Chillin' in Chile: Aug 1, 2017- Micah had a birthday!

Celebrating Micah's 11th birthday!

Hola Family,

We are currently in the car of President Meservy going to the furthest sector in the mission from Santiago. We’re currently in the middle of Zone conferences and to this point they’ve been awesome. We feel like the content of these conferences has been exactly what the missionaries needed and the spirit present has been exactly what the missionaries needed to feel.

I love the vision that president has for the mission and I know we all love the way he expresses this vision and applies it to his teaching and his one on one interactions with the missionaries. We can feel a difference in the excitement in the mission.

In the conferences, we had a little bit of an expanded role given that these are their first conferences ever so we’ve been showing them how everything has worked in order for them to adjust everything to the new vision of the mission. My companion has conducted the meetings, I have presented the mission numbers and translated the health class of Sister Meservy, and together we’ve taught a class on The law of Chastity, relationships with the companion, the mission leaders, the opposite sex, and kids.

These conferences will be remembered for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons will be that the change in the way the mission deals with health. In the past 7 months our health costs as a mission have been 3 times as much as any other mission in this area (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay). This really needed to change, so we’ve shifted more to a system that will force and enable us to take better care of ourselves and to be more responsible with our health. I’ll talk more about that later. It will also be remembered because, even though president want to wait for a leadership council to change some mission rules and policies, we can now drink Coca-Cola in our mission. I don’t really like Coke, nor do I know why it was banned in the first place, but the missionaries seem pretty happy. Another reason the conference will be memorable is one word “anatema”, a Spanish word used in the scriptures, but I’ll explain more about that another day.

Here is a quote from John Taylor that really applies to how President Merservy is leading this mission:

John Taylor, the third President of the Church, reported: “Some years ago, in Nauvoo, a

gentleman in my hearing, a member of the Legislature, asked Joseph Smith how it was that he

was enabled to govern so many people, and to preserve such perfect order; remarking at the

same time that it was impossible for them to do it anywhere else. Mr. Smith remarked that it

was very easy to do that. ‘How?’ responded the gentleman; ‘to us it is very difficult.’ Mr. Smith

replied, ‘I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.”

This really is the way that president directs this mission. As we learn correct principles, whether it be with our health, or in the mission work, we are capable of effectively governing ourselves. I feel that it really is the Lord’s way of leading and as we (as a mission) understand these principles in our minds and in our hearts, we will actually do what the Lords expects of us. We’ve felt the spirit so strongly in these conferences and what we’ve learned really does give us all opportunities to change and be better, happier missionaries. The trust he will continue giving us is something we all feel like we just can’t break. We’re excited for more opportunities this week!

Love,

Elder Birrell