April 3, 2017

Dear Family,

We had a pretty busy and somewhat weird week. Not too weird not too normal, just as I like it. We managed to convince the mission office (via the Zone Leaders) that we need more miles so that really helped this weekend. We were able to contact most of our new bible referrals within a couple days and seem to have leveled off at fifteen to twenty uncontacted at a time. Of course, there were odd ones. The short story for this week involved a lady who ordered both a Bible and a Book of Mormon. We set up an appointment with her on Wednesday afternoon I believe and showed up right on time. She had just woken up after having "a crazy night" and kept moving her head around like she was going insane. She also had 5 o'clock shadow. Not even kidding. I could go further but I won't.

In other news, conference was awesome! I don't think I can pinpoint a favorite talk but I did learn a ton in general. There seemed to be a lot of emphasis on re-centering ourselves on Christ. I found it interesting that President Nelson mentioned that we shouldn't speak of the Atonement as something independent of Christ. President Eyring and Elder Holland mentioned that same thing during the face to face event last month so it's obviously a topic they've been discussing. It amazes me how careful the brethren are about wording and how it affects our thoughts processes. John 3:16 was also quoted several times. One thing I took away from all this talk of Christ was that I should study "The Living Christ" and the topical guide sections on Christ. That's my next project after I finish the Book of Mormon again.

Two other things that stood out to me were that it is within my power to follow spiritual promptings more and "look up and drink" as Elder Choi put it. I'm pretty sure I've felt a need to be more positive after every conference on my mission so maybe I'll do a little better this time! I think the key may be asking "what can I learn from this experience?" I'm good at doing that after the fact but not so much during. Oh well, repentance!

Have a wonderful week and remember to look up! I'll let you know how that goes in Texas rain.

Love,
Elder O'Brien (the younger)