Whole Mission Conference with Apostle Nelson

On Thursday the 13th of August we were priviledged to have Apostle Russell M. Nelson greet us and speak to our entire mission (Dutch & French areas together). It was very nice being able to shake his hand and also that of the new Area President and member of the First Quorum of Seventy, Elder Kopischke. Sister Nelson accompanied her husband. They had attended an international conference on the family in Amsterdam during the week. They had a great experience there and were able to speak to people from all over the world about what the Church of Jesus Christ feels about the importance of families. You may want to read their talks on www.LDS.org. To prepare for our conference on this day we had to help with moving about 200 chairs, and then setting them in place. Buying food for 180 sack lunches, and then making the lunches. Sister Servoss organized the assembly of the lunches and with help we put them together in 1.5 hours. Before the conference began we were able to get acquainted with many of the French speaking missionaries, who we seldom see. It was great to see our cousin, Sister Orton again. The 2.5 hour conference was great and the spirit was strong. Elder Nelson told us about the importance of our individual callings and how they were determined. He also told us that the hours of 6 to 8 am in a missionary's life can determine the rest of their life. That is the time for personal study and getting ready for the day. Study Jesus Christ and learn as much as you can about Him. He suggested that we go to the Topical Guide in our scriptures and study each of the subtitles for Jesus Christ. He pronounced a blessing on us and told us that we would be successful as we have the spirit and teach by the spirit.

Later that day we fed over 30 young adults who had come to the Fireside to hear Elder Nelson speak. The fireside was for anyone else who wanted to attend to hear a present day Apostle speak. There were over 450 people who squeezed into the building and another 150 sat on chairs in the parking lot (with piped sound). We heard more inspiring words from Elder Nelson. He spoke about the best translators that the church has and their abilities. He told us that they can translate scriptures into another language at the rate of 1 page/day. He told us that Joseph Smith translated scripture from the plates at the rate of 10 pages/day. Many of us have trouble trying to read 10 pages of scripture per day. The long day finally ended by us helping to put the 150 outside chairs back in the church. We had a great spiritual treat today and had another witness of the divinity of this work.