You Have That Light in Your Eyes!

Light

HI!!!!  Yesterday we were at Church and we were having our 5 minute break in between Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society class.  I was standing in the hallway and Sister N____ W_____ came up to me.  Sister W_____ is the best and she is most definitely the Grandma of our area and takes care of us.  Anyways she came up to me and started telling me a story about a couple years ago when the Church set up Brigham Young University in Jerusalem.  She was telling me that even though they had the school there that they couldn't preach the Gospel in Jerusalem or try to convert anybody or anything.  She said that there was one man there in the meeting from Jerusalem that said, "but how do we hide the light in there eyes?"  Sister W_____ told me that I have that light in my eyes.  She then walked to her class because she was teaching.  I sat there in the hall praising God for how He has blessed me in my life.  Almost crying and feeling the Spirit knowing that the Lord is in my life and I am letting my light shine to the world.  I thought of an account in the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi when Christ teaches the Nephites and He teaches us.  

3 Nephi 12:14-16 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the light of this people.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.  Behold, do men light a candle and put it under a bushel?  Nay, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house;  Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven."  

Do we hide our light or do we let it shine to the nations?  Are we an example to the unbelievers and also to the believers?  Is Christ in our lives or better to ask is Christ our life?  Do we accept the call to 'Come Follow Me' and serve Him with all of our Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength?  If we do He will take care of us and we will be happy.  The Lord promises us a couple verses earlier in verse 12 something that we all want.  

Verse 12, "For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven;..."  Let your light so shine to the world because it is in you in your eyes!  

Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ;..."  

Matt. 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men,..."  

Be not afraid of who you are and LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!!!
 

Working Hard in Merimbula

This week has been one of the busiest weeks on my mission and me and Elder Tingey were struggling to make it home each night to go to bed.  Yesterday around 6 o'clock we returned home to have dinner and do our weekly planning and we were both utterly exhausted.  We talked about our week and how amazing it felt to know that we are working our guts out!  Our area of Merimbula is amazing.  When I was first called to serve down here  I honestly didn't know if I could do it.  We worked hard man oh man we worked hard with my first companion Elder Newman who is a great guy and had a desire.  Let's get this show on the road and we started to do very well.  D_____ was such a huge blessing and his story and being able to aid in that is something that will be dear to my heart forever.  We continued along and improved as missionaries.  Then it was Elder Newman's time to move on to a new area and I was nervous.  Who will be my new companion and will he just want to have a holiday down here?  The Lord answered my prayers and blessed me with an amazing companion in Elder Tingey.  What an amazing missionary and friend how grateful I am for him.  We decided to kick it up a notch!  Let's reach higher and work harder.  This past transfer and a half has been stellar!  We have not had much success and lot's of heart aches and disappointments but we have grown and changed and helped so many people whether they wanted the help or not.  The area of Merimbula has been closed and re-opened time and time again because of it's disobedience and lack of work and success.  It was known as a holiday area but now I believe it has been changed through the grace and love of God and through faithful and diligent servants.  The reason I share this is because this last week on Friday our Mission President, President Back and his wife Sister Back came down to our area for interviews.  They asked us so many questions about our obedience and our area and the members and every question they asked us we could answer back 100% honestly in telling them we are obedient, faithful, diligent missionaries.  How great it was to see there joy and excitement about this area.  It is still a very tough area if not the toughest in our mission but I am so grateful and love this area to death.  It is my home and these members are my family.  I serve them and I serve the Lord to the best of my abilities to help and teach and many people as I can.  

Throwback! President and Sister Back the day Dalton arrived in Sydney. August 25, 2015

Home :-) :-(

Interviews were amazing but sadly the first thing they talked about was me returning home. :-(  It made me so sad especially as my love for my mission and the people of Australia has grown so much lately.  It is official and I will return home on the 25th of July.  That is the day I report to the Airport to fly home.  What humility that brought me to know that my mission is almost over what my whole life has led up to is now almost over.  6 months I have left and that time is practically none to how fast it goes by but I know that until that day of the 25th of July comes I will be out doing all that I can to share this wonderful Gospel that has changed my life.  President and Sister Back told me how proud they are of me and how grateful they are for me in the mission.  They told me I am a great guy and to keep it up.  What great words of praise from people that I idol in my life but I cannot take credit for these things in my life and on my mission just like Ammon (my favorite BofM hero) I can only boast of my God.  Because of Him everything is possible and everything that has happened on my mission is all because of Him.  

His Hands

At the beginning of my mission I read a talk about a consecrated missionary.  The speaker talked about that the Lord and God have everything of us and can control everything about us except for our agency and our will.  That is the only thing and for us to become consecrated we must give that over to the Lord and then we have truly given ourselves over to the Lord.  I told myself that day at the beginning of my mission that I wanted to do that.  It was hard and it still is hard but I have seen in my life as I have given over my life to the Lord.  Placed my life in His hands to turn me into who He wants me to be He has changed me into someone for greater then I ever even imagined.  I never ever would have thought at the beginning of my mission I would do all of the things that I have done and help all those that I have helped and come out on the other side praising God and thanking the Lord for the Atonement.  I never would have thought someone would come up to me and tell me, "you have that light in your eyes."  He has turned me into a servant that He wants me to be and that is a heap greater then I would have ever been able to achieve on my own.  The rest of my life will be in His hands and I know He will take care of me and all will be good.  LIFE IS GOOD!!:)
I love you Mum and Dad thanks.  HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!
Love Elder Stott 

Pictures Naomi Shoobridge Sent Us from the Park Run FB Page