President Stoddard

Ha what a week it was for all of us! Sounds like Jax and Cherese had a great time in Disney world. I can't believe how fast time is going. The weeks turn into days and it's going by really fast. This week was a solid one for us. A ton of different things happened and so I hope I can get everything in I want to say.

 

This week we had another Zone Conference with our new Mission President, President Stoddard. What an incredible man and also just such a very humble, hard worker. It is amazing whom the Lord chooses for his Mission Presidents. I swear all of them are just perfect people and are super successful in what they do. He talked to us a lot about just our attitude on life. How that is one thing we can choose and when we choose to be happy we are more capable of receiving blessings because we are always thinking positive. He talked to us for a couple hours and Sister Stoddard talked about their family. Overall it was just really cool. I have talked to him quite a lot actually and he is a great man.

 

Our investigator from Ghana got baptized last week! It was such an awesome experience. My companion Elder Baker actually baptized him. It has been super cool teaching him from the beginning and seeing his progress in the gospel. His wife and his little 2-year old daughter came. She is so fun to be around. She loved it when her dad got submerged in the water. His wife is not yet interested in the gospel but she said she loved seeing how many blessings their family is receiving since he has been meeting with us. Ghanaians are just so open to the gospel and they love religion. Also, I think they are just more humble in general. That was really such a cool experience to see him get baptized. The Lord has really blessed me for having been part of these 5 baptisms I have seen on my mission. Every single one of them had a huge impact on me and have kept me going. It really is a blessing to see sons and daughters of God accept the gospel. I am just lucky to have been a part of those and humbled for sure. That is what the mission does to you. Just changes your whole nature. So that has been pretty cool.

 

My mission has been the best thing that could have ever happened to me. My biggest convert on my mission has been me. I have learned so much about the Gospel and about the Atonement so much. It has been such a blessing. One thing that I have learned a lot on my mission apart from Attitude is how important it is to surround yourself with good people. The people around you have a really big influence on what you do as a person. It may not seem like that but the people I admire most are really loving and caring people. It has been awesome. Another thing I have learned is how important it is to have an open heart. A lot of people are closed off to the spirit. Or when someone corrects them they really get upset. When you really think about it, it is being prideful because you think you are better then everyone else. But when we truly trust in people and what they say we can be blessed and will be blessed forever because that is how we learn. We can’t see some of our faults sometimes. That is why we come to earth is to learn and to grow. So we need to be open. Some big things I have learned on my mission.

 

A spiritual thought that I would like to share with you this week. Moroni 10:8-19. It talks about the Gift of the Spirit. When we enter into the waters of baptism we are entering into a covenant. When we live righteously we are worthy to receive the gifts of the Holy Ghost. The spirit is what keeps us going as missionaries. We are nothing without the Spirit. Especially in the last two weeks I have really learned a lot by the Spirit. It speaks differently to everyone. But those are some really cool verses about the Spirit.

 

I love you all and hope you have a splendid week. I am doing really good and pushing forward and working harder then I ever have before.

 

Elder Emery