April 30, 2015

Carissimi Miei,

Buongiorno a tutti! I'm sorry that last p-day I didn't explain very well what was going on this week, I didn't mean to leave you all in confusion. This week we were incredibly blessed as a mission. We had the opportunity to have a conference with Elder Bednar, Elder Teixiera, and Brother Allen to discuss our mission receiving i-pads. Our mission is one of the European missions that has been chosen as a testing group with the new technology. That conference was on Tuesday, so we spent last Monday traveling up to Rome, Tuesday at the conference, Wednesday traveling back, and now here we are with P-day on Thursday! Next p-day will be on Monday again so everything will be back to normal then :) but because I will be writing again so soon I wanted to wait to give you more updates about Crotone next week, and just focus my e-mail today about my experience at the conference. 

  

Needless to say the conference was an incredible experience. I'll be honest though, it was absolutely nothing like how I thought it would be. After we sang the opening song, said the opening prayer, and got the chairs all situated, Elder Bendar got up to the pulpit and the first thing he said was "today is not about i-pads." And sure enough the longer the meeting went on the truer that statement became. The hole conference was set up as a discussion. Elder Bednar would ask us questions, we would respond, and it was completely guided by the spirit. That was one of the things that stood out to me the most in the conference, was how Elder Bendar taught. Nothing about the conference was a presentation, it was a discussion based off of our needs and our concerns. By the end of the conference we had been uplifted and edified and had been completely involved throughout the entire conference. It was an incredible example, and something I want to try to improve in my own teaching. 

Throughout the conference Elder Bednar, Elder Teixiera, and Brother Allen covered a whole range of topics, but I wanted to share with you a few that really stood out to me. What stood out to me from what Elder Bednar taught us was just the importance of action. He spoke to us a lot about moral agency and that we are each agents, not objects.  An agents acts, an object is acted upon. He also related that to our investigators in the sense that they are also agents and we can't make them objects. Until they choose to act they can't accept the message of the gospel, and they can't act until we invite them to do something. That was an idea that really struck me. I was also really touched by what Elder Teixiera said to us. He focused almost all of his remarks on the idea that missionary work really isn't about us. He mentioned that when we get into new situations we tend to focus inwards and be concerned about our own needs. I felt like his message was particularly for me, especially since I have been transferred to a new area. It is so easy to become concerned with ourselves and our needs in these times when everything is new, but Elder Teixiera counseled us that it is during these times that we need to focus even more on serving others. He encouraged us to think of how we can use this new situation with the use of technology to reach out and serve more people. I loved that idea, that this new technology will just be a tool to help us help more people to feel the love of our Savior. Elder Allen focused a bit more on the logistics of the new ipads, but one thing that he said really stood out to me. He said "if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got." During his remarks you could just feel how much this new technology can lift the work and how it will help us to get those new results. But what really stood out to me was the message that the ipad will just be another tool to add to our resources. He still encouraged us to go through preach my gospel and find new ideas and things that we haven't put into practice yet. 

I wish I had more time to be able to tell you more about the conference, but for me those were a few of the highlights. Needless to say it was a pretty incredible experience, we are a very blessed mission. We should be getting the i-pads within the next couple weeks, and we are so excited to put into practice everything that we learned. But in the end I honestly am just grateful for the opportunity I had to go and learn from each of those men, and their spouses. Just like Elder Bednar said, "it's not about the i-pads." It is about becoming more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, then reaching out and helping others to do the same. 

I love you each so much! I am so grateful for all of your love, support, and prayers. I hope you have a wonderful week and I will talk to you soon!

Sorella Marsh

touring the Castel on P-day

 Meet Elliot, our investigator's little boy. He is SO dang cute. He calls me marsh :)