I am officially halfway through, 9 months on the mission today! Cannot believe that as I still feel like a greenie that knows nothing, but it is pretty exciting!!!
So, about the emergency conference. We had already heard most of the news as two elders in our district had to be transferred last week to fill a gap in the mission. Basically, some missionaries had been seriously breaking rules (leaving the mission limits and creating a face book account that publicised things that were almost blasphemous). It resulted in 7 being sent home and perhaps a couple more. It was really sad and we had all been pretty shocked by it. The conference itself was actually a lot better than expected. It was really touching to see the love President has for these people, even though it is distressing to see how much it has affected him. Elder Kearon talked about how this is not a disobedient mission, just one experiencing a particular problem at a particular time, which was encouraging, because when we first found out it felt a bit like they had brought shame on us all. He spoke in terms of a serious attack that Satan was making on our mission and we discussed examples of how times of great darkness and difficulty come before great miracles. So we are meant to be on the up now. It definitely was a conference of hope for our future as a mission. Now we are preparing to fulfil our potential.
Other than that we had a great activity on Saturday at the stake centre. The missionaries there were organising a grand Brazilian party. It was held outside the chapel and we had lots of carnival like games. We were put in charge of one where you bounced a ping pong ball into plastic cups. If you won each game you got a ticket for food or drink, so it kept the queues under control and everyone was very determined to win! We had 3 investigators there and our recent converts, so we were really happy!
Our area also just doubled in size when we inherited half of the elders area. It means we've been playing a bit of a treasure hunt with finding new places on the old map they gave us. Lots of people have set return appointments with us so we are really excited. It is always lovely being and doing something new.
I had a really great experience with one of our less actives that is trying to sort out his life. He wants to come back to church, full membership and hopefully serve a mission one day. I realised that there is so much more to missionary work than the number of baptisms we witness. There are precious souls that literally are crying out for our good influence, and it's not just missionaries that can provide that support.
I realise that I still have so much to learn and I will never be the perfect all-knowing missionary that I had dreamed of at the start.
Hope you are all enjoying your weeks, Com amor.
So, about the emergency conference. We had already heard most of the news as two elders in our district had to be transferred last week to fill a gap in the mission. Basically, some missionaries had been seriously breaking rules (leaving the mission limits and creating a face book account that publicised things that were almost blasphemous). It resulted in 7 being sent home and perhaps a couple more. It was really sad and we had all been pretty shocked by it. The conference itself was actually a lot better than expected. It was really touching to see the love President has for these people, even though it is distressing to see how much it has affected him. Elder Kearon talked about how this is not a disobedient mission, just one experiencing a particular problem at a particular time, which was encouraging, because when we first found out it felt a bit like they had brought shame on us all. He spoke in terms of a serious attack that Satan was making on our mission and we discussed examples of how times of great darkness and difficulty come before great miracles. So we are meant to be on the up now. It definitely was a conference of hope for our future as a mission. Now we are preparing to fulfil our potential.
Other than that we had a great activity on Saturday at the stake centre. The missionaries there were organising a grand Brazilian party. It was held outside the chapel and we had lots of carnival like games. We were put in charge of one where you bounced a ping pong ball into plastic cups. If you won each game you got a ticket for food or drink, so it kept the queues under control and everyone was very determined to win! We had 3 investigators there and our recent converts, so we were really happy!
Our area also just doubled in size when we inherited half of the elders area. It means we've been playing a bit of a treasure hunt with finding new places on the old map they gave us. Lots of people have set return appointments with us so we are really excited. It is always lovely being and doing something new.
I had a really great experience with one of our less actives that is trying to sort out his life. He wants to come back to church, full membership and hopefully serve a mission one day. I realised that there is so much more to missionary work than the number of baptisms we witness. There are precious souls that literally are crying out for our good influence, and it's not just missionaries that can provide that support.
I realise that I still have so much to learn and I will never be the perfect all-knowing missionary that I had dreamed of at the start.
Hope you are all enjoying your weeks, Com amor.