"No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62)

Boston Temple with Meredith to do baptisms for the dead

I thoroughly enjoyed General Conference this weekend. It was wonderful, as always. I saw a friend of mine in the BYU choir in the Saturday afternoon session, so that was cool! Better than that, though, is the personal revelation and comfort that I received from our Father in Heaven over the two days. Some of the talks really touched my heart and answered my prayers, and others were just wonderfully uplifting. Conference is over all too quickly, but I'm infinitely grateful for the guidance and counsel we received this weekend.

This week, I finished my study of the Doctrine and Covenants! I set a goal to read all 4 of the standard works while on my mission - I've now completed the Book of Mormon (again), the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Next up: the Old Testament!

Friday during the day, our assistant ward mission leader for the Heritage Park ward, Nick, drove us all around the Nashua, NA area to contact less-active YSAs there. We didn't get to everyone we wanted to meeting because of time, but it's a work in progress! Friday evening, we had the marvelous opportunity to attend the temple with our recent convert, Meredith, as she did baptisms for the dead for her first time. She had an incredible experience there, and it was a privilege to feel the sweet Spirit of the temple, as it always is. I also had a very special surprise: it just so happened that the YSA group from Ludlow, MA was at the temple the same time as us, and guess who's currently serving there? None other than my brother, friend, and previous companion, Elder Langford. It was awesome to see him, especially in the temple. It reminded me of the experience Alma the Younger had as he was reunited with the sons of Mosiah at the beginning of Alma 17.

The work here seems to be taking off! Ever since Meredith began progressing, other investigators came out of the woodwork, so to speak, and two of them have accepted baptismal dates since Meredith was baptized. I think the Lord trusts us more than He has before. Sunday (yesterday) was a day of miracles. One of our investigators got her answer from God as to the truthfulness of the restored gospel, another one of our investigators accepted a baptismal date that we extended to him, AND we managed to contact a less-active member that the Bishop asked us to try and find not even 30 minutes after we received the assignment from him...all in one day, apart from General Conference.

One experience this week, though small, stands out in my mind. We had contacted this guy on the street one day, and he seemed like a nice guy. A little strange, but a nice guy. We set up an appointment to come see him a couple days later, and found out that he lives with his aged father. Both of them seemed mildly mentally disabled, and though they enjoyed our visit and our lesson, they didn't want to set up a return appointment. Although they didn't seem to fully grasp everything we said, I was filled with a knowledge that our Father in Heaven knows them both and loves them dearly. I did my best in that lesson to act as the Savior would if He had been there. That's really who we are, isn't it? Representatives of Jesus Christ in this area. I love my mission, I love this work, and I love my Savior.

With love for each of YOU,
Elder DeLong