First
of all, we have heard tons of rumors about this General Conference.
Several Missionaries have heard from family and friends in the MTC's
that the Apostles have said, "This Conference, you all need testimonies.
If you do not have a testimony, this could be the conference that
breaks you." From further discussion amongst missionaries, we have come
to a conclusion that something hard is going to happen. With the release
of the book Saints, we read a lot about the hard things
the members of the church had to do. Now, when was the last "hard"
thing was?? I can't even think of something that's been hard. So, several
things have risen as we have discussed the upcoming events of the
Conference. We think, because of the hastening of the work that Sisters
might be called to serve 2 year missions and Elders called to serve 3
year missions. Anyone on missions have the choice to extend to the new
standard or come home at the appointed time. In the Saints book,
several chapters are dedicated to Polygamy. Probably won't come back
because there is no real reason for it too, but... its possible! Idk..
Whatever comes, I think it will be hard and test our faith. Hopefully we
all have a testimony and it won't be as hard.
We
had a great lesson with O. this week. It was the best lesson of my
mission and best lesson of Elder Fragoso's mission. We went to teach
O. and his brother who we started teaching. The last lesson we had
with them, S., the brother of O., said the closing prayer. In his
prayer, he prayed to Jesus Christ and ended in the name of Heavenly
Father. For this lesson, we were going to go over the God Head with a
focus of the Holy Ghost and how, through prayer and reading, they could
receive an answer. We started by opening to the back of the Book of
Mormon and reading the guide to the Scriptures under the Holy Ghost. It
talks about the role the Holy Ghost has and the importance of it. We
then headed to the introduction and discussed the very first promise
made in the Book of Mormon. We talked about how there are three things
they will learn when they know the Book of Mormon is true. They will
know that Jesus is their Savior and Redeemer, that Joseph Smith was His
Prophet and Seer, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints is Christ's church. With that, they need to do three things.
Church, pray, read. Once we discussed that and how important reading and
praying was, we went to Moroni 10:4-5. We discussed what prayer does.
With a real intent, seeking in humility and through prayer, we can
receive an answer. We asked them if they have any experiences with the
Holy Ghost and they both shared experiences where they almost died and
they felt, when they lived, that God was there. We helped them
understand that that feeling was the Holy Ghost. We then taught them how
to pray. We told them why we address our Heavenly Father first, explain
things we are grateful for and what we need, and end in the name of
Jesus Christ. I asked them if we could practice what we just taught. I
first said a prayer, going through the steps we had taught them. Next,
O. said his own prayer in the correct way. We talked about the
feeling that was there with them in that moment. They said that they now
know what the Holy Ghost feels like. We testified and closed our lesson
with S. saying the concluding prayer. He did it perfectly and it was
an amazing lesson! We committed them to baptism on the 27th of October and to continue praying, reading and coming to church. They didn't come to church however...
That was the biggest thing that happened. Mom asked me what being a Zone Leader was like so I will write a little on that.
It's
nothing special really. All you do is watch over and help serve. Its
just like any President of a Quorum except we don't have any keys. In a
transfer we, create a Zone Vision, something to direct District Leaders
for their District Councils, go on exchanges with the Assistants, with
District Leaders, and any other struggling companionships. We record Key
Indicators of Conversion and report that to the Assistants, attend
Mission Leadership Council, go to Zone Conference and give a training
based upon information sent to us from the Assistants. That's about it.
We set an example and try to be the best missionaries we can.
For
exchanges, we discuss the needs of each companion and who can better
help the Elder overcome his issues. We pray and discuss as a
companionship. A lot is rotation and who you've already been with but
that can change and you can go with others.
I've
learned a lot from Elder Fragoso. He is very effective and efficient
with his time. A lot of missionaries tract for days on the mission.
That's what we think missions are. President Mavromatis has asked us to
move away from tracting but I was never sure of what to fill time with
when we aren't tracting. I learned from Elder Fragoso to work through
our area book and have it be clean and record things to know when people
need to be stopped teaching etc. Its hard to explain in one paragraph
but I can spend more time on that if you want me too!
Anyway, about out of time! Love you all! Take care.
Elder Bushman
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