General Conference weekend is always amazing. As they say, it's "a missionary's Christmas." This year it was particularly spiritual for me. It may just be that I am that much more aware of the Spirit, but the Spirit constantly testified to me the truth of the messages that were shared. There were many messages that I enjoyed.
I know a few of you are wondering my thoughts about the change in age for missionaries. To paraphrase what I wrote in my journal:
THE LORD NEEDS MISSIONARIES. Wow! When I heard that the age for males dropped to 18, I was shocked. I recognized the great need for missionaries in the world. My initial reaction was to start talking to the fellow missionaries nearby; however, I knew there was more coming so I waited. I thought the age for females would change to 20 or something, but 19! It is definitely a large change, but it is for good. I don't think I will be affected by the change since I go home in four months, and it usually takes about that long to put your papers together, receive your call, and enter the field. Although, I did tell Sister Loh, "You can have a 19-year-old companion!" The biggest impression I have: the Lord needs missionaries. People need the gospel, and we need missionaries to be able to share it. Not only that, but a mission acts as a protection against the world. The knowledge, experience, and conversion you experience while a missionary is irreplaceable. I suspect that there will be an increase in the number of sisters that go on missions. It is simple fact that a lot of sisters get married before the possibility of serving a mission occurs. This change will definitely increase the missionary force and benefit the world for the better. We may notice a change in the maturity of missionaries, simply because of the age difference. Also, the spiritual conversion preceding missionary experience may change. I don't foresee any problems with that though. Each missionary seems to reach similar maturity by the end of the mission, and as our ward mission leader said, "It doesn't really matter about the age, either the missionary is going to be obedient or not. The age won't really change that." There are great things ahead for the future, and I know the mission experience will provide many with an added layer of protection against the bad in the world today.
Walter Gonzalez's comments on applying our heart to the scriptures particularly stood out to me. I have pondered a lot about committing the scriptures to heart, since I was counseled to do so in a father's blessing. His comments built on that message and reminded me of the necessity of a spiritual conversion to the gospel. Furthermore, in 2 Nephi 16:10, it talks about how we understand with our hearts. It is when we apply our hearts that we are able to receive that full conversion necessary for understanding and application.
Between sessions on Sunday, we had a lesson with Grace. Grace is a university student from China studying English translation. We found her on the consecrated finding day, and we were able to teach her for a second time this weekend! It was fantastic. We shared about the restoration, and she asked if we had a prophet today. We were able to answer in the affirmative and invited her to attend conference. She came with us to see the prophet speak and stayed for the full two hours! It was a fantastic miracle and an answer to prayers to have an investigator attend conference.
We saw yet another miracle with the Chinese yesterday. A member, Felicity, came out finding with us, so we were basically working in a trio. It ended up that Sister Loh was having a conversation, and the member and I were waiting in order to catch the bus because we had an appointment in twenty minutes. While waiting, a cute Chinese girl was about to walk by. I’ll admit that because of the time constraints, I almost let her pass by. But the Spirit told me to stop her. I am grateful for that prompting. Her name is Helen and she is studying Human Resource Management. She told us about how her grandfather raised her, and unfortunately passed away last year. It has been difficult for her. We were able to share about how we can be with our families forever. Even though we only had a short time, we sat down with her and taught her about her relationship with God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. We will teach her again on Saturday, so I am excited to see what happens. I know that she can use that message about eternal families.
Lots of excitment happening here in Manchester. I think that is all I have to report for now. Hope you have a fantastic week, and I will speak to you soon enough.
Love, Becca
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