Week 51 - Wards and Wars

I'd been trying to figure out what Elder Clemente and I could do to build up the area. The conference on Wednesday was a huge help. Each presentation seemed to focus on working within a ward organization. I feel that at this point, the best thing we can do is build a better relationship with the ward. The ward is really good, and if we can align the ward and the missionaries, we are all going to see amazing things happen. I'm thankful for the revelation I was given at the conference.

Last week, we read Alma 46-50. When I was reading through Alma 46, I got to the verse near the end of the chapter where it talks about how the Nephites had different plants and roots that they used to cure diseases. I thought it was a bit unusual to put that verse in the middle of the Book of Mormon's "war chapters", but I tried to look at it from a missionary perspective. That changed everything. This verse could be applied to resolving problems or concerns that people have. Due to "the nature of the climate", or the way life is, each of us are subject to having "fevers", or concerns. God has prepared "plants and roots" to not only fix the symptoms of the problem, but to actually remove "the cause of the disease". These "plants and roots" could be considered as our families, the scriptures, prayer, and any other spiritual "cure". That's what I learned from a missionary perspective, but I know that you can learn things from any perspective, whether it be student, family, worker, or any other perspective. It's amazing to see what you can learn from the scriptures when you are willing to look just below the surface.

This week, we'll get into Alma 51-55. As I mentioned before, this is what is referred to as the "war chapters". Once again, I would ask you to look for things that can apply to you. In these chapters, we'll read about the two thousand stripling warriors, the boys who saved the Nephite armies with their faith.

You know what's crazy? In less than two weeks, I'll have been on a mission for a year. It still seems like a couple of weeks ago that I was sending my first weekly letter out of the MTC. When I think back on it, however, so much has happened since then.

Love,

Elder Clark

Picture of the special zone conference. This is Baulkham Hills zone, Hebersham Zone, and Penrith zone (the zone to the west of Hebersham. That zone has the Blue Mountains, which I haven't been to, but all of the pictures are beautiful) 

 (Elder Clark is back row, fourth from the right with the dashing good looks and beautiful smile....obviously an add-in by his impartial mother!)