Yelling out from the 27th floor!

(In response to the news about the lowering of the Mission age....) YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so so so so so excited!!!! Obviously we're like you in NZ, we have to wait til next week for General Conference... but someone texted us last morning and I read it and literally screamed, I was like WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! For real, you probably already know this but this is going to be a milestone in church history.... This is a sign of the second coming for real... I'm no prophet but now we're going to have more missionaries that will be going forth spreading the truth til it has penetrated every continent and ear... And this is especially huge for girls... for example... Remember that member I met from Taiwan that was looking for the church? Well she's 18... and I was talking with her and she started crying cause she was so happy she didn't have to wait 3 years to serve, she could now go in 6 months!  And tell all my friends Ash, Tiffany, Callyn etc. that they should go! :) YAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! So happy! Hearing that makes me want to serve a mission then I'm like... PSYCH! I'm already serving!!!
There's a quote that goes something like... "It is true intelligence of a man to unfold something so great and mysterious so that a child can understand" <-- it's in PMG chapter 10 'teach for understanding' I think... but meaning that the better you get at teaching simple doctrines so that people can fully understand... that's when the spirit can more easily come in and smash them.. Anywhoooo... This week was pretty dang awesome! We did SO MUCH teaching... and thats every missionaries dream to just teach all week haha. We got to resovle a bunch of our investigators concerns so say hello to entering into the covenant with the loorrrrd :)  Here's a simple but powerful quote... "It may be small, but if it's your all... It's enough" Something I learned on my mission super quickly.... is this right here.... when I came out I was super focused on smashing numbers and baptisms etc... but then being disappointed when you put in so much effort and receive little results.... The Lord won't base the success of your mission on your numbers.... but more importantly on your sacrifice... "It may be small, but if it's your all... It's enough"
(In response to me telling him that people in 7 countries read his blog)
And goodnessssss... So many people reading my blog... welp... might as well do some good with this opportunity as they're reading.... REPENT.... REPENT!!! REPENT AND BE BAPTIZED!!!!..... hahaha we live on the 27th floor and some nights I just open the window and yell that out to the city...  But for this weeekk..... This week was a super cool reminder of how fortunate we are to have this priesthood restored to the earth once again.... So far on my mission I haven't given many blessings really... maybe just to my companion but that's it.... this week out of nowhere.. everyone asked me for a blessing it seemed... I had really cool experiences but I'll share one.... It was Ray.... It was preparation day and we were out shopping (I needed a shoulder bag)... And he calls us and says he's really sick and needed a blessing... And he has heart problems so his health is up and down a lot... So we ran over to the chapel to give him a blessing and we get there and his face was super pale and he was just out of it... I even questioned if he should go to the hospital... But we went in and got ready to give him a blessing.... and 2 things I was grateful for at that time... 1... being a worthy priesthood holder capable of giving a blessing.... 2.... having consecrated oil on me... But we gave him a blessing and it was just super spiritual.... by the time I finished he was crying and we just hugged... We then left to go home and change back into proselyting clothes... and came back like 30mins later.... we then saw him and he was 100% normal.... And the only thing I remembered saying in the blessing was that he would be "restored and made well".... And what do you know... he was.... And that makes me think of D&C 121:36.... "The rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness"... We are entitled to the powers of heaven if we exercise our priesthood in righteousness... it's just up to us if we want to rob ourselves of those blessings or not... Anywaysss I have to go!! Love youuuu! Bye!

Awesome Blossom!

