Zone Conference!

Hey!

Things happened this week!

 

Okay not too much, but we did have Zone Conference today! Haha I know I said I'd email later in the week, but we decided to do our emailing today and then do the rest of our PDay later. So.

 

So yeah Zone conference! It was here in Arad so we didn't have to go anywhere which was nice. I always love Zone Conferences. I always feel motivated afterwards. My favorite parts are always the dying testimonies, which are when missionaries who will be going home before the next zone conference bear their testimonies.

And it was really weird this time because it was two missionaries who I've been around my whole mission, who are from the same MTC group. One was Elder R, who was one of my first ZLs and is now the AP, and has literally been both in Bucharest and in a leadership position above me for my entire mission. The other was Elder H, who served with Elder R as ZL in my second transfer, and with whom I have gotten pretty close in this time out here.

Elder H has been a huge influence in my mission and it was a really spiritual thing for me to see him speaking about his experiences out here in such a setting. Honestly he was the missionary who really showed me how to be a missionary; how to effectively contact, how to study well, how to be diligent in the work, and he taught me many things about the language. He seriously is a genious and knows the language better than many Romanians haha. He still has one more transfer, but the fact that he just gave his dying testimony means he's pretty old. And neither of them were old when I got into the country. In fact I'm only 2 transfers away from being where they were when I got out here. I feel like I'm going to freak out next transfer because I will hit both my halfway mark and my 20th birthday. I don't like thinking about either of those facts.

 

Anyway

 

The district's still doing great! We've been doing something ocassionally recently to the extent of a "district language study," which basically means that we move our language study and get together for an hour and the sisters and my companion ask me grammar questions and I answer them, because the sisters are both young and need some help, as well as Elder C has been wanting some help. It's been amazing for me to see my progress in the language in that so far I have been able to answer every single grammar question they have thrown my way. I'm still working on getting better at grammar, but I have been able still to help these younger missionaries. It really has been a testimony booster to me of how the Lord gives us gifts to share them.  For whatever reason, the Lord has blessed me to able to learn the language relatively easily, and I feel like that's because I can use that both to bless the lives of Romanians through teaching them, as well as to help other missionaries to communicate better. That as well as to work my gospel knowlege into contacts and to try to be able to put good information into my contacts that will provide a good base for when they decide to meet with missionaries.

 

Also, ATTA BOY ZACK! You're up on the wall! I'm so proud of you! You too Jacob! You're next! Who would have thought wrestling would have turned into your sports but that might be it! I also hear Zack's planning on doing football in high school. YES. It's about time:)

Also way to go Nick for My Fair Lady! I've never seen it so I don't know what it's about. But knowing you I know you did a great job:) I wish I could have been there to see it.

Also Coleman's getting his call this week?!?!! I can't believe that! I'm stoked to hear where he goes!

 

I love you all. Remember, Jesus died for you. Use his sacrifice.

 

Everybody have a great week!!

 

-Elder DeGraw