December 21, 2015
Hey Family, It’s been a
really good week out here in Oregon.
Probably
the best part was a surprise
zone conference and temple trip. One of
the major themes in our mission is that "God doesn't do random" and so
during the zone conference our mission president got up and told a
couple of stories about how God doesn't do random. Then we did break
out sessions on learning how to work with members. Tracting is not
very effective at all, so our mission president is trying to have us
be with members at least twice as much as we are now. After that, some
wonderful sisters in the stake made us a wonderful Christmas lunch to
remind us of home complete with green jello and funeral potatoes.
The next day my comp and I fasted to know what we should do in our
ward to get the members more involved in missionary work. We were able
to say a concluding prayer to our fast in the celestial room of the
Portland temple. It was a really cool experience and I've got to say
that of all the temples I've been to so far, I think the Portland one
is the most downright gorgeous. Sorry if I offend any Salt Lake temple
elitist with my observation ha.
Besides the temple and zone conference it was actually a pretty mellow
week. But I came up with a couple reasons why proselyting during
Christmas time is the best:
1. People are thinking about Jesus Christ more
2. You can generally tell who's already Christian from the street by
looking for a Christmas tree.
3. More people are giving cookies to the missionaries, and more
importantly, a high percentage of those are gingerbread cookies
4. The church has a seasonal website and video that we can refer people to.
5. It's an excuse to wear the same red tie to every meeting
6. It's a lot brighter and inviting tracting a street with Christmas lights
7. Most missionaries are in a good mood because they can listen to
Michael buble, J Biebs, and Taylor swift (Christmas albums of course)
Also President Taylor announced that the new mission president would
be Dennis McAteer from somewhere in Canada.
the major themes in our mission is that "God doesn't do random" and so
during the zone conference our mission president got up and told a
couple of stories about how God doesn't do random. Then we did break
out sessions on learning how to work with members. Tracting is not
very effective at all, so our mission president is trying to have us
be with members at least twice as much as we are now. After that, some
wonderful sisters in the stake made us a wonderful Christmas lunch to
remind us of home complete with green jello and funeral potatoes.
The next day my comp and I fasted to know what we should do in our
ward to get the members more involved in missionary work. We were able
to say a concluding prayer to our fast in the celestial room of the
Portland temple. It was a really cool experience and I've got to say
that of all the temples I've been to so far, I think the Portland one
is the most downright gorgeous. Sorry if I offend any Salt Lake temple
elitist with my observation ha.
Besides the temple and zone conference it was actually a pretty mellow
week. But I came up with a couple reasons why proselyting during
Christmas time is the best:
1. People are thinking about Jesus Christ more
2. You can generally tell who's already Christian from the street by
looking for a Christmas tree.
3. More people are giving cookies to the missionaries, and more
importantly, a high percentage of those are gingerbread cookies
4. The church has a seasonal website and video that we can refer people to.
5. It's an excuse to wear the same red tie to every meeting
6. It's a lot brighter and inviting tracting a street with Christmas lights
7. Most missionaries are in a good mood because they can listen to
Michael buble, J Biebs, and Taylor swift (Christmas albums of course)
Also President Taylor announced that the new mission president would
be Dennis McAteer from somewhere in Canada.
Can't wait to FaceTime you guys on Christmas! Until then have a Happy Hanukkah and a splendid Kwanza!
I love you all!
~Elder Thomas
Surprise White Elephant Party in our Gresham Zone
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