This past Saturday we had a great ward Fiesta. The turn out was phenomenal. We had 147 people show up for it and we still had more than enough food. Although I don't think we would have been able to fit too many more people in our little gym. It was a great activity as we were able to get a lot of the Spanish speaking members there. There were many people who came who hadn't been to church in many years. We were also able to get a good amount of left overs to enjoy.
Elder Wright and I have decided that we are going to work with Elder Bown and Elder Davis to try and do a weekly family home evening at the church to extend some fellowship to the members that haven't been to church for a while. So any ideas of things to do for family home evening would be appreciated.
So update on the Williamson family. They are the ones that we have been working with towards baptism. As of this past week we set a baptismal date with them. We are shooting for the 11th of march. It is really exciting and the whole ward is looking forward to it. I'll make sure to keep you updated.
Sadly we weren't able to find any new investigators this week. We've been having trouble being able to return to teach these people we meet. It is a little rough but we have plans to get back in with them and find even more people to work with. I know there are plenty here in Quincy even though it may seem like a little town. This week I thought a little about how missionaries at times will say that they have knocked out an entire area. I don't really think someone can knock out an entire area. There is just too many people to talk to. Even if we talk to someone at every house we still haven't talked to the other people who happen to live there. I think once we understand that it makes it a whole lot easier to go and knock doors that have already been knocked.
I really enjoyed the zone conference we had. This time around we talked a lot about the importance of teaching repentance and baptizing converts. It seems as if there is some sort of theme in all the meetings we have been having lately. I can see the need we have to learn more about the importance of teaching repentance and baptizing converts and also our purpose as missionaries. When we understand that we will better be able to see where we can improve personally and how we can better help those we teach progress. This past zone conference made me see the importance of Chapter 1 of preach my gospel. No wonder it is at the beginning. I look forward to being able to learn even more and applying it to our missionary work. We already decided that we need to be better at helping people know our purpose so we are going to do that. There was lots to learn in our zone conference as there almost always is. One thought that I loved was this "Changing behavior without involving the Savior is not repentance". That was a thought that really made me think about the importance of our purpose as missionaries. That being to invite others to come unto Christ through his gospel. We can invite people to change but, when we don't help them involve the Savior it doesn't have as much of a lasting effect on them. Another comment that was made is that, "we need to record the things that have not been said but, that we've felt". That is an important part of taking notes during meetings. We can get a lot more out of our meetings when we do so.
After this zone conference I thought a little about what someone would need to do to be prepared for their mission. I know that I've suggested reading and studying the scriptures but, there is much more that we can do to be ready. The one thing I though about was the importance of understanding the gospel and applying it in life. And more specifically understanding repentance and working to do so every day. It helps having a better grasp of that as we go and invite others to repent and involve the savior more in their lives. Another thing that I think is important for being prepared is gaining a testimony of the gospel and its restoration in the latter days. We need to go through the same process that we invite others to go through. That being read, ponder and pray. With that greater conviction it is a lot easier to share the gospel.
Also this past Friday after our missionary correlation with Brother Erickson, our ward mission leaders, he loaded us up with a bunch of little toys from the dollar store. Now we have pop guns, lots of metal puzzles and some candles. Who knew you could have so much fun with the stuff you can buy at the local dollar store. We will never be short of things to do in our apartment.
I have one request from everyone who reads my weekly email. I'd like for everyone to send their favorite scripture. It would also be appreciated if you add why it is your favorite. If you can't pick one send many.
I hope everyone has a great week and we will be working to make sure ours is as well.
Love Ya'll
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