Conference is like Christmas

So here is the crazy of THIS week.

Conference is like the Christmas of a mission. It is a time of happiness, joy, and gathering with those you love. Shouldn't that be what Conference should be for everyone? I am sort of sad that I didn't take conference so seriously as I do now. I know for a fact that during General Conference, you WILL receive the answers to all of your questions. They are called men and women of God. If we listen and heed their guidance, you will be following the direction of our Heavenly Father and you will find happiness and joy in life. This is my spiritual thought for this week- Follow the Prophet. Heavenly Father wants to help us, and one of His channels of communication to us is through His ordained leaders, His prophets. They are given the priesthood keys to lead the saints of the church, and to administer in the ordinances. They help us know the will of God. We are given many sources for the answers to our prayers-scriptures, church services, blessings, friends, and especially the prophets. Remember President Monson's talk. Heavenly Father is active in our lives, and what may seem insignificant acts, are answers to prayers. How important they are, to attentively listen and apply what they teach. I love our leaders, and I feel their love every time they talk to us. I also know that it is the love of our Heavenly Father as well. How much He loves us.

So talking about conference, here is our adventure this week! It was really slow this week, and then all of a sudden, we receive a package-it was the conference disks! This was Thursday, and everyone in the mission was planning the following Saturday to watch. the mail system would be too slow, how to get all of the disks to the cities? The Assistants were going to Omsk and Kazakhstan, so they took them there, the Gundersens went to Krasnoyarsk and took the disks, but what about Barnaul, Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, and Tomsk? Can I say Road Trip? The fastest way for us to take all of the disks to the cities was for us to take busses and visit all of the cities. Me and Elder Harper left Thursday afternoon, and got into Barnaul about 8:00. We met the elders there and waited for our bus at 10:00 to leave for Novokuznetsk. While waiting, we decided to play this crane game, and this man walked up to us asking for 20 rubles (about 50 cents in our money), since he was a little short on cash for his tickets. We decided it was okay, since we were wasting it on a game anyway, and he was really grateful. He asked why we were here, we said that we were missionaries, and he felt that God led him to us to help him. He asked if he could meet with missionaries the next day, before he would be leaving. We gave him the address of the branch in Barnaul, and we hope that they met. It was just good to help this man. 

It was a 7 hour bus ride to Novokuznetsk, and we got there about 5:30 Friday morning. We went to the Elders' apartment, and we slept for a little while until we left 8:00 for our bus to Kemerovo. We went to my old apartment in Novokuznetsk, and I was very nostalgic. I wonder if my brothers ever felt that way if they returned to a city they previously served. I really liked that apartment. I wished we could have stayed in the city longer, but we had no time. We left, and took the bus to Kemerovo. Remember, the shortest bus ride is about 5 hours. We get to Kemerovo, and it is a beautiful place. All missionaries who served there say that it is the cleanest city in the mission, and they are absolutely right. We had a long time in Kemerovo, until 6 that evening, so we helped some missionaries move into their new apartment. Their landlady decided to sell their apartment, so they needed a new place to live. We helped them move, and a police man comes over. We thought he had other business, so we let him pass us as we carry furniture and baggage up the stairs of the building. Then he stops at our door, and I think, "Oh no." We open the door, and he tells us that this old lady called in some strange unfamiliar people wearing strange clothes, carrying strange items in the apartment. Elder Harper and I had a taxi waiting for us, so we left hurriedly, leaving the other elders to take care of the situation. Later, all was okay. The police man was just checking the situation, and of course there was nothing wrong. All was okay.

We get into Tomsk about 11:00 at night. The bus was so bumpy, it was like riding the Indiana Jones ride for five hours straight. Not very comfortable for sleeping. We go to the district leader's apartment, and we spend the night, we leave about 7:30 Saturday morning for Novosibirsk. We get in Novosibirsk about 1:00 and they already finished the first session of Saturday morning General Conference. We quickly got cleaned up, and went to the branch building to watch conference. All in all, the experience was fun, tiring, and something I will never do again.

It is crazy to think that we were in five cities in two days and all of them about 5 hours apart. We had a very quick trip of the mission, so  that all could enjoy conference and receive the blessings from modern prophets. That is the sacrifice we are willing to make.

May we all take a page from the book of Peter, and be willing to drop our "nets" and follow Him. Missionaries across the world have dropped their worldly nets of family, friends, career, education, and other pursuits to follow the call of the Savior, so that we can confidently say to Him, "Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." From conference, I felt a need for personal conversion. We all have a testimony, but are we all converted? If called, will we be willing to serve? What are willing to sell our soul for? I would like to give my soul to my Savior, "for whoso loseth his life shall find it." For our souls are worth "great in the sight of God", and if we give Him our souls, we will receive "all that the Father hath." It is worth it. The struggle is worth fighting for, because we will win.

Elder Hoggan (The Siberian Messenger)