Hey Family,
This week turned out to be an exciting and stress filled week but we survived it adn get to do it again this week.
So last monday i had to head up to Lisbon right after P-day for the leadership conference that the mission was having. At first i thought it was a President Torgan thing but while i was there i got a letter from Ethan Williams that said that his mission did it too so i guess every mission in the world is doing it. We had it because the church wants all missionaries to be focused on the fundamental principles of Preach My Gospel. The church wants all the missionaries in the world trained on this stuff before the new year so we had to have a special conference to fit it all in. I was worried that it would be a long three days full of boring meetings, but it actully turned out to be one of the best conferences i have ever been too. I learned a ton and realized theres still alot of things i can improve on. The whole focus was on the basics of missionary work. Everyday we had trainings given by the Zone Leaders and Assistants about a specific part of Preach My Gospel or missionary work in general like how to invite someone to be baptized or how to start a lesson. Then, at the end of every training, we had two companionships practice the pricinciple we had just learned. I normally hate doing practices like that in front of everyone but it actually helped alot. But President Torgan also took time everyday to remind us that we were learning all that stuff so that we could better reach our goals and baptize more people. IN fact, thats how he started the conference. The very first day we were there he started to talk about the temple and how we were blessed to be here right now to witness that blessing. He told us that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Prophet of God were looking at this mission with specila eyes, and that they blessed us with a temple. So he asked us how we wanted to repay them for that wonderful blessing, and ofcourse, we all said by baptizing. So thats what we did this week. We all made baptismal goals for the week and then everyday we called our districts and Zones to give direction and guidance so we could all make our goals. Every area had a goal of how many baptisms they were going to have that week, but for the Elders from the far reaches of the mission had more difficutly in reaching those goals because they weren´t able to work in their own areas. I was one of the elders but Since Elder Christiansen stayed with the other elders from my district, he was able to work a little in our area, which was good because we had a goal of onew baptism...Abela. I was worried that she wouldnt get baptized this week because i wasnt going to be there to help mark her but the other elders and the branch president went to her house in the middle of the week and by some miralce, marked her for baptism. It didnt end up going through because she has some serious, and i mean serious, family problems right now so she opted to not get baptized. I was really bumbed and i have to admit, i almost cried when i found out because she was really close this time but i guess this week might not have been her week after all. I feel like i could have done so much more but i didnt. She even came to church on Sunday but i didnt push her as hard as i should of. When she got there we had to teach Gospel Principles to here and her daughter but afterward she talked to us and explained everything. I was so taken bak by her reasons that i didnt know what to do or say so i kind of let it go. Then during sacrament meeting, i thought of some things i could say to her to help but she left early so i couldn´t talk to her. I felt terrible because i knew i could have done more but i didnt, but i guess i have to take this as a learning experience, repent, and move on. So now i´m feeling a little better and I´m a little unsure about what to do now but i know the
Lord will help us out.
And as to answers Moms questions...
1)Yes i´m district Leader but i really dont feel all that different than a normal missionary.
2)I traveled alone to Lisbon and i miraculously didnt get lost!
3)We talked a little about the temple, but mostly about how we have a lot more work to do before it gets here.
4)We dont do much to preapre the members for the temple(except teach less actives), at least i dont think we do. But maybe things will change when the building starts.
5)We didnt get to see more conference but we got to watch Short clips of missionaries teaching everyonce in a while which was entertaining.
6)And no, i never get sick of questions.
I cant believe BYU finally won! It feels like its been forever. But it sure cheers me up to know that they won another game.
Well, i think thats it for news. Here in a few weeks i´ll be sending my memory card from my camera to you guys with some other stuff too. And dont forget to tell mom Happy Birthday for me. Thanks for everything! Eu amo vocês!
Com Amor,
Élder Haws
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