APR_8_19_MOM_TOW_From Mom
Hey Mom!
First of all, I'm glad that my cryptic message allowed you to concentrate on General Conference more! Thst wasn't my intention, but it was a good side affect. There is actually a lot of evidence that the elder missionary time is going to be shortened to 18 months. Allow me to share some of that evidence that was readily apparent to me, but I guess was probably a lot of rumors, or just won't be announced yet.
1) Elder Gurr, our mission Financial Advisor, has always had access to missionaries returning home dates. However, over the past few weeks, access to that information has been blocked and gone blank. He can no longer see missionaries homecoming dates.
2) For MLC (Mission Leadership Conference), the Zone Leaders and STL's were tasked to start thinking of leadership qualities for missionary leaders. Presumably because when this thing was announced, they would send all missionaries past 18 months home. Which would result in a lot of missionary leaders (Zone Leaders, District Leaders (like me!)) who are past 18 MO this would have missionary leadership vacancies to fill. Also, President ALWAYS has MLC on the first Friday of every new transfer, but he put it back because of General Conference. Last general conference, he didn't move it back. We anticipated it was because he thought there would be a reveal at Conference that would influence the discussion.
3) I talked to President Bednar on the phone a few days ago (I'll talk more about that later) and he told me it is almost certain that I would be leaving Towanda in 5 weeks. This was very surprising to me, as in the past he told me that it was very unlikely that I would get transferred to a new area for my last 6 weeks.
4) President Bednar told Elder Seeley through messenger that he needed to pay attention in General Conference because there would be a message that would be especially for him (we assumed because Elder Seeley is struggling so much) and that it would likely happen on Saturday.
5) There have been many rumors that Elders are recieving mission calls that do not give a clear amount of time like 24 months or whatever. That may have been a rumor because I haven't seen anything like that. But that's the rumor.
I felt that the evidence that the missionary time was being shortened was pretty substantial, and wanted to give you a heads up! But, I guess the Lord has other ideas! I'm so grateful for Modern Day Revelation! This was, hands down, one of the best general conferences I have ever had the privilege of watching. I loved it so much and learned SO MUCH. I had 6 questions, and ALL were answered. Some within the very first talk! GOD IS GOOD. I love conference! I'll probs talk more about it once the talks are released and I can read/listen to them again.
I loved Holland's talk too! I also loved Uchtdorf's talk, and the one by Elder Mathias Held. And the one by Sister Becky Craven! I also loved Elder Renlund's talk, and President Nelson's, both in the Priesthood Session and in the Sunday Morning Session. I think those ones talked to me the most, and I am so excited to implement the thoughts that came to mind as I watched them.
Yep! I got the Manila envelope and will actually be going to get all of that done today at 10:30am EST, 7:30am your time. So probably before you go to work, all of this passport stuff will be a thing of the past. Thanks for being so thorough and tkaijg care of Most of this stuff for me. It's taken a lot of stress off my shoulders thst didn't need to be there. Missionary work is stressful enough without having to deal with passports haha.
There was a problem with reverence in Sacrament Meeting this past week I. The Towanda Ward as well. I'm grateful for Elder Holland's talk. I love the Sacrament and it should be reverenced.
To tell you the truth, Elder Seeley is not doing too great. At all. But he's hanging in there. Taking care of him has been kind of exhausting to me. Physically and mentally draining. But I'm glad I have this opportunity to take care of him, because I love the guy to death. And it allows me to feel how Elder Marcum must have felt, taking care of me during my difficult time. It only increases my love for Elder Marcum, and Elder Seeley. While it's a little hard on me, it's a sacrifice im willing to make because he is making a big sacrifice enduring through this pain. Believe me, I know. I've been there.
He's had a lot of mental breakdowns this week. He struggles with faith. With trusting God that everything is going to be okay in the end. He also struggles with patience. Both things that I have struggled with and continue to struggle with sometimes. He told me yesterday that a large part of him is seriously considering going home. But he's stronger than that. I know he is. He may not know it, but I do.
A large part of this week has been me comforting him and picking up the pieces of his mental breakdowns. I'm okay with that. He has been too heavily reliant upon me this past transfer and a half, and he recognizes that. He needs to do things for himself, because he WANTS to do them, and not because I tell him that he needs to. He needs to talk in lessons, socialize with members, put in lesson reports, etc. Right now, he's not doing any of those things unless I tell him to do them. He acknowledges that, and it pains him that that's the truth. Because of his social anxiety, a lot of aspects of missionary work are hard for him. I know how that feels too. But I stepped up to the plate. And hopefully after that conversation, he will too. I think he will. He's too driven not to.
I talked to President about it on the phone a couple of days ago. I told him that I wanted to just stop doing as much for him, that way he could learn how to do things on his own and develop confidence. That's what Elder Payne did for me. He didn't do it intentionally (he was just lazy), but it worked. I told that to President Bednar, and he agreed it was a good idea. However, it won't be a drastic change, where I just stop working altogether. He said it would be better if it was a gradual relinquishing of responsibility. So that's what we're going to do. I have admonished him to set daily goals so that he can develop gradually. He has, and so far he's doing pretty well. Being too hard on himself. But still well.
This has actually been a fantastic week in terms of the work! We watched General Conference with Stu and Dolores Stevens, both of which are doing great and are progressing towards their baptismal dates (oh yeah, Dolores Stevens is on date now! More on that in my weekly email to the masses!
That's my week! Be sure to read my weekly email to find out more information on individual Investigators! Love you!
Elder Jake Gonzales
P. S. I wrote this before I went to the post office. All of my passport stuff is done now. So disregard that paragraph that I wrote earlier. Thanks for making it so easy for me.
