Missionary Moments #27, March 8, 2015

It is amazing to see the time flying by as we enter the 7th month of our mission.  This week I finally figured out how to keep our work in the right report which shows how many pictures we actually take from week to week.  The weather is starting to warm up and yesterday it was a warm 27 degrees!  I can smell the grass growing underneath all of this snow and can't wait to see what Spring looks like in New England.  On Friday night we were invited to dinner with the senior couples in our mission.  We ate at the Mission President's home and had a wonderful Italian meal.  Sister Stoker is an amazing cook.  While there we met with about 8 missionary couples who are serving in various capacities throughout the mission.  Most of them are in small branches helping to support the branch they are in.  We also have a couple that does that as well as the wife serving as the mission nurse.  We met Christian's moms cousin and her husband who are serving in the mission office.  Another interesting couple we met is related to grandpa all the way back to the Israel Putnam line.  Such a small world!  On Saturday morning we were able to attend a mission wide conference which was so amazing for many reasons.  We started with a mission picture in the cultural hall and then moved into the chapel for a two hour meeting with Elder Hallstrom, one of the Presidents of the 70s, Bishop Causse from the Presiding Bishopric of the Church, and Brother Bennett who serves as the Area Seventy to the New England states.  Sister and President Stoker started the meeting by bearing their testimonies and then we heard from the others.  Amazing experience.  In our mission we have 184 missionaries serving right now and that doesn't include the senior couples.  Everyone of them were so engaged with what they were being taught and the Spirit in the meeting was strong.  Elder Hallstrom asked those sisters who came out to serve at 18 to raise their hands.  Two thirds of the sisters raised their hand.  He told us that since President Monson announced the change in age to 19 for sisters that the number of sisters serving has gone from 13% to 30%.  He then asked the Elders to raise their hands if they came out when they were 18.  More than half raised their hands.  Elder Hallstrom then said, now you can see the result of prophetic counsel.  He told the missionaries that the efforts they make on their mission will establish what each of them can be.  He also reminded the missionaries that their mission should not be the high point of feeling the Spirit and encouraged each of us not to lose the ability to be taught by the Spirit.  He said, we ask you to have one convert on your mission, we want that convert to be YOU. Very profound and I believe we all felt the impact of his words.  I wish I could have shared even more that we heard by Bishop Causse and Brother Bennett because they were also such great teachers.  The meeting seemed to be over before it began and we sadly left to resume the work ahead of us.  We are so grateful for this opportunity and it has been a wonderful experience for both of us.  I realized last night that this month, (March 5th) I have been a member of the church for 55 years.  So very grateful for our new neighbors who shared the gospel message with our family.  So proud of my parents for being humble enough to accept the message that was shared.  So thankful for all the people who shared their testimonies with me while I developed one of my own.  Especially grateful to an older brother who lead our family when we weren't strong enough to do it on our own.  Thank you Buddy!  Have a great week everyone.