new O-Zone

Sister Leausa - she's from Roskill! she is awesome! She's serving in Cowra which is one of the areas in our zone!

Elder Beriong, Kerr, Piukala and Bartlett

facials for days

Sister Aloua's last sunday - she got transferred ): ): sad

I got my package! yay thanks for the stationary! and can y'all all write me letters please and thank you? I dont' ask for much... just a letter that I can read... hahhaahhahahha give it to my mom and she will send it to me. Please and thank you!

Sources of Happiness & Extending our hands and our hearts towards others...

Hello everyone! Well can you believe it? Sunday marked 2 months of being out on my mission! Let me just say that it has flown by waaaay too fast! I've finished my first transfer and I am so happy that I get to stay in Bathurst for Transfer #2 woohoo!  Great things are going to happen this transfer; I can just feel it! 

So! How did y'all do with your invitation last week? I hope you all found opportunities to be TRUE FOLLOWERS of Christ! And I invite you to keep doing this!

This week my message is short and sweet. I have a quote I would like to share with you all from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf:

"Love is what inspired our Heavenly Father to create our spirits; it is what led our Saviour to the Garden of Gethsemane to make himself a ransom for our sins. Love is the grand motive of the plan of salvation; it is the source of happiness, the ever-renewing spirit of healing, the precious fountain of hope. As we extend our hands and hearts toward others in Christlike love, something wonderful happens to us. Our own spirits become healed, more refined and stronger. We become happier, more peaceful, and more receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit."

Something I spent some time pondering on is "What are the sources of happiness that we have?" Of course we have our family, our friends and the gospel which bring so much happiness into our lives but what else do we have? 

In Job 5:`7 we learn that we have correction from God, Proverbs 3:13 we learn that we are able to find wisdom and get understanding, James 5:11 we learn that enduring to the end and patience can bring happiness and in Mosiah 4:11 a great source of happiness comes from keeping the commandments of God. There are so many scriptures that provide each of us 'sources of happiness'. What are some sources of happiness in your life?

Another question I asked myself as I read this was "How is LOVE a source of happiness?"

Everything that Christ and Heavenly Father have done for us has been out of love. It was love for Heavenly Father that we desired to become just like Him, follow His plan and come to earth so that we could return home to Him. It is our love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that drives us to make the right choices which will allow us the opportunity to be in his presence again. Jesus Christ is at the centre of our lives. 

Without him none of the plan of salvation would be possible.

Because of his love for us he saved us from spiritual and physical death.

Because he loves us he is merciful and frees us from the bands of justice as we obey him and repent of our sins. 

Without his love we would not be able to return to live with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father or our families for eternity! 

The last part that I want to share with you all is a phrase that sticks out to me "EXTEND OUR HANDS AND HEARTS towards others" One of my favourite things to look for in the scriptures is when it talks about the Lord EXTENDING (or stretching) his hand towards us - to lift, bear and strengthen us.

In Matthew 14:28-31 is the account of Peter walking on the water with Jesus Christ. He had the faith that he would be able to walk with Christ but then when the storms came Peter lacked faith and he began to sink. Now this is my favourite part "And immediately Jesus STRETCHED forth his hand, and caught him". 

How many times do we catch ourselves slipping or sinking? Do you recognise his hand STRETCHING or EXTENDING towards you? Are you WILLING to grab hold of the hand who is the Almighty's? The hand of the rock of our sure foundation? 

I am grateful for the hand that is ever extended to help me when I am in need of saving, when I am sinking, when I am not strong enough to be up on my own. We all have this hand extended to us. And because of this, we should not with hold our hands being extended to those around us!

My invitation this week is to EXTEND or STRETCH your hand and your heart to someone this week! If you see them sinking, slipping or in need of saving, be an instrument in the Lord's hand and help them! I promise that as you do this you will not only bless the life of those you are helping but you will also be blessed. 

I am so grateful for each of you and the example of extending your hands to others! May we each continue to WILLINGLY STRETCH forth our hands and help those in need! 

I love you! I pray for each of you daily!

