August 10, 2015
Hello family members and friends! How's everyone's week been? I hope it's been good!
My week has been awesome, and very busy! As expected, we lost a couple investigators this week. That was kinda sad. But they'll be taught by other missionaries, and although it means fewer lessons for us, the numbers really don't matter, and what matters is that the people are being taught and are coming unto Christ. We also found some potential investigators who we'll be teaching starting this week. They seem really solid, and the crazy thing is we found them by tracting of all things. We weren't even tracting from a list. We were just knocking doors with a ward mission leader in an area in Cedar City that is actually a large subdivision of almost all less actives and non-members, and Brother Brown and I just happened to find this really friendly young couple, who rather enthusiastically invited us back! Miracles! I'm really excited for them. I hope they'll listen, and really want to learn.
On Tuesday, we (myself and Elder Spencer and also the Canyonview Elders, who we brought along to help us) hosted a youth activity in one of our wards. It went pretty well. We were going to do a little game and then teach them the first lesson and then send them off to teach the first lesson to some "investigators" that they "tract into". Basically we had volunteers from the ward pose as non-members who the youth in companionships go and practice teaching (basically what goes on in the MTC, minus the special official training and the "down to a science" part). We didn't have time for the game seeing as none of the leaders showed up early like they were supposed to, and the instruction part ended up being a little longer than previously expected. The mock tracting was fun though, and the youth and the leaders seemed to enjoy it a lot, and it looked like they learned a lot. I will say, it was kind of rough. They clearly haven't been through the MTC. But it was fun for them to practice. The leaders liked it because not only was it fun for them to role play, but they learned about where their youth were at in their knowledge of the gospel and their ability to explain it. The youth liked it because it gave them a taste of what being a missionary is like, and they all got to share and laugh at their experiences afterward when everybody came back together to share what they learned. My favorite part was when it was over. I hate to say that, but planning and running activities is stressful! It was fun and we all enjoyed helping the youth and getting them pumped for missionary work, but we were all relieved when it was finished and successful.
By far the most exciting thing that happened this past week was the Mission Conference in St. George on Saturday. The entire mission, all 120 missionaries, was there. The speaker for this mission conference was Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles! That was so freaking awesome! I don't even know where to begin to write about what he talked about. I guess I'll just relate the experience from the beginning, and abridge as much as possible to avoid writing a book instead of a newsletter. We picked up the Canyonview Elders and headed down to St. George early. The only Elders who were there earlier were the Assistants to the President. Being that early, we chose our seats in the front row, and got to help set up a little bit. After all the missionaries had arrived, Sister Center lined everyone up for a group photo with Elder Bednar when he came. Then after a few minutes, Elder Bednar entered the room. It was so cool to see him in person! We got a picture, and then we went back to our seats.
He began talking about two things that were mentioned throughout the three hours we had with him. The first thing he did was set an expectation of how he was going to teach. He said he was not going to play "guess what's in my head", and he warned us of that teaching style. It basically entails asking a question with a specific answer in mind. That only works for quizzes, not teaching. It is something
people do sometimes to get the learner involved in the lesson, but it is actually a bad thing. When you ask a question with a specific answer, the learner has to literally guess what's in your head, and it
can be really awkward, and can make the learner feel bad when they guess the wrong thing. Elder Bednar said that the practice is fairly common, but that it is a false tradition. The way he taught, was by asking questions, but it was very different. He asked us our opinions, what we know, and our own observations of things, listened to us, and then added his comments to build upon what we had said. It was awesome, and I loved that interaction part.
The second thing he talked about was note taking. He basically said to not take notes (in spiritual settings). He likened note taking to Nephi's large plates, the complete history of his people. When we take notes on what's said, it is a play by play of what was said, a history, and that's about it. He said that he wanted us to write on "small plates". Nephi's small plates were a record of the spiritual things, and history only as needed. Elder Bednar said that when we take notes, we write a bunch of stuff down that we probably won't look at ever again and will likely end up losing. He wanted us to "listen for the words that are not said", in other words, listen for inspiration to find personal applications of what is said, or other things the Spirit communicates to us through what is being said, rather than just paying attention to writing down the spoken words themselves. Another thing Elder Bednar said on that subject is that often, our "small plates" are not written down, except in our hearts and minds. He said "You will always use them, and you will never lose them". I usually take notes the other way, and I have to say, Elder Bednar's way is so much better. I got a lot out of that, because I was actually able to listen to the Spirit as Elder Bednar spoke, rather than have half my attention devoted to jotting things down. Elder Howard and I did write down a few notes, awesome quotes mostly, but for the most part, our notebooks were closed. Later in the conference, Elder Bednar asked what we had learned so far, and I was able to comment on this way of taking notes, and I told him that I actually
had a couple questions I had been praying about that were answered in his talk, not directly in his words, but in the "words that weren't spoken". He seemed to really like that comment, and expounded that subject a little more, saying that little miracles like that can happen. Later, at the very end of the conference, he went back to that subject again, and reiterated his advice to write on "small plates"
and when he was doing that, it was awesome because he actually mentioned my comment, and he looked directly at me when he was talking. That was so cool! And I learned a lot. I'm excited for
General Conference to use that "note taking" method. It's especially good for conference because all the talks are printed, so you don't even need to write down notes and quotes. You can just write (physically or just in your head) "the words that were not spoken" and then read/listen to the full talk whenever you want when it is published.
As for everything he talked about, there was A LOT! He asked us questions about our iPads and what we thought was good about them and bad about them, and he taught us about that sort of stuff. He then began talking about and asking us questions about faith and agency. He emphasized action, and that praying for things is good, but sometimes ultimately pointless, because the Lord wants us to learn to work. He wants to bless us but he often wants us to show our faith by acting rather than just waiting. He went really in depth into agency and what it actually means and how we are expected to use it. And he talked about a bunch of other stuff. I wish I could write more about it, but there's just so much! I'd have to pretty much type out a complete study just to go over what Elder Bednar said about Agency. It was so awesome!
He did reveal the secret to lasting conversion, and it is not much of a secret: prayerfully read the Book of Mormon every day. Period. The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. It is the physical proof of everything the Church claims to be. And it is true. The more we read and pray, the more we will know it. I know it is true, and I will follow that advice for the rest of my life.
It was just a fantastic experience. The Spirit was so strong there too. It felt like being in the temple to be perfectly honest. At the end of the conference, he and bore his testimony. That was so cool! Apostles' testimonies are awesome. They can say the same words anyone else says, but with them, the Holy Ghost seems amplified, adding extra power to their testimony. I guess that come with the calling of an Apostle, to be a Special Witness of Jesus Christ. It was awesome to hear him testify right in front of us, seriously only a few feet away from me seeing as I was in the center of the front row. He also left us his apostolic blessing of comfort and spiritual strength in this increasingly crazy world if we continue to keep the commandments and do the simple things like read the scriptures and pray.
After the conference was over, I got to shake his hand. That was just a super cool experience. It was probably the most edifying meeting I've ever been too. I'm so thankful for modern prophets and apostles!
So yeah, that's that. The other new thing that's been happening is that we've got some rain. That sounds pretty lame, but here in Utah, it's a real treat!
I miss you guys! Have a great week!
-Elder Oswald
