Exchanges and Conference - October 5, 2015

This was an eventful week. Intercambios with the Zone Leaders and Intercambios with the other Elders in my district. We spent the week talking about Conference with everyone. Sadly though, we didn’t have much turn out by way of investigators. 

The inercambios with the Zone Leaders was great, Elder Canalizo and I made a poster for Elder Alvarez because he completed a year on the mission, to congratulate him, with some candies and things :)
The Intercambios on Friday were great as well. E Jepson (from Midway) is having some problems with his companion, he feels his companion is too bossy, and he is struggling with the language. So, I decided the thing to do was to lay back, and showed him all the support I could while I let him run the reigns in his area, and it was just what he needed to feel more confidence in himself and his capacity to make decisions. 

We ended the Intercambios On Saturday, but basically stayed together because we went to see the sessions in English. At the end of Saturday and the end of the Sessions on Sunday, I noticed that my companion was upset. We got back to the house and I honestly did not feel we were good to go out and work, we needed to talk something out. And we did, we had a very serious conversation. Basically, My companion doesn’t like E Jepson , and with all the time I spent with him, he didn’t want me to act like him. So, with the help of the Spirit, I was able to help him see the great need that he had to learn to love E Jepson. That a lot of the time his comments to him were degrading. And that it is always better to lift than bring others down. It was a very intense conversation. I asked him to stop making fun of him. So after a lot of silence, he called our companions, they came over to the house, and he apologized to Elder Jepson. I know that the Spirit had touched my companion’s heart, He never speaks seriously enough to do such a thing as ask forgiveness. But now he does. 

This has really made me think about a lot of things... how the Spirit is the true teacher, about how we need to see others with God´s eyes and his perspective, and seeing potential in others rather than just their faults. It was a very humbling experience for the two of us.

On Wednesday the Sister Missionaries had a baptism, and Dominic, a 9 year old son of a less active, asked me to baptize him, so I had that privilege this week :) It was good to see the Spirit had touched his mother, as I saw the tears in her eyes when she came around with a towel to receive her son and hug him. 

By way of the Conference, I was touched by the talk about Obedience, and the Grandmother buckling in her granddaughter.´Grandma, you want me to wear my seatbelt because you love me¨ Heart melting :) I could really relate, and I learned a lot about the answer that she got from the Spirit while trying to keep her in her seat : Teach Her. People have to understand the reason that we do things is because we LOVE THEM. And I desire to be a better instrument of the Lord's love. 

Also, I loved the invitation to Ponderize. I would like to put that in practice. And I challenge all of you to do the same! Pick one verse of scripture per week, and study that verse each day, putting it in a place where you will see it often. That was a great idea!  

It was also cool to hear Elder Bednar talk about why the Lord calls old men to be his leaders. I really liked what Elder Hales told him : When you can’t do what you once could do, all you do are the things that really matter. It is very true that our time here is very limited, and we need to spend it on what really matters most. And that that is something that these inspired leaders understand. 

These men are called of God. 

Thanks for all the support and see you soon! :)
Elder Redford