Week 59

 March 11, 2018

Happy Birthday Amy Lofgreen and Amy Grover!!!

Dear Loved ones,

It has been a great week here in the Idaho Pocatello Mission. Tuesday, was Zone conference in Montpelier, ID. That tabernacle is so lovely and has recently been renovated.  The sisters in the Montpelier love the missionaries and go out of their way to have things nice.  They even went over to the tabernacle at 7:00 a.m. with hot chocolate and pastries for the missionaries as they arrived. Unfortunately, the missionaries don’t start to arrive until after 8. Personal study is from 8:30 to 9:00 when the actual conference begins.

Again, the morning was spent watching Videos from Salt Lake on how to use technology in missionary work safely. After our delicious Dutch-oven chicken lunch Sister Hancock gave us a great lesson on the importance of knowing the Savior, because it is our job to invite other to come unto Christ. She used the analogy of trying to describe Disneyland. She had everyone who hasn’t been to Disneyland raise their hand and then asked one of them to describe what they knew.  They didn’t have much to say.  Then she called on someone to describe Disneyland that has been there. Our most important job is to come to Christ ourselves, so we can tell others what it is like.  She also shared an article she read about the 3 things happy people have in common.

1. a sense of self-worth.  They are comfortable in their own skin without arrogance, self-assured without pride.

2. selflessness - they put the needs of others before their own needs. They take joy in serving others.

3. happy people have a plan they know where they are going. “Happiness is a direction not a place”

Optimism is based on faith – faith is a principle of action. President Hinckley said, If you want to be happy, forget yourself, go to work.

In the afternoon President Hancock had each companionship prayerfully decide who they could actually send something uplifting to on their phones.  Talk about feeling the spirit – be in a room of missionaries all praying to know what their investigators need.

That was most evident to me during Wednesday conference because the stake center we were in didn’t have Wi-Fi in the chapel, so we were meeting in the Primary room.  I was sitting right in front of two elders.  When one of the elders started to pray, he was speaking so softly I couldn’t tell what he was saying, but I was close enough to feel the spirit that prayer brought. Magnify that by all the other companionships in the room and you will know what a spiritual feast have had this week.

The Sisters that live in my apartment complex came to lunch on Saturday, and they told of how being able to use the technology is affecting their investigator.  They have a young girl that they are teaching. Her mother lives in Texas and has been taking lessons from the missionaries there. They Skyped a lesson with her mother and her missionaries and now the mother and daughter are reading the Book of Mormon together on their phones. Using this technology will flood the earth with the gospel.

Saturday, I went to the baptism of our Bishop’s daughter that is in my Primary class. Baptisms are the best!  In the afternoon, Jon, Scott Dyer, and Alex flew up and spent a few minutes with me.  What a treat! 

Love you all!! 

              Grammie/Sister Shill