Hello my Family!!
I was so excited to get letters and emails this week! Thankyou! I really do appreciate it. I am almost done with the MTC already! Pete, it actually is three weeks, not two that I am here. I leave officially next Wednesday morning for the Oakland airport! We got our itinerary this week. I have heard rumors you call your family at the airport, but I am not sure if that is true....if it is, I'll probably call the home phone or dads cell around maybe 5 or 6 am in texas time...i think...im not sure... haha...
SO OH MY GOODNESS, CONFERENCE. WAS. AMAZING. It was the BEST conference to be a missionary, and really special that I was sitting in a room full of black tags waiting to go out and preach the gospel to the world, hearing the revelation from the Lord given to President Monson that Elders can go at age 18 and sisters AT AGE 19!!! That was a huge shock and the whole room (we watch conference on several big screens in a large gym/auditorium building on mtc campus, with every missionary in that one room) was almost all whooping and cheering. I know I personally have friends who have known they wanted to go on a mission, but have had to wait a whole year or two. I just pictured their faces full of joyous tears! What a blessing, we know the MTC knew nothing about it, only the 12 and first presidency. so apparently, the mtc has been in meetings with byu and all kinds of stuff ready to make changes. im sure this will affect freshman ages, space in the mtc, etc. i heard that the health center here was already booked by the weekend for sisters physical appointments because they had already talked to their bishops and are immediately starting their papers! what a blessing to have such valiant and ready missionaries! im getting the chills just thinking about it. THEN Elder Nelson gives that talk about "ask the missionaries!" and i had to keep telling myself, oh yeah that's me now haha. i better make sure im ready to answer questions.
so the new sisters we got last week are super sweet and are actually headed to dallas texas and tuscon arizona. it was a good opportunity sister olsen and i had to demonstrate companionship inventory in front of the whole new district and the branch presidency, but they said we did a fantastic job. i can tell our companionship is getting more united, and we are good leaders for our district and our zone. another way i know we are being unified is because our investigator dan, is GETTING BAPTIZED!!! ok, so it's our teacher role playing, but he said that the last lesson we gave him was significantly different than the last couple of ones, and he had said no before to us. but he said that honestly, this time he wanted to say yes. we got him to understand that his burdens of his army buddies death's could be lifted with the atonement and if he prayed for it. he prayed with us, and i was actually really nervous about what would happen. but oh man, don't even worry when the holy ghost is your companion. dan got up from the prayer, and said he felt a different kind of calm in his chest. i wanted to scream "that's the holy spirit!!!", but chose to say it in a calm voice instead haha.that led him to say yes to baptism! we have been learning more about trusting the holy ghost more and teaching with that power instead of our own knowledge.
elder bednar came to give the devotional on tuesday!! how lucky we were to get him right after conference! i was actually taking some pictures outside the cafeteria when we saw him walk through the front lobby!! i was so close! anyways, we heard from his wife, and she talked about serving. she said while we may not be relief society taking casseroles to the sick, we are taking a spiritual casserole to the world! then elder bednar immediately addressed the new missionary announcement. he said it is "apostalic humor" of hearing others not in the 12 or first presidentcy pontificate why there was the change in the age, when he said really everyone only knows about as much as they do haha. he simply said "the Lord can hasten his own work in His own time, and He is. WE are here to help move the work along" wow! basically, the Lord said it, so we're doing it!
I really liked how Elder bednar then talked about the importance of conference. i have had a strong testimony of conference for the past couple of years, but he said that even in Pres MOnson's closing remarks, and in every talk, there is a pattern. listedn for 1)the doctrine being taught 2)the invitation extended and 3)the promised blessings from acting on the invitation. that's the pattern of sharing the gospel as a missionary as well. a pattern of ask, seek, knock. i also liked where he talked about sometimes we pray for the power to open our mouth, but we should be ACTING FIRST, so open your mouth first, THEN it will be filled. action and then power.
Awesome quote from our teacher " when you are feeling fear, it's a good indicator that you're on the right path, and satan is trying to stop you from the miracle you are about to perform." elder richard g. scott.
silly story- the hunger games whistle is popular here. our district (haha get it) likes to whistle it a lot in particular. especially in the cafeteria. then missionaries either get really annoyed, or they answer back, haha.
also, please please please consider dearelder.com if you want to write me until next wedensday, otherwise, i don't know when i will get to email in california next. I REALLY LOVE YOU ALL! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!