But gahhhhh.... Tell Ashley, Callyn and Tiffany I'm sorry for not writing yet... Next P-Day I'm seriously planning the WHOLE p-day to do nothing but just write so I can reply to them... and Sundays... pfft... You wouldn't believe it... That's supposed to be the most relaxing day of the week right? For missionaries it's the most hectic/stressful.. I barely get to enjoy sacrament meeting haha. We have to call all our Recent Converts and Investigators for church and have fellowships for each of them then some fellowships dont show up so you have to take care of like a billion people... Then we have Missionary Coordination meeting, then district evaluation, then weekly planning, then calls for setting lessons during the week... and down time doesn't exist here... they give you 9:30-10:30 to unwind etc. but in the city we have to keep making calls and planning... It's tough work but I love it... we have more miracles with the more work we do. And I was reading in Preach My Gospel this morning and found something hilarious I've never seen before! Hahaha, "The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a heavy hands. Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are preoccupied we may not feel it at all. (No wonder that the word of wisdom was revealed to us, for how could the drunkard or the addict feel such a voice?)" BOOM! I LOLed when I read that.
This week was super awesome though... we got this AWESOME investigator... she's a referral from one of our golden recent converts. But we were meeting with her on the 3rd visit and she pulls out her Book of Mormon all marked with notes everywhere and bookmarks and came willing to learn... She even told her mom in China she was learning about our church and so her mom is going to go to Hong Kong to pick up a Book of Mormon to read!!! MIRACLE! And we also met this awesome girl  from Norway but her mom is from Philippines so she visits every year... and her uncle is the Bishop there, so she's learned before and willing to learn again! So cool! We also have this super cool golden awesome blossom amazing golden member who said he will give me subway for free for a whole year when I visit him in Guangzhou after my mission, I'm essited! We got a lot of good things happening right now so we're trying to keep it up! We're so so busy though! Usually we struggle to get our investigators to church and baptismal services etc... but this week we had 7 investigators come to the baptism and church! o.O And we broke a zone record of investigators who attended sacrament meeting! It was 28 before and we got 30 yesterday! BOOM! Love you byeee!!

The Train Miracle.....

Anywhooo, I got some good stories this week and  many many humbling experiences... I'll tell you each one... For the first one I shallst tell you..... DUN DUN DUN... (horror music)....
#1  The Train Miracle..... So I had my first Zone Conference this past Tuesday... we were on our way back to the city on the train... Me and Elder V were talking about a whole bunch of random things the whole way like how we've grown on our missions, miracles we've seen etc... Then we arrived in the city... as we were all getting up to leave I felt impressed to take out a pass along card and I just chucked it on the seat next to me as I was leaving and not really thinking much of it... So we were in Institute later that night... and we got a phone call... but not just any ordinary phone call..... It was some random from Zimbabwe and we were like what the heck?... How'd you get our number?... The he said "I found your card on the train and I started reading the questions and wanted to know more, so I called!" (It was a Temple Pass-Along Card that had questions like - Whats the purpose of life, what is the true nature of God? etc.) And I was like Oh. My. Goodness. And it was just silent.... then he was asking if he could meet us and learn more! So we got his details and referred him to the Elders near him and he was so excited to meet them!.... But it was absolutely insane.. Out of all the ways of contacting people... on the street, tracting, flyers, referrals etc. This guy found the church from a pass along card on the train.....
 #2... Our recent convert brought her friend S to this lunch devotional we have every friday... And we have speakers from the stake or temple presidency talk about how the Gospel blessed their life... so this lady Sister B she straight smashed everybody with her conversion story... and then afterwards... S went up to Brother and Sister B and was asking like.. I don't know if God is there... I don't know if I've ever felt the Spirit before?!... Then Brother B simply replied... " You can't focus on feeling it... if you do... you don't know what to expect... just let it flow naturally and you will feel it"... not even a second later I kid you not... she burst out crying and said she felt so happy being in the church... And then we had a lesson right after and it was BEYOND incredible... the spirit was so strong and we helped her recognize that throughout all the day it was the spirit that she was feeling... So that was super cool to see how the Spirit worked within her...
#3.. I was finding on George Street at World Square and I usually hate finding on this particular corner... because it's super busy and a billion smokers everywhere but I felt prompted to go around there... so I get there and I'm like... hmnn.... who to talk to?.... So I'm like scanning around to see some potentials and then some girl walks up to me and was like "OH OH OH ARE YOU A MISSIONARY?!?!" I was like... Yeah, why's that?.. "I just moved here from Taiwan, I'm a member!!! I've been looking for the church everywhere and I can't find it!!! Where is it?!" So I showed her where it was and then we exchanged numbers if she ever needed any help etc... then left....Then 2 days later I saw here there and she was talking with a member and I overheard him say to her, "Ah well I'm so happy you found the church!!" Then she replied.. "Ah so am I!!... I was praying and praying to meet a missionary so I could find the church and then I met Elder Ball on the street!!" And when I heard that I was like... Oh snap.... hahaha. It was super humbling to be the answer to someones prayer!... And then to connect that back to the prompting I had to go to that corner.... Every single thing happens for a reason.... MIRACLE!.
I gots another story for youuu!... And be sure to pass a part of it on to Tiffany, Taylor, Ashley, Callyn....and whoever else thinks I'm not black.... So this golden investigator we have, she's so super cool!! Like beyond cool! And we were talking and she LOVES America so she keeps asking me about it and what not... then as I was explaining something she stops and is like "WAIT!.... Why do you sound like a black guy...." I was like.... o.O excuse me?... Was I dreaming?... can you please repeat that?.... Then she starts imitating me... like "Yeah you sound like a black person!!! Like... "Yo... come to church dude.... my name is Elder Ball... I'm black!" Hahahah, so good...(so yeah tell them that story).... But whats even awesomer!!... She came to church from 10-3:30.... For the whole 3 hours... then we had a branch lunch after and then a CES Fireside with Jeffrey R. Holland speaking.... and she loved all of it!!.... And right after the fireside finished she looked at me and was like... "I've enjoyed my day so much here!!.... How do I join the church?"..... once again I was like... Excuse me?... Was I dreaming?... Can you please repeat that?... lolz... So I explained baptism to her and what not so dat pretty kooo....
And I am just so humbled to be an instrument in the Lord's hands .There's a talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf that talks about a statue of Jesus Christ in Berlin... it was being moved and the statues hands crumbled... so the sculptor asked do you want me to make another set of hands?... And one of the people said no just leave them be..... Later on that statue of Jesus Christ was set in public somewhere and the quote on it read "This statue has no hands.... because we are God's hands..." And that's the truth... goodness gracious... miracles never cease.

