WASHINGTON D.C. SOUTH MISSION: ZONE CONFERENCE FREDERICKSBURG & WOODBRIDGE

Thursday, September 3, 2009

ZONE CONFERENCE FREDERICKSBURG & WOODBRIDGE

Our second zone conference was the Fredericksburg and Woodbridge zones. This one was held at the Fred. stake center. Again it was a spiritual feast and we had a wonderful conference as Heavenly Father poured out His spirit on our meeting. The zone leaders sit on the stand and conduct the meetings. They all look like future Bishoprics and conduct themselves and the meetings with incredible ability. I feel surrounded by such strength and power. It is really overwhelming each time I attend one of these and realize what great leaders are being prepared for the future.

This conference had the same presentations and activities as the 1st one.

Our Car Czar, Elder Cordner , took the missionaries outside to participate in judging car cleanliness and get some safety tips and instructions. There is one picture of all the hoods of the cars up and ready for inspection. I wonder what people who drive by think when they see this--perhaps a used car lot? Lunch time was fun again with all the missionaries interacting. I try to get pictures of as many as I can. Each and everyone of them is special and we love them all. The afternoon included talks by Elder Benson, Swensen, Nelson, Withers, and Sister Capps. These 5 missionaries will all be returning home in four weeks and so this is their last Zone meeting and they were all sad about it. We had a beautiful musical number by Sisters Capps, Ferry, Reid, and Johnson. Our fabulous, Elder Robbins, accompanied them. Then Sister Baxter, Elder Smith and Elder Eagan gave talks and testimonies. President Albright gave closing remarks and we ended another wonderful conference.

1 comment:

NannetteSeptember 14, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Thank you so much for doing this!! We love seeing not only our son, but those he has served with! This is great! When you write articles w/o pictures, could you include first names of those missionaries who share last names. At one point there were 2 Elder Smiths so we don't know if we are reading about our son or another missionary. Thanks again for this great service.
Nannette Smith
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Stephanie Smith Fireside

Last Sunday evening we were privileged to attend a fireside in the mission. It was held at a beautiful old chapel in McLean. One of the pictures shows the inside of the chapel and the wood beams on the very steep-pitched ceiling of the room. The gym is under the chapel in the basement. I have never seen a floorplan like this one. Very unique. This fireside hosted Sister Stephanie Smith. Her story was in the Ensign sometime in the last year. She has a remarkable conversion story. She has held very high government positions and at one time was 5th in command at the CIA. She said something at the first of her talk that I wrote down: she said, "I've been on some remarkable adventures. But no adventure in my lifetime has been as extraordinary and life-changing as my path to conversion and baptism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. She then told about her introduction to the church. She was at a time in her life with tremendous worldly success achieved after clawing her way to the top without any regard for others, and she felt her life was shattering into a million pieces. At this time she turned to a colleague she admired who was a member of the church. He told her two things. That her Heavenly Father knew her by name and loved her and that Heavenly Father had a plan for her success. The next day he sent her a map to the temple visitor center. She told how when the missionary sisters came to her door, she didn't think she could relate to these young women. The first thing they did was ask if they could sing to her. They sang,"I am a Child of God." That was the beginning of her conversion, a long a beautiful story. You can read it on the web at Meridian Magazine. Her testimony was a real inspiration to me. There were over 350 people there and she does a great missionary work speaking to investigators. What a blessing to have heard her and felt her spirit.

Chelsea Our recent Convert

We have met the sweetest young sister. Chelsea is amazing. She joined the church during the last year and has an incredible testimony also. She never misses any missionary function and we were able to take her with us to the Stephanie Smith Fireside. She also came to the mission home a few weeks ago and we had family night. She gave the lesson and is was unbelievable. She is hoping to go on a mission next year. What a great young woman. This is a picture of her with Elders Ganaway and Gifford.