Hello everyone,
It was a fantastic week!! Full of rain storms and Elder Bednar! Woot Woot! First the bad news, I am getting transferred. Transfer meeting is tomorrow and that is where I will find out who my new companion is and where my new area is. Let me tell you how transfers work: Well, on Saturday night we have transfer calls. So, if you get a call from President Wilson or the Assistants that means that one of you is leaving. They also tell you if you are training or are going to be a training leader and such, but that is all they tell you. Then on Tuesday we have a big transfer meeting and over the pulpit President Wilson tells you where you are going and who you are with. Then after the hour long meeting you go! It is an anxiety filled day, but so exciting! But here is a fun fact: I only have 5 more transfers left (not counting this new transfer I am about to start!) Soooo weird..but anyways!
On Saturday we were able to go and see and hear Elder Bednar speak. It was so incredible! We had to be there at least by 8:15am, so Sister Rushton and I decided to leave early because we wanted good seats. We got there at 8 and still had didn't get to sit in the pews. However, we sat in the chairs right behind the pews. So we weren't that far back. Crazy thing is the meeting didn't even start til 9 am. It was sooo cool, when he came in the spirit was just overwhelming. Our AP (my old zone leader!) got to sit right next to him on the stand. How cool was that? Bishop Davies (of the presiding bishopric) and Elder Robbins (quorum of the 70) came with him. They were both great! The first speaker was Sister Bednar and she actually called some missionaries out of the audience and talked to them about their missions. It was so cool and kind of nerve-racking…but then Bishop Davies went ups and he started off by singing the James Brown song, "I feel good" and it was hilarious. He talked to us about opening our hearts and minds for the meeting. And about being all the way there as the meeting goes on and not thinking about everything else that you have to do. Then Elder Robbins got up and he just talked about how a mission is like going to college. He said that we were taking some really hard classes such as: Charity 505 and humility 505. But he talked about how those classes will help us in our lives. He was a Mission President so it was cool to have him talk about his missionaries like they were his children. my favorite quote from him was: "That which is bitter to endure, is sweet to remember." He was awesome and also very funny. Then the humble Elder Bednar spoke. Let me tell you, he is hilarious! He had us laughing a whole lot. It was really interesting how he lead the meeting. We were given three talks on Faith from him to read before we came to the meeting and he asked us to say what we learned. Then off of what we learned he taught. It was so cool, he didn't just lecture us about being better, he just personally talked to us about what was important to us. Basically what we talked about though was moving forward with faith and how faith is action. This is a quote I loved from him though, "We don't have to be perfect, we just have to be good and do our best and better each day." It was cool because he was talking to the sisters with that and said that we are too hard on ourselves and the Elders are not hard enough. Haha, one funny thing he also said was about the leadership positions of the mission (such as AP's, Zone Leaders, District Leaders, etc) and how he believes that people get this e positions sometimes because the mission president needs to keep a better eye on them and because he doesn't trust them. Haha, he was so great. After we talked about what we learned for like two hours, he then did a question and answer session. My absolute favorite part of the conference was when a sister asked, "How can we better sustain you in your calling?" And he took a second to think and the two simple words he said was, "Love Him." That was just so powerful to me. He is such a humble man and he knows his purpose. It was really touching to me. He also talked to the senior couples which is cool because they get overlooked often and told them that their absence in the lives of their children and grandchildren will be the most meaningful memory for them. And that their grandchildren are more likely to go on missions because of it. It was really cool. Another part I liked was when an Elder asked how he could stay converted when he went home. Elder Bednar said that we can when we become missionaries. He told us to go home and feel weird because that is when you know you really became a missionary. Then he left us with a blessing that we keep working on our conversion here and at home then we will never fall away, ever. So cool! The last thing they did was all of them bore testimonies of the Savior. It was so powerful and I have never felt the spirit any stronger in my life. It was a long three hour conference, but it was a really cool conference. On of the best experiences of my mission!:)
This week we also did a blitz in our area. Which is when we get a ton of missionaries to come and take over Goochland. We planned it out really well and we had members from our ward driving the missionaries out here and some even tracted with them. It was a miracle because we had 9 sets of missionaries out here. We have a few people that look super promising that we need to visit, well I guess Sister Rushton and her new companion need to visit…but it was really good! :) We had a few lessons this week and nothing to exciting with them other than we got dropped :( That is always hard, but we know she will come back in her own time. Then we almost got dropped by a recent/less active member…she can't drop us! but we went over and talked to her about her concerns and are working with her and helping her through it. It was an eventful week. Friday night after our blitz we were at the church helping clean because of Elder Bednar coming and because my companion and I signed up to help. We vacuumed the chapel…that takes forever! But I vacuumed the chair Elder Bednar sat in!!! Oh Yeah! We had to leave a bit early I wasn't feeling very well. I hadn't eaten very much and was dehydrated. I got really pale. We went home and ate and I drank a ton of water. I was feeling much better the next day.
I am so excited that Ty's mission papers are in and it sounds like everyones life is crazy. That is so good to hear! I am sooo excited to talk to you in six days! I feel like I just talked to you though on Christmas…but that was like five months ago. I will be google chatting with you from a new area, so I have no idea where and when. I think we can text you the day before to let you know. It will workout though so don't worry.
Well, I am really sad to leave this area because it has become my home. I also really love Sister Rushton. Goochland and I got off to a rough start but I really honestly love is so much here. I have had a lot of trials here and I have overcome a lot of trials here. I love the people and I am so grateful to have gotten to know them all. They will forever be in my heart! I am excited and scared all at the same time to move forward, but I will just move forward with faith I guess!!
Well, love you!!!! :) Family, I will talk to you SOON!!!
Love,
Sister Siepert :)
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