"The Best Two Years - the sequel?"

(The movie "The Best Two Years" is a Mormon genre movie about male missionaries in Holland, one who is anxious to convert people and the other who has almost given up on missionary work after a friend of his goes home and marries this Elder's girlfriend. We see some parallels here but in all fairness we hope our son has compassion for his own weaknesses as well as for the unseen weaknesses of others.)

Monday, January 26, 2015

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Well, I did it. I wrote my companion a letter rebuking him for his actions that he has committed; the letter was written under prayerful direction of the Spirit. I felt that it was something that needed to be done, because when talking about sleep, his responses do not follow some of his actions. It was slightly embarrassing when Spanish elders came to our door and were wondering why he was not awake. I knew that something needed to be done. I wrote the letter, not out of anger, but out of concern. I wrote not spoke, because I would be able to write calmly. I wrote it yesterday, questioning his thinking. So far, he has not really avoided me. He has withdrawn a bit though. Yesterday, during the spiritual thought for the members who fed us, I bore testimony of the Atonement. I said what I needed to say and ended my thoughts. Silence pervaded for a while before the members spoke and then I looked at my companion, asking for comments. His reply, "Yeah, I agree." Now that I have rebuked him, it is now my task to love him even more. I pray for him, hoping things will be alright. I feel right in my own actions.

Meanwhile, I am still blind about this area; I have no clear vision. I have yet to weekly planning with him to help our companionship unity (even more, I have not done companionship study). Without these, I am blind, though I am taking small steps before I introduce the idea of weekly planning. However, I am doing all that I can to help this area grow. I have started to take note at the end of the week of those who are investigators, less actives, recent converts, those we need to visit, and potentials. It allows me to have a definite list of who we need to see, though I have no clue what each person needs unless I have been directly involved. Thus, to help myself it will do for these coming weeks of the transfer do what I am about to do next.

We have an investigator, a media referral, who is from South Africa, but has not been there in many years. His father is a recent convert in another state, hence how we got the referral. He was a bit surprised, as he told us, when we knocked on the door. Previous missionaries had tracted into him before, but they knocked very loudly and would not take no for an answer. This investigator is definitely interested in joining and finding a community that will support him spiritually. Add that to another reason why we need to do our home teaching and visiting teaching and be thankful for such program. We talked of what he needs to do in order to be baptized and we talked about the church. He already loves the Church, because of what they do for his father. We got through only two points of the Restoration, mainly about families and prophets. He loves the family aspect of the Church and connected the idea of families to prophets and apostasy. He caught on when people apostatize from the prophets, the family disintegrates. Though we do not have a specific return appointment, he is planning for us to return this week. We need to give the Proclamation to the World to him. We also need fellowship and the bishop here would be good for that. After all, the investigator knows the bishop quite well; the work at the same place, though not the same job.

We have a Persian (?) Book of Mormon for our Persian (?) family. We have not seen them this past week.

We have a set of investigators (relation unknown) who have some affiliation with the Jehovah's Witnesses, either from current or past experiences. We taught them once, though it was more of a question and answer session of opinions. It was the question of blacks and the priesthood. We explained it then and that we do not know all the reasons why it occurred and explained all that we could. The man of this set accepted our answer. We should visit them this week, though it is rather difficult. They want us come by 5 to 6, our dinner time. It would be fine if we could move our dinner appointments forward., though, we have a sliver of openings.

We have the nine year old who wants to be baptized. He is part of a family of recent converts. I am not sure what he needs, though, again, he needs visual aids. He also needs his family to help him to understand the gospel truths and teach him. I wonder if they are holding family home evening. When we have dinner appointments with this family--- which takes 3 hours (from the time we get there, the mother is still cooking for another hour or so and then an hour for us to eat)--- we need to have a lesson or attempt to.

We taught an Arabic family this past week. They were referrals from the Spanish elders and we contacted them. It was not a good time when we initially contacted them, but we gave them an Arabic Book of Mormon. We obtained an Arabic Restoration pamphlet. When we came over this week, they were curious and lots of questions. They were not Muslims, but Christians. I did not feel the Spirit as much in the lesson. They were asking a lot of questions and we were trying to understand them for at times the words they said did not match with our definitions. The wife, in the end, was more interested than the husband.

