Week 69 - Mission Leadership Council Meeting - getting the members involved

Our week was pretty good! We had a good new years and I can't believe it's already 2016! One of my New Years resolutions is to continue working and finish my mission working harder than ever. I want to make the most of my time as a missionary while I have this opportunity to serve.

It was kind of a rough week, but we're pressing onward! We met this really cool guy on Tuesday named L. We taught him about the Restoration and then set him on a baptismal date in the first lesson and he accepted! We were so excited and we set a return appointment for Saturday. Saturday came around and we called him to confirm the appointment. He told us he couldn't meet with us and I asked if we could come another day. He said he didn't want to be baptized anymore and that he didn't want us to come over. He didn't give a reason, but it was definitely hard to have such high hopes for him and have him drop us like that. But I know he felt the Spirit of the message and we definitely planted a seed in his heart. 

Wednesday night we drove down to Indy and spent the night with the Assistants so we could attend MLC (Mission Leadership Council) at the mission home the next day. So, our New Year's Eve consisted of a flippin long, but powerful meeting and a lot of driving back to Elkhart. At MLC, Pres. Cleveland and the Assistants gave trainings and discussed the things that they feel the mission needs to improve on. As Zone Leaders, we are to relay that information at our Zone Meeting this Friday. We're looking forward to putting these things into practice. One thing we're going to try out is a new program for members. We will talk to the bishops and branch presidents in the units and ask them to prayerfully pick 3 families in the units and invite them to participate in this program. The missionaries will visit these families and teach them all the lessons and principles of the Gospel. After teaching the families, we'll invite them to start looking for ways to invite their friends and family to investigate the church. We're hoping that this way we can get the members and bishoprics more involved in the work across the whole mission. We're really looking forward to it!

On New Years Day we had the whole day off. We went to the stake center in Mishawaka and played basketball with our zone and the South Bend Zone. Afterwards, we had dinner with Karina and her family who are the newest converts in the branch. They are such a converted and strong family and it's good to see such committed converts. 

I know Jesus Christ lives and that we represent him in this work. I love being a missionary and I love the joy the gospel brings. Have a good week! Love you!

Elder Thayne

New Years Eve Party with the Alarcons