WASHINGTON D.C. SOUTH MISSION: ZONE CONFERENCE MC LEAN Jan 7,2010

Sunday, January 24, 2010

ZONE CONFERENCE MC LEAN Jan 7,2010

Zone conference for the McLean Zone was held on Jan 7, 2010. The zone leaders in this zone are Elders Egan and Ozaki. They are gentle yet strong leaders and do a wonderful job. Each zone conference follows basically the same agenda with small variations. It does seem like it gets better as we do it more and by the 8th one, we finally have it right. At this conference President Albright also told about Joshua and his challenges. "Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, not dismayed". He continued with the story and told about "Achan". This was a man in Joshua's army who disobeyed and hid up treasures under his tent from the spoils of Jericho. No one knew about it, and after he did this the next battle was lost. When it was discovered that he had disobeyed, Achan was stoned, and then the Lord's spirit and help was able to with them again. A mission can be the same. Complete obedience by everyone helps the Lord's spirit fill the mission. And one disobedient missionary can do great harm to an entire mission.

The Assistants "break the Barrier" presentation was even more powerful today. When you have barriers in front of you, it often takes a "leap of faith" to work through them. To illustrate this they had 3 missionaries come to the front of the room. They had 2 of them hold a 8 foot long 2"X6" board at each end just about 5 inches off the floor. They blind folded the third elder and had him stand in the center of the board. Then they had the other two elders raise the board up higher and higher. The elder on the board held onto Elder Ross' shoulders for balance. As the board went higher, elder Ross eventually held the hand of the missionary. Finally, when they were up next to the ceiling they asked the missionary to jump of the board.

It took a leap of faith, but it was incredible to me that they were willing although very nervous. When they lept, they discovered that they were really only about 6-8 inches off the floor. (Elder Ross was just squatting down). This illustration was really fun and they were able to draw many comparison to missionary faith from it. The missionaries really have a lot of fun in their meetings and presentations and they are very creative.

Elder Ozaki and Egan presented a 5-step plan for Finding the One" -PPFTB or Prepare, Plan, Find, Teach, and Baptize. During the Finding step they said finding must be constant and to use the Escalator effect. (on an elevator you approach very few people and on an escalator you are constantly approaching people). Don't you love these missionaries ideas.

Our Car Czar, Elder Cordner, gave instruction and awards. Elder Page was declared one of the "Frozen Chosen" or Iron Man for riding a bike consecutively for8 1/2 months. This Zone conference also concluded with a beautiful testimony meeting. My favorite part.

Zone members include: front: Elders Bullock, Larsen, Cortez, Ta'ufo'ou, Sisters Banks, Hahn, Larsen Alvarado, Murray, Bolorsatkhan, Sister Albright, and Pres. Albright middle row: Freeland, Bell, McGill, Hall, Ray, Bolos,and Ross, Back row: Ozaki, Page, Egan, Scoble and Johnson.

Goofy around

This ward went the extra mile. They had the table all decorated and a mission theme. They had made signs about mission work and extra treats for everyone. It is amazing how good these wards are to these missionaries. They always fix wonderful meals.

Elders Ross, Freeland, Bullock and Johnson

Cute sisters table: Sisters Alvarado, Larsen, Murray, Bolorsatkhan, Banks, and Hahn

Elders Ross, Page,Bolos, Cortez, Larsen, Ray, and Hall

Elders Bell, McGill, Taufoou, and Car Czar Elder Cordner

Pres. and Elder Cordner

Cleaning up and getting ready to serinade the Relief Society sisters

Elders Scoble gives Elder Page a Neck grip

Elders McGill, Ray, and Hall

More distinguished now

Elders Cortez and Larse

Elder Taufoou

Sisters Banks and Hahn

Elder Egan thanking the Sisters and Brother who made lunch

On your mark...

Get set...

Elder Bolos and Ozaki

Elder Cortez

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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.