Member Support

Dear Family

It's great to hear from you! This week has been pretty incredible as we've begun to see some of our hard work pay off. The first three weeks of the transfer were really tough but the area is getting a lot better. It takes only a couple of weeks to destroy an area, but it takes about two months to fix it. That's what Pres. Bahr says anyway. It's good to see that success is coming a lot quicker than that.

This week the district leaders had the privilege of attending Zone Leader Council. I learned many great things there and only wish the meeting would have been held before I was called as a district leader. Being very young in comparison to everyone else there I took the opportunity to observe others and to learn from them. As I sat with the leaders in our mission and listened to their comments and looked around the room, I couldn't help but feel the spirit strongly confirm that I was sitting with the future leaders of our church. It really is such an incredible thing. As I looked around I noticed that everyone I lived with my first transfer was there. In total six elders that either lived in my apartment complex or served in the same ward that I did my first transfer were there. One is an assistant, three are zone leaders, and one was just released as a zone leader and is serving as a district leader. I am so grateful for their example. I have been so blessed to serve around the best missionaries in the mission. I know it has helped me grow as a young missionary. I feel bad for missionaries who come into the mission and are immediately surrounded by disobedience. Not everyone is as lucky as I was. It was so great to be with those amazing missionaries again. They have had a lot of impact on my life and I love them for that. They always inspire me to do better.

This week we started teaching a lady named Jean. Jean is very Hispanic, but she doesn't want to be taught by the Spanish missionaries. She speaks English fairly well, but sometimes I'm not sure if we get all the way through to her. She came to church and loved it and is progressing very quickly as far as keeping commitments. I'm only worried that she isn't progressing in knowledge or really gaining a testimony. She'll get there eventually. She's one of the few ladies that I've taught that liked relief society, so at least she will stay for all of church.

We have a lot of support from the members right now and are working with them really well. It definitely has made all the difference in getting the area to progress. I have learned a lot this transfer about gaining the trust of the members. I love getting to know the members as a missionary and have been lucky enough to get to know some awesome members of our church. That will continue to be what we focus on and I know we will see greater success as we do. I love members who really get the whole picture. Those who understand their covenants they made at baptism. Missionary work is so important and the potential it has to influence the world has not even scratched the surface. There is so much more that we can all do to build the Lord's Kingdom. It hurts when you talk to a member who isn't willing to sacrifice just a small amount of their time to help in the greatest work there ever will be. I love serving the Lord. There is no better feeling than knowing what you are doing is pleasing to your Heavenly Father. What a blessing it is to be a full-time missionary.

Love Elder Tilley