Tiwi

Time flies when you are having fun.  Elder Boyce and I are loving the mission, but we don't' want it to end so soon.  Thankfully, I have a long time. . .  Sometimes we struggle and have tough days.  Here's some advice for current and soon-to-be missionaries: If you want the time to go by faster, you should work harder, smile and think about serving others:)

I loved General Conference!  I always do.  I'm not sure if it was just me, or what, but I noticed a theme of marriage and fulfilling our roles and magnifying our callings.  I liked Elder Renlund's talk.  Here is one quote from him, “The greater the distance between the giver and the receiver, the more the receiver develops a sense of entitlement.”  Since then, I have tried even harder to come closer to God. 

Our mission has been focusing on the Christlike attribute of humility since Zone Conference.  That is the same topic Elder Snow spoke about!

Hyrum mentioned that his new vehicle didn't have a Tiwi.  So I asked him what a Tiwi was.  In your last letter you asked what a Tiwi is.  It's a cross between a tangerine and a kiwi.  Just kidding!  He still has a sense of humor:)  Tiwi is a device installed in all mission vehicles that uses GPS to help coach us while driving.  It tells us to "check your speed" and give us violations when we go over speed bumps too fast, accelerate too fast, brake too hard, or go around a curve too fast.  The church records these and sends a weekly and transfer report on each driver's driving.  So far, I have been a green driver (verses a yellow or red)!

Right now we are cooking some halibut in the oven.  Our neighbor, Cindy, gave it and some freshly picked oranges to us.  She is super nice.  We are eating much better now that you sent me some recipes and with our crock pot.  Having prepared meals makes dinner at the apartment something to look forward to.  Some more advice: start learning to cook quick meals and be creative before serving your mission.

If you make the best of your week, it will go by fast! :)

Finished the Book of Mormon in Three Months

Zone meeting went great.  President Felix is so inspired.  We presented a new Christlike attribute: Humility.  Our scripture that missionaries will recite every morning is Doctrine and Covenants 112:10.  It turned out that two elders had been highlighting humility in their Book of Mormon for the last two transfers and another sister had been prompted to study the song "Be Thou Humble" at our last MLC.  These instances just help confirm that the attribute and scripture President Felix chose was right.

Our mission has been highlighting the Doctrine of Christ (faith, repentance baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end) in the Book of Mormon for the last three months.  I finished it by reading about 6 pages a day.  I really loved how engaged I became with the Book of Mormon.  With every page, the people became more real and the Book more true.  I also underlined or highlighted every reference to Christ.  If a person will do this, you will come to understand:

1. Your purpose
2. Your Savior
3. How much the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ

Transfers have been exhausting.  We started on Sunday at 6pm.  We calculated about 32 hours of transfer planning and travel arrangements.  This time I was not so stressed about how the travel was going to happen.  There were only 10 companionships in the mission who stayed together.   We had 73 missionaries moving to a new area!  Everything went pretty smoothly.  We had one set of missionaries who arrived at the transfer location 25 minutes late, so that was frustrating.  But, other than that, it was a smooth transfer.  President Felix let Hyrum know that this is his last transfer as an Assistant to the President. 

A few Sunday's ago, we felt prompted to visit an active member who is preparing to go on a mission to Brazil soon.   We texted her to set up the appointment.  Before the scheduled time with her, we were driving to visit a less-active person who we hadn't seen for a while.  I had the thought to stop by another less-active person on the way there, so we did.  (A thought is inspiration until proven otherwise, right?)  The father, a pretty fit younger, black guy answered the door.  The person we were looking for wasn't home, but the father was willing to talk.  We stood at the door talking with him for about 30 minutes.  He wasn't quite bashing, but he sure liked to debate.  We testified and corrected his misunderstandings.  That was interesting.  It was one of the few times when I didn't bring my Bible with me and he just tore us apart about that.  We invited him to study the Book of Mormon to find out for himself that it is the word of Christ.  We read 2 Nephi 33:10 with him.  After our discussion with him, we drove to the house of the girl about to leave for her mission.  She told us all about the missionary work she had been doing with her friends.  We proposed that she ask her friends if she could "practice" teaching them in preparation for her mission.  She loved the idea.  "There can be miracles when you believe" (Watch The Prince of Egypt).

We look forward to the Mission Tour with Elder James J. Hamula of the Quorum of the Seventy this week. We will have a special MLC with him and two zone conferences. We have to do a presentation/ lead a discussion on our mission's key indicators and how we can improve. After the conferences, just President and Sister Felix, Elder Boyce and I will be meeting with Elder Hamula. Oh, boy.

 

It has been a great week.  I'll keep in touch:)