Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Packer, Packer, Packer

So what did this week contain?

well to find out you'll have to read this message....

so Monday was good like most are, we just got things ready for the rest of the week.

Tuesday we had ZLC so we drove all the way over to Crestview from Tallahassee which is about a 150 miles away. and then drove back like 6 hours later, so we spent a lot of time in the car that day, but what happened at ZLC was we discussed that as a mission we can really get things moving forward in the mission.  Instead of thinking that a baptism is a far off thing that only happens to really special people we broke it down into a lot easier goals and ways to see thing moving forward, so what we kind of discussed was that we all need to read the Book of Mormon and find something that would help an investigator.   We also thought of setting a goal that is personal that everyone needs to work on, and to go through the lessons that we teach investigators prior to baptism every transfer or 6 week period.  So those are the kind of goals that we set for ourselves so we could get this mission moving.  So that was really cool about Tuesday

Wednesday  we kind of took it a little slow and decided to think before we really started moving and we were able to give a Baptismal interview for the Spanish elders and then had a great time with a member as they took us out for dinner at an actual authentic Mexican restaurant, surprisingly there aren't a lot of good Mexican places down here.

Thursday, a usual Thursday with service at the capitol and then meeting a sealer for the Orlando temple, who is an amazing man in my opinion, in fact we're having dinner with him this afternoon which I'm excited for.  We were also able to just meet a lot of interesting people that day, one less active member we just tracted into so that was neat.

Friday, what a day we did service for a member and again I got to play with a forklift/pallet jack. So i was happy about that except that it wasn't from an actual semi, so it would of been very crazy if the fork lift got inside that moving truck. So after that we had a wonderful lesson with a less active member who was going through some really hard times and it was like we were just there at the right time, it was awesome. then after that we had to fly down to Crawfordville to do another Baptismal interview, and it was awesome.  It was for a kid who was 9 and really loves his family, kind of a funny, goofy kid but he's going to do awesome. and then after all that we ate at probably one of the best non chain Italian restaurants in town, so i was happy with that.

Saturday,
we had a child baptism in our ward who we taught and it was really cool, and they filled the font right when the meeting was happening so when it was their time to get in it was only about 2 feet deep maybe. definitely different. but it made it interesting. Overall really cool, then we had a stake conference meeting with the priesthood leadership, where Elder Packer, son to President Packer, taught us and it was really cool and he just knows so much about the gospel it was amazing so i really enjoyed that, and then went to dinner with a less active member who just loves us to death, and it was just really nice to meet and get to know more about her and everything else.

Which leads to SUNDAY!

It was an interesting day compared to most, again it was stake conference and we got to hear from a lot of different people all pretty much talking about the same thing to get our members to not be afraid to talk to others about our religion. Then focusing on the importance of having the spirit with us always. So that was the main part of stake conference.   After all that we had about 15 missionaries coming in for zone conference or a half mission conference with Elder Packer on Monday, so we were arranging where people should go and where they needed to go and who was going to take them there.  We also found out that we we're having a meeting with Elder Packer for 2 hours, the zone leaders for Panama city, Dothan, and Tallahassee. and we discussed what we wanted to change in the mission, and we went over the same thing that we talked about in ZLC which is what he really liked and then gave him some ideas on what to teach us the next day.   So after all that we got everyone situated to where they need to go and head off to home, to get ready for the next day....

So now it's Monday and the sun isn't even out yet and all the missionaries are awake and starting to get to the church in Tallahassee.   We arrive on time even through rush hour. and we just have an amazing meeting with him and we were able to really learn a lot.  For myself i need to keep the spirit more with me.   So i found some things that i needed to change so I'm excited to learn and to grow from this opportunity which Elder Packer helped bring.
So with all of that it's been a great week. and i hope you have the same chance to have so much fun.

Love Elder Gillespie

Dad HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! and congrats on the purchase.

Mom your awesome and I'm glad you had that experience.

Thad you sound like a very important person i think you should make a little hanging thing off your rear view mirror that says VIP.  keep up the good work and it's awesome to hear that Clint got to bless.  Tell him I'm proud of him.

Jethrobyn. the adventures you have sound epic. keep up the good work. and try to keep them youngin's healthy.

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