We got leaked April General Conference News

We got leaked April General Conference News

It's been 10 days since our last p-day, and a lot of things have happened. It was a really good week. We got to do a ton of service, which is always great. We also had Elder Vinson from the presidency of the quorum of the seventy come to both our stake conference and to our zone conference. And, as you would expect, it was amazing. Lastly we finally had the baptism for Cameron and Aidric on Saturday.

This week we did about 7 hours of service. We did some yard work on Thursday for the Bendoski's and had a big pancake breakfast with them. Then on Saturday we built a huge pen to ride horses in at the Taylor's ranch. It took about 4 hours, and I was the designated post-hole digger. I got a real good workout in and had a lot of fun at the same time. We finished the whole thing, which we hadn't planned to do. There's a picture of us and the finished thing attached to the email. 

On to the more important news, though. Elder Vinson and his wife came and visited our mission. They had a lot of good things to say and we all learned a lot from their words. I got to sit 5 feet away from him while he spoke to us for over an hour. At the end of it we had a Q&A with him and someone asked him if he had any info about the mysterious April conference. And he had a couple things, but nothing too crazy. We found out that Elder Tai is speaking, and we also found out that for the first time, speakers will be given a specific topic to speak about instead of thinking of their own topic. That's all we found out, but maybe you guys will find it interesting. 

Even with that, the highlight of our week had to be Cameron and Aidric's baptism. They are the children of two recently returning members that we have been working with for about 6 months. They have had a few baptismal dates that kept getting pushed back. This week everything felt right and it went really smoothly. I think it was the perfect time for them to get baptized. Many ward members showed up to support them, and they both were very happy and energetic about it. We had also texted our mission president the night before to tell him about it, and then he decided to show up, which was a very nice surprise. That was a very happy day for us and for them. 

    

I think that's about it for the week. We have some cool things coming up the next few weeks though that we are excited for. We should be having a baptism on the 28th and on January 11th, as well as lots of fun Christmas celebrations and such. December is turning into a great month, especially with the wonderful weather here. I just thought I'd rub that in to any of you Utah folks reading this. 

- The Elder Leary

Christmasy Week

This was a fun week. We had a lot of different Christmas activities throughout the week. We also had some good lessons with our investigators. Nothing too crazy happened, but still a really good week.

The most fun part of the week was probably on Monday when I got to play an actual tennis match with a member from one of the wards nearby. I haven't played a serious match since I came on the mission. It was so much fun and I ended up winning. I guess I still got it. 😊

We also had a Christmas devotional as a mission this week on Thursday. That was fun. We had a whole bunch of musical numbers and testimonies, plus we got Chick-Fil-A catered which really made it great. Our ward Christmas party was also this week on Friday. I always enjoy being able to spend time with the ward in informal settings, and we were able to meet lots of new people. Plus they had all the nursery kids dressed up in fluffy sheep costumes for their nativity play, so how could you not like that? 

Then yesterday at church I got asked last second to be in the choir for two musical numbers. I didn't see anyone plugging their ears during it so I guess it went OK. I also gave a five minute talk about Christmas and Jesus. That was actually really fun. I was able to reflect on past Christmases and what they meant to me. I talked about how great it is as a missionary to not have all the distractions that come with Christmas, and only focus on Christ. I also talked about the amazing gift of Christ and all the things he gives to each of us. 

This week was very Christmasy (that's probably not a word) and this upcoming week will also be Christmasy. Christmas isn't the only thing I'm excited for this week, though. Mark is getting baptized on Saturday. He passed his interview and we got the whole thing planned. He is super excited for it and we are too. He said he doesn't do white shirts and ties, and he was worried he had to wear one to his baptism. I told him he didn't, but I think I might find the funniest fabric I can today at JoAnn's and make it into a tie as a funny baptism gift for him. If I do I'll send a picture next week. 

This week we also started teaching a lady named Natasha. She had been to church in the past in Virginia. We taught her the restoration and talked about the Book of Mormon. She loved it. She also mentioned that she wants to be baptized. Fortunately that is something we can help her with! She also made it to church yesterday, so she is pretty solid.

That's about it for the week. Merry Christmas guys! Try to remember the greatest gift we've been given and not drown him out with all the other fun things going on.

Love, Elder Larry (as everyone calls me that doesn't know me)