Today was zone conference at the Annapolis Stake Center. It was fun, exciting and very inspiring. It consisted of the missionaries being taught, testimonies were given, we saw a video of a talk that Jeffrey Holland, of the Quorum of the Twelve, gave at the MTC in January 2011. He said that the young missionaries are the “Hope of Israel”. I believe that. President Belliston spoke and it was emotional because this was the last zone conference that he would preside at for the missionaries who are in these two zones. I can’t explain how great it is to be in a room of missionaries and to see their enthusiasm. Don’t get me wrong, there are missionaries that are having a hard time. Either because of their own doing or because the mission is not what they thought it would be. It is an adjustment, but if you are prayerful and obedient, then you will have untold blessings, not only now, but you will take what you have learned and use it in the rest of your life. Ah, yes, the lunch was not only great but it was fun to sit and eat together. One of the missionaries came needing a hair cut – badly. SIster Gibbons brought her clippers and proceeded to give him a haircut before the meeting. Hey, we do what we have to do for the young Elders.
President mentioned that the Church is going to explode soon with the election coming up. Already the church is getting many inquiries. We need to be prepared to answer the questions that will be asked. It is an exciting time. I think Elder Boehrer and I will have the opportunity to be near the excitement. Who knows, we could have an LDS President – I think is becoming more and more likely.
I had a great telephone conversation with my brother, Don. I so enjoy talking with him about family and especially about politics. We really enjoy ourselves and get into to what we think is going to happen. We almost always agree. It will be nice to see him after our mission. We enjoy Debbie and their two girls, Maggie and Abbie. Jennifer and her family are up there this week visiting. Fun for them. The Clasens, the Senior Missionary couple with the red dress and the white shirt on are the parents of a man who lives in my brother’s ward. Don knows the man and his family very well – small world!
Yesterday a woman called into the office and said that she and her family needed help. They had been living in a hotel for eight months. Her husband had just lost his job and cut his finger badly, therefore, he was unable to find work. They have small children and were becoming destitute. She asked if the church could pay their rent for the month so they could get back on their feet. Our policy is to find out where they live, then explain that we would be sending the missionary's, who are serving in their area, to come visit them and assess the situation. The missionary's would then go to the Bishop of the ward nearest the people and the Bishop would then give them the help the family needs – per his discretion. The church not only takes care of it’s own, but helps others in need also. It is not the ‘dole’ system. People who get help from the Church have to met with the Bishop and are directed to how to get help with finding employment and taking care of their family. “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him to fish and he will eat for a lifetime”. (Hope I got that right). Anyway, you get the idea It is a great system which helps people to regain their dignity and feel better about themselves. It works if the people being helped want to better themselves.
