Refocused and Recommitted

We had zone conference this week. That was pretty cool. That was on Friday. We did a little mini trek on one of the member's property. They had a bunch of trails in back of their house, and the church buildings had some hand carts, so we had fun with that. The zone conference was related to Zion's camp, basically. So that kind of tied in. We learned a lot of different things and had a lot of different trainings on different ways we can improve on our missionary work. I like how the Zion's camp training was based on overcoming trials and going through patience to get the growth that we need and to prepare. I was thinking about how missions are kind of like that, and how it's going to prepare me a lot for when I get back home (haha). I did a little bit of training myself on working with members.

On Wednesday we had a lesson with one of our investigators. We taught his kids for a little bit and had one of the members come – she is actually the Primary president. So it was kind of nice. It was a good lesson. Sister Averett taught about prayer for the kids, but then we had a lesson with the parents.

We were able to meet with another lady and to help her; her name was [Name withheld]. We read a little bit with her in the Book of Mormon and were able to help her see the purpose in it.

We are excited for the coming week because we get to be busy with missionary work. Not that meetings aren't missionary work, but they are nice to refocus, but we are ready to go. I am kind of tired of sitting down in cars (haha). So I am excited for when I get back home when I will be walking and riding a bike everywhere, but that's beside the point.

I like Elder Beirne. He's a good missionary, and he's got the Spirit with him a lot, and so it helps me get excited and have a lot of fun while we are out doing missionary work. It helps me stay focused a lot.

I'm glad I have this opportunity to serve a mission. I feel like I learn something new every day. I really like where I am reading at in the Book of Mormon right now; in Helaman. I think it parallels a lot of what we go through today. I just like all the stories in there and like Nephi and what a great example he was. I like how in chapter 10 verses 4 and 5 how Nephi is weighed down, and even though he has such a strong testimony and was a successful missionary, the people still kind of reject him. When he is kind of weighed down with the sorrow, the Lord tells him he is happy with him, and the work that he has done. He says that he has seen how Nephi has with unwearyingness declared the word, and then he says that he is going to bless him. I like how that is kind of what the Lord looks for is our efforts, and what we do, and how hard we try. I also love how the Lord takes opportunities to comfort us and show us that he loves us. I feel I have been learning a lot of that on my mission so far (haha). I have been learning a lot about how to listen to the Spirit. It was just another fun week; great learning experience, and I'm excited about the next week.

We may be doing some awesome new things for P-days because we are starting to get a little more creative (haha). The weather is not so great, so we can't just play or do stuff outside as much anymore. We'll probably go to some museums or stuff like that. I'll make sure to take pictures.

If you could, it would be awesome if you could take another picture of everybody and send it up. I'm sure everybody has grown. I'd like to see how everyone has grown and everybody's heights compared to each other. (haha) And then see how short I am in comparison.

I will be sending today my SD card in the mail with some of my movies and pictures and stuff. That's about it. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Record