The Conference Spirit

On Friday morning the first thought that went through my head when I woke us was 'its Friday, that means tomorrow is conference!' I was so excited. I don't really know what that says about me? Am I a nerd? Probably. We were like this is more exciting then Christmas, and so we kept calling conference Christmas (not to mention it was on April 6th).

Remember Elba? The lady that the spirit brought us back to and she told us she didn't need to pray if the Book of Mormon was true because she already knew. Well she went MIA for about three weeks because her sister is sick and so she went to go live with her, but time passed and we figured we should get her sisters address and pass her to the missionaries who worked in that area. When we called her and found out she had been reading her Book of Mormon the whole time, we were so happy.  She mentioned the night we called her that she would be coming back in three days. We then invited her to watch conference and she wrote down all of the information (mind you she doesn't even know if she has internet or how to work it) and she assured us that she would watch it and her niece would help her figure it out. 

On Saturday night we were knocking a few doors and stopped on the corner of the street to call her. She told us that she watched all of the afternoon session. "oh que lindo" (oh how beautiful) over and over again. She LOVED it, We were so excited, we were jumping up and down and just dying with excitement. So we invited her to watch it again on Sunday, and she did get to watch some! Same response "Oh que lindo" We asked her what she learned, and that is when it was revealed to us that she actually watched it ALL in ENGLISH! She could not figure out how to switch it, so she didn't understand a WORD that was said. We were kind of dying of laughter when we got off the phone. But I realized that it doesn't matter the language, the spirit testifies of truth when truth is spoken. Elba felt that spirit strong enough to keep watching even though she did not understand. She said it was in the faces of the 'ministers' that she knew they were men of God. 

General Conference is a very special experience as a missionary. I was able to receive so much revelation and to gain such a clearer understanding of things talked about. 

Some of my favorite points (paraphrased):

- People want a God who doesnt demand much. Man is creating God in his own image and they are creating a comfortable God. He is not! (Holland)

- Defend your beliefs with courtesy and compassion; but defend them. In pursuing such a course you will build unshakable faith. (Holland)

- The world will not glide lightly towards the 2nd coming. (Anderson)

- Do not take down your statements. Sometimes we will stand alone. (Anderson)

- Some duties may be difficult because their purpose is to move us along the course of eternal life. (Erying)

- Religion means to tie back to God. Are we tied back to God or something else? (Nelson)

- Nothing is more clear and powerful then the lesson of obedience. Be careful who you follow. (Hales)

- Never underestimate the value of Christs teachings. (Zivic)

- Gratitude should be a way of life, independent from our circumstances. Dont be grateful for things, be grateful in things, in our circumstances. (Uchtdorf)

- Love is the very essence of the gospel. (Monson)

- Obedience is a choice between our limited knowledge and power and God unlimited knowledge and power. (Perry)

How lucky are we to be apart of this church full of constant learning and growing!! 

I LOVE YOU!!!!!

xoxoxox

Hermana Koutz