Week 74 - First Zone Conference with the Smiths

Hi family

This past Tuesday we had our first zone conference with the Smiths.
Our zone rented a gua gua (bus) as always and we headed out early to get to
the conference by eight-thirty. The majority of the trip was pretty
smooth, then we hit some heavy traffic upon entering Santo Domingo.
Hermano Ramon was maneuvering pretty well. I was riding shot gun with
him. But as we slowly squeezed our way onto a street, we collided with
a sedan that magically appeared on our right-hand side. I didn´t think
a car would be there seeing we were only a few feet away from the side
walk, but there is was. Nobody was hurt we were almost at a standstill
but we had to go to an insurance place and in the end, we arrived a bit
late to the meeting.

The Conference was great. The Assistants gave a training on the
importance of working with the members. After which President Smith
addressed us. The main message he and his wife shared was the
importance of obedience. We talked about the different reasons as to
why we are obedient. Out of duty, because we love God, because we know
that obedience brings blessings, because we are afraid. There are many
reasons to be obedient. Sister Smith suggested another one, being
obedient without a reason. Sometimes we can choose to be obedient even
though we may not know why it is important.
We talked about different examples in the scriptures of people who
exercised obedience even though they didn´t know the reason why they
had to do it. We talked about Adam who was commanded to offer
sacrifices, which he did so even though he knew not why. We talked
about Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his beloved son Isaac as
a sacrifice, even though this commandment seemed to contradict the
very promise the Lord had given him, that his seed would be more
numerous than the grains of sand on the shore of the sea. For me,
Abraham's trial of Faith was super hard.
The last example that was given was the Savior's. President read for us
in Matthew when the Savior was in the garden of Gethsemane, and he
asked his Father if there wasn´t another way, we talked about how the
atonement was an act of faith. Jesus exercised a lot of Faith too,
even he didn´t have all the answers. But he went and did what God
commanded him. I am grateful for the examples of these great men, and
women, in the scriptures. People who help us to understand that
sometimes we simply need to trust in God, even if we may not know why.

I love you guys, I hope you are all happy and well and are learning
every day to trust in our loving Father in heaven.

Love,
Elder Call
Pictures
Zone conference
Pictures of us. We found a parrot!