March 13, 2015
The Church of Jesus Christ is true! The Lord loves each of us! He is trying so hard to bless us!
Yesterday was a highlight of our mission so far...and that says alot. It was our first Zone Conference. We had to be in Durban (2 hours away) by 9 AM and we didn't know how to get to the chapel, so we left very early in the morning. The Senior Couples were in charge of the food and I was so grateful they decided to keep it simple.....bananas and muffins and water for breakfast; pizza (South African style), watermelon and water for lunch; bananas, left over muffins and fudge (the fudge recipe was different but good) for afternoon snacks. Bananas are cheap and we use them for everything. The elders must feel like monkeys.
They asked alll missionaries to prepare for the conference by studying the atonement this week. So the spirit was strong at the very beginning. Then the President said he had an announcement. "Yesterday we heard terrible news. Elder Larsen's (I don't know if that is the name) parents were both killed in an automobile accident and we just broke the news to him. Then Elder________'s mother passed away from cancer this morning." Can you imagine how challenging that would be??? To become an orphan on your mission. Both elders are planning to stay on their mission. They might go home for the funerals. Then President Zachrison said, This is where we have a chance to apply the atonement in our lives right now! It is easy to teach others about the atonement, but can we use it in our own lives?." Our President was sobbing and could hardly speak. For a full 5 minutes he stood there and cried. Then he told us he had pled with the Lord to allow us to feel the joy of the gospel in this meeting, inspite of the terrible news.
So that was quite a beginning. He then began teaching on Hope and Joy. He asked each missionary to identify a specific time they had felt hope. We broke into districts and each person had to given an example of when they felt hope on their mission. Our mission (like so many) is very difficult. Hard to find people to teach. Hard to get people to stay faithful. Then we got back together and each district leader shared one example from his group, with the entire zone. I thought this would be a good activity for each person or family to do....identify personally, what gives you hope. a few thoughts: 1. We work so hard every single day and nothing works out. It is so discouraging. But suddenly a brief feeling of peace comes over me and I know that it will be OK ....even though nothing changes, I feel peace. 2. Afflictions can't last forever, although it seems like it at the moment. 3. Prayers of the righteous ARE answered. When a "small prayer" is answered, it is NOT a small thing....it is a message that God loves you individually! 4.. When we have hard times and we remain faithful, we KNOW the promised blessings WILL come. These are a few of the thoughts from our elders! Pretty insightful.
In the afternoon, the two assistants to the president spoke. Their talks were so powerful that I felt as though I were in General Conference. As you know, when someone types a summary, it is not as meaningful, but you will get the jist of it.
Elder Ferrin: He told of how basketball was his life. He played from a very young age and practiced constantly and played in many leagues. However, the first 2 years in high school, he sat on the bench the entire time. He never played in one game either season. His heart was broken and he was frustrated. The summer before his junior year, his family moved and he changed high schools, but they stayed in the same school district. Therefore, he couldn't play basketball his junior year because of the rules concerning changing schools. He practiced every day with the team, but couldn't even wear a jersey in the games--he had to wear a shirt and tie and sit on the bench. He was in agony. His senior year, he was on fire to finally have his chance. After a few games, they played the number 2 team in the state. His team was behind 2 points. With a minute to go, his team had the ball. The plan was to pass him the ball, which they did. He dribbled down court while watching the clock: 6 seconds, 5 seconds, four seconds,,,,,,at 1 second he went to shoot for the 3 pointer that would win the game for them....but he lost control of the ball and didn't even get a shot off. after the buzzer went off, we fell to the gym floor and felt his life was over. He was embarrassed and mad. He couldn't move and lay there for quite awhile. He felt he would take off his jersey and never play basketball again. Eventually, the worst player on any of their teams came over to him and reached out a hand. He said, "Chin up! The team still needs you!" That's all he said, but Elder Ferrin said he used these words to give him the courage to continue playing. Then Elder Ferrin said, "We all make mistakes. We aren't perfect. We let the team down, but the Lord is saying to each of us,
"CHIN UPU! THE LORD STILL NEEDS YOU!" I am sitting here typing with tears running down my cheeks because the message is almost as powerful now as it was yesterday. I hope you can feel a little of the power of that message.
Then Elder Childs spoke. I would have hated to follow that talk, but I didn't need to worry, he continued in that same outstanding spirit.
His talk was "The Value of a Mission" . He quoted a magazine article where the mother of a sought after athlete who just signed to play ball. She said, "My son will have more influence for good and get more recognition for the church, than if he served a mission. My son has _______followers on twitter and can tell the people about the church." This elder agreed with her. He said, I will never influence that kind of numbers. I will never teach that many or help that many. BUT, he said, "What is the value of a mission?" He proceeded to say, It will transform
yourself!
A mission has more value than a beautiful girl, more value than piles of money, more important than being a king or ruling a kingdom (then he quoted a scripture for each of these).
He said a mission lasts 730 days.
730 days X 11 hours per day (minimun they should work) = 8,030 hours on mission (We are not counting hours in church on Sunday or district meetings)
104 preperation days x 8 hours for each day = 832 hours not working on your mission
So: 8,030-832= 7,198 total hours working on your mission
SO: How long does it take to get those experiences by sitting in church every week and never missing a Sunday?
7,198 hours divided by 3 hours (Sunday meetings) = 2,399 weeks
So how many years?
2,399 weeks divided by 52 weeks in a year =
46.1 years It will take over 46 years of perfect church attendance to get the same expereince as a mission....Roughly.
Plus, it is said, that when you teach someone else you learn even more....and we hope to do lots of teaching on our mission.
Then he challenged the missionaries to work hard and live up to the priviledge of being on a mission and closed with 2 stories.
There was much more, but Larry has finished the reports he needed to do so we must get back to work. I try to type an email, whenever he has something that I can't help with and 'my work" is done.
thank you for letting me share this wonderful day.
Love, Sister Todd
No comments:
Post a Comment