Child of Light

 My zone helping someone move (wearing my family reunion shirt)

 Me and Elder Thorn at zone conference

This was an incredible week. We got a new investigator (that was the first real investigator lesson we've taught in a while), we had zone conference on Friday, we did another musical fireside on Saturday...some unforgettable experiences, for sure. 

Last P-day, we hiked through Purgatory Chasm (not as scary as it sounds), which is a small, rocky canyon just outside of Worcester. Sorry Mom, I forgot to bring my camera...pictures will have to wait. We had a good time! Not sure if we have any monumental plans for P-day today...we'll see. 

I had the great privilege of substituting for the Primary Chorister this week (yesterday)! I loved it, and had a blast with the kids. Primary is a special place, and I'm glad I got a chance to serve there this week. It reminded me of when I was called to serve in that calling in my home ward - I cherished that time I was able to spend teaching those kids! 

More service this week! We continued helping Reg lay flooring downstairs, and did some yard work for two different elderly couples in the ward. One of those two couples has been out of town, and we did it as a surprise! We've done some work for them before, and they mentioned how badly some more things needed to be done...they'll get home this week to the surprise of those hedges being trimmed a bit, the lawn being mowed, the garden cleaned up and taken care of, and those HUGE rose bushes cut back. It feels good to help others in need, especially when they can't do those things for themselves. Same goes for family history and temple work. =] 

Zone Conference was amazing. I always love those, because of inspiring messages, seeing old mission friends, and getting trained on how to be better missionaries. This time, it was held at our chapel in Worcester, and our ward's Relief Society provided lunch for us. It was great to see some familiar faces from other zones, including Elder Langford! He was there to talk about the digital mission (he was called to be it's project manager), which was really cool to hear about. What they're basically doing is gathering articles and personal experiences written by members of the Church in our mission to a blog, and then "injecting" themselves into places where "religious" topics are being discussed. There's a search engine that was "built" to find these topics, used by those in the digital mission. For example, it could find an article written about the tragic death of a teenager and how his high school classmates are having a hard time coping. One of the missionaries could post a comment on this online newspaper article offering condolences, and saying how someone they knew went through a similar experience. "If you'd like to read a a blog post on how he dealt with it, click the link below. Stay strong!" and that link would take them to an article on RealLifeAnswers.org! It's a really cool concept. On that blog site that I gave, there's a chat link to speak with our digital missionaries, and they can then connect those people with the missionaries in their area! If the person doesn't live within our mission, then they will direct the individual tomormon.org and the referral system there. Pretty cool, right? Sister Bringhurst and I did a musical number: "Blessings," originally written and performed by Laura Story. I played piano and sang "backup" as Sister Bringhurst sang the main part - it went very well. The rest of zone conference after all the trainings was very spiritual. Each of the members of our mission presidency spoke, and it was wonderful to hear them. We closed by singing "The Spirit of God," and it was probably as powerful as I've felt that song be sung. 

In the musical fireside this weekend, we added a new number: "Child of Light," originally written and performed by Mindy Gledhill. Sister Jordan had asked me to write out the string parts as heard on the track, and to arrange things otherwise as needed. That took a bit of time over the past couple weeks in my spare moments, but I did it and felt good about it. For the fireside's performance of it, Sister Jordan played piano, Elder Jones played guitar, Sister Hoellein played viola, Sisters Rainsdon and Sorensen played the two violin parts, and Sister Bringhurst sang. It came together so beautifully, and I was deeply touched. The Lord worked through me to make that piece happen. I truly feel that He showed me a glimpse of my calling in life; I was filled with such peace and joy as I listened. The Spirit was so strong, testifying to me of the truthfulness of the doctrine that the song teaches, and also of the path that the Lord is taking me on in my life. I trust in Him, and He leads me along. 

May each of us learn to trust in Him as we take one imperfect step after another on our lifelong journey of discipleship. Godspeed! 

Love, 

Elder DeLong