Mobs and Miracles

Hahaha owned by the lightbulbs... but no joke... my 1st week here like 4 lightbulbs blew out in our flat... satan didn't want us to have light haha. But anywhooo... this week was pretty insane... I don't know if you saw on the news but there was a riot here a couple days ago... supposedly Americans posted something bad on youtube about Muhhamed, the Muslim's prophet... so it got pretty violent here, and there were cops/ambulances everywhere... we couldn't go finding for like 4 hours til it cleared up.. and even when we were walking to dinner we had to walk without our badges otherwise we probz woulda got stabbed haha. On the bright side we had a pretty awesome miracle (actually 2)... I was on trade offs so I wasn't there for the 1st one... but Elder A & S went to help a member move some stuff... and this person had to be at the member's house cause they bought something from them online... and they came the exact time the missionaries got there... and they asked them their name... then saw "Jesus Christ" on the badge and flipped out.. like OMG! CHRISTIANS!!... IVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR A CHRISTIAN CHURCH SINCE I GOT HERE!.... But I finally got to meet them this past weekend and they are SO COOL!... And beyond prepared by the Lord... it's so insane... We got this new investigator I met them on the street last week and they had met with the missionaries 6 years ago.. So I convinced them to come and see us again... little did I know... this person knows the Bible like the back of their own hand... We would be teaching Restoration and they're like... wait wait that doesn't sound right.. then throw all these numbers and dates of history of what actually happened... like to the exact 689 B.C. of what prophet was teaching and what not.... The Lord must be testing us or something hahaha. But I'll leave you two quotes.... This is mixed by Thomas S. Monson and Robert D. Hales... " We live in a troubled world, a world of many challenges. We are here on this earth to deal with our individual challenges to the best of our ability. To learn from them and to overcome them. There is nothing however that we are enduring that Jesus does not understand. So endure to the end we must, for our goal is eternal life in the presence of our Father in Heaven. He loves us and wants nothing more than for us to succeed in this goal. He will help us and bless us as we call upon Him in our prayers, as we study His words and as we obey His commandments. Then shall our prayers be answered, our problems will diminish and we will be close to the Lord and feel of His love and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Life on earth as we know it is only temporary. And if we endure it well the Lord has promised us.. "And if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God" (D&C 14:7)...  BOOM!... Last but not least... (p.s. send me any quote you like... because I love quotes...) "Sacrifices today are in reality opportunities, the same as they have always been. Remember the promise made by the Savior: ... "There is no man that left house, or parents, or bretheren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting" Keep reading your scriptures everyday :) p.s. I had a dream I was playing song pop this week and I was like WAIT!.... I can't play this.... and I got sent home lolz... love you bye!

