Elder Stevenson
Man this week was crazy. If you read my last email, you'd know that Elder Gary E. Stevenson came to Iceland this past thursday (which was also my 18 month mark ;-;). It was crazy!
Before Elder Stevenson spoke to the members, we had a missionary meeting with him as we ate dinner. It was a super fancy dinner that the hotel he was at hosted. All 7 of us young missionaries got there a few minutes early, so we were standing outside the room to not mess anything up. There were 3 tables, and a mystery seating chart. Shortly before Elder Stevenson arrived we were informed of our seating arrangment. To my surprise, I was to sit at the same table as Elder Stevenson! I was super excited but also a little nervous. My mind raced as I tried to remember all the etiquette my mom had taught me. I would be sitting there with Elder Whittle, The Barrett's (the best missionary couple who were with me in the MTC), President Ólafur and Sister Björg from the mission presidency, and the Stevensons. Elder Stevenson arrived and walked around to greet everyone. You could tell that he was extremely tired. He'd been at the Provo MTC only 24 or so hours prior, and was severly jet lagged. He came over to Elder Whittle and I and shook our hands, asking where we're from and how long we'd been out. We told him, and then I quibbed 'We're the trunky ones'. That's right. I told an apostle that I was trunky... He didn't laugh :(. I promise I'm not trunky in actuallity, I just hope he knows that. RIP. At dinner we spoke about the missionary work. It was cool to see Elder Stevenson's focus! He didn't want to speak about whatever, he was there with a purpose, asking purposeful questions even if he was exhausted and we were eating.
After we finished the meal, he pulled us all together in a big circle and told us that he wanted us to know 4 things. Here they are:
1. D&C 31:3 - Lift up your heart and be exceedingly glad, for the hour of your mission is come. We need to appreciate just how much of a blessing it is to be serving the Lord. How grateful we need to be for the help God gives us! We've got to feel the joy of missionary service! I loved it, missionary service is the best. He also went through each missionary, asking how long they'd been out and said that that time period is the SWEETEST time to be a missionary. It's the best point of the mission. It was cool. I appreicated that as well. I want each day to be the best day of my mission. The Lord's work is exactly that. It's work and labor, but it's sweet labor.
2. Teach the gospel from your heart, as directed by the spirit. As you do this, your tongue will be loosed. You might not speak the language perfectly, however you will speak to their spirit. Your spirit will connect with theirs and they will be succeptible to receiving a might change of heart. Memorize the structure of a lesson, but don't memorize the lesson.
3. Have a personal relationship with Preach My Gospel. It will guide you throughout your life. This one surprised me a little. I didn't expect to keep studying preach my gospel after my mission. But as I thought about it, I understood why. Here's a few chapter titles in the 2nd edition that came out recently:
ch.2 Study the scriptures and put on the full armour of God
ch.4 Seek and Rely on the Holy Ghost
Ch.6 Seek and develop Christlike attributes
Ch.5: The Power of the Book of Mormon.
These aren't things that only people with nametags need to learn. They're tools and abilities we can use to direct the course of our lives. I invite each of you to obtain a perosonal relationship with preach my gospel!
4. The Scriptures and Preach my Gospel are like lamb and potatoes (peanut butter and jelly only icelandic version). Use them together! They compliment eachother well.
After he shared those things he shared his testimony of Jesus Christ and we all had to book it to the church to be there on time. We parked down the street and ran to get there ontime even though we left at the same time as everyone else. I was in the choir, and I didn't have a time to warm up my voice because I was at the meeting with Elder Stevenson prior, then running in the cold air absolutely chilled my throat. I am pretty sure that the sound coming out of my mouth was horrible, but I hope the sound reaching people's ears had been touched by the spirit.
Many of our friends came! It was wonderful to see them all there! I know that the things Elder Stevenson and Elder Phillips said touched their spirits! During Elder Stevenson's talk, he quoted Alma 26:37. This was epic. A week or 2 before this I had been seeking revelation to know what to do our zone conference training on, and I felt strongly impressed to do it on Alma 26. So Elder Whittle and I were working on the training and he said "We'll know we're doing this right if Elder Stevenson mentions the same thing we plan to speak about." Lo and behold he did! It was amazing! Zone conference was that Friday. It went well, though it went longer than planned!
After the conference we got interviewed by President! He's literally the best. I cannot phathom the possibility that there are better mission leaders anywhere in the world. It's definitly inspired that they're here serving with us.
Keep your eyes on the church news! I think they're planning to write an article about his trip here!
Love you guys!
Öldungur Rasmussen
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