Week Ten

This weekend I had the privilege to meet and listen to Elder Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The first thing that we all noticed is how chipper he is. He walked in, looked at us and said "Hello!" We each walked up and shook his hand. Afterward, I was privileged to play the violin for him with a quartet of singers.

He spoke on many topics, so I'll only touch on a couple of them. One interesting comment he made was that the Brethren don't care about the number of converts the missionaries get. They care about how many of the missionaries' grandchildren are sealed in the temple. He emphasized that the person who should change the most on a mission is the missionary. They really care about each and every one of us. Other things he said were "A busy missionary is a happy missionary," and he talked about how the Spirit of Elijah with family history work is an untapped reservoir of power that missionaries need to use.

He also talked about marriage, and opened it by saying "I know we're not supposed to talk about marriage while on your mission... but let's talk about marriage." He said that we should not pop the question unless we are sure that the girl loves God, then us. He cares that we become worthy and capable spouses and parents, because many people of today's society are not brought up in the way they need to be and he talked about how a mission will prepare you for marriage. I am blessed with wonderful parents who care for me and raised me well.

Elder Nelson is an amazing Apostle of God.

I'm happy that I am serving a mission of God, because it is an amazing, refining experience that will change and better me if I put my effort into it. I hope that all of you will do something to help hasten the work of salvation.

Love you all!

Elder Stowell

Some of the missionaries who helped with flood relief. Last week they bagged 8 tons of sand!