Monday, 24 April 2017

Partaker of the Divine Nature

18th April - A Tuesday P-day

And it is a terrific Tuesday out here in Bathurst! We work on public holidays out here so our P-day got changed from Monday to Tuesday!
 

How did you all do with your invitation from last week to allow repentance to change you? I hope you all took the time to be changed this week! I know I sure did! One thing to remember is that sin is anything that draws you away from God. Sometimes we think that we only have to repent about any big mistakes that we make, when actually it is for anything big or small that draws us away or points us away from God. I for one am not perfect! I have need for repentance every single day - if not hourly! Sometimes I think negatively about situations, sometimes I look back on my day and know that I have not worked as hard as I possibly could have. I have things that I need to CHANGE or IMPROVE on! And it is great! Repentance is real! And Repentance is awesome!

My message is short this week!

2 Peter 1:4-7
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
And to Godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity."

How many of us would like to be partakers of the divine nature? Who would like to escape the corruption that is in this world? In these few verses we learn how!

Elder Robert L. Wells says:
"Control your thoughts because they become the words you use.
Control your words because they become the actions you perform.
Control your actions because they become the character you reflect.
Control your character because your character becomes your destiny.
Control your destiny by becoming what your Heavenly Father and Saviour, Jesus Christ want you to be."

How great is it to know that as we continue to CHANGE and IMPROVE areas of our lives, it has an effect on all other aspects! I for one want to be a partaker of the divine nature! 
In 2 Peter 1:8-11 we learn of some blessings that we receive as we strive to be partakers of the divine nature: 

"For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins,
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: FOR IF YE DO THESE THINGS, YE SHALL NEVER FALL:
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

These are blessings that I wish to receive and I hope that you desire them too! My invitation to you this week is to make at least one change or improvement in your life to be a partaker of the divine nature, to escape the corruption of the world! 

I love you all!

Sister Roos (: (: 






Monday, 17 April 2017

The Gospel Plan

10 April, 2017

Well it's a great day here in Bathurst! It’s Freezing degrees outside. So how did you all do with your challenge for the week? If you forgot what your challenge was it was
"If there is a question that you long to be answered - ASK our Saviour in sincere prayer! He will answer! If there is something you desire - SEEK after it and our Saviour will lead you there! If there is a door that you can't open - KNOCK and our Saviour will open it!"
How many of you did this? Did you see the miracles that occurred in your life? Well! I would love to share an awesome experience that my companion and I had this week pertaining to the invitation that I extended to you last week! 
Our cute little Chapel
                                       Inside Bathurst Chapel                             

So we have this investigator […]. He has truly been prepared by the Lord to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ in his life at this time. However, there was one concern that we would have to address in order for him to progress within the gospel and be baptised. He just moved into this home and was very happy here and so for the last month we have been praying and fasting that the Lord would provide a way for us that when we address this concern with him. When we finished the lesson we asked him what he had planned for the rest of the day and he said he was going home to pack. We asked why, confused because he never mentioned that he was going on a trip or anything). He replied - well I've been thinking that I want a change of scenery! I like the flat that I'm in right now but I've been feeling for the last couple of weeks that I want to go somewhere else, so I'm going to move in with my mom for a while until I can find another place to stay! Is that not a miracle or what? The Lord truly is merciful and answers your prayers as you ASK, SEEK and KNOCK! 

This week, as I've been praying and pondering on what I should share with you, (yes, I pray specifically on what I should write in my weekly emails hahhaha and ask for guidance on what to share) I have felt very impressed to speak about:

REPENTANCE: The Gospel Plan vs Satan's Strategy.

God would have us RECOGNISE what we have done wrong and know we have sinned. 
Satan would rather have us RATIONALISE and make excuses for our actions.

The gospel plan is for us to show REMORSE; REGRET what we did wrong, and show Godly sorrow.
Satan wants us to RESENT God and only show worldly sorrow if we get caught.
From President Ezra Taft Benson we learn:
"It is not uncommon to find men and women in the world who feel remorse for the things they do wrong. Sometimes this is because their actions cause them or loved ones great sorrow or misery. Sometimes their sorrow is caused because they are caught and punished for their actions. Such worldly feelings do no constitute godly sorrow. Godly sorrow is a gift of the spirit. It is a deep realisation that our actions have offended our Father. It is the sharp and keen awareness that our behaviour caused the Saviour, He who knew no sin, even the greatest of all, to endure agony and suffering. Our sins caused Him to bleed at every pore. This very real mental and spiritual anguish is what the scriptures refer to as having a broken heart and a contrite spirit."

