So that whole getting
people to do their home-teaching initiative isn’t working. Out of the three rendezvous
set this week none of them worked. Either the visitor wasn’t there or the
family canceled on us. Well we'll keep trying to help the branch but maybe
we'll need to find a new way.
I can’t really
remember any spectacular stories from this week, so I’m just going to bombard
you with a bunch of random things that happened to us. We came home one night
and the other elders had a massive rolled up poster that they were cutting up.
They told me it was a pornography poster they confiscated from a member and
they planned to burn it. (Hence the title of the email, get it - it's a pun) We
put all the pieces in a pan and drenched it with petrol. Placed it out on our
patio and then tried for 5 minutes to lite the stupid thing with terrible cheap
matches. I’m proud to say I struck the match that finally ignited it! Might not
sound like anything too fun, but we all got a good kick out of it and it helped
a member live the commandments. So, win win.
A lot of our Amis just
aren’t coming to church, which is really sad. We are currently teaching about
30 people and 5 come to church. And they aren’t even regular! Well it was the
same this weekend during general conference. Let me just start by saying,
Conference is so cool, and it's becoming even better every time I watch it!
Saturday was just
filled with really awesome talks. Such good counsel. I think I liked Elder
Christofferson's talk the best from Saturday. He talked about being accountable
for our choices and being in charge of ourselves. I remember him saying, God
will never force you to do something. It was fun being in a foreign branch for
conference because you can see when the members get excited and which speakers
they like. During priesthood session everyone was pretty excited and awake.
President Uchtdorf's
talk got a lot of head nods and "yes, exactly" shouts from the crowd.
As well all the men loved President Monson's talk about the Bismark and how we
can avoid enemies that would stop our progress. I talked with one member about
it after and he said, "Monson spoke like a general - you could just feel
it. He spoke with authority!" It was good to see all the members get
excited to hear the prophet.
Another crazy thing I
noticed. Sunday morning, 3 talks back to back about following the prophet! 3!
Then in the afternoon, Elder Ballard mentioned it again! 4 talks telling us to
do what the prophet says. I think there is a message they're trying to give us.
I remember when I was in middle school all the talks were about pornography and
sexual sins. We (the missionaries) noticed that there was no pornography talks
this time around. None, not even from the sisters that spoke! That's obviously
a good thing - it means we have fixed that problem, but it looks like the new
problem is following the prophets. Elder Hatch jokingly predicted that when
President Monson dies, there is going to be a sect that splits from the church
and follows a new self-proclaimed prophet! We'll whatever the case I'll be in
the church for the 17th prophet.
We'll instead of just
continuing to type out random stuff that doesn’t make a lot of sense I’m just
going to wish you all a great week! Man, fall break already. Enjoy yourself and
be safe. Hey, I got your post card. Thanks for the notes Maya, Mom, and Gabbie.
I loved the picture. When all the members saw it they asked "is that
you?" haha. Well I love you guys bunches! Keep working hard and enjoy
Halloween. What are the costumes? I suggest Captain America!
