Week 3

Date: Thursday, March 3, 2011, 12:24 PM

Well this week has gone by really, really fast, probably because I am super busy. Let me tell you why.

So I've decided you need to be careful what you pray for. Okay that's not true, but sometimes we have these preconceived notions of how the Lord is going to answer our prayers, and then they are answered in a totally different way. So in my personal study I had really been intrigued by an idea that I had come across in 2 Nephi 31, verse 21 I think, where it says that we should "rely wholy upon the merits of Him who is mighty to save." This really intrigued me because I knew this was something that I needed to work on. I like being independent and I would rather do things on my own then get help. But that's not the way the Lord works. So last Friday and Saturday I prayed that I could have that, that I could be humbled and learn to rely more on the Savior and less on my own talents and abilities. Praying for humility?? I know you all think I'm crazy. That's like asking for more trials. Yeah I realized that, but I knew it was something that I needed, so I might as well as admit it and ask the Lord for some help. So of course, guess what happens on Sunday? The branch president calls me into this room, and my companion is already sitting there. I sit down and he says "Elder Terry, I know you don't know why you are here, but could you give us an opening prayer?" And you guys think sacrament talk topics are vague? What am I even supposed to be praying for? But I said the prayer, and then the branch president informs us that he would like to call us as new Zone Leaders. I'm pretty sure that for the first time in my life I was overwhelmed by the responsibility that I was given. How in the world was I supposed to be a zone leader? I've only been here for 3 weeks, everyone else has been here for 6 weeks, and new missionaries were coming in the next week. To say the least, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to fulfill this assignment. But immediately the Spirit bore a strong witness to me that this was the right thing, that this was the answer to my prayers, and that I would be humbled, but the Lord would help me grow from this, and that the Lord, through me, was the Zone leader. It wasn't just me being the zone leader, or me being the zone leader with some extra help from the Lord, but that it was the Lord being the Zone leader, I just had to let him work through me.

So to say the least I have been very busy since then. I've done a lot of studying about what kind of leader I am supposed to be, read a lot from D&C 121, and I am beginning to understand more about how I can rely wholy upon the Lord. On an normal day everyone is done with everything by 9:30 pm and we all head back to the residence hall. We then have an hour to get ready for bed, write in journals, relax, have companionship prayer, etc. Well as Zone Leaders, we walk around to every room and talk with the members of our zone, check up on them, and see how we can help them. We barely have enough time get ready for bed before its lights out. Our time to prepare for lessons has been lessened, because we now have to go to extra meetings, check up on people, etc. Today and yesterday have been really bad, since we got 19 new German missionaries yesterday, and it's our responsibility to take care of them and teach them everything they need to know. But the amazing thing is that the busier we get and the less time we have to prepare, the better our lessons have got. We now are super focused, use every spare moment of time, and rely on the Lord a lot more. And our lessons have gone much better. The spirit is stronger, we speak better, we work together better, truly I am learning to rely on the Lord.

Things here are going great. I love my companion and our district. We have the best district, the best teachers, and the best branch presidency. My only regret is that I don't get to be outside very often. I hope all of you are enjoying your time out in all of this beautiful weather.

I hope Riker had a splendid birthday.  Anyways German is going great, I wish I could speak better, but I'm sure I'm going to be feeling that way for the next year at least. I love all of you and thanks for all of the support and prayers. Can you believe it’s been 3 weeks? Time has flown. Hold to the rod, keep loving one another, and don't pick on the other kids, unless they start it (inside joke for the family.  If you want to know what it means ask Sidney or Riker)

Love,
Andrew