The Mission in May

 As I look back on May, it doesn't seem so busy that I wouldn't have time to post, but each day just rushed by.  Well, I will admit that we did take one day to go to a Mets game with the other senior couples...

 The highlight of the month was the NYNYC Mission Tour.  If that sounds strange to you, it did to me as well, but I learned that the Mission Tour is what we used to call a Mission Conference, with a general authority of our church visiting and teaching the missionaries.  We were blessed to have Elder Sean Douglas, a General Authority Seventy, and his wife as our guests in New York.  

The mission tour started with a virtual teaching session where Elder Douglas taught the missionaries about the power of the doctrine of Christ in their own hearts and in the hearts of the people they are teaching, how covenants bind us to Christ, and how to be "full purpose missionaries."  He encouraged us all to see those we teach not just in baptism white, but also in temple white.  Neil and I were excited about how this tied into our own efforts to bring the newest members of our ward to the temple to provide covenant ordinances for their own ancestors.  Elder Douglas also taught how to conduct effective Ward Missionary Council meetings, then charged all the missionaries to hold their meetings that night and return tomorrow and report how they went.  The next morning was a follow-up virtual meeting where he listened to many companionships report on their meetings and was able to give specific and powerful guidance to all.  This bore testimony to me of the reality of called, ordained, and inspired leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder Douglas and his wife were physically in our mission during the week of May 22nd.  They held training meetings with various groups of leaders on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, and all-day conferences with half the missionaries on Wednesday and half on Thursday.  Both he and his wife are incredible teachers; here's an example of the depth and enthusiasm of their teaching - this whole thing was discussed in about 15 minutes!  It will take me days to remember it all!

Our meeting was held at the Manhattan Ward building, which just happens to also be the Manhattan Temple building!  It's the first time I've ever gone through glass doors and could turn left for the temple or right for the Family History Center or go straight to the elevators to take up to church!  And yes, we took the subway to get there!

Following Thursday's conference, we were blessed to have a senior couples' dinner with Pres. and Sis. Holmes and Elder Douglas (I think we wore his wife out).  After a lovely dinner and introductions all around, he invited us to ask him anything we wanted and he talked a little about the amazing growth of the Church.  It was a beautiful experience to be taught by one of God's chosen servants in such an intimate setting.  I feel so blessed to be a missionary!