When I first arrived in Australia five years ago, I was so unfamiliar with everything here; less population, quiet streets, small city, people speaking English all the time, houses instead of apartments and so on. I tried my best to study and to work for my living, even though life seemed very simple and enriched, I encountered lots of challenges and difficulties in my first year in Brisbane. My good friends tried to extort me, my boss forced me to keep working after I hurt myself; I asked myself, "why am I here? I didn't feel happy, but to come here was my own choice and I needed to move forward".
I moved to Sydney and started investigating the Christian World. When I went to a few Bible study groups, their idea of "you only need faith" didn't really attract me and I was quite disappointed until one night, two young men stopped me on the street and asked me, "Do you want to know about God?" I gave a "no" reply. As one of them kept talking to me the other ran after a running man, and suddenly that man gave the Elder a punch. I was shocked and asked the young men to check with his companion. Soon, the punched Elder ran to us with a big smile; my heart softened and I decided to meet these two missionaries the next week.
After one month I finally had the time to investigate the sacrament meeting on Sunday. That Sunday, I felt different, different from other Christian churches and different from anything I had experienced in my life. I was a hard-hearted investigator, I took almost 1 year before I was baptized. But throughout this whole time, I would always wake up early on Sunday morning and walk 1.5 hours to attend sacrament meeting as I didn't have enough money to bus all the time. I knew I didn't have a testimony and didn't know how I had that power to go every Sunday, but I now understand the reason as stated in 1 Nephi 4:6.
I was invited to family home evening every Sunday night. Though I didn't fully understand the purpose of holding family home evening, I came to know lots of member friends and felt the great feeeling of family in this church. Brother Kwok was a great example of leading his family and he taught me a lot. When I was invited to attend the first General Conference in my life, I rejected this invitation from the missionareis, but I talked to myself in my heart, if Brother Kwok came to pick me up then I would change my mind and go. Unexpectaedly, Brother Kwok rang me up after I had that thought and I could not deny this miracle. I sat in the church understanding nothing, but it was my first time to hear the prophet talk. I felt I was loved by some great power, that power gave me the similar feeling from my father.
Elder and Sister Smith had just started their mission when I had investigated the church for 8 months. Elder Smith asked me, "are you a member?" I said, "No." He replied, "Why not?" He drew on my left palm three letters: C.T.R. and explained to me the meaning. I was really grateful to this missionary couple. Even though Elder Smith suffered from cancer, his dedication to the work really touched me. They called us investigators often to check our progress in the Gospel and organized lots of spiritual activities for us to experience. I fet the conection between church and myself through receiving invitations to these activities.
Brother Komy is a nice Korean returned missionary. He always told me boldly, "you are a good man, come join the Gospel and receive the blessings". Once his wife went back to Korea for three months for holiday and he decided to have daily contact with me. He walked with me whenever there was an available night for both of us. Along with these walking hours, he never felt tired to share with me the promised blessings of the Gospel. He was an example of a saint: diligent, caring about others, lovely and bold. He came to be one of my best friends in the church despite our gap of age difference. He never gave up and tried his best to help me understand the importance of the Gospel. Once I joined the church, he provided me greater vision of serving a mission, he always encouraged me to progress in the Gospel.
One year after I joined the church, I started to think about going on a mission. I talked to my parents, they were strongly against it. I offered much prayer and fasting for this special purpose. They came to visit me in Sydney for my graduation ceremony for ten days. I brought them to the Chinese ward which I never attended before, the Bishop of this ward didn't know my family would come, but a miracle took place. All of the talks and teachings that day was centered on missionary work; it left my parents with a great impression as the talks were all in Mandarin. When we went home for dinner, I asked my father three questions: "Dad, what do you think about church?" He said, "Good". "Dad, can I serve in the church?" He replied, "Yes, why not" "Dad, can I still serve the mission?" There was an awkward moment after this question, but my father answered. "Son, you have found your place here in Australia through your own effort, you can do any good thing you choose to do, but you are also a man, you need to be responsible for your life after your mission. But if you can't handle it, as your father, I will help you." I could have wept! My father set a great example since I was born, he is a righteous man. He never said "yes" for the wrong thing and always stood up for the right. Even though my family isn't a church family, I am grateful God put me in this family to learn the great value of being a son of God.
I am grateful to share my story. I believe those people who helped me with my conversion did feel joy in their life and I would regret if I never chose to join this Church and have the Gospel in my life. I will do my best to serve in the Lord's vineyard here in Brisbane Australia to help more souls like me to come unto Christ.
Elder Yuming Chen from Mainland China
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