Zone Conference

Today was Zone Conference for the zone the office is assigned to. That means we put the phone on night mode and went to conference in the rec hall in the church that is attached to the mission offices. We sat around banquet tables that were in the shape of a "U" and received instruction and counsel from the president and his assistant. The morning went fast and we were back in the office by 1:00 doing our assigned duties. 

The highlight of the day came in the evening when we went out with the elders to visit a family that has been seeing the missionaries for three years. They are waiting for the husband's first marriage papers that shows he is divorced. They then will get married and she will be baptized. The husband isn't ready yet as he has some word of wisdom things he is not ready to leave behind. She told us tonight they now have the papers and they just need to go to the judicial place to pick them up. 

We are so impressed with the Elder's dedication to the counsel of the president. They are counseled to talk to everyone because that is the only way to find those that have been prepared to receive the gospel, and are being put in their path at that moment. As soon the Elders got on the train, they started to talk to the people that were around them. If the conversation closed, they would go to another person to talk to. This went on for the full time that it took to go two stops to our destination. Then when we were walking the several blocks to the appointment, they talked to the people that were waiting at the red light to cross the street. In the next block, a person tried to pass on our right and the Elder kept pace and started to talk to him about the church. They parted at the corner and I heard the person yell to the Elder "9:30, right?" (that is what time our church starts) On the train ride home, they talked to three more people. I figured they talked to 7 or 8 people about the church in the short time it took to go to our  appointment and back. We parted at the train station to come home and the Elders said goodbye. They were going to walk down the street to see if they could find someone that was ready to hear the gospel. It was only 8 o'clock and they didn't need to be home until 9. 

We don't mind being in the office all day, but it is really fun for us to go out with the Elders in the evening. We don't get a chance every day, but it seems like we go out at least once a week. I am sure this will increase as we learn our duties better in the office and don't have to stay late to get caught up on the work we should be able to do before quitting time.

Julie promised me that I don't have to write the blog every night now that I have written this one time. She made me promise to tell you that it is I (Richard) that is writing, so she won't be accused of slaughtering the English language. 

This was better than vacuuming and ironing anyway, which is what Julie is doing while I am writing.

Love you all,

Rich