The Last Conference

This week was a good week, we continued to teach Paul this week. We continued to teach him about the Restoration. We taught about Christ's ministry and how the Apostasy came about and helped him to understand that. Me and Elder Kapalanga have worked out a good dynamic of how to teach Paul. I would do my best to explain the concept as simple as possible, and Elder Kapalanga would explain it over again to cover the points that he may have not understood so well. Generally speaking, this has worked out well for us as at the end of it he could clearly understand the concept. However, I would prefer that Elder Kapalanga begins teaching in English, as he will need the practice and get familiar with teaching it in that way. Paul also told us something that really took me back. That Sunday he came to church, he WALKED all the way to church, which is a really far distance. It had to be close to 10km at least. It was that far. Sadly, he did not join us this last Sunday.

General Conference was AWESOME. I loved so many of the talks, such as Elder Durrant talking about 'ponderizing' the scriptures. I think that just focusing on understanding and memorizing one scripture every week is a great method, especially for me. I do not like memorizing as I feel rushed and pressured to memorize it in such a short time, but with 'ponderizing' the scriptures I have plenty of time to memorize a single passage of scripture. It's not something I will start doing right now, but something later when I come back home I think. I do hope that it will help me a lot spiritually. I also appreciated his more practical advice.

Also, I really enjoyed the testimonies borne by our new Apostles. Hearing them all bear the own testimonies allowed me to feel the spirit and know for myself that they were truly called of God to be his Apostles. I think each and every single one of them are powerful witnesses in their own way. I was sad though that they only got to bear their testimonies. I can't wait for next general conference now! I want to hear what they will speak about!

Some of our current apostles gave great talks as well. President Nelson's talk was very moving. It really shows that the church really draws strength from the women in the church. It's no wonder that these leaders of the church are who they are because of their wives.

I also liked Elder Bednar's talk. I thought it was a very moving tribute to all the leaders of the church that he has known that have since died. As he shared their (unknowingly) final testimonies, I could tell that the words they spoke were truly inspired, especially Elder L. Tom Perry's and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin's talks. It is such a shame that we could not have such great leaders forever, but again I continue to find solace in the new apostles that we DO have.

President Monson's talk was heartbreaking to watch. He has gotten very old very fast, and I was very sad to see him begin to struggle to speak towards the end of his talk. I do hope that he will be blessed with improved health, but knowing the old age that he is at, I realize that he doesn't have much time left. I hope though that we will be blessed to hear from him a few more times though.

Elder Chola finished his mission yesterday. As I am writing this letter he is probably having his final interviews. Elder Chanza got transferred to a different area because of that, so me and Elder Kapalanga have ALL of Chilomoni to proselyte in, which will be great because it gives us much for flexibility to have people to visit and to teach. I'll be able to visit my old friend Albert again who stayed in Elder Chola's side of the area. His wife gave birth recently to a daughter and she's starting to settle down. Albert wants us to begin teaching his wife and hopefully baptize her. It would be great to set that in motion (at this point of my mission I won't be able to see any more baptisms for myself) and I would be more than happy to see Albert's family united by the restored gospel.

Hard to believe that it will be a very short time before I see you all again. I look forward to seeing you again in just a few more weeks!

 

Love,

Elder Massey