First of all, I'm glad that my cryptic message allowed you to concentrate on General Conference more! Thst wasn't my intention, but it was a good side affect. There is actually a lot of evidence that the elder missionary time is going to be shortened to 18 months. Allow me to share some of that evidence that was readily apparent to me, but I guess was probably a lot of rumors, or just won't be announced yet.
1) Elder Gurr, our mission Financial Advisor, has always had access to missionaries returning home dates. However, over the past few weeks, access to that information has been blocked and gone blank. He can no longer see missionaries homecoming dates.
2) For MLC (Mission Leadership Conference), the Zone Leaders and STL's were tasked to start thinking of leadership qualities for missionary leaders. Presumably because when this thing was announced, they would send all missionaries past 18 months home. Which would result in a lot of missionary leaders (Zone Leaders, District Leaders (like me!)) who are past 18 MO this would have missionary leadership vacancies to fill. Also, President ALWAYS has MLC on the first Friday of every new transfer, but he put it back because of General Conference. Last general conference, he didn't move it back. We anticipated it was because he thought there would be a reveal at Conference that would influence the discussion.
3) I talked to President Bednar on the phone a few days ago (I'll talk more about that later) and he told me it is almost certain that I would be leaving Towanda in 5 weeks. This was very surprising to me, as in the past he told me that it was very unlikely that I would get transferred to a new area for my last 6 weeks.
4) President Bednar told Elder Seeley through messenger that he needed to pay attention in General Conference because there would be a message that would be especially for him (we assumed because Elder Seeley is struggling so much) and that it would likely happen on Saturday.
5) There have been many rumors that Elders are recieving mission calls that do not give a clear amount of time like 24 months or whatever. That may have been a rumor because I haven't seen anything like that. But that's the rumor.
I felt that the evidence that the missionary time was being shortened was pretty substantial, and wanted to give you a heads up! But, I guess the Lord has other ideas! I'm so grateful for Modern Day Revelation! This was, hands down, one of the best general conferences I have ever had the privilege of watching. I loved it so much and learned SO MUCH. I had 6 questions, and ALL were answered. Some within the very first talk! GOD IS GOOD. I love conference! I'll probs talk more about it once the talks are released and I can read/listen to them again.
I loved Holland's talk too! I also loved Uchtdorf's talk, and the one by Elder Mathias Held. And the one by Sister Becky Craven! I also loved Elder Renlund's talk, and President Nelson's, both in the Priesthood Session and in the Sunday Morning Session. I think those ones talked to me the most, and I am so excited to implement the thoughts that came to mind as I watched them.
Yep! I got the Manila envelope and will actually be going to get all of that done today at 10:30am EST, 7:30am your time. So probably before you go to work, all of this passport stuff will be a thing of the past. Thanks for being so thorough and tkaijg care of Most of this stuff for me. It's taken a lot of stress off my shoulders thst didn't need to be there. Missionary work is stressful enough without having to deal with passports haha.
There was a problem with reverence in Sacrament Meeting this past week I. The Towanda Ward as well. I'm grateful for Elder Holland's talk. I love the Sacrament and it should be reverenced.
To tell you the truth, Elder Seeley is not doing too great. At all. But he's hanging in there. Taking care of him has been kind of exhausting to me. Physically and mentally draining. But I'm glad I have this opportunity to take care of him, because I love the guy to death. And it allows me to feel how Elder Marcum must have felt, taking care of me during my difficult time. It only increases my love for Elder Marcum, and Elder Seeley. While it's a little hard on me, it's a sacrifice im willing to make because he is making a big sacrifice enduring through this pain. Believe me, I know. I've been there.
He's had a lot of mental breakdowns this week. He struggles with faith. With trusting God that everything is going to be okay in the end. He also struggles with patience. Both things that I have struggled with and continue to struggle with sometimes. He told me yesterday that a large part of him is seriously considering going home. But he's stronger than that. I know he is. He may not know it, but I do.
A large part of this week has been me comforting him and picking up the pieces of his mental breakdowns. I'm okay with that. He has been too heavily reliant upon me this past transfer and a half, and he recognizes that. He needs to do things for himself, because he WANTS to do them, and not because I tell him that he needs to. He needs to talk in lessons, socialize with members, put in lesson reports, etc. Right now, he's not doing any of those things unless I tell him to do them. He acknowledges that, and it pains him that that's the truth. Because of his social anxiety, a lot of aspects of missionary work are hard for him. I know how that feels too. But I stepped up to the plate. And hopefully after that conversation, he will too. I think he will. He's too driven not to.
I talked to President about it on the phone a couple of days ago. I told him that I wanted to just stop doing as much for him, that way he could learn how to do things on his own and develop confidence. That's what Elder Payne did for me. He didn't do it intentionally (he was just lazy), but it worked. I told that to President Bednar, and he agreed it was a good idea. However, it won't be a drastic change, where I just stop working altogether. He said it would be better if it was a gradual relinquishing of responsibility. So that's what we're going to do. I have admonished him to set daily goals so that he can develop gradually. He has, and so far he's doing pretty well. Being too hard on himself. But still well.
This has actually been a fantastic week in terms of the work! We watched General Conference with Stu and Dolores Stevens, both of which are doing great and are progressing towards their baptismal dates (oh yeah, Dolores Stevens is on date now! More on that in my weekly email to the masses!
That's my week! Be sure to read my weekly email to find out more information on individual Investigators! Love you!
Elder Jake Gonzales
P. S. I wrote this before I went to the post office. All of my passport stuff is done now. So disregard that paragraph that I wrote earlier. Thanks for making it so easy for me.
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