This past week has been pretty crazy, well kind of Haha. About two thirds of our appointments canceled and we weren't able to find anyone new to teach all week... but we had a baptism for Annie on Saturday and we spoke in Church on Sunday!
So, Annie is a cutie. We were teaching Annie before I actually got out into the field but she has only had the first two lessons. She is just 10 years old which means that you have to teach the lessons very differently than you would to an adult (especially the law of chastity lesson haha). I've also had conflicting emotions. I was taught in the MTC to teach people and not lessons, or to teach the lesson that they need when they need it and not to make it a checklist type of deal... the problem with that is there are some things I can't imagine a ten year old needing to know about. For instance, the law of tithing and fast offerings... I felt like I just taught the lesson to check that one off rather than teaching it because she needed that at that time.
I've digressed, hahaha. Her baptism was amazing. We are asked to take as little part in the program as possible... but the grandma (who has full custody of Annie) asked us to do nearly everything hahaha. My companion, Elder Greenwood, baptized her, I gave the talk on baptism and I was a witness... luckily her grandpa confirmed her so that was the one saving grace. She also had special permission to get confirmed right after her baptism (converts usually get confirmed the Sunday after). It was a good experience and Annie was so nervous, she also really did not want to take pictures Haha.
Sunday, we were asked to speak in sacrament meeting for about 15 minutes each. We were both assigned to speak on meekness and then the bishop gave us two general conference talks to speak on as well. Elder Greenwood's was "Meek and Lowly of Heart" by elder Bednar while mine was "Teaching in the Home—a Joyful and Sacred Responsibility" by Devin G Durrant... as you might have noticed, my conference talk is not really focused on meekness... in fact, it doesn't mention even the word meek once in the talk hahaha. It was somewhat difficult to speak for 15 minutes about a topic that didn't at all correlate with the talk I was given. I ended up focusing on what we can do in the family to be better and somehow loosely tying that to the fact that we have to meekly accept Heavenly Fathers will.
I decided that this email would be a little different from my others because I normally don't send so much information on day to day life (mostly because it's not near as interesting as you'd think). But, I thought you all might be interested in hearing about what I've been up to rather than the amazing spiritual realizations I've been having.
Elder Greenwood got called to be District Leader last night which is super ironic because I have been teasing him for the past two weeks that he was going to get called hahaha. Now he is both my trainer and the District Leader. I hope this gives our companionship some more responsibility so that I can feel more productive. It's not that we haven't stayed busy, I just don't feel we're doing the most efficient job. Especially in Utah, there are a lot more behind the scenes efforts we have to do to make sure things run smoothly. On top of recording any contact with a non-member or less active, we have to report nearly every contact with a member so that we are able to remember what they asked us to do and even just who all we have talked to.
The work is hard and discouraging, yet, I feel I have one of the easiest missions out there hahaha. I get fed every single day of the week. Nearly everyone loves us and treats us like celebrities. In fact, there are times where we've gone to visit a home and they say "this is the first time in 5 years that we've had missionaries come over" nearly everyone we meet is willing to give us a hand, foot, and leg if we need it Haha. Our teaching pool is incredibly high when compared to other state side missions, which means we should be staying busy and active most of the time. Overall, I haven't had to deal with a majority of the problems that you hear about with other missions. Does this mean that I was sent here because I couldn't handle a different area? Possibly, but I don't think so. I was sent here to lift all those around me (member, non-member, and missionary alike) and I intend to do just that. Whenever I feel low, I just ask, "what can I do that someone else needs right now?" My feelings of inadequacy leave nearly immediately.
I am so grateful for the wonderful blessings I have received while I've been out and for the amazing blessings I recieved before I came out. My whole youth life I questioned how I would be blessed for my strict obedience to all the commandments. It was frustrating when those around me, who blatantly broke them, seemed to be happier than I was... now that I am out on my mission, I see just how much following those commandments helped prepare me spiritually for this amazing work that I get to do.
Sorry for the long email, I tend to ramble on when writing Haha.
Have a good week because I know I will!
Elder Francis
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