Full Apartment and Book of Mormon Stories

This week we just finished was the last week of the transfer, so we had a good time preparing and trying to work hard before next transfer. We went through the whole transfer ticket process like normal, buying all the trains for everyone, and also planned out transfer week with the assistants, which will be a lot of fun, we're going to have Mission Leadership Council a little earlier than planned, so next week we'll have upwards of 70 to 80 missionaries sleeping at our apartment throughout the week, it'll be good fun.

The highlight of last week though was the district meeting we had on the Thursday, it was about the Book of Mormon, about coming back to and studying what is the most important parts of our missionary work. We didn't get to stay for the whole meeting unfortunately, but we were able to be there for a round the table recounting of everyone's favorite story from the Book of Mormon, and why it was so important to them. After some thought, I decided upon the story of Abinadi, the prophet who taught with such power to King Noah and his advisers. I love this story, the part that gets me the most, is that although Abinadi taught the King, and everyone in the city, as powerfully as he could, he never saw the fruits of his labors, he never saw in his lifetime any success. Alma the Elder was converted through the teachings of Abinadi, but Abinadi never had the opportunity to see this conversion. However, because Alma was converted, he went on the convert hundreds more, to start the Church in the land, and played a key role in the conversion of Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah, who all went on to convert hundreds and even thousands of more people. Abinadi had one of the largest missionary influences in history, and never got to see that while he still lived.


It's always been a strong reminder to me of how important it is that we press on no matter how futile it seems, that we are touching the lives of other people in more ways than we think. It was a great district meeting that helped remind me of that and help me re-remember it.
Transfer week was exhausting, but lots of fun, which is normal for a transfer week. All the new missionaries that came in were really great, this was a particularly good group that I have seen come in during my transfers here in Lyon, a lot of missionaries I think that are going to do real well. It was tons of fun to watch them get their trainers, and all the fun stuff that goes along with that. We didn't get a break from people at our apartment this week, because the Mission Leadership Council got moved to Thursday, but it was fun, we always had a ton of people to talk to in the evening.

The coolest part of this week though, was I think the story one of the newer French missionaries told me yesterday evening as we were all walking back to the apartment. He told me about something his district teacher had showed them in the MTC in Spain. The teacher had had them all take a balloon, and blow it up as much as possible. Then, he had them all pop their balloons, almost as soon as they had blown them up. The teacher told them that on their missions and during their lives, there will always be people who kind of want to take away your hope, and tear down your expectations. Missionaries who perhaps served in an area where they had had very little success, or where the reputation was maybe not so good, will often say it's not a good area, that you'll never find success there. If you come into a new area with expectations like that, you'll never succeed or surpass these expectations that you have already set yourself. You should always try to keep your balloon full, and not to let other people with little pins pop it before it can really grow to it's full potential. It was kind of a silly image at first, and I kind of laughed at it, but I really liked what the teacher was trying to say.