inspired: 8 Months

12/20/10 .....Hello Family,

Time is flying by. Tomorrow will be my eight month mark. It's hard to believe I've been gone for that long. Last week was okay. The work was slow last week. We did have our Mission Christmas Conference on Thursday. It was wonderful! I felt so great. The Spirit was there in great abundance. It was really powerful. It took all day. We left the apartment at 6:30AM and got back home at 9:30PM. It was a really fantastic day. I was able to see most of the Elders I have had the privilege of serving around. I'm happy to say that they all are doing well. During the morning and afternoon portion we got a lot of instruction on how we can improve our finding. Then that evening we had a Christmas devotional. The really important thing for me to do now is to make sure it's not just a great moment in my life. I need to learn and grow from the experience. To become a better disciple of Jesus Christ.

Misa was confirmed yesterday. I could tell she was a little nervous before, but afterwards she was much happier. Damon is doing great! He is incredible. We met with him a few times last week and his testimony is growing quickly. He has a lot of faith and is very humble. He currently isn't employed, but is looking for a job. He's been having a hard time finding one. Every time we talk to him he bears testimony that he knows that the Lord will provide and take care of him as long as he is living righteously. I know this is true too. The better we follow the Lord and obey His commandments the more blessings and joy we can have in our lives. We can truly weather any storm that comes our way. Over the last few weeks I was wondering if I would feel the same way about Damon as I do with the other people I've been able to help convert. I was unsure about it because he had been taught a lot and was all ready for baptism when I got him as an investigator. Elder Bagley and Elder Camp did a lot of work with him. I can honestly say that I do love him as much as I love the others. They're all a part of me now. I truly feel that they are my brothers and sisters. It's incredible how quickly and powerfully we can love one another when we are firmly fixed in the gospel.

Being District Leader is going well. Last night I did weekly calls again and I feel like I did a much better job with it. I felt like the Spirit was there more than last week...maybe I just did a better job of recognizing it. I had my first District Meeting. It was pretty intense. I spent a lot of time preparing. I was really nervous when I first started, but then the Holy Ghost took over and it went really well. I'm hoping that I will be able to build off it this week.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll talk to you on Saturday...I'll email Mom the details.

Love Always, Zach