Love,
Sister Martin
I was so excited to get letters and emails this week! Thankyou! I really do appreciate it. I am almost done with the MTC already! Pete, it actually is three weeks, not two that I am here. I leave officially next Wednesday morning for the Oakland airport! We got our itinerary this week. I have heard rumors you call your family at the airport, but I am not sure if that is true....if it is, I'll probably call the home phone or dads cell around maybe 5 or 6 am in texas time...i think...im not sure... haha...
SO OH MY GOODNESS, CONFERENCE. WAS. AMAZING. It was the BEST conference to be a missionary, and really special that I was sitting in a room full of black tags waiting to go out and preach the gospel to the world, hearing the revelation from the Lord given to President Monson that Elders can go at age 18 and sisters AT AGE 19!!! That was a huge shock and the whole room (we watch conference on several big screens in a large gym/auditorium building on mtc campus, with every missionary in that one room) was almost all whooping and cheering. I know I personally have friends who have known they wanted to go on a mission, but have had to wait a whole year or two. I just pictured their faces full of joyous tears! What a blessing, we know the MTC knew nothing about it, only the 12 and first presidency. so apparently, the mtc has been in meetings with byu and all kinds of stuff ready to make changes. im sure this will affect freshman ages, space in the mtc, etc. i heard that the health center here was already booked by the weekend for sisters physical appointments because they had already talked to their bishops and are immediately starting their papers! what a blessing to have such valiant and ready missionaries! im getting the chills just thinking about it. THEN Elder Nelson gives that talk about "ask the missionaries!" and i had to keep telling myself, oh yeah that's me now haha. i better make sure im ready to answer questions.
so the new sisters we got last week are super sweet and are actually headed to dallas texas and tuscon arizona. it was a good opportunity sister olsen and i had to demonstrate companionship inventory in front of the whole new district and the branch presidency, but they said we did a fantastic job. i can tell our companionship is getting more united, and we are good leaders for our district and our zone. another way i know we are being unified is because our investigator dan, is GETTING BAPTIZED!!! ok, so it's our teacher role playing, but he said that the last lesson we gave him was significantly different than the last couple of ones, and he had said no before to us. but he said that honestly, this time he wanted to say yes. we got him to understand that his burdens of his army buddies death's could be lifted with the atonement and if he prayed for it. he prayed with us, and i was actually really nervous about what would happen. but oh man, don't even worry when the holy ghost is your companion. dan got up from the prayer, and said he felt a different kind of calm in his chest. i wanted to scream "that's the holy spirit!!!", but chose to say it in a calm voice instead haha.that led him to say yes to baptism! we have been learning more about trusting the holy ghost more and teaching with that power instead of our own knowledge.
elder bednar came to give the devotional on tuesday!! how lucky we were to get him right after conference! i was actually taking some pictures outside the cafeteria when we saw him walk through the front lobby!! i was so close! anyways, we heard from his wife, and she talked about serving. she said while we may not be relief society taking casseroles to the sick, we are taking a spiritual casserole to the world! then elder bednar immediately addressed the new missionary announcement. he said it is "apostalic humor" of hearing others not in the 12 or first presidentcy pontificate why there was the change in the age, when he said really everyone only knows about as much as they do haha. he simply said "the Lord can hasten his own work in His own time, and He is. WE are here to help move the work along" wow! basically, the Lord said it, so we're doing it!
I really liked how Elder bednar then talked about the importance of conference. i have had a strong testimony of conference for the past couple of years, but he said that even in Pres MOnson's closing remarks, and in every talk, there is a pattern. listedn for 1)the doctrine being taught 2)the invitation extended and 3)the promised blessings from acting on the invitation. that's the pattern of sharing the gospel as a missionary as well. a pattern of ask, seek, knock. i also liked where he talked about sometimes we pray for the power to open our mouth, but we should be ACTING FIRST, so open your mouth first, THEN it will be filled. action and then power.
Awesome quote from our teacher " when you are feeling fear, it's a good indicator that you're on the right path, and satan is trying to stop you from the miracle you are about to perform." elder richard g. scott.
silly story- the hunger games whistle is popular here. our district (haha get it) likes to whistle it a lot in particular. especially in the cafeteria. then missionaries either get really annoyed, or they answer back, haha.
also, please please please consider dearelder.com if you want to write me until next wedensday, otherwise, i don't know when i will get to email in california next. I REALLY LOVE YOU ALL! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!
Love,
Sister Martin
No comments:
Post a Comment