Week 7: Mission Wide Conference

I had a bit of an accident while playing games with the district. I jumped a little too hard and landed awkwardly on someone's foot, spraining my ankle pretty badly. It was swollen and bruised pretty good, but I tried to push through and work as normal for a couple of days. Big mistake! The district finally forced me to call the mission nurse, and let's just say he wasn't pleased with me. He reminded me that I'm not invincible and that I need to take care of this body I'm in. I ended up taking it easy Monday night and Thursday, but it's actually made me more determined to get back out there and do the work. It's a reminder that we're not just working for the Lord, but we're also His servants, and we need to take care of ourselves to serve Him best. I've been incredibly blessed to be on this mission right before an apostolic visit! We had a Mission Wide Conference this past Saturday, and it was amazing to see the whole mission come together in Cranberry. Elder Neil L. Anderson from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to us, and he was so funny and relatable! He even used phrases like "you know what I'm sayin'" to connect with us, it was hilarious coming from an apostle! Now, whenever anyone sends a message in the mission, they make sure to add #ykwhatimsayin afterwards. Elder Anderson emphasized building a strong foundation on our mission by studying the word of Christ and memorizing verses that we know are true. This really hit home for me, as I've been focusing on building my faith in Christ lately. I've started reading "Jesus the Christ" by Talmage, and it's been a game-changer! I'm reading at least an hour a day, and it's been incredible to gain a deeper understanding of the Savior. I know it's a long book, but I'm determined to learn as much as I can. I'm even thinking about starting to memorize verses, as Elder Anderson advised. It's been a great experience, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to grow spiritually on this mission. I've been reflecting on Alma 18 lately, where Ammon teaches King Lamoni using questions. King Lamoni's encounter with Ammon is a powerful example of how to share the gospel with someone who has limited knowledge of God. Initially, Lamoni only knows of the "Great Spirit," a concept he's familiar with from his culture and tradition (Alma 18:5). Ammon cleverly uses this existing understanding to teach Lamoni about the true God, Jehovah. He asks Lamoni if he believes in the Great Spirit, and when Lamoni affirms, Ammon says, "This is God" (Alma 18:28). Through their conversation, Ammon helps Lamoni understand that the Great Spirit is actually the God of the Nephites, who created the heavens and the earth and knows all thoughts and intents of the heart (Alma 18:32). As Lamoni learns more, he becomes increasingly convinced that Ammon is more than just a man, and he eventually believes Ammon's words, crying out to the Lord for mercy (Alma 18:40-41). Our mission has been focusing on this approach, and it's been amazing to see how it makes people participate more and invites the Spirit into the conversation. Instead of just sharing information, we're asking questions and letting people share their thoughts and lead the lesson. It's a great way to create a more engaging and personal learning experience. Spiritually, it's a reminder that everyone has a unique journey and perspective. By asking questions and listening, we can help others tap into their own spiritual experiences and insights, allowing them to grow and learn in a more organic way. I'm grateful to be part of a mission that's emphasizing this approach, and I'm excited to see how it'll continue to bless the people we're serving. The transfers have come and gone, and I'm excited to share that I'll be staying right here in Johnstown with Elder Kress! I'm actually really grateful for this, as I've grown to love the people in this area and I'm eager to spend more time with them and continue to serve with Elder Kress. It's funny, but most of the district is staying put, which makes sense given the success we've been having. The Altoona Zone has been experiencing its most successful time in a long time, and I'm so grateful to be a part of it! It's been a bit of a slow week, and I apologize for the lack of pictures. We've been working hard, but sometimes the moments just don't lend themselves to photo ops. I'm already on my second transfer, which is crazy to think about! It feels like just yesterday I was getting settled into the mission, and now it's already been over 6 weeks in the field. Time sure flies when you're having fun and serving the Lord! Photo Album!: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QuW5JQQJL6emqhb68 With Love, Elder Batman

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 24

Image
hoto Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QuW5JQQJL6emqhb68 Wow this transfer went by so fast and it's already ending. Transfers are this week and will receive the news on Tuesday for where we're going. I honestly have no idea what's going to happen and I'm excited to see. I hit my 6 months this week as a missionary and it's so surreal and crazy how fast everything's been going. I had the opportunity to go and have an amazing dinner with my great aunt Lynn and it was so cool to finally meet her. The funny part about it is how me and my mom were talking about how there's a bunch of prayers going into me being over in the area near her and then I ended up in Hershey. Since the new boundary changes we have some new recent converts that we've been teaching. One of them is Susan and she is so awesome. We go over to house and she feeds us brownies and we just talk for a while and share a message. She was recently baptized in December and is already one of the m...
Read more

Week One MTC, Wild Ride

Image
I MADE IT!! I still can't believe I'm actually here, surrounded by fellow missionaries from all over the world, all united in our quest to spread the gospel. The Missionary Training Center (MTC) is a unique place, to say the least. It's like a mix of boot camp, prison, and FSY all rolled into one. I'm loving every minute of it, well sort of. We got to the MTC on Wednesday and our preparation day was the next day which was the reason why you're getting only one email from me in the mtc, since I had less than 24 hours in the MTC during my preparation day I had nothing to email about so here is my last 8 days of the MTC. One of the biggest adjustments has been the daily routine. Waking up at 6:20 AM to the sound of lights being turned on is a far cry from my high school days of sleeping in till noon. But I'm getting used to it, and the discipline is actually kind of awesome. The short-sleeve white shirts are a nice touch and are saving my life. My missionary tag ...
Read more

Week 18; ❄️☃️Merry Christmas🎅🎄

Image
Photo Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QuW5JQQJL6emqhb68 We spent the day with the Uni ZLs at Penn State campus on Tuesday. Being in Johnstown for the last 3 and 1/2 months, I've already been to Penn State a few times and I love it more each time. I was with elder ridgewell and he is an incredible missionary. He speaks fluent Spanish and so we talked with a lot of people who speak Spanish and I just did not understand anything. We had zero lessons that day and so after lunch we just walked around campus for 10 hours straight and it was really fun but really demanding. My legs were pretty sore the next day. One thing that was pretty weird was that we talked with pretty much the same type of people all day. They all had the same type of religious background and so we pretty much taught the same things all day, I think it was a lesson from God that that's something that we needed to work on and so he put those people in our path. They were all people who really did not grow up ...
Read more