My dearest family and friends!
Wasn't Conference the GREATEST?! Or am I just a missionary? :) I started drawing a little heart next to the talks that I felt answered my questions and I ended up marking almost all of them! It was such an incredible and powerful weekend full of revelation. I can't even find words to describe how I felt. The Spirit was so strong and I felt so peaceful, encouraged, and safe despite the messages preparing us for difficult times ahead. It just boosted my testimony that these are living prophets and apostles of the Lord and the messages they share are directly from Him. This IS the Lord's church! How blessed we are to know that and to have the Restored gospel and knowledge of our Heavenly Father's plan for us!
Some of my favorite talks included Elder Holland (OF COURSE! That was such a powerful start to Conference! I AM SO EXCITED TO MEET HIM IN PERSON!!!), Elder Andersen, President Eyring, Elder Scott (did anyone else bet on him mentioning Jeanine? SO CUTE!), Elder Zwick (Jord, so jealous you met him! I felt like I really needed this talk to help me better get along with my companions! LOVED it.), Elder Ballard (although, I wonder if as a non-full-time missionary I will feel more stressed by his invitation to invite someone to meet with the missionaries 4 times a year instead of excited... :) ), Elder Stephenson (made me cry), Elder Bednar, President Monson's talk on loving each other (our mission needs this right now! We are working so hard to focus again on building Zion in our companionships. If there is any contention, we will not teach by the Spirit and we will not succeed!!!), Elder Perry, Elder Corbridge, and Elder Christofferson (I've really been wanting to strengthen my relationship with my Savior and better feel/know who He is and this was such a beautiful answer!).
Phew! So basically, I loved all of Conference. I could've watched at least 10 more hours. :) We watched all of the sessions with my favorite Julie Dexter and I felt so spoiled! I just love her! We spent all day with her Saturday (more on that in a minute), which included her coming to teach an investigator, Edith, with us in the evening. She taught so simply and with so much power, it was AMAZING!!! We walked out of the appointment and I said, "Julie Dexter, you are an incredible missionary!" She taught better than us! I feel so humbled to have been able to watch the miracle of her returning to the church and progressing so quickly. One of our Elders asked her what part we the Sisters have played in her return and she said that we have been the support she needed and have made it a much quicker process and that she loved having us teach the missionary discussions to her. I know I have played a very small role in her re-activation, but it was still rewarding to hear her say that. She also said we feel like her actual sisters and it will always feel that way. I agree 100%. I love her like my own sister and I can't wait to see her go through the temple and continue to progress! I am so grateful for the chance I've had to get to know her!
So why did we spend all of Saturday with Julie? Because Saturday morning she drove us to Connecticut to transfer Sister Watts. :( My new companion, Sister Klecker, has some extreme cat allergies and 90% of her ward in Connecticut had cats, so she needed to be emergency transferred here. I'm sad to lose Sister Watts. I sort of feel like I totally failed with her and that the Lord gave me my chance and I didn't succeed at achieving Zion with her, so He took her. Regardless, I learned a lot from my time with her, most of which was what my weaknesses are and Conference helped me to see the ways I can work on them. :(
Sister Klecker reminds me a lot of my good friend Chelsea Bauer- very dead-pan and hysterical and slightly irreverent. :) And she looks like Amanda Seyfreid. I'm excited to work with her in this, the promised land of Providence!
We've had a hard time meeting with a lot of our investigators this week, but we did have a nice meeting with Sherri, who we haven't been able to see in a while. I've been worried that we've been losing her, but it seems like she is still progressing. We also had a great meeting with a less-active, Thelma Cooper, and her 3 daughters who are not members, but we will be teaching them now. We weren't able to meet with the Washingtons on Friday night (SO DEPRESSING!), but we did have dinner with an inactive couple that night. It was really hard to listen to them and feel so sad about why they are offended and won't come back to church when they've been sealed in the temple with their family and could be living a much happier and Spirit-filled life if they were continuing to renew and keep their covenants. It was so heart-breaking, but Sister Watts and I were able to teach by the Spirit and felt like we did our very best with the lesson.
Sorry this letter is turning into my journal that I'm not keeping up with! (Must repent!)
I hope you know how much I love and appreciate each and every one of you! It is such a blessing to be serving at this time of the hastening of the Lord's work. Opposition is here and will continue coming, just like we were warned at Conference. Like I've talked about before, I've seen that Satan's opposition is only equal to the greatness and importance of the Lord's work, but that just shows us how incredible this time is and how important it is to not give up! The message at Conference was also clear that the Lord is there on our side and has given us everything we need to defend ourselves. We are not alone!
I love you all so very much!
Love,
Sister Wheeler Jr.
Please pray for!
Thelma Cooper and her daughters Lydia, Arthurlyn, and Joyce
Aaron Washington
Kalyn Waite
Mychelle Briggs
Sherri and Chantel Newton
Maya Johnson
Sara Maroto
Amanda Rezendes
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