56th week in Spokane

Well, this week is going to be a pretty short one. I was in Spokane all week having meetings and we got pretty much zero proselyting time in our area. The training was excellent though and we are excited to be able to apply it in our own area with our own investigators. I heard some way good news though! In my first area in Spokane, we found, taught, and baptized a mother and son named Cheryl and Tristian Millmaker, well, I found out this week that the husband is getting baptized next week!! So now they will be able to be united as a family and will have the blessing of having the Priesthood in their home!! Also this week, Elder Westwood and I both gave a talk in sacrament meeting and that went pretty good except for the fact that I tend to be long winded and didn't leave Elder Westwood very much time! But really that's pretty much it for this week, we just had meetings!

55th week in Spokane

We had somewhat of a rough week with all our investigators who are working towards a baptismal date. Satan has been working double time to keep them from entering the waters. We were only able to meet with the Stephens family once this week because they kept calling and canceling and they are still having problems with the word of wisdom and so they can't be baptized this week. Its all been very frustrating. But on the upside we did find some sweet new people to teach this week. One of whom is Ricky, she's way interested, has tons of questions, and has a whole lot of potential. We also found a new family, the mom has been taught before but she is re-interested and has two kids that she wants to learn more about God and the scriptures. So we are looking forward to seeing what comes from that. We have been getting a lot of requests to split wood for people and so of course I love doing that. As for the zone, there was a baptism this Saturday, a guy named Calvin. So that was good especially since there hasn't been a baptism in the zone since August. Next week there's another baptism on Sunday. so things are looking up, we just need to have people quit holding cigarettes higher than they hold God, which is exactly what they are doing. So there's been a lot of questions about the responsibilities of a zone leader. So basically it works like this.. two missionaries make up a companionship where there is a senior companion who is accountable for that companionship, a few companionships make up a district where there is a District leader who works closely with all the missionaries in their district, especially the senior companion, and is accountable for the companionships in his district, a few districts make up a zone where there are two zone leaders in a companionship who work very closely with the district leaders and are accountable for the all the missionaries in that zone, and then there are two assistants to the president in a companionship who work very closely to the zone leaders. So that's how leadership in this mission is broken down. So as far as responsibilities go, there's not a whole lot different then any one else, other than we work very closely with the stake, or stakes, in which our zone covers, meeting with high councilmen and the stake president and helping to ensure that the missionaries and the church leaders are on the same page with everything. So as zone leaders we have meeting with the stake, we also go to the district meeting within the zone, we meet once a transfer with all the other zone leaders in the mission and the president in whats called a zone leader council, which just so happens to be tomorrow. We also have a conference call every Thursday night where all the zone leaders and the president are all on the same line where we give some sort of accountability and receive direction from the assistants and the president. there's also whats called a zone conference that happens every other transfer where all the missionaries in a few zones meet together where we receive direction and training from the president, then we split up and receive training from the assistants and then the zone leaders give trainings after that. Then there's also one more thing that's fairly new, called leadership training, I went to it as a district leader in July. basically its where we receive training from the president for four days, eight hours a day and all zone leaders, district leaders, and trainers are invited to that..Its pretty intense but its so awesome at the same time and that just so happens to start tomorrow too. So for this upcoming week I will be in Spokane from Tuesday morning to Friday night. so I'm looking forward to that, it will be fun. So I don't know, that may sound like a lot, but its not. Well I'm looking forward to reporting on this week next time. I love you all thanks for all you do!

54th week in Spokane

Things went well this week, what could be better then to end it by listening to the Lord's Prophet and Apostles?? We were able to teach a lady named Mary this week and invite her to be baptized Oct. 23rd and she accepted! The zone has also been really blessed this week with two more people who have accepted a baptismal date. That makes six for the zone! That's more than the zone has had in the past six months, so things are looking up here. We were able to meet with the Stake President this week and talk about each ward individually and set up some goals with him. There's definitely a feeling of anticipation here as the fire is being lit in the stake and in the zone. I am grateful for the talk given by Elder Nelson in the Priesthood session talking about how the members of the church need to be missionaries as well. Especially since that is the gap that's missing here, as in the majority of the church as well I'm sure. If that gap can be bridged between the members and the missionaries, the world will see miracles. We need to be the tools used in the Lord's hands as He ushers in His second coming. We need to do our part. As the Prophet began to speak in the welcoming to conference Saturday morning, my testimony was again confirmed and strengthened as the Spirit bore witness to me that Thomas S. Monson is God's Prophet on the Earth today. I know this is true. that's why I am serving the Lord, to spread the good news.