Monday, August 7, 2017

Week 102 - Perth, Western Australia - August 7, 2017 - Final letter

1 Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am; 2 And that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world; 3 And that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one—4 The Father because he gave me of his fulness, and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men. 5 I was in the world and received of my Father, and the works of him were plainly manifest .6 And John saw and bore record of the fulness of my glory, and the fulness of John’s record is hereafter to be revealed. 7 And he bore record, saying: I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was; 8 Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation—9 The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men. 10 The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him. 11 And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us. 12 And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace; 13 And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness; 14 And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first. 15 And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son. 16 And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father; 17 And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him. 18 And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the fulness of the record of John. 19 I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness. 20 For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace. 21 And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn; 22 And all those who are begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the same, and are the church of the Firstborn. 23 Ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth; 24 And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;
D&C 93: 1-24
As my mission Comes to a close my Heart is filled with Gratitude to my Family, Friends, and My loving Father in heaven. I just wish to leave my Testimony with you in the effort to build Your Faith in some small way.

If you had the patience to read Those verses pasted above you became a witness to one of the greatest Revelations given to man in the History of this world. I have found few places in scripture where so much absolutely essential  truth is packed into a few paragraphs...

I love the whole Section, But I want to focus our attention on the first verse.Without drawing attention to myself and in an effort to build Faith I want you all to know In my own small and weak way I have Forsaken all these past two years to come unto Christ...all of my sins, hobbies, family, and life. I have called on His name day and night in effort to bless these people. I have been called to serve...and in a desperation to receive more of his strength in my life to change, grow, and become who He needs me to become. I have tried my best to Obey his voice in all things, there has been no companionship I have treasured more than the constant presence of the Holy Ghost. I have studied the scriptures to Learn God's every command and it has been the greatest desire of my heart to obey his commandments. In weakness I pursued this every day for 2 years...

As a result, in Humility I Bear Witness Of The Redeemer of the World, Jesus Christ The Son of God. I am A Witness of Him and His Reality. I know for a surety that He lives, He is the Light of my life, He is my support and my strength, He is my master, Savior, and King. There is no greater desire in my heart than to submit my life, my will, my desires, and my strength to Him. This is his work, This is His church.

How could I know such things??? Why would I give my life serving some imaginary being who lived 2,000 years ago? Why do I feel this way? Why am I so sure? Could anyone really know these things? Maybe you could believe them, but knowing is a whole different story right?

I witness of The reality of the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost. He who has given me utterance in the face of evil. He who in the quiet darkness of the night has filled my heart with a peace that truly surpasses all understanding. He who has has been sent by the Father to fill the hearts of these people that I have taught for 2 years. His Role is to witness of all Truth, and fundamentally to testify of the Reality of the Father and the Son. There is no other way...anyone who forsakes all and comes unto Christ will be filled with the Holy Ghost. Their doubts and questions will be like smoke in the wind. There are no secrets, there are no shortcuts...I know of these things...

Lastly I testify of God the Father, He who is the great Author of the Plan of Salvation...It was by His power that His son Jesus Christ accomplished the Atonement although it was Christ alone who shouldered our Salvation. I know of his Forgiveness, endless compassion and mercy...His Love is perfect. Those who are begotten through Christ will be partakers of his incomprehensible Glory. I stand assured that God has heard my every prayer and that my faith in every case cannot go unanswered. He never gives up on us, He sees the entirety of our eternities and he desires to lead and guide our lives to the extent that we will let Him. He is my Father, I am his Son. These simple statements are the foundation of my Testimony. Within each one of us is planted the seed of Godhood....Our life has a direct purpose We are children of the King of the universe, joint heirs with Christ promised if we will obey all that the Father has. 

The Prophet Joseph Smith is one of my mortal heros. I will relentlessly defend his name and thank God for his life and all that he gave. The Book of Mormon is truer than true...I do not know how anyone could deny that book after careful study and prayer...

I am a weak Son of God, but in His strength I Know I can do all things. 

Serving the Savior Jesus Christ, and my Heavenly Father for 2 years has been a great start! I am determined to continue to accomplish Their will. I have loved being a missionary, the best decision I have made thus far...It has truly been in the furnace of affliction that my testimony has been built. 

I love you all! See you very soon!

-Elder Cordner

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Week 101 - Perth, Western Australia - August 1, 2017 - Malo

HI:) I'll just write a short little email today since i'll write a little bit of a longer one on Monday for my last...Crazy it still hasn't sunk in at all....

Well this week has been really good just still smashing it out. Idk if i told you about R who came to church last week? The 29 year old??? Well she is doing really good. She came to church again and we are seeing her tonight with a young couple in our ward. It's gonna be really good....Probably gonna put her on date...

We've also just been doing a few things to get ready for the next assistant and I am trying to teach Elder Tahere everything about the complexities of transfers before he has to deal with it on his own. haha! It's pretty hectic here on transfers because we have a lot of missionaries coming in on planes, trains, and buses from all around WA....which is like 3/4 the size of Brazil haha!

I'm soaking it in out here!!! I love you all! Talk to you again on Monday! 

Elder Cordner