Toukley Kiai

Sawadeeka family & friends!

I hope you've had a fantastic week! I'm happy to report that Sister Panmongkol and I will be staying in Charlestown together for another transfer! I love my companion, and I love this area! :)

This week, I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting. I shared with the ward some of the things that I've learned from the mission. I would like to share them with ya'll too.

1. God loves us a lot more than we realize. We cannot comprehend it. It's unending. It's unconditional. Honestly, it's inescapable. He always has and always will love us. And He loves us with a love so much more pure and intense than our human limitations can produce or even fathom. He loves the sinner just as he loves the saint, and He's provided a way for all of us to be clean and healed.

2. It's real. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is real. It is necessary for our exaltation. It is cleansing, enabling, and changing. I know that the Plan of Salvation is real and in motion. We truly did participate in the councils of Heaven and we chose to follow our Saviour Jesus Christ to be here on this Earth. Everyone who has ever lived or ever will, will die and live again. We are eternal beings. We will meet God one day and be judged. Jesus Christ truly has Atoned. It is real and I know it.

3.Covenants are a gift from a loving Heavenly Father, desperate to guide us home. Covenants tether us to the Saviour, Jesus Christ. They allow His sacrifice to pour into our lives. They invite divine power into our very being. Heavenly Father makes covenants with those He loves, and they are available to all.

I love this Gospel. I know it works. I hope we all can try to be a little closer to Heaven this week.

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS! 

-TOUKLEY TRADE OFF!!!!! I went back to Toukley and I went with my toko Sister Koi! We had a fantastic day. Catching up, learning from how our missionary skills have developed, and building our testimonies. The best part was a fantastic lesson with Susan (my Filipina BFF who is coming back to church) and her husband! He's not a member and he normally doesn't participate in lessons, but during our lesson he stayed engaged and tears filled his eyes as he talked about his family. It was amazing! 

Also we went to see my dear Lisa! She's still progressing towards baptism. So many circumstances are trying to hold her back but she knows it is true and is doing all she can to be baptized! Her faith is incredible. She also may have given me heaps of curry & chocolate but I can't remember.... ;)

-While I was on trade off with Sister Nelson, we opened the gate of a less actives house and I see a giant dog slowly preying toward us. Sister Nelson had already started to walk in, and I just go "Sister Nelson. Slowly walk towards me." She looks behind her and sees this giant dog and runs out and closes the gate. The dog continued to stalk over to us slowly and we were kinda freaked out, but next minute he's chilling at the door and we're petting him. Hahah, false alarm! The best part was having a funny ice breaker story when we met his owner for the first time! :) 

Testify!!!

Sawadeeka family & friends!

I want to testify of the words that were spoken this past conference. My heart was filled with the Saviour's love & my spirit was taught. If you haven't yet watched conference, I invite you to watch it. If you have watched conference, I invite you to watch it again. 

The words that pierced my heart the most, were those of our dear Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. What an incredible man. He doesn't even need to speak to convey a message of love, diligence, and obedience. We all know that our time with President Monson is coming to a close. How profound that the message he chose to share with us was about our choices. It was short, sweet, and a little imperfect (#chinesecat), but I pray that we will all heed the words of our living Prophet and allow them to sink deep into our souls. From the moment these words reached my ears all the way down here in Australia, they have stuck with me: "If we choose Christ, we will have made the correct choice." 

I pray that we will all "feast upon the words of Christ" that we've received this General Conference. Let's allow Heavenly Father to speak to us time and time again through these messages over the next 6 months and onwards. 

WEEKLY HIGHTLIGHTS!

-Thanks to Conference, I started to feel Heavenly Father's love a little bit deeper this week.

-the lovely Colleen of Grafton who I met last time I was on trade off. We got to teach her again (she's obsessed with Sister Panmongkol from when she served in Grafton!) and it was fantastic. What a beautiful lady - inside & out! 

 

-General conference (if you couldn't already tell it was a highlight hah) !!! Such a wonderful weekend. I have a special place in my heart for Neill F. Marriot,

Milk and Honey Without Price

Sawadeeka family & friends!

Hope you have all had a wonderful week! It's been great here in Charlestown. Time is flying!

This week my heart is full. How grateful I am for opposition. After a challenging week, I have even deeper feelings of gratitude for the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There were so many times this week when I, of my own strength, had nothing left. There were so many times this week when discouragement and darkness threatened to creep in. I felt a bit like Moses after his experience seeing the power of Satan and the matchless power of the Saviour when he said "I know that man is nothing, which thing I had never supposed." (Moses 1:10)

I know I talk about it frequently, but it's because I have learned that this enabling power is real, and accessible to all. "Behold doth he cry unto any saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price." -2 Nephi 26:25. 

I know that divine grace is real. It is for us. It is for tired mothers, for youth making tough choices, for those battling addiction, for those who struggle to forgive, for those who feel their life has gotten out of control. It's for young and old, black and white, bond and free. All we need to do to receive this blessing is believe and act. Just trust Him enough to keep going and call upon Him for strength. I've found that sometimes all He requires of me is to hope and to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I pray that you all will have an opportunity this week to experience this power. We all need it, all the time. I know that the Lord has given us this blessing so that we can have the strength we need to make it back to Him. We don't need to do it alone.

I love you all. 

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS!

-Jason! We had an opportunity to teach him yesterday and he is planning on coming to church. 

-We were able to go do some visits with Sister Osmotherly this week. She always brightens up our day. :) We never stop laughing and never stop eating cadbury.

-Interviews with President & Sister Checketts were so lovely! They are starting to feel like family. I love them dearly. 

-I'm so Thai. I eat chillies on everything now.

-We had a district lunch because our district is so multicultural and it was so fun! Asian, mexican, and polynesian food and they had me bring brownies because I'm white and no one cares what I can cook lol. (Sister Panmongkol made Thai food from a box because she doesn't know how to cook Thai food lol)