Tuesday was the day that we would get a call to hear if anyone was getting transferred... we taught a young man named Austin, who is getting baptized on the 18, and then played a little soccer in the gym with the young men which was really fun! Then we swapped cars with other elders so we got it now, which is always a great week, when we have the car. That night we got transfer calls and... Elder Valdez and I are staying for the next transfer, and we both think I am going to stay here and send him home because he only has one transfer left after this, he goes home in June, and it is hard to have a missionary take over the area after just 6 weeks, so we might stay together until he leaves.
Wednesday was a normal day, we spent most of the time trying less-actives and few people were interested, so nothing special
Thursday was transfer day and we drove some missionaries to transfers because Elder Valdez had to say bye to one of his best friends on the mission, Elder Lokeni. He is from Utah, and has been one of Valdez' best friends on the mission, so he was really sad all day because, as he said, "it is all coming to an end", it made me realize how fast this time here is really going to go by!
Friday we went around encouraging people to invite others to watch conference
Saturday was, as you know, General Conference!!! We watched it all at the church. It was all so good. But I think Saturday I noticed a focus on families and marriage more than I have ever heard before, the church realizes that the family is under more scrutiny and attack than ever before and that being the center of God's plan for us, they want to defend that. I loved the talk by Elder Oaks about the parable of the sower and how he went through and described that, the Propst family, the recent converts, listened to that talk and they said that it really touched them, which I thought was super cool! From the afternoon session I loved the talks by the 70, Elder Andersen's talk about dancing in the gospel versus hearing the sweet music of the Gospel, that one was really good, then I loved Elder Renlunds talk, he is the 70 that came and spoke to us in March!!, his talk about how being a Saint being someone who never stops trying, I loved his quote at the end that went something like, "If we don't keep trying, we are Latter Day Sinners, If we don't preserver to the end, we are Latter Day Quitters, and If we don't allow others to try, we are Latter Day Hypocrites; but if we keep trying and allow others to try, we are Latter Day Saints"; I loved that quote. But then was my favorite talk of all conference talk, By Elder Michael T Ringwood. He spoke about how service is greater than prestige in the sight of God, that's what I took out of it, the quote that really hit home for me was when he said, "Great women and great men are always more anxious to serve than to have dominion" It is so true, callings don't signify that we are better or higher on the totem pole than others, it is service and the desire to do such that are truly improve us in the sight of God, not only that but like Elder Ringwood said, "The service that counts the most is usually recognized by God alone." don't think that having the highest calling is what means you are truly a leader in the church, it gives you a call to be a leader, but we can be leaders without callings to our name. Priesthood session was really good. I loved Elder Uchtdorfs talk about Potempkin Villages, just listen to the talk to understand that haha, can be used to aid us, be can turn from useful to deceitful, we shouldn't try to pretend to be something that we are not, but realize that we are all imperfect and that we all need the love and grace of God to aid us in our quest for perfection.
Sunday morning was great, I loved the Music and Spoken Word! My favorite talk in this session was from Bishop Gerald Causse about the wonder of the gospel. It really touched me because I think at times we all feel like the gospel has gotten boring because we think we know everything we can learn, but that is so false! each scripture and quote can be looked at with a different perspective and it is by studying the simple doctrines of the gospel that we truly gain testimonies. In the Sunday afternoon session, I liked Elder Hales talk about defending the freedom to believe, it is a very sacred freedom that we have, it reminded me of the talk about standing up for our beliefs and tolerating others beliefs as well; this was a great talk but I think my favorite talk from this session was given by Elder Kevin W Pearson about enduring to the end or as he put it, "staying by the tree" one of the things i loved that he said about the people in the great and spacious building might have been "politically correct, but they are spiritually lost" that really hit me, are we more worried about what the world thinks of us than what God thinks of us? Do we care more to satisfy the corrupt and imperfect world than to follow our incorrupt and perfect Savior?
after conference we had dinner at a families house for easter, then we had a meeting with our new investigator Scott, he is planning on baptism on the 25 of April! He is rock solid, and we taught him the restoration yesterday, he told us that before he had ever met with the missionaries he planned on proving them wrong, because he was going to sit in as a friend was taught and he was going to try to prove the elders wrong (the friend was being taught in another area) and try to get his friend to leave the church as well... but then he realized the things he had read of the mormon church weren't right, that he had a tainted view of our beliefs; funny how once people actually meet us and hear what we have to say, most times they actually WANT to be baptized haha, if the message is presented right! But this week has been good! Conference was great, and really is a time of spiritual uplifting for all! I hope everyone has a great week! Love you all!
Elder Hinrichsen
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