A Dream Come True?

fun fact:.. I'm listening to a conversation behind me like "nah dude... you know him... I know that you know him.. cause I know that he knows you... so you must know him if we both know you.." People these days... Anyways I don't have much time sorry but I shallst tell you a story... One of our investigators...  they have such a great desire to change and be with their family again... we had a ton of lessons with them this past week and each one was so powerful!.... They were scheduled for baptism... but this morning we decided they weren't quite ready... we explained how people perceive baptism as a completion... but nay... this is a door for opportunity.... to grow and learn... to ultimately reach the temple and be sealed with their family for eternity.... and so now they're scheduled to be baptized in 2 weeks so that's pretty sweet!... And about getting fed enough.. zomg Ashley's dream is coming true.. she wrote her letter saying she wants me to get fat cause "dat be funni" <- her words... I've gained like 3-4 kgs (7-9lbs) here so far... and that's bad cause I usually never gain weight.. Next week I plan to starve myself... This week was pretty dang awesome.. We had such good finding days.. So far I've found almost more potentials in the first week of the transfer than I found in the past 6 weeks.. MIRACLES. I even got into a lovely conversation with another church handing out "Jesus loves you...." Then on the other side it subtly said "heaven or HELL!!!!!!!!!!" hahaha, and they came up to me asking all these things... "what's it mean for you to follow Jesus?" "how do you know Joseph Smith was a true prophet?" but I talked with them for a while and then bore them my testimony and walked off.... like.a.boss.... It was awesome though.. as I was talking to them, bearing my testimony (and getting told if I continue to believe in Joseph Smith... I'll be going to hell) I felt the spirit so strong and it just testified to me that the church was true... This week as well was just a confirmation of how important the Book of Mormon is to our religion.. the keystone... and Jeffery R. Holland SMASHES with this quote... "For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked... denied and deconstructed.. targeted and torn apart.. like perhaps no other book in modern religious history.. perhaps like no other book in ANY religious history.. In this I stand with my own great grandfather who said simply enough- No wicked man could write such a book as this, and no good man would write it.. unless it were true.. and he were commanded of God to do so.. I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this Latter-day work and thereby find the fulness measure of peace and comfort in these our times until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ of whom it testifies".... (zomg).... I think we often take the Book of Mormon for granted too much... If you read/hear the rest of the talk he goes on to say nevermind that children would leave footprints of blood across frozen rivers... nevermind that Joseph and others left their wives and families to be widowed... all for a book that they made up?... THEY WOULD NOT DO THAT... <-- (zomg).... So yeah... go read the B.O.M :) love you byeeee :)

So much to say...so little time!

But gahh it's annoying having such little time to email.. I have a billion things to tell this week.. but I'll share some experiences with you... So we went on trade offs, I went with my DL and last time I went to his area... but this week he came to mine and I ran the area... And so we had a lesson with this golden recent convert and I based it on the Atonement off of that poem that mom emailed to me last week.. and it was a double whammy cause they are thinking about going on a mission and they have had a rough week prior to our lesson so it was just so perfect... And by the end of the lesson we were all crying.. it was ridic... and we asked them what the Atonement was to them... and when they bore their testimony... that was one of the strongest times I've ever felt the Spirit... once again... ridiculousness. Another lesson we had with a member, that lesson was beyond spiritual as well! Like it was so intense it's hard to describe... they were telling us the turning point in their life just a week ago where they decided to serve a mission... and we all went around the room right after sharing why we all went... and it was just insane... really... once again cause of time I cant go into detail but you can read it in my journal another day haha. Something I've had to learn to apply here as well in the city... we GQ all day and you can't help but have a sense to look at people here and think "nahh they wouldn't be interested".. but something that always helps me... Every single person on the earth is on this scale of 1-7.... 1 being they are absolutely not interested or ready for the Gospel... and 7 they're basically ready to be baptised... and we talk with so many people and when we get rejection or get sworn at etc... I just think... hmn... they were probs a 1... and now moved up to a 1.3 :) No matter what you do you're planting seeds when you preach the Gospel whether you know it or not. Thank you so much though for having a blog, because yeah it's impossible to write letters at the moment... I hope you have a good week, Love you byeeee!

