3 June - 9 June 2018
Transfers : Departing and Arriving!
Lots of Finding !!!
District Meetings!!
G'day to our Mates in Broome!!!
But first....inspiring words regarding personal guidance from Heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit...in each one of your lives:
"Now I plead with each of you to do as the teenaged Joseph did. Take your questions directly to your Heavenly Father in prayer. Ask Him, in the name of Jesus Christ, to guide you. You can learn for yourself—right now at your age—how to receive personal revelation. And nothing will make a bigger difference in your life than that!
I promise you—not the person sitting next to you, but you—that, wherever you are in the world, wherever you are on the covenant path—even if, at this moment, you are not centered on the path—I promise you that if you will sincerely and persistently do the spiritual work needed to develop the crucial, spiritual skill of learning how to hear the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, you will have all the direction you will ever need in your life. You will be given answers to your questions in the Lord’s own way and in His own time. And don’t forget the counsel of your parents and Church leaders. They are also seeking revelation in your behalf.
When you know your life is being directed by God, regardless of the challenges and disappointments that may and will come, you will feel joy and peace." 3 June 2018 World Wide Broadcast to the youth,
Departing Elders and Sisters!!!
We say Farewell to these valiant servants of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They have learned much, grown a lot, and changed in meaningful ways!!! Thank you all for your noble and faithful service in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with our wonderful brothers and sisters in the great Australia Perth Mission! We will miss you!!! We love you!!! Now, Go Forward with Faith!!!
Training the Trainers Meeting!!!
Some transfer day photos of some of our valiant missionaries!!! The best, the happiest, the brightest in the world!!!
Our Newest Goldens!!! We're so happy you've come!!! The field is ready for the harvest!!!
Our Senior couples are such great examples of team work for our young Elders and Sisters!
Thank you Senior Couples! You are awesome!!!
Our Newest Sisters! representing Jesus Christ from the United States, Tuvalu, and Fiji!!
Preparing to meet their Trainers....
Finding out who they'll be training!!!
Goldens with their Trainers!!!
We're so happy and excited this great Elder received his Visa at the last minute and was able to catch a flight the day after his group left the MTC in Provo. He made it to Perth!!! HOORAY!!! We're So happy to have you here, Elder!!!
Thanks to these two Sisters for helping in the office while waiting to take the new Golden and Trainer down to their area!!! We appreciate you and the Elders who helped us get some heavy lifting done as well!!
G'day to our fantastic Elders up in Broome!!! We love our country Elders!!! (Still waiting for pictures from Port Hedland and Karratha, I think?)
Words from our Prophet, President Russel M. Nelson:
And to end on, we'd like to share some other thoughts from President Nelson he shared on 3 June to all of you. We thought it was so neat considering the last couple rounds of interviews as we've talked about some of the negative effects of social media, and screen habits on our spiritual and mental well being. Remember....these instruments are truly great blessings to us...however, we must be the masters in charge of our relationship with computer screens. Heavenly Father knows how to teach us to live well during this time of the earth's history. Our prophet gave these invitations to the youth...and we'll follow his counsel too! Also, he spoke of gathering Israel on both sides of the veil! Remember to use people's natural interests in family history, as a finding tool!
Here are 5 invitations our Prophet has extended:
"And now I invite you to prepare yourself by doing five more things—five things that will change you and help you change the world.
First, disengage from a constant reliance on social media, in order to decrease its worldly influence upon you.
Let me tell you about one young man your age, the grandson of a dear friend of mine. He is popular with his friends and a leader in his high school. Recently, his parents found things on his phone that were inappropriate for a follower of Jesus Christ. They insisted that he go off social media for a time. They exchanged his smartphone for a flip phone, and he panicked. How would he stay connected with his friends?
Initially he was furious with his parents, but after just a few days, he thanked them for taking his smartphone away. He said, “I feel free for the first time in a long time.” Now he calls his friends on his flip phone to connect with them. He actually talks with them instead of always texting!
What other changes have occurred in this young man’s life? He says he now loves being free from the fake life that social media creates. He is actively engaged in life instead of having his head in his phone all the time. He participates in outdoor recreational activities instead of playing video games. He is more positive and helpful in his home. He seeks opportunities to serve. He listens better in church, has a brighter countenance, is so much happier, and is actively preparing for his mission! All this because he took a break from the negative influence of social media.
So, my first invitation to you today is to disengage from a constant reliance on social media by holding a seven-day fast from social media. I acknowledge that there are positives about social media. But if you are paying more attention to feeds from social media than you are to the whisperings of the Spirit, then you are putting yourself at spiritual risk—as well as the risk of experiencing intense loneliness and depression. You and I both know youth who have been influenced through social media to do and say things that they never would do or say in person. Bullying is one example.
Another downside of social media is that it creates a false reality. Everyone posts their most fun, adventurous, and exciting pictures, which create the erroneous impression that everyone except you is leading a fun, adventurous, and exciting life. Much of what appears in your various social media feeds is distorted, if not fake. So give yourself a seven-day break from fake!
Choose seven consecutive days and go for it! See if you notice any difference in how you feel and what you think, and even how you think, during those seven days. After seven days, notice if there are some things you want to stop doing and some things you now want to start doing.
This social media fast can be just between you and the Lord. It will be your sign to Him that you are willing to step away from the world in order to enlist in His youth battalion.
My second invitation is to make a weekly sacrifice of time to the Lord, for three weeks in a row, to let Him know that you want to be part of His youth battalion—more than you want anything else. For three weeks give up something you like to do and use that time to help gather Israel.
Anytime you do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances, you are helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that.
As you pray about this sacrifice of time, you will be guided to know both what you can give up that week and what you can do instead to help gather Israel. For example, a young golfer might give up a round of golf and spend that time in the temple baptistry.
My third invitation is for you to do a thorough life assessment with the Lord, and perhaps with your parents and your bishop, to ensure that your feet are firmly planted on the covenant path. If you have wandered off, or if there are some things you need to let go of to help your mind and heart be more pure, today is the perfect time to change.
If you aren’t sure how to repent, talk with your bishop or your parents or both. They will help you understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ. They will help you experience the joy that truerepentance always brings.
Please do not stay off the covenant path one more minute. Please come back through true repentance, now. We need you with us in this youth battalion of the Lord. It just won’t be the same without you!
My fourth invitation is for you to pray daily that all of God’s children might receive the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You and I are living to see, and will continue to see, Israel gathered with great power. And you can be part of the power behind that gathering!
My fifth invitation is for you to stand out; be different from the world. You and I know that you are to be a light to the world. Therefore, the Lord needs you to look like, sound like, act like, and dress like a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Yes, you are living in the world, but you have very different standards from the world to help you avoid the stain of the world.
With the Holy Ghost as your companion, you can see right through the celebrity culture that has smitten our society. You can be smarter than previous generations have ever been. And if you are sometimes called “weird,” wear that distinction as a badge of honor and be happy that your light is shining brightly in this ever-darkening world!
Set a standard for the rest of the world! Embrace being different! The booklet entitled For the Strength of Youth should be your standard. It is the standard that the Lord expects all His youth to uphold. Now, as His humble servant, I plead with you to study this booklet again. Prayerfully read it like you’ve never read it before. Mark it up. Talk about it. Discuss the standards with your friends. Decide how you can live these standards, your standards, with even more exactness." President Russel M. Nelson
We hope you will be able to have the opportunity to soon listen to and/or read this entire address!!!
Have a lovely week Gathering Israel!!! Heavenly Father loves you and is so proud of each of you!!!