We started emailing later today because Elder Jolley and I got permission to make a trip out to Chandler to shop for ties and an outlet! The result was two matching ties that we can wear to zone meetings to show unity. We also have a bunch of other really close matching ties so we basically match every day anyways but now we have 2 identicals. :)
Yes, conference was truly amazing!!! There was a strong theme throughout the conference that we need to gain our own testimony of Christ, Prophets, and the Book of Mormon.
This was a crazy week because we had to teach our investigator we call ZZ Top (because of his cool beard) all the lessons get him interviewed, and then get the baptismal program ready to go by Thursday. His baptism was very uplifting. At the end of the program he was asked to share a testimony. He managed to start by saying that when he gets really nervous he just starts to laugh and that was it, he laughed for a solid minute before trying to pull himself back together just to start laughing again. His wife used to be a patrol officer and doesn't mess around. With a very stern face she said, "Dave, do you need help?" He instantly was able to compose himself and finished his testimony. No one wonders who wears the pants in that relationship!
On Friday night Elder Jolley and I got a text from our mission office secretary of a referral from HQ. We went to the house and knocked and a kid inside yelled, "who is it?" Elder Jolley responded, "Elder Jolley" (I'm sure they were very confused when they opened the door. Mentally they were probably picturing a really old guy that is super happy.) The lady we went to contact opened the door and invited us in. We hit it off immediately and had a powerful first lesson about the restoration of the gospel.
This lady was first introduced to our church by her co workers who are almost all LDS. At the end of the lesson we invited her to pray about our message and then asked if she would like to watch a session of general conference with us the next morning. She agreed and we met up with her on Saturday morning early enough to do a church tour before the session started. As we listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing the opening hymn she leaned over to me and told me that all through the night she was having dreams about the things we had taught her and what her friends at work had shared with her and she felt like God was answering her prayer. Then in President Uchtdorf's talk he mentioned that one of the ways God communicates with us can be through dreams! That was really neat for her. The next day we watched the last session of conference in one of our members homes. At the end of conference we invited her and her 8 year old son to be baptized on October 25th. She started to cry which made her son start to cry and they both accepted the invitation. It was a very powerful experience. It's frustrating to try and write these experiences out because there's no way for me to be able to describe such an experience. You just have to be there.. Missionary work is the most rewarding and spiritual work in the world. I love it.
I love you all so much!!! Have a great week!
Love Elder Janis
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