Week of Thanksgiving

This week we had the great privilege of hearing from an apostle of the Lord. It was an amazing conference. Elder David A Bednar started the conference by explaining how the conference would work. There would be three different parts. First, we would discuss two talks we were given two weeks before the conference. Second, we talked about the way we talked about the talks. And Last we asked him questions. First, the talk we were given are truly incredible, but when we discussed them, there came a whole new light in the room. He asked volunteers to talk about parts that they thought were interesting and after say why they caught their attention. At times he commented on a few of them. We all learned from one another. We then discussed why this process of asking questions was so effective and why it brought the spirit. We are to apply this in our teaching. He said that when we ask a question that is unspecific or has one answer that the student may not know (like a test) we are setting ourselves up for failure. We are making the students objects and not people. It's the difference between things that act and things that receive action. It was very insightful.

He also spent a few moments ranting about the false traditions the church has. We really grabbed a part of his personality. He asked us why we all take notes. Why do we write down everything the speaker says only to never look at it again. "that's stupid! Stop doing that!". The funniest part was when he was talking about trunky missionaries. He has a pet peeve which is missionaries who waste the Lord's time. He said he hates it when a missionaries goes up to the front on sacrament meeting to say "well, I only got five months left..." He said "Don't do that! I just want to say to that missionary to sit down and shut up. No one cares how much time you have left on the mission!" He is very direct and very funny.

My favorite part of the question section was when he talked about the other apostles. He said that when he was on his mission the youngest apostles were Gordon B Hinkley, Thomas S Monson, Boyd K Packer, and L Tom Perry. He said is was like a dream to enter into the quorum. He said they treat you like you were always a member of the quorum. He talked about how they are all examples of leadership. He told a story about an apostle over the age of 80 that had a double knee replacement surgery. He performed both surgeries on the same day healed in three week and walked into the church office on a walker. He did all this right after the October conference so that he could be recovered by the spring conference and no one would ever know. He said that they are his heroes. He said, "you know the story of Captain Moroni in the Book of Mormon. Yeah, well I work with captain Moroni." They are all warriors, full of courage and faith.

There are so many things I could say about the conference, but time does not permit. 

Other than the conference, we had an activity in the ward on Friday. It was a lot of fun. Rosane and Adriano showed up. They really enjoyed it, but they didn't go to church. I WANT TO BAPTIZE THIS FAMILY!! But they have to go to church... I will have to have a talk with them. I love them so much. Any advice? 

Love you all so much. The church is true. The book of Mormon is the work of God and is the most correct book on the earth. I just finished reading the Liahona all about the Book of Mormon last month. Way cool. We follow a living prophet today. It is all true. It isn't a myth. Joseph really did see the Father and the Son. This is Christ's church.

Com amor,

Elder Walker