Tuesday, last week's P-Day. We picked up another set of missionaries after e-mailing and had lunch. We did our shopping and then headed to the Church. We played the game Risk, which my companion is really good at playing. It was my first time playing and I inherited the Asian continent in my first go round. If you ever play Risk, Asia is most difficult to hold onto, because you are so spread out. But, I lasted for a good while despite inheriting Asia. It was a lot of fun and it opened up my companion a bit more to me. We had dinner. Then, we had the Book of Mormon class. Nobody showed. Some people forgot. We need fliers to encourage people to come and to attend the class. It is not enough to have it announced. We need to sell it and to encourage the members to attend with friends. 

Wednesday, we had zone conference and had to pick up the biking set of elders. We were nearly late, though there were people who were later than us. It was a good conference. President Wilson spoke to me on the side and told me to love my companion. Oh, and we talked about online proselyting. Why? Well, we still have no iPads and our mission president and his wife seem to have no hope that it will come to us soon, but at least we can prepare for them (and thus, the answer to why). So, we went over that. I do not know if you know, but they changed the referral system. We still get a text from headquarters, but we receive no information. All the information is online. We no longer are calling a machine to update, but we have to go online to update our referrals. It is time consuming and I do believe it may cause a stir of murmuring from missionaries that do not have the access to technology unless they go out of their way. It is a bit of a hassle, I do admit, but it is requiring a lot more faith on our part and a lot more devotion. It is a good new system. From online proselyting, we discussed the plan of salvation with President Wilson. There were lots of questions from the elders about deep doctrine ideas. After zone conference, we called this area's single mother investigator to confirm our appointment. Well, she decided to do some research and talk with her pastors and now she no longer wants to meet with us, not even to discuss the things of which she heard.

(Surprise, like the pastors were going to tell her good things about Mormons. Or that everything on the internet is true, though we have admitted that mistakes have been made.) So, she is no longer interested. That night we had our three hour appointment.

Thursday, we volunteered at the health care center (that place I called an adult home, which is incorrect, I believe) where our Powhatan-to-Gayton recent convert is.  She was asleep when we were there. Missionaries have been volunteering there for a while. I was glad to be able to help. I helped with those there that needed help playing Bingo. It was fun. We had dinner, then we went out to Goochland (nicknamed Gayton West) with the Spanish elders. The car got stuck in mud, but through our efforts, we were able to get our car free. We tried to see a few people, but they were not home or wanting us to come by. 

Friday, we saw some recent converts. We read from the scriptures with them and helped them to understand. One of them generally understands what is taught, but the other does not. That night we were able to have a lesson with our South African investigator. 

Saturday, we did our progress record. While he did the record, I did more family history and listened to some of the things that LDS Charities is doing. I absolutely loved it. I am quite amazed about what the Church is able to accomplish. Later that night, we visited a less active who is returning and also needs help in understanding the scriptures. 

Sunday, we had church and our meetings. We tried to see some people before heading out to Goochland for dinner. It was a nice dinner. We visited the less active who has the Shiba Inu. He is going through some hard times and we offered to help him in things that he needs help. He was appreciative of that. I am trying to figure him out to see how we can help him progress spiritually.

With the situation with my companion, I have been turning to the Lord for help and guidance. I have been trying to draw on all my sources of help. As I have been relying on the Lord, I have been a lot happier. It is much better than Appomattox. Think of it this way: the people of Limhi and the people of Alma. The people of Limhi relied more on others than the Lord, which was in part why it took a while for them to be relieved of their burden. The people of Alma, on the other hand, relied more on the Lord and though their burdens were not automatically taken away from them, they were a lot happier and their burdens were lightened. I am relying on the Lord a lot more and using prayer as a strength. We have access to the heavens through prayer and it is such a strength. I am definitely persisting in not giving up and in trying to be obedient; hence, I am fighting like a dragon.

Tout va bien!

Love,

Elder S. Todd

I Deliberately Sneezed! - éternuer - niesen - чхати - nyse - עֲטִישָׁה - чихать

An LDS missionary, somewhere in Virginia, deliberately sneezes.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Let me begin with my back situation. I go to the doctor and I am in the room immediately. He comes in and asks me the story of what is wrong with back, what happened, etc. I told him what has occurred since July and about how sneezing made it worse. 

Now get this, he asked me, "You just randomly sneezed?" 

