The Miracle of General Conference

Even the undead need the Gospel.

Yes, the title of this particular post relates to the wonderful event from this weekend which was General Conference, but before I get into that I will just give a quick report about how our area is doing. I am pleased to say that Elder Homer and I are getting along very well, for starters. 

I-80 SELFIE!!

One of the most important aspects of the Work is having unity in a companionship, so at least we have that down. As far as everything else goes... I have to admit that it has been a somewhat tough adjustment to make. The West Des Moines area lost its full-time car literally right before I got transferred here, so for the past week and a half we have been on foot the entire time. But that shouldn't be too much of a problem for much longer though, for the Assistants will be delivering an extra bicycle to us later today (we already have one at our apartment). 
These are the sad remains of Elder Homer's shoes.

The walking has made it difficult to plan effectively, but even so the Lord blessed us with many opportunities to open our mouths, we found a new investigator (Greg), and Moses and Dang are still progressing nicely towards their baptismal date! Moses even came to the Church to watch the morning session of General Conference yesterday, so we were happy about that; our newish investigator Brandon also came to view the Priesthood session on Saturday evening.
Hey, look what I found!

On that note, I transition to the other things I wanted to mention: holy mackerel, General Conference was amazing! I made the comment to Elder Homer and some other missionaries later on that I haven't received so much direct inspiration for my life from Conference in three years. October 2012 was the sign from God that I needed to serve my mission at the time I did--along with planning when I would do college--and now, this session was a sign from God as to how I need to prepare for the rest of my life. 
Mexican food potluck in between sessions of General Conference!

 Sure, I still have time left before my mission is complete, but it is still necessary for me to prepare for big, life-changing events such as employment, marriage and advanced education. That's why I am grateful for the message that Elder Hales gave, since his inspired counsel basically gave me all the answers I needed for life after the mission. I no longer worry about what is going to happen, for his words helped me to have the confidence in the decisions the Lord helped me to make.
A big blue... pig??

But otherwise, I have loved and connected deeply with the overall theme of progression, improvement, discipleship and simplicity from these sessions. One of my greatest discoveries from my mission is that the Gospel really is much more simple than we sometimes make it out to be, and this Conference solidified that fact much more for me. The counsel from President Uchtdorf, President Monson (both sessions) and Elder Lawrence were all quite profound on the matter, and with that I desire to do my best to be a faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
This is my planner for this transfer, in which I chose a General Conference theme.​

When I say this, though, I completely recognize that life as a Christian is not complex. It is simple: have faith, keep the commandments that God has given, and then do better (repent) when mistakes are made. After all, both the Father and the Son know exactly what we need in order to become what They want us to be, and the commandments are evidence of that truth. Humble yourself, change your heart and keep the commandments, for such things shall transform you into a "new creature," as the scriptures say. 
We were all quite enthused while watching Conference.

I could go on and on about how much this General Conference has blessed me, but I will summarize my thoughts by saying that I know God lives, and that He speaks to us through the voice of His Spirit and His servants the prophets. Messengers from God really do exist, and if we will do our part to heed their counsel and set goals for how we will change, glorious blessings will be poured out into each of our lives.

May we all learn greatly from what was said this magnificent past weekend. I love you all!

 I showed you all the mission office last week, and now here is the mission home! It's even in our area, too!

Scripture of the Week: Doctrine and Covenants 1:38-39 (A fitting tribute to General Conference, I’d say.)

Missionary Advice: Check out the article on page 70 in the August 2015 issue of the Ensign, for it is focused entirely on how we can become better member missionaries. A good setting to use this would be in Family Home Evening and have an open discussion.
The Des Moines East Zone!

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