Yesterday we attended our Zone Conference at the Inwood Church Building. The theme of the conference was “Becoming a Lifelong Disciple of Jesus Christ.” The assistants to the Mission Leaders spoke about faith, hope and charity. They told us that in Chinese, “trust” and “faith” are the same word. They asked for two volunteers to help with their demonstration about roadblocks to faith. They blindfolded one of the volunteer Elders and asked him how much faith he had that he could make it through the obstacle course that the assistants had set up at the front of the chapel. They let him try to make it through the course without touching anything. Then they let him choose another Elder that he trusted and look up to, to help him through the obstacle course while the first Elder still kept on his blindfold. The second Elder actually picked the blindfolded Elder up and carried him through the obstacle course. As we trust in the Lord, he will carry us. The Sister Training Leaders talked about “Going About Doing Good.” They reminded us that you can tell a true disciple of Jesus Christ by how he/she treats others. Sister Robyn Taylor spoke about seeking to have the Holy Ghost with us and talked about “living in the spirit” by reading the scriptures, taking the sacrament, praying, keeping the commandments, attending church, serving others, and giving thanks. President Lance Taylor talked about desire and commitment. He encouraged everyone to “go ALL in” on our missions and to remember to align our will to God’s will.
The meetings lasted for about five hours. We had a lunch break in the middle -Panera Sandwiches! One fun thing that the mission does, is announce all of the missionary birthdays that will take place before the next zone conference. The Taylors give each Elder/Sister a Crumble Cookie and we all sing, “Happy Birthday.” Brian was one of the missionaries who was sung to yesterday.
Happy early birthday, Brian! 🎉