We had a wonderful opportunity to be taught by Elder Brent H. Nielsen
of the Seventy and his wife, Sister Marcia Nielsen. They held meetings
with half the mission on Monday and half on Tuesday.
Elder Nielsen began each day by meeting with the Zone Leaders
and Sister Training Leaders.
Sister Nielsen spoke to the sisters each morning before the general
session of the conference began.
The morning meetings included talks and discussions lead by Sister and President Mullen, and then Sister and Elder Nielsen. Sister Nielsen introduced us to her family and talked about being "Nielsens". She then talked about the challenges and blessings of blending new members into the family as their children began to marry people who had grown up in other families and brought
other interests with them. She compared this to companions who come from different backgrounds and have different interests. She encouraged the elders and sisters to learn to value and love
their companions.
Elder Nielsen had asked the missionaries to read two articles prior to coming to the meeting. These were two talks by Elder David A. Bednar focusing on the atonement. Elder Nielsen lead the missionaries through a discussion of the justifying and sanctifying powers of the atonement, how they may use that power in their own lives, and how they may, using the fundamentals of missionary teaching bring the power of understanding those principles into the lives of those they teach.
Following the morning meetings, a wonderful group of
Stake Relief Society sisters served the lunch they had prepared
for the missionaries. It was a great time to visit and
share thoughts about what we had learned during the morning.
Elder and Sister Nielsen enjoyed visiting with the elders and
sisters during lunch.
In the afternoon Elder Nielsen talked with the missionaries about the strength and protection that comes from obedience. He then invited the elders and sisters to ask questions which he answered from the scriptures, sometimes also inviting Sister Nielsen and President Mullen to share their thoughts. This was a wonderful experience for all of us, one to be remembered.
Because you can never get enough pictures of missionaries,
here are a few more shots taken during lunch.
