Jesus Christ really does love us.

The moment comes to realisation that Elder Pinyon has sent me his last email entry as a full time missionary. It is exciting to know that he will arriving back to Australia this week. Wow! Where did the last 2 years and a bit go? There is still HOPE for this blog to reach 10,000 total page views before Elder Pinyon gets home. There is only very limited days left.

Elder Pinyon has said,

"Jesus Christ really does love you.

Hello my dear Family and Friends,

This here is my last entry as a full time missionary. It brings me tears to know it's my last. I want to thank you all for your help, love and support. Today, I'd love to talk about love and Christlike love.

Is there a difference? What is love? What is Christlike love? Many of these questions have I tried to answer during my mission. Some of them answered and some I am still working on finding the answer. Something that was promised to me, is that I would go on my mission, feel and see the love of God that He has for me and His children and then be able to share the pure love of Christ with others. I know that I have felt the love of God on my mission. More than once and I am truly grateful for the love that He offers me.

John 3:16 says: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God loves us. There is a hymn in the Music Hymn book from our church. It's called "I Stand all Amazed" (#193). The first and second verse say:

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified, That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine, That he should extend his great love unto such as I, Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

Then with a wonderful chorus leading this beautiful hymn:

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me Enough to die for me! Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

This hymn and these words, just sum up my feelings that I feel everyday because of my Saviour, Jesus Christ and His Father, our Heavenly Father, God. I'm truly grateful for the love that God gives
me. I know He cares. He does watch out for us and He wants us to become better.

My favourite scripture in the English holy writ is John 15:13. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

The reason I love this scripture is because it explains everything for me. When I have a problem, when I am stressed, when I feel like someone has done wrong to me, I turn to this scripture and understand that I am a loved child of my Heavenly Father.

Christ is truly there for us and he only wants what's best for us. I know this, because I have seen Him change my life and also the life of many in Germany. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Gods kingdom on Earth and that it is the only church that has a fullness of truth. I know God lives and loves us, every single one of us. He has changed so many lives and will keep on doing that, until His work is complete. I love you all, take care and until next week.

Elder Pinyon

PS. The updates will keep coming, I'll tell you all about my homecoming and about my 30 hour flight home.

Sent from Elder Pinyon"

Stay Tuned until next time.

Things are really going well in Zwickau

This week's update,

"Hello my dear friends and family,

Things are really going well in Zwickau. I love Zwickau, it is definitely my favourite ward and the people are just so friendly and nice. It's going to be hard next week, to say bye to all these wonderful people that I have met. But it's ok, I'm coming back and I'll see them all again. Our friend Brother Arnold come to church again yesterday.

He is preparing for his baptism on the 12 March. I'm so excited for him. He told me yesterday that after he ate breakfast, that all his power and strength left him. He really wanted to come to church, but Satan had once again attacked. He started vacuuming the house and after that, his strength came back, so he hoped in the car and came to church. One piece of advice, cleaning is good for the soul and will strengthen us. We need to clean our temples, or in other words, our bodies.

When we keep our bodies clean from all sorts of filth, the Lord will bless us with the strength that we need to keep going. The Prophet, Joseph Smith Jr. received a revelation in 1833 called the Word of Wisdom. This is a commandment, that helps us maintain a good health and also helps us to keep a clean body and temple.

As it says in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."

We need to keep our temples clean so the Spirit of the Lord can dwell in us. Another way of keeping our temple clean is by not letting in the filth and sleaze of the world. Namely, pornography. This will only destroy you and also your family later on in life. I read a great quote this week that said "porn kills love". That is so true. Don't let your thoughts dwindle within this sleaze, it's not needed. Keep your mind clean and pure and come unto Christ. If you have had problems in the past with any of these things, it's ok, that's why we have a Saviour. He came so we could be forgiven for these mistakes we made, but use His Atonement.

I hope you all have a great week, take care,

Elder Pinyon

Sent from Elder Pinyon"

Stay Tuned until next time.

If you want to be a master teacher, you must first be a master student

For the past weeks, I have been noticing Elder Pinyon sends me a email either during our conversation or send me directly about the weekly updates. About 3 weeks ago, Elder Pinyon has asked me to stop posting on his Facebook wall about blog updates. As far as I know, Elder Pinyon sends me updates directly because it saves time.

The advantages to that is he gets more time to email other friends, email family and he still gets the time to talk to me via emails. This week's update is short and amazing.

Subject: If you want to be a master teacher, you must first be a master student

Message: 

"Nicodemus came unto Christ one night and said to Him "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God".

What is a great teacher and what is a great student?

A great student is someone who listens and takes council. They are teachable and open for new ideas, so they can try to apply that to their own lives. Great Students are those who seek to learn. Sometimes they don't have the best grades or the best scores at school, but they are those who put in the most effort. Effort is where success is found. If we always give our best, no matter what the outcome may be, God will bless us.

A great teacher is someone who is loving, caring and wants to give. Their passion is to always help their neighbour. We have 2 great teachers, they are:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The Holy Ghost
John 14:26 says the following: but the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall TEACH you all things, and BRING all things to your REMEMBRANCE, whatsoever I have said unto you.

So great teachers, Teach and bring to remembrance.
Our Saviour Jesus Christ did the same as He was speaking with Nicodemus. He taught him about baptism and how a man must be born again. Nicodemus, he was a little confused. Christ helped him understand that we must be born again through the Spirit. That our sins need to be washed away so we can become clean and live with God again.

I hope we all can become teachers from God. That should always be our goal, I know it's one of mine.

I love you all and have a great week

Elder Pinyon

Sent from Elder Pinyon."

Stay Tuned until next time.