April 29, 2009

Another nice e-mail from Eric this week. They had a mission conference this past week, with 2 general authorities of the Church in attendance. Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of 12 Apostles and Elder Robert Oaks, of the Area presidency, both spoke to the missionaries at length. President Oaks was very enthusiastic and excited to see the missionaries, even though he had visited them relatively recently. Elder Ballard spoke about their calling to teach, and said it is vital that they become master teachers, even better than teachers of the past. In an increasingly evil world, he said, it becomes even more necessary to be able to teach effectively the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He told the missionaries to teach for understanding, and to make sure a person understands one concept before you move on to another.

Elder Ballard also spoke about the development of the Preach My Gospel manual, which the missionaries use in their teaching. Apparently, Elder Ballard directed the development of the manual, and is quite familiar with it. Eric was impressed as he spoke about the sacredness of the doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ which it teaches. Eric said he didn't talk about anything new or deep, but instead taught clearly, simply, and powerfully. He also bore a powerful apostolic witness of the Savior, that he was resurrected and lives today.

Eric also had an interview with President Stock this week, which he enjoyed very much. Eric told his mission president that he felt like he still had a lot more to accomplish on his mission. President Stock encouraged him to keep his edge and not become content or complacent. He also told Eric he needs to be prepared for more responsibility. Eric expressed (both to him and to us) his appreciation for President Stock and all that he does to teach and encourage the missionaries.

Eric said the new Mandarin-speaking missionary, Elder Shen, is supposed to arrive this Friday, after a delay due to visa problems. Eric is looking forward to the possibility of being assigned to work with Elder Shen, who is a native of Taiwan. Because he isn't arriving at the normal transfer time, it is likely he will be assigned to join an already existing companionship, which means he'll probably be with Elder Hansen and Elder Liu. We'll know more next week.

I asked Eric how his basketball game with his Chinese friends went last week. He said he can see why the Americans always win the gold in basketball at the Olympics. Of course, his friend Prince responded that the Chinese are clearly better at ping pong.

That's about all he had to say this week. He apologized for not saying more, but he had to go study for his driving theory test, which he doesn't want to fail. I hope he doesn't drive on the wrong side of the road when he comes home.