Ramos Mejia- Week #67

Conference!

Buenas,

So before I give my thoughts on Conference, first I would just like to say that I will be applying President Monson’s Priesthood session talk and not be angry or insulted by Mom’s email when she said that the part in my hair is ugly and I should stop doing it…first of all, I think you owe an apology to Elder Varela, he does his best, and second it is a mission rule to have a part in your hair, and although I think it is ridiculous, I would appreciate if the woman closest to me in my life would encourage me to obey mission rules. But for the record I hate it as well. Also, Elder Sabey does have a part in his hair, it just isn’t as noticeable. Also, Elder Zivic isn’t just an area seventy; he is up in the First Quorum of the Seventy. He was sitting there in the conference center. And I didn’t really lie about my toe in May, because it didn’t hurt in May, so I figured I wouldn’t worry you. That white house with the gate is the mission home where President and Hermana Benton live. I do not know an Elder Mason. Yes, Dad I would love some athletic socks, they don’t have to be ankle socks. Ankle socks aren’t good for Clay court tennis. I still have plenty of journal space left. I didn’t eat the avocado…Elder Varela used it for some kind of salsa…he is of Mexican descent. Anyway, now that we have that out of the way…

G-G-G-ENERAL COOOOOOOONFERENCE! Loved it. I had a lot of questions going into it, and received a lot of answers as well. After President Monson announced five new temples, Elder Scott answered a lot of my questions right off the bat about personal revelation, and being guided by the Spirit. I consider that one of my weaknesses. I think I have always relied a little too much on myself and not enough on the promptings of the Spirit, also he just dropped the cane all over the place on pornography, which Argentina needs to hear, because it is just infested with it. I also loved Russell Osguthorpe’s talk on teaching, because, well…I teach a lot. Then the two power hitters ended the session, Elder Bednar and President Uchtdorf. Both were so inspiring! It was very clear to me that the underlying theme of this conference was love, specifically God’s love for us and our love for God. President Uchtdorf taught us so much about the nature of our Father. Elder Oaks spoke on love as well, in a talk that was; as President Benton put it, “meaty”, which was true…I was trying not to let everything he was saying fly over my head. He packed a lot of ideas into 15 minutes. I also absolutely loved Elder Andersen’s talk on repentance. It feels like a long time since we have heard a talk specifically on that. I loved it all. I wrote down a few quotes from it, such as, “The Savior is able and eager to forgive our sins.” “In this life, it is never too late to repent.” And, “Repentance always means that there is greater happiness ahead.”

Priesthood session was really good, too. I was thinking about Dad the whole time Elder Ballard was talking about Father-Son relationships, as I am sure all sons were. Other than that, Priesthood session just made me trunky! It was all advice to returned missionaries. Elder Ballard and President Uchtdorf took a part of their talks to talk to returned missionaries. It was funny. Yoon Hwan Choi just made me laugh inside every time he said “rowdy boys” which he used frequently in his talk, and all of the First Presidency messages were great. Sunday was just as good with all the talks. All I have to say is that Elder Holland blew everyone’s mind with his talk/testimony. It was one of those talks where I didn’t take many notes, but instead just sat back and listened. I just love how he gets all fired up about everything. I don’t think I learned much “new doctrine” from it, but it definitely was one of the most inspiring of the conference, and I loved the story about Joseph and Hyrum, also the fact that he had the book with him there at the pulpit. Elder Christofferson gave a great talk as well to wrap things up. I loved all of it, and there are a lot of things that I need to improve on and change, but that is why we have Conference. I also just loved the music. I thought of Grandpa when they sang, “Have I Done Any Good?” and the time we sang it at his funeral, and O Divine Redeemer was amazing, too. Anyway, it was all so good, and all of our converts were there, and three investigators.

Today we are going to the mission home for a little family night, and last night we held an office meeting with President, were we all submitted a silent ballot as to what our three favorite talks were. The co-winners were Elder Holland and President Uchtdorf on love, so President told us we will watch those tonight at his house. Also, Team Gilbey (Gilmore-Sabey) will be defending its championship title in the Benton Classic Ping-Pong Tournament. Wish us luck.

Love, Sean