July 10th, 2016: Zone Conference

Being on an island in the middle of the Pacific where the Mission Office is a 3 hour plane ride away is different from most missions. Because of that we only get to see our Mission President every couple of months and our time with him is very short. This week was a very spiritual and powerful week. To start off Zone Conference President Zarbock told us of a dream/revelation/guidance that he received the night before at about 3 am for this island. Obviously after that we were all very interested in what it might be. We had a very spiritual conference where a lot of the questions and concerns of the mission were answered and we got help to overcome questions like "aren't all churches true, don't we all pray to the same God, and why do I need to be baptized again." It really helped and we are seeing success. In my interview after the conference President Zarbock asked me what I have learned on my mission thus far. As I started thinking of everything it became apparent just how much I have learned. I talked about how I have learned humility and learned to handle things calmly and orderly. There are so many things we talked about and for the first time it felt like we connected and we talked together. In a way he felt like my father away from home. At the end he told me that out of all the compliments he could give, his trust in a missionary was the highest. He told me he trusted me and sent me on my way to do the Lords work. It really made me happy and realize that hard work pays off. On Thursday we had another meeting, this time just a Zone Meeting, where we pretty much talked about everything again and helped overcome more things. However the most spiritual part this week has been Brother Braiel. Desiucky Braiel is from an outer island of Chuuke and is staying with a member right now. We started having lessons with him last Sunday and he is one of the most prepared people ever. He truly wants to be "born again" and repent for all the things he did in the past. I truly can see him being a Bishop or something when he gets back home to Portland, Oregon. Every lesson we have with him is so spiritual and makes our day. He has given us the hope and faith we needed and because of that the spiritual momentum is starting. We now have 3 people on solid baptismal dates and two more that need to be solidified. The work really is starting to pick up and the blessings are coming. There wasn't a lot of big things this week but a lot of small miracles that built up to a great week. I love you all and I pray for each one of you every day! I love you and I know God loves you!

Till we meet again,
Elder Hanson