This week was crazy! It was so busy it was like a rollercoaster. We held 5 of 7 Zone Conferences this week. So yes, we basically lived in our car. :) We always feel a little brain-dead by the end. The conferences have gone smoothly so far and I've seen the Lord touch the hearts of the missionaries. We will be flying to the Azores Islands tomorrow then finish our last conference on Thursday in Lisbon.
General Conference was really good. As a missionary, General Conference is like watching the Super Bowl! Some of my favorite talks were by Elder Uchtdorf, President Nelson and Elder Holland! I approached it a little different this time. Instead of writing favorite quotes and summarizing what I learned from each talk, this time II developed some questions and pondered them for a few weeks forehand. The whole conference I was searching for answers to those questions. Those questions were answered and the spirit taught me many things that I need to do -- especially relating to when I get back from my mission.
We were at the house of a new member a couple hours before conference and I shared a short testimony of how grateful I am to have prophets in our modern day. It really is such a blessing that every six months we can gather together and receive instruction from God on what we need to do. Also, it was such a cool experience to take part in sustaining Russell Marion Nelson as the new president and prophet. I have zero doubts, he is the prophet to the world and leads this church receiving revelation from God. We talked a little bit with President and Sister Tavares about our connection to past prophets and he said that he felt President Nelson was going to stand out. It felt amazing when President Nelson in the priesthood session had us all arise and told us we are here to prepare the way for the Lord’s second coming. We cannot get tired, we cannot lose our focus, we need to prepare at all times and in all things. He is at the door, he is ready to come, we just need to prepare the way now, and we can do that by listening to our leaders.
We had a really cool experience with Maria (our investigator) this last week. With all the traveling for zone conferences we only had one appointment with her and that was to invite her to come to general conference. When we arrived at her home she was super sick, to the point where she could not even stand up. She expressed her concern that she would not be able to come to church in the next two days in that condition. We offered to give her a blessing and after the blessing she looked at us and stood up and said, "I feel better now." The next day she felt even better and did everything she needed to. She arrived at church saying it was the spiritual confirmation she needed to get baptized. We are working with her so that she can be baptized this weekend. The priesthood power is real! It made me think about the talk President Monson gave about the priesthood when he said, "The gift of the priesthood is priceless. It carries with it the authority to act as God’s servants. There is nothing else to compare with it in this world." I testify that the priesthood power is one of the most precious and priceless things I have in my life. I am so happy that our Heavenly Father trusts us so much to use his power and authority to bless his children. My goal is to always look for times when I can bless the lives of others using the holy priesthood which I hold.
I love this gospel and am learning new things everyday on my mission. I want time to slow down...I am really enjoying my time here.
Love you all!
-Elder Herrmann
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