God would have us RESOLVE not to do it again; forsake the sin and RECOMMIT to do the right thing. 
Satan would rather we REGRESS; harden our hearts and procrastinate any repentance. 

The Gospel teaches us to REPORT or confess to God.
Satan's way is to REPEAT the offence and keep on sinning. 

The Gospel way is to REPAIR or RESTORE and pay back in some way - Right or Wrong.
Satan would rather we not REMEMBER the commandments of God but to keep on disobeying them. 

The Gospel teaches us to forgive or RELEASE others who trespass against us.
The Devil's way is to RETAIN the offence and keep holding the grudge.

God's plan is for us to RECEIVE Christ's Atonement and be able to forget our past bad behaviour. 
Whereas, the devil would rather we REMAIN the same and REJECT Christ's Atonement. 

Despite all this we should realise that we are only forgiven through the Grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. So we must show our love of the Saviour, for HIs atoning sacrifice for us at Gethsemane and on the cross by striving to keep all His commandments. 

To clarify a little further I would have you know that:
Suffering is not repentance. Suffering comes from lack of repentance.
Remorse is not repentance. Remorse and sorrow continue because a person has not yet fully repented.
Confession is not repentance. Confession is an admission of guilt that occurs as repentance begins.
Receiving punishment for our sins is not repentance. Punishment follows disobedience and precedes repentance.

So if suffering, remorse, sorrow, confession and punishment are not repentance
WHAT IS REPENTANCE?

Repentance from the Greek translation denotes a change of mind - a fresh view about god, about oneself and about the world. It is a turning of your HEART and your WILL to God. It is a renunciation of sin. Without repentance there can be no progress in the things of our soul's salvation because all accountable people are stained by sin and must be cleansed in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Repentance is essential to your happiness in this life and throughout eternity. Repentance is motivated by your love for God and your sincere desire to obey His commandments. Bringing our lives in line with God's will through repentance is a central purpose in our lives. We can return to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ only through Christ's mercy and we receive this mercy only on condition of repentance.

As we change, we recognise we are children of God. The more we come to know who we are and who we desire to BECOME we will turn away from sin and do it no more - no matter how great or small the sin may be. We resist any sin that may come our way. Our desire to follow God and become like him, to return to him grows stronger and our love for Him deepens. 

My dear brothers and sisters, we all make mistakes and sometimes cause an injustice to others. Sins will be committed. As a result, there is not a soul alive who will not, at one time or another, be the victim to someone else's careless actions, hurtful conduct, or even sinful behaviour.

Our purpose of REPENTANCE is to obtain FORGIVENESS for ourselves from God. However, we must also remember the Lord has taught us that we should forgive others too; even though we may be the victim. Satan's strategy would have us continue carrying the burden of hate, bitterness and revenge forever. But if we follow the gospel plan and forgive our offender, we can be free of the pain of resentment in no time. 

Just as we are all victims to the misdeeds of others at one time or another, we are sometimes the offender. We all fall short and have need of Christ's grace, mercy and forgiveness.

Let us remember that forgiveness of our own sins and offenses is conditional upon our forgiving of others. The Saviour said "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:14-15)

To be effective, repentance must be directed towards your relationship to God. True repentance follows when you have deep remorse that he or she has offended God by breaking his laws and being disobedient. You are sorry because of the alienation from God that the sin has brought into your life.

My invitation to you this week is to allow REPENTANCE to CHANGE you! Follow the Gospel Plan! The plan that will allow you to be refined, cleansed and pure and enable you to become more like our Saviour and Heavenly Father! I promise you that as you repent and forgive those who trespass you that you will feel God's forgiveness and his peace, guilt and sorrow are swept away, you will feel the influence of the spirit in greater abundance and you will be more prepared to live in the presence of our Heavenly Father and Saviour Jesus Christ when we pass from this life!

