April 4, 2011 Email

Hello guys,

So Conference...AMAZING! Yes mom, we did get tickets to every session. We only ended up missing the Saturday afternoon session in the Conference Center, but we still got to see it in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was a pretty good trade though, getting to see Sarah Jackson baptized and confirmed between sessions and the joy and adrenaline and spiritual high from rushing back and forth to and from Tooele! It's great! The baptism went super! It would have started on time, but we were late. We decided it was better to be there late than not at all and we still rushed over there in 25 min.

Sara Cassel also was baptized this weekend on Sunday after Conference. It was great! She has overcome A LOT to be baptized. She has quit smoking after 19 years of it, and hasn't looked back.

We ended up staying with other missionaries in Salt Lake sleeping in their apartment on the floor, but it was worth it if for nothing else we got free pupusas; an El Salvadorian food. Very good. And it was intended that we would do that to save miles. It kinda worked, but not really since we drove all the way back for the baptism. And talk about the epitome of Utah crazy weather, 70 degrees Saturday down to 30's on Sunday. Ridiculous! But it was all great.

So in the first session I sat in front of people from the Grandview 2nd Ward. I didn't know them though. And I saw Sister Seamons and she says hi. Other than that, no one I know. Oh, and I saw Elder Oaks. I know him, too. I really enjoyed his talk, too. I don't know if anyone else caught this, but there seemed to be a big emphasis on marriage. 4 talks on the subject. And a couple on tithing and the Atonement/repentance/chastisement. I also liked Pres. Eyring's talk in Priesthood meeting. He lived in a rough neighborhood. haha After those talks, we decided yesterday to go by a Deacons Quorum Pres. and ask him what we could do to help him with his quorum. I was surprised at how well he knew his quorum members he had stewardship over, and the things he was already doing to encourage, lift, and empower them. I realized I need to work twice as hard now to make up for the things I didn't do as a quorum pres. when i was younger.

We also saw the Sharifi's that Elder Aguilar taught that just got sealed! Such a cool fam. And we visited a former Ward Mission Leader that was downtown that Elder Aguilar had worked with when he'd served down there that I'd met twice going there on exchanges. That was a great way to spend between sessions.

We do have some new investigators. We just added 2 young women who want to be baptized; Emily Johnson and Cheyenne Curly. Also, we added Jonathon Nicols who we taught once when I was here my first transfer and he wasn't ready yet, but is very devoted now to get baptized. He's 9. And we're teaching another 9 year old who has been coming to church with his mom and brothers who wants to be baptized. It's great!

Congrats to Spanish Fork and Gentry.

Definitely keep me updated on Dayne! That is so nuts!

Love you tons! Hope this all gets through. There have been some complications with the website. But ya.

Love you!