Sarcastic Answer: "No, doctor, I deliberately sneezed." 

(Do not worry, I said yes and not the sarcastic answer.) After getting my story, he walks over to me-- mind you, I am on that bench, bed thing and my legs are at 90 degrees-- and straightens my leg to 180 degrees. Then, he asked me where it hurts, which, of course, my leg and back were on fire at that point. I am also sure he could tell that I was in pain when my eyes nearly bulged out from him straightening my leg. (And if I was not in pain at that point, then I sure was and there after.) Once discovering that, he tells me he will be right back. 

Time passes and he comes back in with another doctor. My diagnosis? Herniated disc. Tomorrow, I get to go back to the hospital and get an MRI that will show where my herniated disc is and if I actually have one. Once confirmed, I get to consider treatment options. Do not worry or panic. The doctor is good, despite the silly questions and inflicting pain. It is me. I still do not like doctors and I have my reasons for that.

That is good about my driver's license. (His renewal can be done online.) I remember last time, I believe, before I left we did try to extend it. They just said that I would have to wait. At least we have made progress in that regard. 

It sounds like my dog is who she is and trying to make friends. Keep an eye on her, please, as I know you have been doing.

My week was good. On Monday, we Met the Mormons ("Meet the Mormons" showing in theaters but privately shown to missionaries.) before I came to email. With that movie, we are not allowed to be near theaters or watch it in theaters. For us missionaries, they still wanted us to see it, to talk about it with members. It is a good little film that shows 6 actual members living the gospel standards. Some break the ideas that people have of Mormons. Some show how we benefit those around us. I definitely liked it. Our lunch appointment that day turned into a dinner appointment. We also finished with combing through the potential records. The potential records are officially divided and we have started going through our list. No success so far.

Tuesday, we had some cleaning to do and we tackled a closet and organized it. We also tried seeing one of our less actives, but it did not turn out. We tried contacting a few other people, but it did not turn out, except for one. One person answered the door (a less active) and she did not let us in, but did tell us what days are best for her and her non-member husband. After that, we both agreed it would be great for us to try that house again. She had potential; the Spirit was strong about that. Normally, I do not get that feeling. We stopped by a few people after our dinner appointment; one of them who is the returning member who has overcome health issues.

Wednesday, we had our district meeting. The ward mission leader took us; he was fighting falling asleep. So was I. I did not sleep good that night. I have been able to fight falling asleep in cars, but I have been more and more exhausted lately and I am reverting back to sleeping while as a passenger. My companion was in the back seat while the two of us in the front were falling asleep. On the way back to Petersburg, we had correlation. When the assistant ward mission leader took us out for dinner, we went to see people instead of heading to the church. One person was not happy at all in seeing us, because we did not call ahead and he was eating dinner. All of the people we tried to see were not answering their doors. Finally, I decided, based on a prompting, that we go see the returning member who has overcome health issues. It turned out to be a good visit.

Thursday, we had interviews with the mission president. It was the usual interview. I agree that we should not overly abandon tracting Colonial Heights and surrounding areas, but I am still adamant in storming Dinwiddie. I have a strong feeling about it. (The thing is, my companion likes finding potentials; it is his favorite form of tracting. I am working around that.) We tried to see people after the interviews and lunch. Then, I had my doctor's appointment.

Friday, we planned and went over the potentials. We tried discussing things. We tried to see some more less actives. Not much happened on Friday. Neither on Saturday. There was a child of record baptism and we were in charge of filling the font. Filling the font took 5 hours, as per usual. (It takes five hours, because people want the water warm and we have a energy efficient water heater, which means water heating takes a while.)

Sunday, we had church. A less active who is permanently stuck here made it to church once again. Hopefully, she can keep at it. We tried finding more potentials and had some success of at least meeting them. Then, we had dinner over at the family (or as I feel bad in calling them as I did, the family who feeds us a lot). Dad's bestest friend (a recent convert who shares on Facebook a love of soccer, Southern manners and the topic of the "rapture") was there and we taught her about tithing.

