SLO round TWO

What a weekend of conference! I feel so blessed to have been able to listen to the messages sought and prepared with the guidance of the holy spirit. I went in with 4 questions and all of them were answered. Brother David Johnson, who was baptized into the ward LAST WEEK, went to all but one of the sessions. We loved it. It was a different experience watching conference. they had a TV set up in the relief society room and there were only 10 or so of us there on Saturday. Most of the members watch it at home. Waldo came to conference for all of Saturday. He has a baptismal date for the end of April. Also a man named George came. He told us he KNOWS the book of mormon is the word of god, but he's not connecting that with the reality of joseph smith’s divine calling. I really enjoyed the talk the one 70 gave on joseph smith and the restoration.

There were so many amazing messages. Pres. Utchdorf's talk on being grateful in things not FOR things is one I am looking forward to studying further.

Elder Ballard’s talk on following up was great. sis Guthrie and I felt like we would both be staying. there is still much work to be done here and I want to make it a transfer goal to be better at extending commitments and following up. So everyone that we've talked to and invited to do something, I want to go back and check up on them.

Saturday evening we had a lesson with a less active named sis schnyder. she has some learning disabilities and rarely come to church. because of conference we had no time to study for or prepare a lesson for her. BUT the spirit guides. As we sat in her living room we told her we wanted to read from the book of mormon. Where? we had NO IDEA. I knew that getting her to come to general conference would really help her. (She doesn’t have the internet and out here its broadcast on only a certain type of cable). I started telling her how today was the beginning of the 184 general conference, "Good gravy!" she said, "that’s a lot" we told her that there was an ancient general conference in the scriptures. We turned to Mosiah 2 and explained how the crowd was so large they had to write king Benjamin’s words and send them to be read among the people. This really got her attention and she realized how important the message must be. Usually it’s really hard to get her to commit to come to church, but we told her of the 2 sessions on Sunday and asked which one she would like to go to. She said the 9 am one. She has no car, so we called a ward member at short notice who was happy to help. Sunday morning sis schnyder was there and she LOVED it! tears were in her eyes and she was SOOOOOO glad to have come. There're no words to describe how grateful I was for following the spirit and to see that through my small efforts a daughter of god listened to the words of the prophet.

Tina has had lots of up and downs. She wants to do good but slips and gets herself down. she went out of town and will be gone for 4 weeks. Luckily since we both will be staying we can follow up with her when she is back.

The lord is with us always. The choice we have is do we walk with him. I am thankful for the knowledge I have of the restoration. In times of trouble I turn to the scriptures for peace. "Preach my gospel is intended to help me [and you] be a more prepared more spiritual mature missionary and a more persuasive teacher." I encourage all of you to follow the counsel of elder Ballard and obtain a copy and READ IT. chapter 9 will help you recognize missionary opportunities, chapter 5 explains the role of the book of mormon, chapter 4 can help you help others recognize the holy ghost in their lives. and chapter 3 has all the lessons we teach. I know that as we study and pray for missionary opportunities the lord will entrust us to Shepard his children to the restored gospel. pray for missionary experiences and pray to be able to find someone who will accept your invitation to be taught by the missionaries. My companion and I prayed for a missionary experience at church 4 weeks ago, and now David Johnson who walked in for the first time that Sunday is a strong member of the church. as we go about trying to do good and be a missionary the lord will bless us with opportunities.

I am thankful TO have the gospel. I am thankful TO be sealed to my family for eternity. I am thankful to know how to find truth and discern that many voices swirling about us for our attention. I love my savior. He is the light that leads kindly amidst encircling gloom.

Until next week,
Sister Snow