We had the pleasure of attending Stake Conference yesterday where Elder May spoke along with his mission leader, President Pugmire. I am probably a bit bias but I thought his talk was absolutely amazing. Our stake president said in his closing remarks that each missionary's mission is perfectly perfect for him or her. That statement resonated so strongly with me as Brian and I have believed this for awhile. Each missionary, either proselyting or service, are servants of the Lord and the Lord knows them all perfectly. We love this Elder and are so proud of him and his desire to serve the Lord.
April Email
Hello Everyone!
April feels like a super long month for me. Probably because
it was such a bittersweet month for me. It was the last month before my brother
got home, we had the mission activity at the Mesa Temple Visitor's Center,
Elder Ferrell was released from his mission, it was Elder Haws's 21st birthday,
and Sister Briggs's wedding, and I got to speak in my Stake Conference. It was
a lot of events for others, but I am glad that I went to all of them and
pictures to remember each event like a memento of sorts.
My brother, Hayden, gets home from the Florida Tampa Mission
on May 2, 2018. He initially left on April 27, 2018 and because of transfers,
he gets home a little later than expected. I am excited that he is coming home
but it makes this month feel like it was being dragged on for a little too
long. We spent this whole last Saturday all day just planning and preparing for
his arrival. The closer it gets, it still feels a little unreal that it's going
to happen, but I have planned for everything. I haven't seen him in two years
which doesn't feel like a ton of long time, except for the fact that I have
been given very little time to communicate with him. As our family, each of us
only got about an hour to email with him once a week and then we got to phone
call or Skype with him only on Mother's Day or on Christmas, so it wasn't a
long time in length of time, but it has been a while since now we can actually
fully communicate with one another again. I am ready for him to be home and I
am ready to be with my brother again.
Our mission activity at the Mesa Temple Visitor's Center was
a ton of fun. I got to take care of Elder Dayton Hayward and Elder Taylor
Ferrell again as we had testimonies and the videos learning more of the
translation of the Book of Mormon with the latest videos of Oliver Cowdery and
of David Whitmer. These videos were
incredible. They were so detailed, and they brought me new definitions and a
better idea on how the Book of Mormon was translated. It was incredible and
afterwards, I just got to spend some time with Elder Haws and Hayward and Elder
Ferrell which is always the best.
The most bittersweet thing for me this month was the release
of Elder Ferrell from his mission. He was released from his mission on April
15, 2018. Elder Ferrell and I were companions since March 2, 2017, which was a
little over a total of 13 months together. I had been able to be trained to
become a caregiver for whenever he needed me, I moved in with him and lived at
his house for about 3 weeks while being his caregiver full-time, I was able to
travel to Modesto, California with him while he went to Yosemite National Park
as he went to a muscular dystrophy camp to learn how to be more independent
with his physical disability. I was able to throw him a surprise birthday party
for his 21st birthday, we were able to go to the Easter pageant together, we
had a mission release party for him with Brett Zollinger, both of the Atkin's,
Elder Tassainer and then him and myself and he was able to help me a lot be a
better district leader, a better missionary and just a better person. He taught
me so much, and there was a lot of laughter between the two of us. I truly will
miss him, but I had a much better mission because of him.
Sister Kaylyn Briggs invited Elder Ferrell and I to go to
her wedding reception to her new husband, Gavin Gardner. It was a wonderful
time to see her, but it was also almost like a mission reunion for some of us.
I was able to see Elder Elijah Begay, Sister Haleigh Bunn, Elder Dylan Wilson,
Sister Heidi Beck, Elder Mike Hepfinger, Elder Keaton Schlink and Elder Ferrell
all at one party. We danced all night and we were able to just spend some time
together and be able to keep photos and celebrate Sister Briggs becoming Sister
Gardner now. I know that we all love her and we all just came to support her.
It was a blast.
Finally, I was asked to speak in stake conference. I was
asked on Thursday by Sister Pugmire if I could speak. Initially, when I first
got the call it was sent to me like I was speaking for 20 minutes on the YCSM program,
but I was terribly mistaken as she was only asking me to speak for 2 and a half
minutes. Now, our stake has about 7 wards in it. If there is about 100 people
in each ward, that means that there were at least 700 people that were going to
listen to what I had to say as it was broadcast to different buildings in our
stake. It was a terrifying thought, but as I stood up to speak and I walked to
the podium, the anxiety and the nervous feelings had left, and I was fully
confident in what I wanted to say. Every single one of my ideas in my head had
perfectly flown through my mind and I said exactly what I was wanting to say.
It was perfect. I spoke on our identities and our abilities and though we have
different abilities and disabilities, our identities don't change.
All that matters are that we have the desire to serve
others. If we have the desire to serve others, then we are called to the work.
It doesn't matter what abilities that we have or if we fit into the criteria.
All that matters are that we have that desire to help others. That is what I
truly love about my mission. It doesn't focus on my capabilities, but it rather
focuses perfectly on what I want to do to serve others and how I can perfectly
capitalize on my abilities to help serve others. I love my companions like
Elder Ferrell and I love all my friends like Elder Hayward, Elder Tassainer,
Elder Atkin, and Elder Haws and Hawks. I love my mission and I love my
abilities to serve others in my best capacities. I love all of you and I am so
excited for May!
Love Elder May
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