I have had such a wonderful week!!!! First off we have had a very good finding week. We were able to, through the guidance of the holy ghost, find a couple of Gods children. The work is hard, but we are starting to see progress and miracles. Yay! This week has been a spiritual feast. To start we had a zone conference on Thursday. There our mission president discussed with us our purpose. It was a great talk and lesson. It really helped my companion and I. We immediately began to notice a change when we went back to work. To top that off Saturday Elder David A Bednar visited our mission. All 193 missionaries in the California Ventura mission were there. We sat and had a 3 hour conversation with a prophet, seer, and revelator. He taught us how to teach by showing us an example. He had given us homework to study before his arrival. So we spent and hour discussing that with him. One thing I noticed about him was how happy he was. He wasn't this stern grumpy man, but a wonderful, jovial teacher. I did love it. Then for another hour we discussed what we were learning about teaching. Finally, for the last hour we were able to ask questions. That was amazing. He had such insight and wisdom. The thing that got me though was when he explained how Thomas S Monson was called to be a prophet. After the funeral of Gordon B Hinkley the 14 prophets, seers, and revelators met in the temple. Then in a matter of hours the Church's presidency was reorganized. Parallel that to today's presidential elections. They take months and months of hard work, campaigning, mud slinging, and big spending for us to even half way agree on who should lead this country. It was a wonderful meeting.
To make it even better Sunday the Simi Valley Stake was treated with his presence again. My host family, the Stewarts, left for the stake center at 7:00 am. Meeting didn't start till 10:00 am. There we met Bro Rose who had come at 5:30. We had front row seats. It was a wonderful 2 hour meeting. He had a few people bear testimony for the first hour. The second hour of the meeting he taught us about agency. He admonished us for laziness in the gospel. He taught us the restoration in complete simplicity. Overall it was spiritually uplifting.
Right after that meeting we went and saw a less active. He asked for a blessing and I got the privilege to seal the anointing. It was unlike any blessing I've ever given. Normally I struggle with words to say. I have an inner battle of a predetermined script and spiritual promptings. This time though the spirit just flowed through me. It was like a dream I put my hands on his head and then listened to the words coming out of my mouth. I listened to myself promise him answers to question I wasn't even aware he had. It was a wonderful experience.
Well I hope all is well back home. I do love you and I'm thankful for your support and your prayers.
Love,
Elder Thomas Tingey
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