Columbus Day, the library and post office was closed. The schools were open, which was different. We cleaned and rested. I made my companion a grilled cheese and a milkshake. I put seasoned salt and basil on the bread. Well, I oversalted it and cooking it got rid of the seasoned part of the salt. So, it was a bit salty. Then, I slightly burnt one side of the bread, which he scraped off. I gave him potato chips, which are overly salty. Dinner, needless to say, was salty. He was so cautious of eating it, because he did not watch me cook it and previous experiences with companions and them cooking meals for him have turned not for the best for him. (I guess it does not help that I have scared him a lot, but he scares easily). After dinner, we headed to the church, where we received info about a returning member. We tried another recent convert and his wife. He was awake, but she was not. We helped him with obtaining a LDS account on lds.org. He ordered scriptures.

Those calls are this weekend. I am not guessing this time. I have no idea what is going to happen. For all I know, I could be gone. My companion sure thinks I am gone. When members have been asking about transfers, he tells them when they are and that I am mostly likely gone (or "he's [referring to me] gone and I am staying"). He is even acting like I am leaving. I am going to hold off on making guesses.

All is well!

Love,

Elder S. Todd

P.S. Really, Sweets? (Reference to the TV show "Bones.") That is sad. Either you were going to tell me or eventually somebody was going to tell me. Also, do not worry about feeling out of the loop. I feel out of the loop most of the time. Not sure if that makes you feel better, but just know that I also know what it is like. And so does Somebody else.

Virginia Richmond Mission: Decisions

Missionaries must make hundreds of decisions daily. Sometimes they receive inspiration. At other times it is not wise to be compelled in all things but to do good of their own free will while engaged in a good cause. Blessings come after a trial of our faith in God.

Monday, October 6, 2014                    #Mormon   

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Thank you for the medical insurance information. I remember reading the Book of Mormon as a family, but I did not remember it took us five years. (The last time we read The Book of Mormon together it took about 18 months) I remember getting in trouble, because I sprinkled the beginning of Mosiah with water. Every time I look at those pages, I remember reading as a family.

Thank you for keeping an eye on the recent convert. Yeah, she showed us your very long post in response to her. It made me laugh. (She is an awesome girl who loves soccer and has lots of questions. She refers to me as sir; which for some reason bugs me even though as Seth's father I'm old. Yet, just yesterday I called someone "mam." I will definitely keep your consideration in mind. Thank you for working so hard on the blog.

Somebody should be able to help Mom learn the ropes of FamilySearch. There is a lot of work to do and I am excited that God's work is truly hastening. I do not know all of the ropes on FamilySearch, but I know enough. I am excited that we have greater access to other genealogy websites. It will definitely help in this work. It is really exciting. You are lucky to have time to do it. I do it after emailing, if I can.

It was an excellent week. Monday, after emailing you, Bria, and President Wilson, I decided to go on FamilySearch and try Ancestry. You know the result of that. It truly was a joyous occasion. The rest of Monday, I had to wait for my companion to finish reading the Book of Mormon. He finally accomplished the task that night. Meanwhile, I drew and thought of different quotes. I read a bit. Tuesday and the rest of the week. I have to blend the rest of the week together, because it consists of cleaning, finding, and watching Conference. Specifically on Tuesday, we went back up to Richmond for him and another doctor appointment. On the way back, we got a couple of calls. One from a less active who is permanently stuck here (and not much we can do for her); it is another situation that I cannot explain at this present time and one that had to be explained to the bishop. The other was from the doctor for me, wherein I was able to get an appointment a lot sooner. Specifically on Wednesday, I did the questionnaires for the doctor, including my pain and what not. It needed my social security number of which I knew at one time. My mind was blank on that information. I held off and decided to call the office and such to see if I could obtain that information. By great intervention, the number was brought back to my memory with such clarity that I was highly sure it was it. Thursday, we had to take the car in for inspection and to get free engine coolant. (As missionaries, we go to the dealership for our car problems.)

