General Conference Report

April 4, 2016

Heyo!!

This week was good! And Conference was so good!!!!! So let me tell you all about it :)

All week I wasn't really feeling all that great (physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually), but I knew that we needed to go out and work, so that's what we did. As the week went on, I was feeling really not great. So then Thursday came around and we had Zone Training Meeting. It was a really great meeting, and we talked about getting back to the fundamentals of the gospel and missionary work. We read part of President Uchtdorf's talk from October 2015 General Conference and had a really good discussion about things that weigh us down or cause us to lose the love we have for missionary work. It was helpful and insightful for me to remember that missionary work is a joyful work. I sometimes tend to put more pressure on myself than is necessary, and it was really good to remember that Heavenly Father just wants me to keep moving forward, not do everything perfectly all the time. It was a very timely reminder for me that this life is about progress, not perfection. And what with preparing for miracle week, it was just what I needed. 

Elders - Low, Wassum, not sure, Griffin, Solano, Laudermilch, Barker, Bair.

Middle row Sisters - Hirst, Lopez, Bergeson, Abreu, Steed, Craven

Bottom row Sisters- Smith, Castillo, Green, Hatch

General Conference was so good!! I really enjoyed watching and listening to our church leaders and their inspired counsel. This was my 3rd and final conference in the mission, and I definitely think it was perfect for the point I am at right now. I especially enjoyed Elder Holland's talk at the end about how tomorrow will always come, no matter how much we wish it won't. That is exactly how I felt this morning when our alarm went off. But then Sister Green reminded me about that talk yesterday, and it helped me to have a little bit better of an attitude about embracing the day.

Last Sunday our ward mission leader, Angel, told us about this really cool guy who had shown up to his home ward that morning, and that we need to baptize him. So we of course were excited. Then we got his info through the referral system on ABP the next day. We called him up and set an appointment for the next day, which ended up falling through. So after Conference was done for us on Saturday, we went to try and contact him. We couldn't get into his building, but we did call him on the phone and he said he would come to conference! AND HE DID! And now he is our newest investigator, and in the tender mercy a little later in this email, I'll tell you another miracle about him. :)

Also on Saturday, we went out in between sessions to contact another person, who wasn't home and didn't answer the phone. We decided to stay and work in that area anyway. We were walking back to the car, and met a lady from Africa (I think, that's what her accent sounded like anyway) who asked us if Jesus was going to come again. We said "Yes!" and she said, "Well he needs to come NOW because this world is awfully wicked!" or something to that effect. We took that right into living prophets to help us prepare for the second coming, and that they were speaking to us today! So we wrote down the address for her and the times, and then when we got to the stake center for the afternoon session, there she was to watch! She told us she loved it! We hadn't gotten her info, so yesterday in between sessions we went to the house we initially found her at, and the lady there gave us her phone number. Now we'll have to call her up and see if we can send the missionaries to go visit her. It was awesome!!

A cool thing happened during Conference weekend for me personally. Elder Hales' talked about the Holy Ghost, and that has been a topic that gets me thinking a lot. I have struggled to recognize the promptings or impressions from the Holy Ghost throughout my life, and that has been a rather large stumbling block for me at times, especially as a missionary. But yesterday I think I was starting to realize that I do know how the Spirit works with me, even though I might not immediately recognize it as such. For example: After the last session of General Conference, we had a lesson with Will, the guy who came to both of the Sunday sessions. We did some simple "how-to-begin-teaching", and I kept thinking I should mention that we will invite him to be baptized. So I did. Then a few minutes later I had a thought that I should invite him to be baptized, so I did! AND HE SAID "YES, OF COURSE!!" That was so cool!!! I just had this really good, really happy feeling inside, and it was at that moment that I thought to myself, "I listened to the Spirit!!!" That was a tender mercy all of its own, being able to recognize the Holy Ghost. Then combined with Will committing to be baptized was another huge tender mercy! 

That's about it for this week. . . . I can't believe it's already April - time just keeps plugging away. But this week is going to be good, and I'll tell you about it next week!

Sister Hatch 

Sister Green and Sister Hatch on a very sunny day at the LA stake center