Sister Roos xx (: (: 

True Followers of Christ

Posted 13 March, 2017

Happy Monday Everybody!

Hope you've all had an amazing week! How did you all go with your challenge this week? I hope you took the opportunity this week to be in the hands of the Saviour! 

Today we went for another hike! It was so awesome! BUT Sister Roos left her cord at home hahhahaha so she can't send y'all any of the cool photos from this week! So next week will be chocka block with photos! 

Moroni 7:48 (read 45-48)

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons [and daughters] of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."

CHARITY!

Charity is one of my favourite attributes of Christ (they all are my favourite but this is a really good one). Charity is the pure love of Christ. It is a gift from God! And I love this verse because it says that charity will be bestowed upon TRUE FOLLOWERS of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Are you a true follower of Christ? We can develop the gift of charity through sincere efforts to emulate the Saviour! The full measure of this gift is bestowed upon us by God as we earnestly seek it in prayer! By implanting in our hearts the pure love of Christ, we are more likely to EMBRACE the godlike attribute of charity! 

As we develop charity, you will see others as children of God with the POTENTIAL of BECOMING like our Heavenly Father! You will be patient with them. You will help them. You will avoid negative feelings and thoughts towards them! You will LOVE them!

This week my invitation to you all is to strive to be a true follower of Christ! See those around you as Christ would - with their potential of becoming! I promise that as you do this and you sincerely and prayerfully seek for it - that you will be bestowed with the gift of charity and you will be more like our Saviour - who is our perfect example! 

Love you!

Sister Roos (: (: 

Choose to be in the hands of our Saviour!

i made four bacon and egg pies for our district training meeting

Good morning everybody! I hope you all had a great week! I know I sure did! How did y'all do with that invitation I gave you last week? Surely all of you were able to be a light in some way! And I know that as we all tried to be a light we were able to make the world that much brighter! So keep going! Keep shining and keep lighting the way for others!

This week was super fun! And it went by so fast! It's so hard for me to believe that I am almost done with my first transfer in the field. It is going by way too fast! Whoever said that your first transfer is the slowest was not telling the truth because this was soooo fast! 

When I was in the MTC I got this little story from my awesome District Leader (shout out to Elder Gray serving in the Melbourne Mission).

"A basketball in my hands is worth $19. A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million.

It depends whose hands it's in.

A baseball in my hands is worth about $6. A baseball in Mark McGuire's hands is worth about $19 million.

It depends whose hands it's in.

A tennis racket is useless in my hands. A tennis racket in Pete Sampra's hands is a Wimbledon Championship.

It depends whose hands it's in.

A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal. A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea.

It depends whose hands it's in.

A slingshot in my hands is a child’s toy. A slingshot in David's hands is a mighty weapon.

It depends whose hands it's in.

Two fish and five loaves of bread in my hands are a few fish sandwiches. Two fish and five loaves of bread in God's hands will feed thousands.

It depends whose hands it's in.

Nails in my hands might produce a bird house. Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will produce salvation for the entire world.

It depends whose hands it's in."

So my question to you all is: Whose hands are you in?

In the hands of our Saviour Jesus Christ we are shaped into the sons and daughters of God that we were sent with the potential to become.

In the hands of our Saviour Jesus Christ we are able to push through the trials and tribulations that we face as part of this journey in our mortal life.

In the hands of our Saviour Jesus Christ we have the opportunity to be with our families for eternity and to have all that our Heavenly Father has.

How great are the blessings when we choose to be in the hands of our Saviour! My invitation to you all this week is to ALLOW the Saviour to hold you, to guide you, to shape you! Will you do this? I promise you that as you are WILLING to do this and submit yourself to the hands of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, that you will immediately see the changes in your life! I know that I have!

I love you all so much! Continue being a light and strive to be in the hands of our Saviour!

Love,

Sister Roos xx (: (: 

Yes, that is me playing with a Saint Bernard who weighs twice as much as me hahhahha her name is Leona. Sister Remme has five of them.

my trainer (my mom) sister niu, and my district leader (my dad) elder joseph

me, sister niu, elder agreda