Letters: Oct. 4th and 11th, 2021

 

Oct 4

I had my first zone conference this week! It was awesome. Brother Littlefield came. He's over the Central West America Area, it covers Montana, Wyoming, Chicago, Colorado, etc. He was amazing. He blasted us with stats about what our mission is doing well, and what it needs to improve. One of the things we need to improve is working with members to fine referrals, because member referrals are 12 times more likely to get baptized. It just so happens that working with the members is my passion, so that was very validating. 

The other thing that really blew me away was how Brother Littlefield talked about our ability to influence other's agency. He explained the Key Indicators (numbers we report every week: Baptized, On Date for Baptism, Attended Sacrament, New People Taught). Key indicators seem like a terrible idea because they are goals based on others' agency. But man cannot have power to choose unless he is enticed by one or the other. So we get to entice people and because nothing is impossible to God, we can have success in finding people whose hearts will be changed. 

October 11

All in all, I have great hope for my mission. We are all pioneers at this time, trying new things and thrusting our sickles in the dark. I can feel the shift happening among my mission, though. The old ways are dying. Adjustments are being made. Even my mission president is changing his tune slightly. We talk FAR LESS about exact obedience and FAR MORE about hope and belief in God now. We are requesting miracles and we are seeing them. Two weeks after zone conferences we doubled our New People Found that week.

Me and Sis. Bealer found someone to teach. Her name is Rachel. She's young and new to Christianity and interested in learning more about Christ. She wants to meet every week. 

Our relationships with the members are getting better and better. We are developing relationships with new member families, with the Relief Society, and Elders Quorum. We help out a funerals and minister to the many sick, dying, and elderly in our ward. We are getting more and more busy. 

And my hope is ever increasing. This much is clear: I need the patience, persistence, and diligence to make slow but lasting change. I need the gratitude to see the change as it grows, like my little plants I love that grow little by little rather than in one fast spurt. I can have all these things because they are the gifts of the Spirit. And I have been baptized and received the Holy Ghost. 

And while I yet struggle, I still have joy. For my heart is full every day, and my faith is strengthened. 

Love, 

Sister Emily Elise Shill 

P. S. The Gospel is true! Hoorah for Israel!