March 8th, 2017

     The week has been great!! We had another zone interview day which went so well. We did three classes again and I took over the class about teaching the role of the Holy Ghost. We just did loads of practice role-plays which was so fun to critique. The missionaries in the zone are all really good teachers. Even the new missionaries did really well. Another fun part about that day was I got to cook for the zone. I made chili with pasta and rolls. It was pretty random but tasted good and was the fastest thing I could cook for 26 people.

     Monday we went on exchange with the Worthing Elders. I went with Elder Vieira. He is from Brazil and was baptized 1.5 years before his mission. One of the best ways to describe him is he is like a Brazilian version of Elder Pongbundit. Such a humble and kind man who is filled with faith. A cool miracle we had while on exchange was visiting a man named Leon who is one of our baptismal dates. He has recently been going through an extremely hard time. His wife died a few years ago and he got addicted to alcohol shortly after. He has recently been on a good streak of not drinking but his girlfriend broke up with him and he slipped back in last week. We went by Monday and he was super super sick. He was in a ton of pain and throwing up. While teaching Leon about the atoning power of Christ, Elder Vieira put his hand on Leon's shoulder and told him he loves him and knows Christ can help. He then told a story about how his brother back in Brazil was addicted to alcohol but over came it through Christ. It was such a powerful moment. I then asked if he knew what a blessing for the sick was and he said no so I explained and asked if he wanted one and he said yes. We gave him a blessing and the Spirit was so so strong. As soon as we finished I asked him how he felt and he said this may sound weird but all of the pain is gone. It was such a powerful moment and we testified that he could overcome and change through Christ. I learned a lot this week and was filled with so much love for the people around me.

     Sunday we had a multinational broadcast from Elder Ballard. My favourite talk was by Elder Dyches of the 70 on developing spiritual resistance. It's the ability to rebound after failure or trial. Resilient people see failure as a form of helpful feedback. To gain spiritual resilience we need to have our lives focused on Christ and rely on the Holy Ghost as our companion. Hope gives us resilience and the spiritually resilient are always obedient. Because we are obedient we receive the Holy Ghost and can heed the promptings we receive or the feelings we get. They seek to find the meaning of difficult situations. I loved it and am so grateful for the things I've learned this week.

my zone and chili