Finding efforts are going okay. I decided that we go look at our area book for potentials, the idea being that we find potentials. Our area books are a fiery mess. The problem is that the boundaries have changed over the years. So, the potentials are either in our ward boundaries or in the neighboring. We are trying to weed out who belongs in which area, because it will alleviate a burden on us and future missionaries. We either make it better or we do not. In that process, I realized that Colonial Heights, Ettrick, and Chesterfield County has been tracted a lot. The street I recently tracted has been tracted multiple times. All signs of where to tract are perfectly clear: Dinwiddie. Petersburg has been tracted a fair amount and it has its fair share of dangerous areas. (I mean, they have signs that say "THIS IS A DRUG FREE ZONE BY ORDER OF THE POLICE" or "THIS IS A PROSTITUTION FREE ZONE BY ORDER OF THE POLICE." There is Mistletoe. Never should any step foot in Mistletoe.) Dinwiddie is a huge country, county bubble. We can make dents in it, but it is miles consuming, which is a problem for us who dwell in Colonial Heights. I admit that I am the one that made the decision to dwell in Colonial Heights, which hardly anyone, thankfully, realizes. I feel right about the decision and I have no idea why. Everybody asks why are we in Colonial Heights, even the bishop who says that the new subdivisions are in Dinwiddie and the ward cannot grow due to travel. (He is working hard to find us an apartment in Dinwiddie, I think.) While Petersburg had many benefits, I feel right about Colonial Heights and being here. It was cost effective, sort of, to get out of Petersburg and the apartment there. The Petersburg apartment was utterly trashed. I realized through General Conference that the members and us need to work together. In Colonial Heights, we are more dependent on the members and the members are already dependent on us. It puts an equal share burden on us and the members. It will require sacrifice, but as we know, "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." One thing that I keep on coming to is the fact that we need to be open about the work. The members "know" we are doing the work, but we need to find a way to be more active about it. I am still trying to figure out that puzzle. Yes, we have a certificate for the member missionary of the month. But, there is more that needs to be done. I am going to explain all of this to President.

Lisa Lim on Google+, She creates wonderful Christian memes.

There have been great blessings this week. Doing family history, through reading the Book of Mormon and watching General Conference, my testimony has been bolstered. Through conference, I realized a few things. My priorities have greatly changed. I am concerned more about my future family and fulfilling my church duties. While I still will pray more on it-- because I prayed about it, yet again after making the realization my priorities have changed-- I feel that forensic psychology is the field of choice for me. I am still praying about it and understand the risks that are spiritual, physical, and mental. Somehow it feels right. Will you support me in this decision? I am trying to make the right decisions in my life, make the right decisions in the mission field. Never before, here in Appomattox, have I been put in a situation where I have made a lot of decisions. It has been a beautiful learning experience and I know that God is there and is not allowing me to fail. I admit that I do not know a lot; believe me, the Lord made that quite clear from the beginning. I need support from you and I know I have seen that in the past 15 months. I know that you will always be there, even when you pass on. Just know, that I will need that support in trusting me that I am doing what is right.

One of the great things that I have learned from this past conference is that in order to be happy in this life, we have to be obedient and follow the prophet. Whatever is coming is going to shake our testimony and we will either falter or go onward. And, not being biased, I loved Elder Dallin H. Oaks' talk which nailed everything that I am trying to learn about religious freedom; I am going to get that talk as soon as possible. I loved Elder Neil L. Andersen's talk; I now have an idea for Christmas this year. I loved the welcome change of allowing the speakers speak in their native tongue. While, yes, you have to listen to the over-voice, it is wonderful to know that they are comfortable in speaking. That was made evident with the Portuguese speaker.

All is well! We have a lunch appointment soon.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

Just For Girls Google+ community

P.S. Who died on Bones? Was it Hodges? Or was it one of the assistants? I understand them killing off the assistants, because they have killed a lot of them in the past or had one turn to be a serial killer. It cannot be Booth. So, who died?

Meat and Potatoes: Ephesians Chapter 4

Monday, May 5, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Good news is that I am not being transferred, so it will be a less of a headache for Mother's Day. So, I talked to the person who is allowing us to use his computer for the calls. He told me, via text, to give you his contact info... but I only know his cell phone number . . .

I was not even sure what the Power Show was; it was a giant flea market with a tractor pull. Yes, it was done by a coalition of churches. In fact, I work at a food bank that is run by the same coalition of churches. With this area, it seems as though I am helping the ward to go forward in missionary work and to help certain less actives. We are still trying really hard. The investigator that is on date has some things to work on and we are having to push it back. Another investigator, who is "waiting for her mom to die," finally let us know what is the problem: the priesthood. Luckily, like Apple, we have a talk for that.

I was talking to my companion this past week, especially with my communication (which I will get to). He told me that he thinks I'm proper, just by the way I say my words. He also thinks I sound British, because of the words I use. It is by the words such as "fairly well" and "excellent" that makes him think that. That made me chuckle.

