"Pretty Girls Need the Gospel too!"

In the train station, on the way to Zone Conference.
Just pointing out the free advertising we are getting around here!

Work here's been going really well. We had Zone Conference this last week, and that really boosted a lot of spirits, though it took two days of proselyting out. They talked a lot about pride, and how that impedes us as missionaries. I've seen that a lot just within my companionship. My companion is a fantastic missionary, but we're really quite different, and honestly, spending all this time with him has been a little hard at times. (For him too, I am sure!) I finally did tell him that I get annoyed sometimes easily by him, and he was very proud of me for that. It's interesting how much communicating that has helped our relationship, because my being annoyed by him is really just Satan trying to destroy the unity that we're trying to maintain in our companionship, and if he succeeds, then we can lose so many opportunities to help others.  (Thanks Scott, for the good advice.) So, I've been letting go of my own pride a bit more, and I've really seen the difference.

Another thing that really helped this week was exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I got paired up with Elder Pederson, who goes back to Denmark this week. He really helped me to see that I can always work harder. A lot of people that we went to go contact, I would just offer a pass-a-long card, and start to walk away, but he stopped and talked with each of them. Because of that, in a day where we would normally have three other lessons and one new investigator, we had seven other lessons and three new investigators. Plus, a referral for the sisters in our area. It's quite amazing how just a little more effort can help so extremely much.

While working with him, I also realized just how often members and investigators see you... Twice that day we were offered a ride from an investigator in Paignton ward and from the daughter of some members in our ward. And Elder Schorzman told me that when he went with the other Zone Leader to Institute, one of the YSA's, who leaves for his mission on Wednesday, saw me and Elder Pederson "talking to two hot girls." (In my defense, we were teaching them. Pretty girls need the gospel, too.)

Our investigators now are doing fantastically. Charlie came to church on Sunday, and really enjoyed it. He often disputes a lot of what we say in the moment, but he really has learned a lot from meeting with us, and we can tell he thinks about it throughout the week. The spirit is doing great things for him.

We've got a few other investigators that we're really looking forward to teaching this week as well, but I'll save the details on those for another day.

I'm really glad to hear about the upcoming Youth Conference. I think that will make such a difference for many of the youth. I know that often times, Youth Conference was where I was able to strengthen my testimony. But then again, you get out of it what you put in.

I'm also excited to hear about the Missionary work in the ward! See if you can't get Taylor out working with the missionaries. Lessons with members present are always more effective than if we just teach them ourselves. I think a lot of the time that people can't see past our badge, and so that greatly limits us... But, people can be convinced that members are normal people a lot more quickly than they can be convinced that missionaries are normal people, so that speeds up the process, and also adds another testimony, which is really helpful.

Love you guys so much,

Elder Green

A funny sign I keep seeing on patches of grass around town.
I thought Taylor would get a kick out of it!