The 83rd Chronicle

Hello family and friends! 

Yesterday may have been the best Sunday of my mission. That's a tall order cause I feel like I've had a lot of good Sundays. Here's why:

First of all, we had an absolute bomb Ward Council for the Capital Ward. They are the best example of effectiveness and productivity I've seen pretty much ever. They keep the meetings on time and on track. They record action items and follow through. Their agenda is focused on missionary work and members. They give us the proper amount of time as outlined in PMG and include us in their discussion for the entire meeting. They recognize the importance of missionary work and respect our special call. We have the opportunity to support them and show that we care. It's spiritual and uplifting. Despite their heavy loads, they are positive and enjoy light-hearted moments throughout the whole meeting.

Second, we had seven people come to church! That felt really good. Everyone we had on date was there and were fellowshipped. They had people to show them around and make them feel included. Mitchell (one of our recent converts) got ordained. Emmanuel got his preisthood interview and will be ordained next week. We had Mitchel's Dad there to support him and to watch his sons ordination (Mitchel's Dad is not member). A new ward mission leader was called last week and this week we got more ward missionaries. Super exciting!

Third, we had two really good ward correlation meetings. For the first time ever, we had all auxiliaries represented and our new ward missionaries in attendance. I almost cried tears of joy. For my whole mission I've felt like I needed to carry not only my responsibilities as a missionary but also the  missionary responsibilities members are supposed to take care of. These include planning baptismal programs, finding teamups, getting rides, scheduling 8-9pm appointments, begging for dinners, getting ward correlation to happen each week, finding fellowshippers, teaching the new member lessons, preparing people to get the priesthood or do their family history or attend the temple for the first time, and coordinating all that with the ward. In the ward correlations yesterday (for both wards) they discussed how to take on those responsibilities and lighten our load. They planned to execute them now so we can focus on finding through members, teaching, and preparing people for baptism.

Fourth, we got to enjoy the First Presidency Devotional which hit home. Very inspired. I sure tend to stress about superficial stuff and so I want to follow the counsel we received. Also! A member had us over for dinner. This normally wouldn't be anything special, but it's been pretty sparse since we implemented the new schedule and the kinks are still being figured out. Coming from the Omaha YSA where they fed us lunch and dinner everyday, it’s been an adjustment. I'm sure looking forward to being in more member's homes for meals in the future.

Quote of the Week: "Our circle here, we don't lie. We just eat tacos, and tell the truth!" -Jimmy

Kia Kaha!

Elder Brady