So, before I get to the meat and potatoes of this letter, the one part you want. Monday, we had a district P-day, where we played games. I was distracted in basketball over my communication, so I did not do much. They went easy on me. And when I did actually make a basket, one elder, who is greatly taller than I, picked me up and hugged me, all the while I was being swung. My back hurt after that. Then, we played soccer and they said I did fairly well and asked if I ever played. I told them no and described my brother and Bria and what I did during their games. Apparently, somehow, I picked up something from osmosis.

Tuesday, we went to our blind less active. We do have someone that is working on his music, thankfully. Now we are trying to figure out how to help him, because he avoids gospel topics. He is not ready yet; I personally do feel that. The answer that I have received is to make him happy. Why? Each day is a living nightmare, because he attaches himself to the past with his friends and other things. His life is never going to be what it used to be, yet he latches onto it. Everyday he forgets the day, because "it will be better in the morning" and he wakes up and it is another nightmare. He cannot move forward, because he does not know what to move forward to. He surrounds himself with bitterness. Once we get him to church, he will start to move forward, hopefully. So, make him happy is very limited, because he latches onto something to talk about. Right now, he is talking about massages, because he is a certified deep tissue massage therapist that has no clients.

Tuesday and Wednesday, it had been raining and we had an awesome storm with tornado warnings and such. It was nice. We tracted beforehand and ran into a lady that was deeply devout about the Bible. She had found it sad that we accepted more than the Bible, "for the Bible is everything, for Jesus said it, and if we accept more than the Bible, we call Jesus a liar." We made her very sad, despite how many different ways we tried explaining it. But the storm stopped on Wednesday. We went into the church, then we went out. It was hot and my companion complained about the humidity. (You could see it cling to the glass.) But, to be honest as I said to him, I do not feel it. It just feels hot. (He is from Idaho.) He did not understand until we used our phone to call the weather service and looked at Lemoore. That day it was 96 degrees. I do know that our heat is dry and this is humid, but I cannot tell the difference. It just feels hot.

Friday, we had a zone meeting. Then, we had a companion exchange. It took forever coming home, because a van had hit a bus. That night, I had a wonderful dinner, because I had some excellent conversations. I also have an option to use, (I have to get permission), for the blind less active.

Saturday, we had Elder Bednar and I will get to that. Then, it was a day of service for the rest of the day. We helped a less active by circumstance, the wife of the less active who is in the nursing home, to be uplifted, especially after all she goes through. It really helped her to go forward a bit and turn to God. And Sunday, we helped that less active as well. Plus, we had a special stake conference with Bishop Dean M. Davies.

So, before I get to Elder Bednar, there are a few things I would like to discuss. One, communication. So, I learned to stop fighting God. When you do, you do not win. So, what do I mean? I never accepted where I am and who, in terms of communication, I am. Hence, why I was struck with Proverbs 17:27. I accept the fact that I am a quiet person. Now, I wish I was social, which was also a problem. I figured it was what I needed and I always read about Enoch and Moses who had similar problems and God helped them. Then, I read Ezekial 3:26, which God, to one of His servants (a prophet), struck dumb to make sure he was not a reprover. So, what was I to do? It was accepting where I am and being grateful that I have this weakness. It will get better, however God wants it to get better. It was here that it actually seemed as though I moved forward. Two, I had an idea that I am going to do when I am older. With the journal that I have, particularly the spiritual things written, I am going to get another, later, much later, to formalize all of those spiritual thoughts and form, in a sense, scriptures for my children, using those thoughts, testimonies, and the true scriptures.

