How then are you blessed IMMEDIATELY for your obedience?

Monday 29 May, 2017

Happy Monday everyone!

Look at this Beautiful Tree!

Sorry this week is a short email! I hope you all had a great week! And I hope you all took the time to study Helaman 5:12 and answer those questions!

Today I just want to share something from a talk that I read this week!

Sis Malupo                                   Cowra and Bathurst Sisters

I want to start with the question "How is it that we are IMMEDIATELY blessed for our obedience?"

Generally we think that blessings are realized only over time. For example, the prophet Ether said: "...ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6). Another example of how time, diligence and patience play a role in realizing the fruit of your labours is found in the teachings of Alma about the seed (Alma 32). Here, Alma compared the gospel to a seed and said that we can realize the fruit or benefit from that seed only after a season of caring and nourishing the seed (Alma 32). Moses said that the people of Enoch were exalted "in process of time" (Moses 7:21). How then are you blessed IMMEDIATELY for your obedience?

The answer is that there are blessings and THEN there are blessings. Some blessings you wait for; others are immediate and invariable. One way that you are immediately blessed is that you are CHANGED, and change may be the greatest blessing of all! You are the sum total of all that you have thought, done, said, seen, heard and felt in this life and before. You change immediately with each good thought, each good act, and every good word changes you for the better. When you WILLINGLY obey the principles of the gospel, you are changed by the Spirit of God to become incrementally more like him. The degree of change with each small act of obedience may be small, but it is real and immediate. The full, cumulative and perfect realization of this process of change or sanctification happens only over time.  But make no mistake; you are always changing, and the effects of your obedience are immediate, whether for better or for worse, depending upon the voice you choose to follow. 

Just give it up. Surrender your will to Him. Unconditionally, withhold nothing. Turn it all over to Him; all of your desires, wishes, dreams and hopes. Be true and faithful in your head and in your heart, not just in your behaviour. Trust in Him. Trust Him who knows all things. Trust Him who has all power. Trust Him whose love for you is perfect. Trust Him, who alone suffered, paid and atoned for your sins and for your weaknesses as well. Trust Him that He will make of you, immeasurably more, than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity, make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. 

President David O. McKay said "The greatest battles you will ever fight will be within the silent chambers of your heart". That is the battleground between what you want and what the Lord wants. If you surrender, if the Lord wins, you win also. If you win, if your will prevails, you and the Lord both lose. The only way to win is to lose. Lose yourself in doing the Lord's will, and you will win beyond your wildest imaginations.

My invitation to us all is to trust in the Lord. To lose the battle with him so that we may come out conquering! Allow yourself to be changed through the immediate blessing of following Him!

Love you!

Sister Roos (: (: 

Elder Beriong - Zone Conference

Pukana

..."If God tells me that this book is true then I'll be a Mormon". We testified some more and then she said "This is an Inspired Book".

Monday 22 May, 2017

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great week! This week in Bathurst has been great! We spent some time up in Mudgee too and it was great! Mudgee is AWESOME! And it was Sister Sio's first time up there too, so it was fantabulous! I hope you were all able to HANG ON this week during situations where it would have been easier to just let go and give up! 

This week we are doing a Zone Book of Mormon Challenge before our Zone Conference. The goal for the Zone is to invite 160 people to take a Book of Mormon and read it! It has been going great so far! Sister Sio and I are loving the challenge! We set specific goals each day to meet, so that we can make our final goal by Thursday! 

 

The tender mercies of the Lord are continually blessing us as we are doing His work here in Bathurst, especially with the Book of Mormon Challenge! 

Quick experience! As Sister Sio and I were tracting we came across this older lady. She was in her backyard when we first knocked and then she came to the front after another knock. You could tell she wasn't too happy to see us (hahah the norms here). 

We introduced ourselves and she still didn't look to thrilled that we were standing at her front door. We started a simple conversation with her and then it moved into a discussion about the Book of Mormon. She was COMPLETELY against the Book of Mormon. 

