Area: Ironwood Ward in Moreno Valley
Companion: Elder Smith
Excerpts from Mom's email:
Hey Mom!!
Yeah I am very excited for Australia, because I know it is where I am needed at this time. It definitely will be a big change, but so is a mission in general. I have been able to adjust to the missionary life really well so I am confident I can do it in Australia to. I really will miss everyone here. It will be so cool to be able to come visit the Ironwood Ward in the future. I don't think I will ever forget my time here. I can't express enough how grateful I am for God sending me here at this time. I can truly see exactly why he did now that I have experienced it. That is what life is all about. When God asks you to do something, even when you aren't sure how it will turn out, you still act in faith and you will surely be blessed for it. Australia is going to be another act of faith not just for me, but for you. It is a mystery what lies ahead in the coming months, but just always remember what comes after the act of faith. I tell this to investigators all the time. Those who just aren't sure they want to commit to anything, but they want to know if what we are teaching them is true. It is all about taking those first steps and then after those steps, don't stop there. Continue forward because we already know what the destination will be if we keep moving forward on the correct path.
During the Sunday afternoon conference, there was a talk by Joaquin E Costa. This talk was just perfect for our investigators that we brought with us. I can tell that this talk really struck K.. especially. At the end of conference he told us that talk stood out so much to him. He is preparing to be baptized. I am really praying that he will on April 9, so I can attend his baptism. At this point in time we really don't know if it will happen or not, but we will find out probably later tonight if he will go through with it.
My favorite talk in particular was by Elder David A Bednar. Holy cow, it was as if he was speaking directly to me. I went into conference with a couple of questions that I needed answered. One of those was if I am called here to California and also Australia for a reason. Does it really matter where I was called of is it just a matter of putting me somewhere to serve. What Elder Bednar stated was the best answer I could have been given. First off, a missionary is not called to a place, you are called to serve. Secondly, where you are called to serve is not a coincidence, it is not random. I really liked how he said that calling a missionary is one of the best things the quorum of the twelve get to do. There is true revelation that comes when they call each missionary. Even reassignments like mine are done the same way. It is an amazing thing to see revelation in action. Don't take my question I had the wrong way. I had this question because I have heard that it doesn't matter where you are called, you will have a great experience anywhere. That I think is partly true. You will have an amazing experience where God has called you because he knows us each individually and he knows the best place in the world for us to serve.
Excerpts from Dad's email:
Hey Dad!
J.... and K.. are really moving along. They both are on date, J.... for sure on April 16, but K.. we are hoping for April 9. So I can go to it, but we'll see. We have picked up a lot of investigators and all of them are moving forward with everything really well. The members are especially great because we never have issues with fellow shipping. Bro S...... is especially good about it. He comes out with us all the time to help fellowship. Yeah all the Samoans are teaching us some of their language, but it is really hard to remember it all. So I just wrote it all down for now. I study it a little in the morning so maybe I'll retain a lot of it when I get home. There are Samoan Wards in Aussie too, so we'll see if I get the change to be in another one.
We had a multi zones conference this week and that was really cool. I learned a lot from it and we were trained on a bunch of new things. The church has now put out the new video for Easter, Prince of Peace. Check that one out it is really cool. We use it quite a bit now. They taught us how to use it in a contact on the street and it has been a really easy one to use. We just ask how they calibrate Easter. There is an easy transition from that to Jesus Christ. Just yesterday we went to a families home and shared the video with them. The Mom, S......, is the only one who isn't baptized yet. Missionaries have been trying for a really long time, but she for some reason has never gone to church enough to be baptized. Even Elder Smith has tried in the past and she was so close, she committed and everything, but it fell through. So we are going to try again. Her family is so nice. The dad is a return missionary, so he already knows everything we are talking about. We are going to follow up with them on Wednesday.
I learned something really cool this week that I never realized before. Heavenly Fathers pain will be greater then the saviors when he has to turn his children away at judgment. Did you know that? His pain that he will feel when his some of his children can't stay in his presence will be greater then the pain Christ felt when he took on the pains of the world. President told us this and then said that what we are truly doing as missionaries is preparing God's children to see heavenly father again so that they don't have to turn away. That will be a moment in time full of love for us, but also painful for Heavenly Father. This never occurred to me that his pain will be that great, but it makes sense now. Something to think about when you see someone not accepting the gospel. They are not just hurting themselves, but our father in heaven. That makes me want to work even harder as a missionary. I really don't want to take no for an answer. Agency sucks sometimes as a missionary haha. When people are rejecting you, they are really rejecting God. Something for all of you to think about to. Anyone you know that is not living how they should, make them realize that are not just making Christ suffer for their sins, but if they don't repent and change, they will also be making God turn them away. Always be striving for the Celestial Kingdom.
Here is a scripture for you to look into. Mosiah 4:27
Love ya dad! have a good week!
Elder Bryner
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