We combined our three coastal zones this time!
We started with Leadership Meeting.
Elders are waiting for leadership meeting to end.
One of our English Elders! I'm always flattered when they want a picture with me!
Morning snack before the conference begins!
The chapel before the conference begins. It is the only room in the church that has air conditioning.
President Thompson laid out his vision as: Building for Eternity!
We are excited for a few new changes this year in schedules. First, we will be holding Zone Conferences every six weeks instead of every twelve.
President Thompson also laid out ten ways to receive blessings as a missionary. Some of them include: to know the Missionary Handbook, to Keep Commitments, and to read the Book of Mormon every day.
A few expectations were clearly spelled out - taken from the Missionary Handbook.
President reminded the missionaries how much we love them and appreciate their dedication and hard work.
We take a break for pizza, and photos!
President tries glasses!
After the conference, packages and mail are handed out.
These two Elders have birthdays today! Happy birthday!
Our Elders have great smiles!
It was a long day of instruction, edifying, and vision for our mission.
Elder Knutsen is my birthday boy!!! Thank you for always sharing such wonderful pictures!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing so many pics!! It just makes my day to see my boy!! Thanks for taking such good care of him!!
ReplyDeleteMay I ask what sort of mail and packages were "handed out"? Is this mail from home? My grandson will be coming to you soon and I will be thrilled if I can send him things from home.
ReplyDeleteYes, we hand out mail from home at Zone Conferences. I must warn you however, that packages are very expensive to mail, and there is no guarantee that they will be received. If you mail through the U.S. post office, it costs less, but it can take several weeks to months to get here. If you send packages through Fedex or UPS, it usually costs more, but has a higher chance of getting here. Packages can take anywhere from two to three weeks, but our experience has been two to three months. We also ask family members sending packages to limit them, and to be sensitive that many of our Elders don't receive any packages, even at Christmas. Some missionaries receive letters, but most have access to email once a week, so that seems the better way to communicate. Your grandson will have access to email every Monday, but time is limited. In some areas of the mission, email is more difficult - for example, if he is in an area where the chapel does not provide internet service and he goes to a local shop and has to pay for internet usage and if there is a holiday in South Africa that falls on a Monday.
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