I Could Watch Conference Every Single Day!

The beginning of the week was absolutely crazy. We spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday preparing for and executing transfers. It was epic. Nothin is quite as great as going to bed at 12 and waking up at 4:30. It was way fun though. I love spending time with the going home missionaries and missionaries coming in. One of the missionaries that went home was Elder Limocon. I miss that kid so much. The day before missionaries go home they have the opportunity to go to the temple and to a famous American war cemetery, receive counsel from President, have a testimony meeting and eat a lot of food. And we get to tag along. It's awesome. It's amazing to see the changes that Elders and Sisters undergo while they are on their mission. It's really put into perspective when we see the brand new missionaries come in the next day. It's amazing how much more the Lord can do with our two years than we can. 

While we were waiting for conference to start (which I will talk about later by the way), I received a call from John. He had been sick for the past couple days and wasn't expecting to be able to make it to conference. As I answered the phone, he said, "Is it ok if I still come to church?" Me: "Of course! Are you feeling better?" John: "Better, but still not good. But I really want to go to church." As I heard those words come out of his mouth, I was filled with a humble joy. It amazed me to see this man, who is not even a member, have such a strong desire to go to church regardless of being sick. Our actions during trying times truly do reflect the desires of our hearts and our faith we have in Jesus Christ. He was able to make it to the Sunday morning session and hear the prophet of the Lord speak. It was an amazing experience. I've thought a lot about his great act of faith and reflected upon experiences I’ve had in my life. One thing that President Ostler taught us the other day is this: "You learn in life that excuses don't get you very far." All they really do is rob us of blessing the Lord was willing to give us. John was a great example to me. 

Oh my goodness. Conference was great. General Conference is my new favorite TV show. When I get home, that's all I’m watching. I can't even begin to describe how much I loved so many talks from General Conference. One of my favorite talks was given by Elder Christofferson. I really look up to that man. When he speaks, you can feel the vast knowledge behind his words. He speaks with power and authority. I love the way he addresses not only spiritual principles, but also logical concepts. One example he used that I really liked was the following, "Resenting the law of gravity won't keep a person from falling if he steps off a cliff." The reason this stood out to me was because this describes the Philippines. The majority of people here can't comprehend the concept on eternal truths. Just believing in Christ and going to church will not save you at the last day. There's so much more to the gospel then that. The phrase I hear numerous times a day is this: "We all worship the same God. How you worship isn't really important as long as you just believe." One day, they will come to understand that there is more to the gospel than just belief. I've got a lot more work to do while I’m here. 

I also love hearing and learning about the connection between mercy and justice. The more I learn about those two concepts, the more I realize how perfect God's plan truly is. He is perfectly just and He is perfectly merciful. I just loved conference so much.