FSU - BYU

Hey everyone,

Sorry that I didn't write last week. It's been a crazy week. Last Monday we had a Zone Conference were Elder Pearson came and spoke to us (i'll write about that in a minute), but because Monday is our P-day, I didn't get a chance to write. Also because of the BYU FSU game, President Jensen told us that we would be taking our p-day for that week on Saturday. So today is my second p-day for the weekend. Its really weird.
I didn't get to see anyone from our stake. I did however meet with Autumn Nelson (I think her mom runs Shannon's Dance class) and Buck Mendenhall and his wife. Autumn is a cougarette and travels with the team. The Mendenhall's are team parents (well kind of) and were following their two boys on the team. I met a lot of people from other parts of Florida. Most of the people there not from our stake were from Florida. Orlando, Tampa, Pensecola, Miami, Gainesville and Jacksonville. Some were from Utah, those were the dedicated fans. The Fireside was on Friday night and was great. Two members from the team spoke, one of which was a Tallahassee boy. He grew up here and played for Lincoln High, then went on a mission before he went to BYU. I don't remember the other boys name, but he served in Tennessee. The last speaker was Bronco Mendenhall. He was great, talking about how its just a game and how there are more important things. He trough out a couple of statistics so we would know what he's doing is working. Stats like; "BYU has had more 10 win seasons in a row than any other time in BYU history." Then he talked about the type of conduct he expects and the level at which the players must perform on and off the field. He told us about the Air Force game and how he knew the fans were looking at the score, but he was more concerned with the type of language that was on the field by the BYU players. Bronco has definitely changed the BYU football program for the better. Did you know he didn't serve a mission? Yet, he encourages all of the players to go on a mission. Pretty cool.
The BYU tail gate was Saturday afternoon. Elder Shumway and I took tickets for the food line and talked to everyone who walked by. A lot of people were surprised to see us there. It helped out that the guy who runs the tail gate has a son serving in our mission. That's how we got the invite. But members were still surprised that we were there in our shirt and ties saying hi to people. Some asked if we were going to the game and when we told them, they were really surprised. To be honest, when I first found out I was surprised.
The BYU FSU game was great. We sat where ever we wanted. Our tickets were in one section and we found a nice place a couple of seats down where no one was sitting. So we just sat there the whole game. We saw a bunch of members there at the game. Some of them were wearing BYU shirts, others were wearing FSU shirts. I think my favorite was Ben Pope's shirt. "Go Lamanites"
It was a crazy weekend and I feel like I'm recovering from it. I was so tired and ready to go home afterwards. I slept good that night.
Ok, now on to missionary things. :) Elder Pearson came to our mission last Monday. It was amazing. He is not an apostle and he told us that a couple of times. Elder Pearson holds no keys, none at all. However, because he was on assignment, given to him from President Packer, he had full access to the keys that he needed. It was incredible. We got there at 8 and had a meeting with him, just the Zone Leaders. Then the District Leaders had their meeting with him. We took a zone picture after that. We all were in the chapel. First we listened to President and Sister Jensen, then Sis Pearson. Then Elder Pearson got up. He spoke to us the rest of the day. All except for a 45 min lunch and a few talks prepared by us missionaries, Elder Pearson spoke for 5 hours. He did it in no general order. He knew what he was supposed to get us to learn, he knew what we were struggling on as missionaries (that's why he met with the Zone and District leaders) and he spoke by the spirit. Going in no general order, it felt like we went right through Preach My Gospel. He spoke about our identity. He mentioned a scripture that I had forgotten about. 3 Ne 5:13. It is Nephi declaring that he is a Disciple of Christ. I don't know if I ever told you, but I bore my testimony about that very same thing in a sacrament meeting in the Singles Ward and I used the very same scripture. He talked about why we do what missionaries are supposed to do. You could come up with all the excuses in the world, but the one that fits the best is, "I am a Disciple of Jesus Christ". That is the reason behind my purpose. I find, teach, baptize and retain because I'm a Disciple. I read from the Book of Mormon every day because I'm a Disciple. I wake up every morning and go to bed every night because I am a disciple. Every thing I do, I do because I'm a disciple. It was the perfect rebuke that I needed to hear.
It is so fascinating to me. How quickly we forget who we are, what we have learned. and why we do things. I told President Summerhays before he left that I felt that way. I felt as if I was caught in the 'dulldrums' of my mission. Others refer to this as the 'Black Hole' in the mission. I was definitely feeling that way and I could not get out of it. When the Mission President changed I had nothing to hold on to. President Jensen is a great guy, but he doesn't know me like President Summerhays did. When Elder Pearson came to teach us, it felt as if President Summerhays was in the room reminding me of why I was there. As I made that connection, so many other thoughts came back. As if it unlocked something that I didn't know was locked. Memories and knowledge have been coming back every day. I decorate my planner each transfer. Its only fitting that I put a picture of all my friends from Tim's farewell on it. The ties that bind is something that I had forgotten about. I know I write something and receive a big packet each month, but I forgot what it felt like to be with my friends. Those and other feelings have all come back in the last week. I am so grateful that Elder Pearson came to teach me and I'm working on remembering what I forgot. Its been great and I know the next 9 months are going to be amazing.

I love you all and I keep praying for you.
Elder Call