Week 69

The Magnificence of our Master

Oct 14 at 9:44 AM

Good morning family and friends,

Well, today I am writing you from the library in Hope Mills, North Carolina.  That is where I am serving...in the Hope Mills 1st ward.  This area is absolutely great! I love it already.  The Ward seems to be awesome, and the Lord has many prepared people ready for the Restored Gospel.  We've found some of them already.  :)  There are a lot of Less Active people in this ward...I mean a lot.  Hope Mills isn't far from Fort Bragg which is a very large Army Base, so we don't have it as bad as some of the closer wards, but a lot of the people on the records probably don't even live here anymore because of the transient nature of the military. 

My companion is Elder Mortensen.  He is from Lehi, UT.  He's been out 1 transfer more than I have.  We are getting along very well, but I pretty much get along with most anyone.  He has been a Zone Leader for 2 transfers.  He's a really great missionary, and we're going to see a lot of miracles together.  :)  My new calling as a Zone Leader is going well so far.  Slowly but surely, the Lord is helping me to improve in the correcting category of leadership.  I stink at correcting people, mostly because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings and I don't want to impose what may be personal views and practices on someone else, but as a Zone Leader and personally, I am committed to the fact that Exact Obedience is an Expectation.  President Bernhisel wants us to be nit-picky, so thus it shall be. 

I definitely have been able to experience the enabling power of the Atonement even in just 1 week of being a Zone Leader.  I remember when I was district leader, wondering how the Zone Leaders always had such valuable insight and such powerful counsel.  And now that I'm a Zone Leader, I can understand...it's because the Lord, through His grace, is enabling me to be and do more than I am and can do alone.  Just in discussing what we needed to teach the District Leaders in our conference call as well as discussing what we will teach at Zone Conference on Wednesday has allowed me to experience that powerful element of Grace.  Ideas and thoughts infuse our minds, coming from a source that can only be the spirit of the Lord.  And to end it all, it just feels right.  That confirming feeling that only the spirit can bring bears witness that what we have counseled together about is pleasing to the Lord and will help his children whom we are called to serve.  It's exciting. 

Speaking of exciting, we are teaching a couple of part member Micronesian families.  They are great, and I love them.  On the 26 of this month, 6 of the children will be baptized!  Truly, a miracle.  They ask such good questions and are such good kids, ranging from 9-15.  Then, we have a few other families that we are teaching that have a lot of strong potential.  The Lord is truly blessing us, and through us, our brothers and sisters. 

Last week, I didn't receive any mail.  My new address is

577 Countrytown Drive

Hope Mills, NC 28348

That should last you a while.  Something else we are doing as a companionship is we're not checking mail, except on Mondays.  It's intense, but I think the Lord is and will bless us for our willingness to consecrate even more.  :) 

Let's see...what else...for mom's sake...I'm living in the nicest apartment in the zone.  We each have our own bathroom and shower.  Good stuff.  We are also driving a 2013 VW Jetta, which is super nice.  I like it, especially over the fusion or the corolla.  Those Germans make stuff good. ;)

I'm not sure what else to say.

Mom, keep up the good work on the Family History.  I'll tell you what, you being from Rochester gets brought up in a lot of conversations because a lot of people out here are Yankees too :)  2nd, being on a mission is like a dream, a time warp, spiritually, I'm moving at a million miles an hour, but temporarily, I'm stopped.  However, the world feels like it's more the other direction, moving temporarily a million miles an hour, but spiritually is slower than that, (not stopped, but not mission speed).  I don't feel like 15 months has gone by.  It's crazy to realize that Holly goes home in 2 months, that Chris and people of that youngins group are going on missions, that . . . pretty much everything has shot forward while I've remained still.  I'm still 2 semesters into my college experience.  It's weird to say the least. 

Thanks Dad for being such an amazing example to me.  Seriously, I still don't think I fully appreciate it.  You've done so much for me in being a faithful priesthood holder that it will affect generations.  Being faithful in my calling is and never will be a question thanks to you.  I love you all so much.  Thanks for being my family.

Love,

Elder Patty