General Conference

Hey everyone!

This past week has been awesome. It started off on Friday. Carlos and Marisela, two of our investigators got married. They have two daughters and are both from Mexico City. We have only been talking to them for about a week, but they decided to get married. So, we got their marriage liscence with them on Wednesday, and then on Friday, the Branch President married them. It was simple, but very nice at the same time. Lots of people from the branch came and helped out with the food, decorations, set up etc. It was a good turn out.

Saturday was conference!! We arrived at Temple Square at 8 in the morning. Elder Coulston, Elder Romero and I arrived there with only tickets for the Priesthood session, but you would be amazed how easy it is to find tickets. We simply stood on the corner, and asked people as they walked by. And I know what you're thinking...there's no way we would be able to get our seats in the same area. It turns out, that there is a section roped off just for missionaries. As long as you have a ticket to get in the door, you can sit in this section. And it just so happens that this section is in Plaza 1, which is in the very front!! all the way to the right. We got to sit right where all the apostles and the first presidency (usually) enters and exits. We were able to find tickets for every session, so I sat probably 3 or 4 rows from the front row and all the way on the right side all weekend!! I even got to shake some apostles hands!! Elder Perry, Nelson, and Christofferson all shook my hand!!! I even got a picture with Elder Perry. But, it was amazing to be in the conference center both days and for all the sessions. I loved all the talks. I took notes the whole time. And yes, the MTC choir was even good too. I actually thought they were really good [Note to the Adairs…I have no idea what he means here by “even” and “actually”… LOL] and I recognized a lot of the Elders from my zone and also a few from BYU, I didn't see Elliot though. But yeah, I loved conference weekend, it really was amazing.   

  

Ok, so on Monday we did a lot of contacting and door knocking during the day, and at night we went down to Temple Square with Carlos and Marisela and their two daughters. We went through the North Visitor's Center with them and watched the videos about God's plan for families. We then watched the Joseph Smith movie. They used translators, and I didn't because I like to know what's going on. After the Joseph Smith movie, we planned to commit them to baptism. Elder Coulston wanted me to do it. So, I did it. My Spanish is definitely still far from perfect, but in that moment, as I was talking about Jesus Christ, prophets and priesthood which eventually led into baptism, I felt the Spirit working through me. The words that I needed to say just came to me and everything that I said just seemed to come out right, in the right conjugation and everything. It was amazing. The Spirit is an amazing thing and there is no doubt that it helped me say the right things as I invited them to be baptized. They accepted and we are now working on getting them prepared to be baptized on the 16th of October. In just a week and a half, they have gotten married and now are committed to baptism. It's amazing when you can find people that the Lord has prepared for you like Carlos and Marisela are.

Yesterday was the most physically demanding day I have had in the field so far. We lent are car to another companionship for most of the afternoon, and then at night Elder Coulston (who is the only one allowed to drive it because he has a TiWi card which means he is registered with the little device in our car that records if we speed or drive crazily or if we go out of our area) took the car and went on exchanges with another companionship. So all day i was walking. Most of the time just with Elder Romero. And, a lot of the time we took a wrong turn because we are both new to the area, so we did a lot more walking than we really needed to. It took us 45 minutes to walk from one appointment to the next...But it was all good. Just part of the work.

So yeah, I am loving it here, I really am and it was awesome that I got to be here for Conference. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. He leads and guides us here on this Earth, and I can testify that if we follow him, we will not only be blessed in this life, but for all Eternity. We will have Eternal Life if we follow the path that the prophet and his apostles have shown us, because they are called of God. I know this church is true and This is my joy

Love all of you and miss you,

Elder Peacock