He's Been There Before

			This was Caleb's favourite Missionary Poem before he went on his mission and he asked us to send it to him so he has it to share with others. He's Been There Before The alarm rings at 6:30; I stumble to my feet I grab my companion's bedding and pull off his sheet. A groan fills the room. It's already time to arise?" It seems like just a second ago I was able to shut my eyes. The morning activities follow: study, prayer and such When its time to leave the apartment, you feel you haven't accomplished much "We have a super day planned," my Companion says with a grin. I lowly utter a faithless breath, "Yea, if anyone lets us in." With the word of God and my faithful Schwinn, we ride off in the street. Prepared to face another day of humidity and heat It's 9:30 in the evening, the day is almost through. My companion and I are riding home, not accomplishing what we thought we'd do. We ride up to the mail box hoping to receive a lot. Only to look inside and hear my echo reverberate "Air Box" We go up to our apartment; the day is now complete the only thing to show for our work is a case of blistery feet It's past 10:30 Pm, my companion is fast asleep. Silence engulfs me all about and I begin to weep In the midst of sadness I kneel down to pray; I need to talk to Father, but I'm not sure what to say. "Oh Father," I begin, "What happened to us today? I thought we'd teach somebody, but everyone was away My hands, my aching hands worn, hurt and beat If our area was any smaller,we'd have knocked on every street." Why on missions are the days so much alike? the only difference about today was the flat tire on my bike. Will you send some cooler weather? the heat is killing me! I sweat so bad, it gets in my eyes. Its very hard to see. Why do I have to wear a helmet, isn't your protection enough? People always laugh at me and call me stupid stuff. Please send us investigators so I may give them what they lack; I want to give them a Book Of Mormon, the weight of them hurts my back. And what about my Family? They don't have much to say. I'm sick of not hearing from home day after day. Oh Father,why am I here, Am I just wasting my time? Sometimes I just want to go home, I'm sorry but that's on my mind. My Companion, Heavenly Father, what are you giving me? The way he rides his bicycle I don't know if he can even see! Now you have it, I can't go on. I DON'T KNOW what to do! That, my Father in Heaven, is the prayer I leave you." My prayer now finished I stand up, then jump right into bed. I need my feet for tomorrow; we have another long day ahead Sleep starts to overtake me, I seem to drift away. Then it seems a vision takes me to another time in another day. I'm standing alone on the hill, the view is very nice. A man walks towards me and says, "My name is Jesus Christ." Tears of joy well up inside, I fall down to His feet. "Arise he states, follow me to the shade, you and I need to speak." My attention turns towards my Saviour, total and complete He says, "Your Mission is similar to what happened to me. I understand how you feel, I know what you're going through; In fact, it would be fair to say I've felt the same as you. "Even know how you felt when no one listened to you At times I felt not quite sure what else that I could do. I know you don't like to ride a bicycle for a car would be sweet. Just remember the donkey I rode was not equipped with 21 speed. I understand you don't like sweating, in fact it's something to hate. I remember when I sweat blood from every pore,  Oh, the agony was great. I see you don't like your companion, you would rather have someone else. I once had a companion named Judas who sold my life for wealth. It's hard to wear a helmet and have people make fun of you. I remember when they put thorns in my head and called me King of the Jews. So you feel burdened down by the weight of your pack. I recall how heavy the cross was when they slammed it on my back." Your hands hurt from tracting and knocking on doors all day I guess when they pounded nails into mine, I ached in a similar way. It's hard not to hear from home when your family was not there to see. I lost communication on the cross and cried, "Father, why has thou forsaken me?" We have a lot in common, but there is a difference between us you see. I endured to the end and finished my mission, so follow and do like me." He embraced me with his arms, His light filled me with His love. With tears in my eyes, I watched as he went back to the Father above. I stood with awe and wonder when a beep rang in my head. I listened and heard the alarm, when I realized I was in my bed. My companion lets out a groan, "6:30 already, no way!" I sat up and said, "Come on, I'll even carry your scriptures today!" No matter what we go through when we feel we can't take more, Just stop and think about Jesus Christ, He's been there before.
by Troy Whittle