In Person Zone Conference!

It is a very exciting time in missionary work. Between the nontraditional finding methods missionaries have been learning, and the reintroduction of more tradition ones, the number of people being taught in this area is very high. The number of new people we are teaching and the number of people going to Sacrament Meeting is higher than our pre-covid numbers. Some of the missionaries I work with struggle to find new people to teach only because they have no time left in the day after their lessons! 

We had zone conference this week where we focused on teaching people to their understanding and to conversion to Jesus Christ. This training served us well and there are great success stories showing up in our missionary group chats every day. From people asking the missionaries how they can be baptized in the first lesson, to people overcoming challenges that have kept them from baptism for years.

One of the experiences I was able to have this week was with a friend we have been trying to get in touch with for months. We finally found him at his place of work and it turns out our phone number was wrong the whole time!

When we came by to teach him, he told us that he wants to stop drinking alcohol but he has had trouble stopping. We taught about how Christ can help him and we had him write down his goals. But he was still unsure. So we asked him to pray. After the prayer, he dumped out his cup and threw the bottle away. The spirit of love was strong. Of course it will be a hard path for him, but he desires a new life and we are excited to give him that chance.

Incredible experiences happen when we put people first. In missionary work, that means teaching people and not lessons. In everyday life, that means being patient, thinking long-term, and understanding that a person is more important to you than whatever anger or frustration you may be experiencing in the moment. 

Elder Smith

Oh...and enjoy the picture of the fountain.