She started to try and Bible bash us, I think, in the hopes of scaring us off. However, everything that she said about the Bible related to what was in the Book of Mormon and so we shared with her that the Book of Mormon does not take away from the Bible but it adds more to our knowledge of the Saviour and his divinity. She was still really contentious. 

ANYWAYS after about 10 minutes of talking we felt impressed that we couldn't leave until this lady had a Book of Mormon in her hands.

We testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and then she told us she likes to read the Bible but sometimes some of the concepts go over her head. So I pulled out the Book of Mormon and flipped to the Index and said that in the Index there are references that you can use to better understand doctrine or principles that you might find a bit difficult. She looked and said "that's too small".

So we pulled out a Mormon.org card (me being very persistent) and said if you go onto this website you can pull it up so you can make the print bigger and there is also the Bible too. She was very happy when she heard that because she doesn't like having paper all over the place. We then introduced more of the background of the Book of Mormon using the pictures in the front (because I love pictures) and you could see by this time that her attitude towards us had completely changed! She opened the screen door (which never happens) and she listened very intently. She took a copy and she asked for a copy for her son as well.

Before we left she said to us "if God tells me that this book is true then I'll be a Mormon". We testified some more and then she said "this is an inspired book".

This is the work of the Lord! The Book of Mormon is true and as we read it, it allows us to build a deeper relationship with our Saviour! I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the power that it brings into my life! 

Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi said

"I know from personal experience, the spiritual power that can flow into your life if you follow this practice (scripture study). You will feel the love of God and a cleansing, purifying regeneration of your spirit. You will experience moments of revelation, when the Spirit whispers to your spirit to be a better father, a better mother, a better son or daughter, a better disciple of Jesus Christ."

My invitation for you all this week is a long term invitation! All my invitations are long-term but this specific invitation will be something that I will follow up with you all for the next 12 weeks! My invitation is to create a more personal relationship with the Saviour. Every week for the next 12 weeks, read a scripture from the list that I will give as part of your daily study. Read the same scripture every day for that specific week. Ponder what it means to you personally. Take a moment, sometime during each week, to write down your feelings about each scripture in a journal. Answer the questions that I will provide (when so prompted to). I pray that by studying the same scripture every day for a week will enable you to more deeply understand the Saviour and His relationship with you. I promise you that as you do this, your relationship and your love for the Saviour will deepen! You will be more able to see His hand in your life!

Love you!

Sister Roos xx (: (: 

12 Week Scripture Reading Schedule

Week 1: Helaman 5:12

Week 2: John 14:23-27

Week 3: 3 Nephi 13:14-21

Week 4: Alma 5:14-16

Week 5: Proverbs 31:30-31

Week 6: D&C 8:2-3 and 9:7-9

Week 7: Moroni 10:18-23

Week 8: Matthew 7:7-8

Week 9: D&C 6:14-16

Week 10: D&C 88:118-119

Week 11: Revelations 7:15-17

Week 12: Mosiah 9:12

Questions to help as you ponder your relationship with the Saviour

How do I show love for the Saviour?

Do I keep ALL of His commandments?

Have I put any other "Gods" before Christ?

How can I seek the guidance of Christ more in my life?

How/who does the Lord want me to serve?

Is the Lord first in my life?

What am I doing to help build the kingdom of God on the Earth?

Where does true happiness come from? Do I have it now?

How can the Saviour help me improve my thoughts and attitude?

How can I be a better example to others?

From whom do I get my strength?

How does the Lord speak to me? Am I listening?

Am I too busy with worldly matters and neglect what's important?

How can I invite the Saviour into my home?

Do I understand my role as a daughter/son of God? And sister/brother of Christ?

Am I seeking Christ's help in all things?

Do I pray with integrity and sincerity?

Do I feel spiritually nourished? If not, how can I change that?

Do I have a testimony of Jesus Christ?