Weekly Email # 84 - Elder Stephenson, Conferences, More Sickness and Roast for Breakfast

What's up?? I feel like last P-day was yesterday. I wanna tell you about the a couple of amazing things that happened this week!

We had Zone Conferences this past Wednesday which was actually really good! President Daines and our other leaders in the mission have been getting better and better at these meetings, which I really appreciate because meetings can get boring sometimes. Haha but nevertheless, I learned quite a bit this past Wednesday! We talked about urgency in the work, President Uchtdorf's, "Fourth Floor, Last Door" talk, and much more!

One last thing about Zone Conference. Since we had the conference in the New Albany church building, the Relief society from our Ward made a lunch meal for the 40+ missionaries that were there. After everyone had finished their meal, Elder Evans and I were asked to introduce them to the three zones that were in attendance. So I get in front of everyone and make the announcement and realize, hey, I can only really see one row of missionaries. That's because I am too short to see the other Elders and Sisters in the back because #ShortElderProblems. Haha but we pushed on and the Relief Society got a standing ovation and a special musical number from all us missionaries. That made a couple of the sisters cry and I think I can attribute that to them having sons and daughters on missions. Cool experience for sure!

As the week progressed, I was still feeling stomach aches and pains so we were inside more than we wanted to be. Those naps were great, don't get me wrong, but at this point in the mission, you just want to do the best you can, so we tried doing a mix of tracting, seeing Potentials and less actives, but didn't get too much success. I feel much better now and we'll be looking to improve the area A LOT this week! We'll keep pushing on!

The big highlight of the week was having Elder Stevenson come and speak to the missionaries Saturday morning! Apostles generally don't take pictures with missions due to how long they take, so we had a practice at Zone Conference and showed up Saturday morning 45 minutes early so we could set up for the picture. To prepare that morning, they lined every Elder and Sister up on opposite sides of the gym from Tallest to Shortest, which meant I was at the end of the line. Yep, everyone (myself included) found out I am the shortest Elder in the mission.... 🎉🎉🎉😢😭🤧🤧🤧 Good thing at least half Sisters are shorter than me, otherwise I'd get #ShortElderProblems trending everywhere. Hahaha so when you go to see the mission picture on the Facebook page, I will be one the 11 Elders sitting on the ground, cross legged, in the bottom left corner. Nuff said.

Well Elder Stevenson came in just as we were finishing up the set up and its crazy to think that me, Elder Galbraith, another Mormon from Provo Utah got to watch him, listen to him, and shake his hand. Talk about power. I just shook the hand of an Apostle of Jesus Christ. We then funneled through into the chapel where we heard Sister and President Daines bear wonderful testimonies, Elder Bennett, a general authority from the Seventy accompanying Elder Stevenson spoke and then Elder Stevenson followed after. No one could deny the flooding of the Spirit in that meeting. Like many others in attendance, my favorite part of the meeting was Elder Stevenson bearing his POWERFUL testimony. He is dedicating the REST of his life to the Savior, and I couldn't be more thankful for his encouragement, his love, and his deep desire to share the Gospel. Let's just say that I will be thinking about that meeting for a long time.

Missions are hard. But when you have a week like I did this past week, you can't help but accept the challenge that that statement brings, and strive to improve. The Gospel is so true, it is simply impossible to deny that.

Have a great week, everyone! Your thoughts and prayers are very appreciated. Keep being awesome!

Elder Galbraith
The Great OCM
"The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed." - Lloyd Jones

Pics!

1. Another pic of us at My Very Own Blanket. Elder Evans, Elder Esplin, Elder Lamb, Me

2. You can't tell how rainy it was in this picture, but we got DRENCHED!