Week 6 Trials Bring Us Closer to God

September 17, 2018 


Good afternoon from here in Palmerston, Australia!  
   
 I had a Kangaroo burger today for lunch at our District P Day! It was super tasty, different for sure, but it was good. 

I have been satisfying my percussion needs by knocking on people's doors, because if you just pound out quarter notes it is considered rude, so I have some fun with that. How does the Spirit speak to me? A few examples would be that it is heavily through the scriptures. I read them all the time and get so much insight out of them that helps me every day and it is awesome. Another more personal way is that it is almost like He guides my thought process. For example I think of A, and He guides me to B, then C and I end up at D which is what I was looking for. Or I will think of A, B, C, and D, and He helps me put it all together into ABCD. 

What happened this week? Well, on Monday I told Heavenly Father that I didn't care what happened to me, and that I was going to serve Him as diligently as possible, and the first three people we talked to, who initially said they had interest in the church about a week ago, well, they dropped us. My companion got a little bummed, but I told Him that Heavenly Father just wants to see if we will keep going. 

I have said nothing concerning the people we are teaching in my three emails here in Australia. That is because we aren't teaching anybody other than one, and we haven't seen him for two weeks. The work is hard and slow here in Australia, but I am not going to let that change my perspective. My companion and I are always just on the verge of getting somebody into our teaching pool, and I don't know how it happens, but every time, we lose them to the fiery darts of the adversary. Distraction. Too busy. Change of mind. Laziness. But I know that as I dig in and keep relying solely on the Lord, He will give me exactly what I need, exactly when I need it. 

We bike everywhere. We don't even have a car. The only time we walk is from door to door, or gate to gate if they have fences. I can also testify that God truly does answer prayers, because I had my driving "test" with Elder Clyde who is the senior missionary here in Darwin, and I didn't kill anybody driving down the "wrong" side of the road. I did pass my "test" by the way. It will definitely take some getting used to.  

In my study this week, something that caught my attention was the trials that Lehi and his family went through in the wilderness and upon the waters. While upon the waters, as they are being righteous, the storms are driving them towards the promised land. As they began to forget the Lord, the storms pushed them back upon the waters. We are all going through trials. When we are obedient through them, they will drive us forwards toward Salvation and Eternal Life. As we are going though trials and end up forgetting the Lord, the trials that He gave us for our benefit will only drive us backwards. If you want to study that closer it is in 1 Nephi 18 verse 8 and 15. Another thing I have come to realize is how much Nephi grew in his time in the wilderness. We have the classic 1 Nephi 3:7 I will go and do. And that is what I am doing as a missionary. Going, and doing. He dealt with his wicked brothers for about thirty years, and came out of it even greater than the go and do Nephi. In the beginning of Nephi's story, we only get one little verse about going and doing. After all of his trials, we get 2 Nephi 4:16-35. Just look at how much "going and doing" accomplished for Nephi. It is powerful. I know that if Nephi can deal with wicked brothers trying to kill him for 30 years, then I can at least deal with the difficulty of a mission for two years, and all of you can deal with whatever trials that God has placed in your way for your benefit. And when you look back upon it, you will truly see how much you have gained because of it. 

I know that God loves us all, and because He loves us, He lets us go though things that will bring us closer to Him. Keep that in mind as you face whatever He has given you this week. Love you all. 

Firm in the Faith

     -Elder Cozzens

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