New Missionaries

Hey guys, Well, it's been quite awhile since you heard from me. I'm super sorry. It was a stressful week! It was great though. We had all the transfers, but usually we get all the transfers and new companions and trainers decided on on the Thursday before we do the assignments. The transfers usually take place on a Wednesday. We also usually have a training meeting for the new missionaries on the Tuesday immediately before the transfer date. Well, we finished all the assignment changes and companion things on Saturday night rather than Thursday and we moved the transfer date from Wednesday forward to Tuesday. So rather than having about 6 days to plan everything, we only had 3. Also, we were informed that we would be getting 1 Elder from Mexico Monday, 29 from the Guatemalan MTC on Tuesday morning, 2 Brazilians on Tuesday night, and 9 Gringuitos from the Provo MTC on Wednesday morning at 7. So we had to hold 3 different training meetings on different days. Also, President decided that we would be giving all of the transfers over the phone rather than having a formal transfer meeting like we normally do. We also had to arrange taxis from each Zone Leader´s house to the others'. And on top of everything, we had a conference with Elder D. Todd Christofferson the following Thursday, right after the training of the gringos and Brazilians that morning. It was awesome! Ha ha. I don't know if I can truly describe how much we had to do, but it was so busy! On Wednesday I had over 50 phone calls and was on the phone for probably 8 hours. But, after all was done, there were no major problems with the transfers and everybody got there. We didn't actually get to open those new areas that we went and looked at a few weeks ago because it is a bit of a process to get it ready. You have to get permission from the area presidency and everything. But, I was talking to President earlier today and it's looking very good for those areas in 6 weeks. The area presidency is extremely interested in those areas and very excited about the chance to open the church there. So president commented that he was planning of putting a whole new zone up there; 12 to 16 missionaries. How exciting is that?! That's a lot of new beds and refrigerators we're going to have to buy and ship up there. So it seems very positive for those areas, which is exciting because it means we are probably going to have to head up there again and get houses and the area ready. So, we're really looking forward to that. We had a couple of missionaries that extended there mission a month so President Watts gave them a pretty cool assignment. They area traveling split Elders. So what they will be doing is just traveling and doing splits with a different area every day. That will be great because Elder Willardson and I are going to be really busy doing a mission tour and interviews with President and Hermana Watts for the next few weeks. I'm really excited to see the changes that the Elders can help make in each of the areas they visit. The conference with Elder Christofferson was absolutely fantastic! It was amazing! We did the conference with 3 missions combined and I actually sang with 3 other Elders in a Quartet. We sang Nearer my God, to Thee. It turned out really nice. It was pretty nerve-wracking - singing 3 feet in front of an apostle though! One thing that was really cool was that Elder Christofferson, in the middle of the talk, stopped to take a minute to thank us for our song. He looked straight at us and expressed his gratitude. Wow, it was powerful. We sang before anybody talked, so it was nice to just relax afterward and listen to the Spirit. It was probably the most impactful devotional/conference I have ever been to in my life. He talked a lot about how, as missionaries, we share his apostolic responsibilities and calling. Multiple times he called us his companions and thanked us for our help. He also talked about our level of excitement in the work and the importance to teach with the knowledge that we hold the kingdom of God in our hands. People should realize that we our giving them the opportunity to return to God's presence. Towards the end of the meeting, it got really spiritual. Even though there were almost 400 missionaries there, it seemed as though it was only he and I in the whole room and that the Lord was talking directly to me through his servant and apostle. It was quite extraordinary. And I know that's how everyone in the room felt as well. It was a very special thing. At the very end of the meeting, he ended on a very special note. He began to give us blessings. One of the best things he said was that He blessed us with the knowledge that our Heavenly Father loves us, and that he is very pleased with the work we are doing and know we are, although not perfect, doing our best to improve. Honestly the conference was life-changing for me. I'll never forget it. One of my favorite quotes from the conference was this, "La carga de servir al Señor siempre será más ligera que la carga del pecado." "The weight of serving the Lord will always be lighter than the weight of sin." It's so true and really the secret to find happiness in life. No matter what the Lord asks us to do, as we do it and take upon ourselves the yoke of the Lord, it will become easy unto us. Anyways, it was a week full of lots of great things. We are now off to start the interviews and trainings with all of the companionships in the mission. That means we will have between 30 and 45 minutes with each of the 102 companionships of the mission. Good stuff. Love you guys. Thanks for always writing me. Have a good one. Love, Elder Lloyd