We didn't make any plans to go to Paris today so get ready for a SOLID summary of the conference Sorry my emails haven't been as in depth lately... It feels so nice to have a pday to clean and to write and to nap. Mission naps are probably the holiest of them all.
THE ELDER ANDERSEN CONFERENCE WAS SO AMAZING.
The main thing that I took away from the conference was how I felt being around an apostle. He represents Jesus Christ, a lot like I do as a missionary. It was so inspiring to see how he carried himself in a way that reminded you of Jesus! I want to be like that! Like even when he was talking, he'd hold his arms out and he looked like christus statue. I was like, I've seen that before!! When he first walked in, he talked to and shook hands with each person that was near. He didn't go straight to president Sorensen or anything like that. When we finished taking the picture, he talked to the kids. When we met him individually, he didn't look at our plaques, he waited until we introduced ourselves and looked in our eyes. Don't you think that Jesus would act that way at a mission conference too? I decided that that would be one of my takeaways. I want to make sure that people know that I have a genuine interest in them when I'm talking to them.
One of my favourite things that president Sorensen talked about was how God often does His greatest works in unseen ways. President shared a story about when his family went to the temple dedication in Las Vegas and it was one of the most important moments of his life, yet no one really knew about that moment. Comparatively, There was a hotel that opened in the same week and it was on the front page of the news paper. I'm learning to cherish more the quiet moments that I have on my mission because those are often the times where God does the greatest work in my life and in the lives of those I care about.
He talked a lot about how our calls here are not something that we should be sad about God does His work in different ways in different places - and that's not something that we should be afraid of!
He also talked about the importance of memorizing scriptures that we know are true. There are scriptures that we "know are true and can say from our bones that we believe." We need to memorize those so that we can fall back on them in moments of need.
Some good one liners from the conference
The temple means that God will never withdraw from France. He will make His purposes known
The lord is building a people who are emerging
They're here, we just have to find them.
The rest of your life will probably be much more like your life in France than your life in Bountiful, Utah
We need to be vigilant about having a good attitude
The rest of the day I felt like my heart was going to explode because I am so proud to get to be a missionary, to represent Jesus Christ, to share hope and light with people, to help them find peace and answers to their questions. Sometimes the restoration just feels so real, and I get so excited to tell people about it.
He talked a lot about keeping hope, and having the faith to see miracles! I've tried to apply that and we've definitely seen miracles! Like we found a family tat lives 5 minutes away from the church!
Other updates -
One soeur I know is training and it's super hard for her. Her blue doesn't buy the whole "obedience" thing and she hates the visitors centre. So that's been a really hard thing for our dear soeur to deal with, ... why would you come on a mission if you don't want to be obedient? And how can you hate the visitors centre??
I bought four pairs of pants!! They're so awesome! 3 from my favorite store - uniqluo.
The new visitors centre director is AWESOME. His wife is AWESOME. She got here and said "I'm your mom here." In her french accent :) I'm so happy to have them here, and I feel silly for ever having worried about how it would be with them.
Questions -
What have you learned in come follow me lately? How have you been doing it with the family?
Is it your 25th wedding anniversary coming up or something?
Have you been able to keep going to the temple now that school has started?
What are your thoughts about trunkiness? Asking for a friend hahaha
What kinds of things did you learn on your mission that you still apply?
I loved when you said that you wanted us to learn how to receive personal revelation. It reminded me of a video that we show in the visitors centre all the time called "God's plan for families." The dad says to the mom holding the new born "What do you think is the most important thing we can teach her? " And the mom says "That she's loved, that she's a daughter of God, and that we can be together, forever." It's such a cheesy video, but I've seen it touch so many people's hearts. It's not the video that touches their hearts, it's the fact that they're learning that their families can be together forever! And the spirit is confirming to them that that's true. How cool is it to be a missionary and see that happen every day!!
Love you so much!! I hope you enjoyed my notes and learned lots from them... I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Jill
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