The Blessings Of A Mission Never Stop Giving!

Family!

     This was an awesome week. We saw some pretty cool miracles and we have so many exciting things coming up. We were meeting with a less active member this week and she broke down to us how she knew what she needed to be doing and she wanted to get back to the temple. We were so excited to hear that because there is nothing better than seeing someone head towards the temple. We have a couple other people doing that and it gets me pumped to do missionary work.
     We had stake conference this weekend and it was a pretty amazing experience. We got to hear from President and Sister Walkenhorst, the OKC temple president, the stake presidency, and Elder Hansen of one of the quorums of 70. Quite simply it was a spiritual feast. My favorite story was one from Elder Hansen. He was on business in Hawaii where he had served his mission and he was on his way to do an endowment session. Then a call came that he was needed in an emergency business meeting, so he had to go back to work. After the meeting he realized that he still had time to do a session before he had to leave Hawaii. He got there and sat down in the endowment room next to a big Polynesian guy. They acknowledged each other then he looked back and said, "Jimmy?" The guy didn't know who he was, but he explained that he was Elder Hansen and had baptized him 30 years earlier. It was a pretty joyous reunion as they talked in the temple, and it was so amazing that they had been led together on that day in the temple 30 years later. The blessings of a mission never stop giving.
     This week we said goodbye to the two elders that were serving in the ward with us and we welcomed sisters into the ward. It is definitely a lot different, but the ward is super excited and I know we'll be able to accomplish a lot in this ward with their help. We've focused a lot on the youth here and we've seen some amazing movement from them. They've brought friends to seminary, church, stake conference, mutual, and pretty much everything else they can bring a friend to. With the sisters here hopefully we'll get the young women more involved in the work.
     We had really good lesson with the Farris, Walden, and McCormick family this week. They're all doing super well and they'll get baptized sometime soon. It's kind of frustrating because we have to plan weddings and baptisms, but it will all come together eventually. The ward can definitely use the strength of these families, so we'll keep doing our very best.
      Someone asked an interesting question during stake conference this week... What does the hastening of the work mean to you? I've heard that phrase like a thousand times, but I've never put a whole lot of thought into it. The Book of Mormon was the sign of the beginning of many prophecies (3 Nephi 21:1-2). Things are only speeding up and the Lord is hastening his work to match it. This requires more effort than has ever been given before because we don't want to miss out on this exciting time of the hastening of the work of salvation. It's pretty amazing that we all get to be a part of this right now. To me the hastening of the work means that God has created a plan for us to be happy and it is demanding our full efforts, so we can bring with us many of our brothers and sisters.
     I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week.
-Elder Hoddy