Week 5

Dear Family and Friends,

Last night we sat down for the devotional, and an older couple, not missionaries, came and sat next to us.  They took one look at our nametags and realized they were almost our mission president and wife.  We sat next to president Newell and his wife, and talked about Sweden Tuesday night, and when we found out, I leaned over to the elders next to me, and told them that they were our former mission presidents for Sweden.  One of the elders looked back at me and said in Swedish, are you going to Sweden?  I told him yes, and we started a little conversation, and had an awesome experience.  He knows the Newells too, and was so excited to see them.  What are the odds of that?

In our zone there are three Dutch districts, a Norwegian district, and two Swedish districts.  We had some nerf guns and squirt guns, so we thought it would be fun to attack the Dutch districts in their one room as the Swedish districts.  We apparently woke them up from a nap, and they got mad.  That night was fun because as revenge they came and attacked us with a couple water bottles, shaving cream, a donut, and all their scary attire.  I didn't realize that they were out there though, just a Surinam missionary, so we opened the door, I threw a cookie to him, and it actually hit one elder, the soloist in the priesthood session, in the shoulder, and freaked him out pretty bad.  Things here are really fun, and we seem to magnify every experience given to us here.

We have 2 mock investigators right now.  They are our teachers playing the role of investigators they taught on their missions, and we have committed both of them for baptism on this Saturday, and they are ready.  Tonight we are just verifying that, and they should be interviewed before then.  Those lessons are so much fun, I love them.  I will miss those "investigators" but am happy to receive real ones. 

So some of you probably saw me in conference, but I'd like to invite those who didn't see the priesthood session to watch the musical numbers.  Especially if you're wanting to go on a mission, or thinking about going on a mission.  They are pretty awesome!  The soloist is in my zone, along with his companion, who are two of the funniest people I have ever met.  We had 6 other Dutch elders in the choir, three other Swedes and 4 Nords.  We have a pretty musical zone.  The conference center looks smaller from the choir seats.  It's still huge, but it looks more like a football stadium with 20,000 white shirts and ties.  Ian Berlin's companion was also there, as well as one of my Slovak friends, who was the second missionary to my right.  There are some great people here.  Choir is amazing for all those who are coming here, because it's not about singing, it's about learning to feel the Spirit through music, and share that with others.

If any of you know who Vai Sikahema is, he spoke to us on Sunday, and is pretty awesome.  During his talk, he discussed how to be a missionary and how missionary work lasts longer than just the mission, and the effects are often unseen.  He taught a woman on an airplane with a 10 year old as his "companion" and she ended up not accepting the message yet, as far as he knows, but the 10 year old chose to go on a mission and claims it was Vai who made the difference in that.

There is no better time to watch conference than as a missionary, because you have such a great purpose, that you soak up all of it.  Every speaker seems to be talking to someone you know, or teach, or would like to teach and then President Monson closes with the call to action.  I loved hearing conference, and listening with that purpose.  We have great general authorities, apostles, prophets, and leaders in our church.  I really have a strong testimony of that.  So much of what you take for granted will be magnified on your mission because you realize not only did you rely on that, but it has more power than you've ever taken from that.

Tuesday night devotional was about how we are rosebushes.  God takes us wild crazy teenagers, who seem to be all over the place, and takes away what makes us who we are until we are just a few small sticks, like a properly pruned rosebush.  He then allows us to grow back up to what he wants us to be, and will prune when necessary.  But for roses to grow properly, the cuts need to be made just right, they need to be soaked in rose food, and protected from the weeds that want to destroy them.  That is how we become missionaries.  By growing from what we still have, since that is the essentials of a person of God.

I know the church is true, and Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God to restore His church.  I know that Thomas S. Monson is the current prophet of God, and prays for, serves, and loves each one of us.  I know that he speaks the words of God, and they are the words we need to not just hear, but listen to and obey.  I know that God has organized his missionary forces on the earth today, and the work is being hastened to a point where no unhallowed hand could stop it from progressing.  I know that we are all called to this earth and into church callings for a specific divine purpose, and that I have been prepared by worthy priesthood leaders who bear God's authority with humility, respect, and revelation.  I have a testimony of all these things, and share it in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Tack,

Äldste Liddle