Love you!
Sister Roos xx (: (: 


P.S. sorry if this is fob I didn't re-read through it hahahhahahah, and I also didn't have time to add all my scripture references, so if you want them let me know and i'll email them to you hahhahah
Zone Sisters'

Our Zone

Post Hike

Sister Leausa

Sister Chan




Walking Bonnie


Sister Niu's first experience with hail in Bathurst







Ask, Seek and Knock!

3 April 2017

Monday fun day! How great was your week this week? Let me just tell you mine was awesome! How did you go with the invitation to face your trials and hard times with the mindset of learning something? With the attitude of knowing that specific trial was for your benefit? Well! Let me tell you it sure did help me this week! And I hope it was able to bring each of you a bit closer to appreciating your hard times!

Yesterday (fast Sunday) Sister Niu and I went tracting on this street and no one, and I mean NO ONE wanted anything to do with us hahhahaha. We had three doors in a row that got slammed in our faces before we even got three words out of our mouths; it was so funny. You see them open the door smiling, then they have a look at your badge and their facials completely change to anger and then all you see is the door slam in a span of 10 seconds.

It’s always sad to see but hey! What can you do, right? Everyone has their agency and the right to choose!
It is up to us to extend the invitation to learn more and give them that opportunity.
Anyways, so about an hour goes by of this and then all of a sudden we knock on this man's door. His name is Gordon and was hilarious; he was full on #storytime! He's into family history so we invited him to come to the chapel on the days that family history is happening and he accepted so we will hopefully see him sometime soon!
The next house we went to was this elderly lady - Cathleen. She is so nice! She invited us in and we talked to her for about 45 minutes and then sang her a song. She invited us back to see her next week so that will be exciting! 


The moral of my two experiences - the tender mercies of the Lord are real! And when we are going through something hard it is because he is preparing us for something amazing! For great blessings! And they both were great blessings to Sister Niu and I amidst all the rejection that we had been facing! I LOVE IT! Don't you?

So I'm reading the New Testament, my goal for this transfer (a transfer is six weeks, and I just started week 3) is to finish it! I'm doing well so far; I made a timetable on where I should be at the end of each day and at the end of each week so that I can finish it by then and I'm in Luke 22 now! I love studying the New Testament! How great it is! 

There was a scripture that really stood out as I was preparing to write you all! This scripture I really love! (I love heaps of scriptures but right now I especially love this one).

It is found in Luke 11:9-10:
"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."

How great is this scripture? And how great is this promise? The Saviour promises us that if we are WILLING to ask, WILLING to seek and WILLING to knock we will receive, we will find and it shall be opened! If that isn't a beautiful promise to each of us then I don't know what is!

Have you ever had a question that you have desired so much to be answered but no one knew the answer? Have you ever sought for something that you wanted more than anything else but couldn't find it? Have you ever needed a door opened to lead you somewhere but for some reason it never would? 

Our Saviour is the One. 
The Saviour is the One who has all the answers because He knows all.
The Saviour is the One who can lead us to where we seek because holds the map for all that you desire.
The Saviour is the One who opens the door because He stands on the other side waiting.

How grateful I am for a loving Saviour who is WILLING and WAITING to help each of us with all that we stand in need of! All we must do is ASK, SEEK and KNOCK!

So my invitation to you all this week is easy! If there is a question that you long to be answered - ASK our Heavenly Father through the Saviour in sincere prayer! He will answer! If there is something you desire - SEEK after it and our Saviour will lead you there! If there is a door that you can't open - KNOCK and our Saviour will open it! I promise you that as your desires are righteous and according to His will for you and your life that they will happen! I have seen my prayers answered as I have prayed with the greatest sincerity of my heart with the intent to act. I have witnessed my life being led by Him as I have sought to follow his will for my life. I have seen doors been opened before me as I have knocked. How great is our Saviour! I pray that you will each take this opportunity to do this in the coming week!

Love,

Sister Roos (: (: 

30 degrees inside, so we're sitting in the A/C in our car eating lunch

After finding out that we didn't have to wash our car, urgghhhh

7km's later and our investigator wasn't home - and it's hot, hot, hot!!

Our new Bathurst Branch

We're off on another hike!!

What now? More biking

This is a snorkel on the truck!

Out tracting in the evening with Sister Niu