The weather hasn’t really bounced back from the “Freeze” like they predicted. Most mornings have been in the 40’s. Jessie and I decided we wouldn’t bike to school until it was at least in the 50’s which it got there on Wednesday but, oh boy! Still very chilly. We are hoping our Houston winters have finally returned (cross our fingers) because we did get back in the mid 60s and 70s Thursday and Friday.
We presented at a bishop’s youth fireside in one of our downtown wards Sunday evening. This is a very wealthy ward in the heart of the city and the kids attend one of the best schools in the state. A very bright group of kids and we were asked to rollout the youth theme of 2018 for them, “Peace in Christ”. We focused on how learning of Christ, listening to Christ, and walking with Christ can bring peace in a their lives despite living in a world filled with chaos. We find it interesting we are asked to participate in these kind of functions, but we’re always grateful we do.
We wrapped up our zone conferences and interviews this week and we keep building the faith of our missionaries. As we finished conference, We reviewed our progress with the AP’s and feel like we lack a sense of urgency across the mission right now. We have good intent, but we often struggle to keep our goals in mind and it leads to missionaries working, but not at the kind of pace that is needed. I use a quote from Elder Bednar with them often, “Will we keep pace? Will we as individuals and collectively as a church keep pace with the Lord’s hastening? Or will we insist on doing things the way they have always been done, or the ways we are accustomed to or comfortable with? If we always do what we have always done, then we will always get what we have always gotten. May I suggest that what we have always done and always gotten were good in their time but we need to improve as the Lord is quickening the pace. The Lord’s hastening of His work requires us continuously to learn, to change, and to press forward with faith in the Savior.” I love this direction and you can apply it to any calling in the Church.
Wednesday, I was back doing companionship studies. I headed to Southshore in League City to meet with sisters from the Kemah branch and League City ward. I also had planned to attend their district council but it was postponed. There was a special video broadcast on the Book of Mormon from the missionary department that was going to be shown during district council but the video release has been delayed. I met with the Kemah sisters and we had a faith filled study about the Savior’s Atonement and because of His Atonement we can trust in Him to help us (our investigators) with our trials and burdens. I ended up meeting with the League City sisters after the skills training because one of the sisters ended up with food poisoning Wednesday afternoon. Our study was focused on understanding why we come to church to renew our covenants, be clean and to have our faith nourished by each other each week. Their investigator wants to be baptized but doesn’t want to be told what to do every Sunday.
We held our new missionary meeting skills and teaching review (same group you were here for) now that they are two months into the field on Thursday. Amazing to see the growth and confidence that comes in two short months. Aaron changed the meeting up to focus more on simple, inspired teaching. We focused on the Restoration, inspired questions, listening, and commitment invitations; we refer to it as 15/15/15 (15 min of how to begin teaching, 15 min of teaching, 15 min of invitations & follow-up). With our ability to create Facebook posts, We invited them all to teach a 3-4 minute Restoration lesson as well as an introduction to the Book of Mormon. They is some thinking behind this because they practice like crazy before they finish their recording, and in the process they get so much better. The technology is still a challenge for some, but for those that are using it for good, they’re doing great work.
I headed to Victoria (an hour and 45 minutes away) for a companionship study with the sisters there. We had a productive discussion planning ways to help their investigator progress and commit to baptism. I then headed to Bay City that was an hour and 15 minutes away from Victoria to meet with the sisters there. We had a great study that brought ideas of using technology better to teach and involving different members because of their life experiences that were like the investigators’ life. Then I drove the hour and 30 minutes’ home. Long day but glad to be with the sisters. Aaron and I went to dinner later that night with the other two Houston mission presidents and their wives. They’re both finally settling in and feeling the ongoing pressure of baptizing and keeping everyone happy. It’s so good to know we are all facing the same challenges and doing the best we can.
Jessie was glad to be back at dance for real this week. Her hip hop recital routine is to Ice, Ice Baby. She asked me if I had head of the song before. Uh yeah! Totally my jam in college. I’m officially the old mom!!! La Bamba is the song for her Jazz routine. Apparently, she gets to do a little samba solo?!? She loves tennis and looks forward to going every week. Bode had two games this week, they lost both, but he was happy with his effort. My analysis of his team is that they have a couple of players that in frustration try to be the hero but we all know that doesn’t work in team sports. My hope is they can realize that playing has a team results in more wins. Zac was out of the golf every day after school in preparation for his tournament on Monday. He is loving golf. Allie anxiously awaiting for her computer to be repaired. It was supposed to be ready last week but said they couldn’t get a hold of her to get her approval to replace the battery which is the reason she took it in…..to get a new battery. Frustrating! Makes doing homework inconvenient to say the least. Every Thursday she calls me about her writing assignment for Social Work because she likes sharing with me what she is writing about. I am finding in quite interesting myself. I never really knew what social workers did.
We were invited to kick off the regional priest and laurel conference that was held in Friendswood on Saturday afternoon. We spoke on making our connections less technology focused and more human. We didn’t much time to get organized until this morning, but the Lord, as He always does, helped us pull things together and it went better than we expected. We shared some of the most recent data on the impact phones and social media are having on youth and used Elder Bednar’s talk, “Things as They Really Are”. We shared with them a get to know you approach we use with the missionaries called CASE (complement, ask a question, smile, and exchange). We had them all find someone of the opposite sex they’ve never met before and get to know them. They all freaked out when we made them do it, but no one died and an enjoyable activity to watch. A fun event, and despite our crazy schedule, I’m glad they asked us to be involved. Our day didn’t end there, that night we went to one of our returned missionary’s reception at our ward building. He married a wonderful girl from the area. Jessie convinced us to take her to Masala Wok afterwards.
Busy, busy weeks but they are fun!