This was amazing! Well I guess I should say it had it's ups and downs. One major up was that Elder Hamula from the Area Presidency came and toured our mission this week and he spoke to us in our Zone Conference on Friday. He taught us so many amazing things. The main thing he spoke about was the Tree of Life and the law of obedience. He said that some people think this mission has a bad reputation among apostles but the only reason that people think that is because a lot of the apostles and general authorities served in Australia so they hold it to a higher standard so they hold us to a higher standard. And I guess it can be hard for some people being held at even a higher standard than regular mission standards, but I think it helps us a lot. It shows that they have a lot of trust in us because I doing think we would have been sent to this mission if they didn't think that we would be able to live up to the standards that have been set for us. You could definitely feel the spirit within the room while Elder Hamula was addressing us. Towards the end he opened it up for questions and a lot of really good questions were asked, both about doctrine and how to become a more consecrated missionary. And you could tell the spirit was in there because as soon as Elder Hamula began speaking to answer a question it was like the spirit would teach us right away what the answer was before he even finished. It was amazing because you just knew that everybody was on the same page and understood the answers and everything. It was so good. One question that somebody asked was why is it neccessary for us to have a wife to reach exaltation, which I thought was kind of a silly question because who wouldn't want a wife, but he answered it in a very simple way and then started talking about how important it is to have a companion in our lives. He told this story from when he was young, I think, and I'll try to explain it as well as he did. An old man once asked him, "you know how we used to train horses? We would teather a wild and crazy horse to a donkey and let them off into the pasture. Leave them for about 6 or 7 months and come back and see how they went. When you came back, you would discover that the donkey moved a bit quicker and the horse and calmed down a bit. So your end result is you get a better horse AND a better donkey. You get it?" I thought that story was so good. Sometimes I wonder which one I am, the horse or the donkey. I thought it was something good to think about. But anyways yeah, Elder Hamula was so good. And this was like they 3rd time a general authority has shown up at one of our zone conferences on my mission. I must be pretty lucky.
One other thing from zone conference that I loved was this scripture that President Cahoon shared with us. It's 2 Nephi 9:39. Read that verse and then circle the first letter of each of the last five words, and keep in mind that President Cahoon was a dentist before he came out. I love that verse now and I'm always going to remember that one and be able to share it with everybody. Oh ok, TWO other things from zone conference. The second thing was the lunch. This was BY FAR the best Zone Conference lunch that I've ever had. It was put on by my ward which is just full of Polynesians so it was a very poly lunch. Having served with a Polynesian and one of my favorite families being Polynesian, (the Berrymans), I just loved it. Elder Glover has never served with a Polynesian and so he didn't really like it. But I loved it. Oh yeah, I got to see Elder Glover which was sweet. I can't believe he only has 6 months left. When he started training me he was at where I am now, which means before I know it, I'll probably have 6 months left as well. I just can't believe how fast time flies. Amazing. I think that's it about Zone Conference, but I'm sure I'll think of more to tell you as soon as I click send on this email.
Another thing that made this week so good was Stake Conference yesterday. We got to drive down to Mandurah for it which is about a 20-30 minute drive depending on how fast you go on the back roads. ;) It was held at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre which is a really nice place. Everybody hung around for like and hour and a half afterwards because everything was so pretty. It sat right on a boat harbor so everybody was just standing around having a good chat taking in the sights I guess. Every single speaker that spoke in conference shared a really good message and they all connected to each other. It was really funny as soon as Sister Cahoon started to speak all of the kids got really quiet. Just goes to show you how much of a loving person she is. She told this story from The Chronicles of Narnia and tied it to the gospel. I've never heard a stake conference so quiet. It was so good. After Stake Conference Shay was getting the Melchizedek priesthood and we wanted to come watch. So we waited around for awhile because there were 7 other people getting ordained and Shay was the last but when we finally got it, Shay asked me to participate in ordaining him. I was so not expecting that since I've only been in the area for 3 weeks but I guess I've already built up that good of a relationship with him and his wife that he wanted me in the circle. His dad came down from Merriwa, about an hour away, to ordain him which was really cool. I bet his dad has been looking forward to that day for a really long time and probably thought it would never come at some point.
After Stake Conference they invited over for dinner and some games. All in all, best day ever. I did the math and if I'm in this area for 6 transfers (aka ages) I'll get to be here when they go to the temple. If anything I'll be here the whole time they're preparing and then get transferred out right before it happens, just like it happened with Sophie and Blair. But I'll be happy either way, just as long as they get there.
One of the down points of this week was Elder Jack was sick so we didn't get to do a whole lot of work towards the end of the week, he had to save up his energy for those two really important meetings aforementioned. But he's doing a bit better now. And I've been doing a pretty good job at staying healthy which is always a good thing. Usually when this bug goes around the mission I always get it but I've been doing everything in my power to not get it.
Trying to think of anything else spectacular that happened this week. but Zone and Stake Conferences were definitely the highlights.
I hope you all had an amazing week and are staying awesome. I love each and every one of you.
Elder Tanner
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