This was a double conference weekend for me - not only was there General Conference, but we also had Zone conference the Friday before and then a district meeting yesterday. Way too much for my poor brain to retain. But yes, I did get to see all session of Conference, except of course the Priesthood session. I thought maybe since they let me go to PEC then maybe they'd let me go to the Priesthood Session, but no luck...:) It was rather sad, hardly anybody shows up at the church to watch conference, so it was only us and the Bishop and a few other people for most of the sessions - and we don't have a pull down screen at our building, they just put a TV up front and we watch it on that. Of course, a lot of the members that live outside of Marietta have Dish so they could get conference on TV, or on the Internet, but it's sad how many people just take it for granted that they can just watch it or read it later, so they don't bother to watch all, or any of the sessions. Again they were all amazing talks. It seemed to me that they focused even more than usual on warning and counseling on how to get through troubled times and adversity. I guess we should take that as a hint.
Oh, and did you notice how in Elder Perry's talk, where he was talking about Thoreau on Walden Pond, that Thoreau wasn't a hermit while he was living there? You see, I can still live in the middle of nowhere and not be a hermit! I also always take particular notice when classic books are quoted. I liked hearing "The Little Prince" quoted - Mrs. Thompson gave me that book. Speaking of quoting classics - people probably think I'm really weird. You see, we had a lesson last night with our investigator, Ty, at a member’s house and we were teaching about Faith and Baptism and it was such a good lesson, the spirit was really strong and we had lots of good discussion. But I was thinking about our lesson when we were driving home afterward and I realized people probably think I'm rather odd since some of the examples I used when teaching about Faith in Jesus Christ came from Indiana Jones and Plato....
But anyway, I've been getting some practice on the flute again. We (Sis. Reeves and I) were asked to do a special musical number for Zone conference, so we borrowed a flute from a lady in the ward (it's really old, but it works) and we played a little flute duet and sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" but to the tune of "Come Thou Fount" - I really liked how it turned out. But our ward mission leader saw us with the flutes one day and he said he'd "whip us up" some flute duets from the hymns for us to play (he teaches music at Marietta College). So I wouldn't be surprised if we get asked to play for sacrament meeting one of these days. We've also been singing a lot lately, go figure, people around here really like us to sing for them - even though neither of us have really great voices, but they blend well, I think, so it turns out OK.
As far as my pumpkin carving ideas...I'm not sure yet, but I was thinking Angel Moroni might be a good one (since I am a Sister of Moroni after all). Oh, and could you refresh my memory on how to cook the pumpkin the easy way? I, of course, need to make pumpkin pies afterwards out of my jack-o-lantern.
We might actually be having a couple of baptismal dates soon, but, nothing for sure yet, but we're praying. Rick thinks he's all cool already baptizing like 5 people and he's been there only a few weeks.... But he's right you know, member referrals have been the ONLY source of success I've seen in my mission. Here in Ohio, there is actually a lot of prejudice against us, but someone pointed out to me that it might have something to do with the people here are the descendants of the people that drove the members of the church out of Ohio.
Oh, we also saw one of the big Sternwheelers that still travel the rivers here and take people on cruises. Apparently they are almost extinct as people are trying to get them put out of commission as unsafe because they are made of wood....go figure. Did you know that Lafayette visited here on his tour of the United States and this town was named after Marie Antoinette? Just another little tidbit of history for you.
Tell Ethan, I'm sorry I forgot to wish him a Happy Birthday last week, and also tell Jeff and Niki Happy Anniversary! I'm out of time, or I'd email them myself. Thank you so much for writing your conversion stories for me! And I do think that's a good idea, so I guess I'll have to get to work on my own.... Love you all!
~Melissa
Oh, and did you notice how in Elder Perry's talk, where he was talking about Thoreau on Walden Pond, that Thoreau wasn't a hermit while he was living there? You see, I can still live in the middle of nowhere and not be a hermit! I also always take particular notice when classic books are quoted. I liked hearing "The Little Prince" quoted - Mrs. Thompson gave me that book. Speaking of quoting classics - people probably think I'm really weird. You see, we had a lesson last night with our investigator, Ty, at a member’s house and we were teaching about Faith and Baptism and it was such a good lesson, the spirit was really strong and we had lots of good discussion. But I was thinking about our lesson when we were driving home afterward and I realized people probably think I'm rather odd since some of the examples I used when teaching about Faith in Jesus Christ came from Indiana Jones and Plato....
But anyway, I've been getting some practice on the flute again. We (Sis. Reeves and I) were asked to do a special musical number for Zone conference, so we borrowed a flute from a lady in the ward (it's really old, but it works) and we played a little flute duet and sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" but to the tune of "Come Thou Fount" - I really liked how it turned out. But our ward mission leader saw us with the flutes one day and he said he'd "whip us up" some flute duets from the hymns for us to play (he teaches music at Marietta College). So I wouldn't be surprised if we get asked to play for sacrament meeting one of these days. We've also been singing a lot lately, go figure, people around here really like us to sing for them - even though neither of us have really great voices, but they blend well, I think, so it turns out OK.
As far as my pumpkin carving ideas...I'm not sure yet, but I was thinking Angel Moroni might be a good one (since I am a Sister of Moroni after all). Oh, and could you refresh my memory on how to cook the pumpkin the easy way? I, of course, need to make pumpkin pies afterwards out of my jack-o-lantern.
We might actually be having a couple of baptismal dates soon, but, nothing for sure yet, but we're praying. Rick thinks he's all cool already baptizing like 5 people and he's been there only a few weeks.... But he's right you know, member referrals have been the ONLY source of success I've seen in my mission. Here in Ohio, there is actually a lot of prejudice against us, but someone pointed out to me that it might have something to do with the people here are the descendants of the people that drove the members of the church out of Ohio.
Oh, we also saw one of the big Sternwheelers that still travel the rivers here and take people on cruises. Apparently they are almost extinct as people are trying to get them put out of commission as unsafe because they are made of wood....go figure. Did you know that Lafayette visited here on his tour of the United States and this town was named after Marie Antoinette? Just another little tidbit of history for you.
Tell Ethan, I'm sorry I forgot to wish him a Happy Birthday last week, and also tell Jeff and Niki Happy Anniversary! I'm out of time, or I'd email them myself. Thank you so much for writing your conversion stories for me! And I do think that's a good idea, so I guess I'll have to get to work on my own.... Love you all!
~Melissa
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