Friday we were planning on having a full day
to work in our area but, of course that could never happen, so we ended up
having to drive up to Springfield IL and back. On the way back we took a road
that took us over a ferry across the Mississippi river so that was a cool
experience. That night we got to visit a few members and work with them so we
were thankful to still get some work in. It’s been cool recently because we don’t
have too much time to teach lessons so we can really focus on putting every
ounce of spiritual strength into each lesson that we do have. We even got to
have a lesson with the Morgan’s this weekend but I’ll talk about that in a
second.
Definitely the highlight of
this week was this weekend with conference. I love getting to listen to the
prophet and apostles speak. There are always so many good topics. The range of
topics this time was huge and I felt like so many of them applied to me. There
are so many missionaries that struggle with depression so Elder Holland’s talk
was amazing for that. The day before he gave that talk we took a missionary to
the airport because he was struggling with mental health and it killed him that
he had to go home because he wanted to stay out and try to fix it so badly but
I hope that he heard Elder Holland’s talk and is able to move on with his life
and stay strong in the gospel.
Another topic that really
hit home for us was all the talks about the priesthood and the role of it in a woman’s
life. One of our really close friends out here has some family back in Utah
that is really heavily involved in the women and the priesthood thing that’s
going on and so he was looking for some answers there and there were some very
blunt talks that talked about how women don’t need the priesthood to enjoy the
full blessings of the power of God. It’s far more important to live worthily of
a temple recommend.
Of
course we also loved the topic of missionary work. Elder Ballard made a promise
that we could touch millions of people’s lives if we will simply reach out to
someone between now and Christmas. We have been working with the zone leaders
and the ward council since Sunday
to try to get it as a goal in our ward to have every person invite someone (nonmember,
less active, or part member) to take the missionary discussions. If everyone
will do that our planners will be full of teaching appointments for the rest of
the year. And we all need to remember that promise applies to all of us. Living
in Utah or "not having any nonmember friends" doesn’t make us an
exception to the commandment to hasten the work.
We got to watch all the
sessions of conference at the mission home with the Morgan’s and some other
missionaries and it was so much fun! We got good home cooked meals, got to go
in the backyard and play games in between, and then the best part for me was to
get to teach the Morgan’s a lesson after. We had never done that before and we
figured that we are teaching member lessons and they’re members so we might as
well teach them. The spirit was super strong as we taught the lesson and my
favorite part was when we were asking them what they have already done with
missionary work and what they were going to do now. Anna said that she had
given out a couple pass along cards at school and without any hesitation she
said that she was going to invite someone to take the missionary discussions.
It was incredible to see the faith of an 18 year old girl. Most members pick
very small and simple goals which for some people is great. But for Anna she
was ready to share the gospel and she is determined to do it. I am so thankful
for her faith and the faith of the Morgan family. They are an incredible
example to me and all the other missionaries.
I am so thankful for
conference and for great friends that I have out here. There are so many
examples in my life of how to be a good person and get closer to God and I just
pray that I can keep these examples in my life. I love this work and am humbled
to be a part of the amazing missionary work movement that is happening right
now. Thank you all for your prayers and help with hastening the work. I love
you all and will talk to you again soon!
-Elder Banks
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