Now, Bednar. Elder David A. Bednar is really great, along with Elder Lynn G. Robins and Bishop Dean M. Davies. He is straightforward, yet funny. Meeting an apostle makes them human, because you get to see how they actually are. You still sustain them, but you get to see who they are. Hopefully, that makes sense. We, beforehand, read 3 talks and he followed up with them. He asked questions and we responded; we asked questions and he and the other general authorities answered. It was funny. At first, Sister Bednar spoke, then Bishop Davies, then Elder Robins, and then Elder Bednar. When Bishop Davies came up, he said in the words of a famous song, "I feel good." In response, Elder Bednar, when he got up, told Bishop Davies and us, in good humor, that every Thursday, he has a meeting with the Apostles and the First Presidency, and now, he has interesting report to give about Bishop Davies. He reminded Bishop Davies, he was not kidding. Elder Bednar was going to tell them that. Then, Sister Bednar came up and humorously said, "You still like that stuff. Whenever we play the radio on those stations, you always ask me who sang this. I do not know, my grandma never let me listen to that on the radio when I was young." Then, Bednar gave us some guidelines. He was not going to play Guess-What-Is-In-My-Head, because whenever he points (and he pointed to an elder) and asks a question, "that poor elder's mind has gone totally blank. He does not know his name, not even where he is at this point. All he knows is that Elder Bednar is pointing at him. In fact, he is gone blank, just by pointing at him." Later, when we asked questions, he gave guidelines. He was not going to play Stump-the-Apostle, "I forfeit, you win." He told us to not ask where the Sword of Laban is or where Kolob is, "I do not know and I do not care." He told us not to pull an obscure verse of scripture from Isaiah and ask for the meaning, "I got the same set of scriptures as you do. When I became an apostle, I did not get a set of scriptures with answers in the back."

Now, here is what I got from the entire thing, because they did not give talks. Sister Bednar briefly spoke, which helped confirm that this is the time for preparing for the future. Bishop Davies reminded me that I am on the Lord's errand. Elder Lynn G. Robins reminded me that part of what I have learned thus far is to fight Satan and the darkness. It also reminded me a future trial I will face with a certain temptation. And that will come from marrying at the appropriate time and day, which may indeed be later than I expect.

Elder Bednar modeled teaching for me. I learned overall the Gospel is active and personal. We have agency; we are agents to act and not objects to be acted upon. Satan wants us to be objects. We have to learn in faith and pray in faith. It is all active, not passive. Conversion is acting on testimony. We should expect to act and to choose the right, because we chose to make covenants that said to do that. My own teaching has to be active and personal. I am to be the conduit, which means being worthy and bring in the Spirit. My pattern of teaching is and should be asking questions and testifying. It requires in part, observing and listening. My goal is also to help others to learn to find things out for themselves. Interestingly for me, he hit a lot of my patriarchal blessing and helped me to understand it. That is in part where I got this new direction on my teaching. When the time comes and the mission ends, I should keep the habits I have learned. Now, I am not expected to wear a white shirt and tie. The world is supposed to and should be weird for me. (As if is not already.) I should not quickly go back to the world and perhaps just be in the world and not of the world. I should always have a temple recommend, be on guard, and be humble. The world will be like in Babylon. "Whenever [I] enter into a mall, it should feel as though I am in the midst of Babylon." By accepting the covenants and things of the Lord, I am enlarging my agency.

Bishop Dean M. Davies spoke at the special stake conference, which was quite different from most stake conferences. He focused on the temple. I need to have a testimony of it. I have a few active and less active people who dislike the temple. I was reminded to have a testimony and then enter into the new and everlasting covenant. The temples show God's love, because it is where the living and the dead receive ordinances. We should not be afraid to talk of Jesus Christ. After all, we are Christ's church. It is okay to talk about Him. He put that we are the Christian church, due to its restoration. (Of course, we do not go around saying that.)

After all of that, I felt exhausted. Spiritually drained is the fastest way to be physically drained. I did not want to do much yesterday after getting home from stake conference. I was done for the day and it was only 1:00 PM. Of course, I worked.

All is fairly well!

Love,

Elder S. Todd

P.S. Can I be honest for a second? Well, either way, this makes me laugh. But, I always mentioned Avatar: The Last Airbender for a reason. I knew you never did like it and thought it was just a cartoon. So, I always brought it up for the fact that, "Hey, other people like it too!" 

The Face of Gratitude

We had Café Rio on Sunday. (That one Mexican restaurant where Bria hit the bicyclist. Or rather, the bicyclist hit Bria.) Now, I must explain. So, I guess Café Rio had a $1 Burrito Day to which a lot of members had gone. One of them was the Elders Quorum president, to which he came bragging about it to us missionaries. We, (a) being on bike and (b) Café Rio being out of our mission, could not go. The other missionary companions and my companion were like, "Ah man, why didn't you hook us up?" Well, a family, the Christensens, had signed up for dinner that night and they went to Café Rio the night before. They had gotten these burritos for us to feed us. Thus, this picture was taken to send to the Elders Quorum president to say, "This is how you hook the missionaries up."