June 6, 2011

My Family,
Well it's been only a few days since I last emailed so there’s not a whole to tell, but I got a little something. This last week was Zone Leader Council which is usually a mini version of zone conference where President gives us a little instruction. But before he instructs us we will discuss a few things with all of the zone leaders. Our main focus right now is the current goal that we are working on, which is to have ever missionary help a family go to the temple and get sealed. Sounds impossible right? That's a 130 + missionaries, and in Ghana its hard to get people to travel that distance and pay that amount of money many don’t have.. Well we are down to about 10 left, maybe a few more, and we only have 3 weeks left to complete. It's getting a little to close for comfort. We had many families go to the temple this week, but for some reason 5 of them that actually went ended up not getting sealed for a few different reasons of paperwork or something. Now the reason why I make the goals in this mission seem like such a big deal is because when we set a goal we are going to accomplish it!! There is no way that we won't accomplish a goal, unless by our own disobedience because President Sabey only sets goals given to him by the Lord that are meant to be accomplished! It's true! President Sabey has set 8 goals and every single one has been accomplished, many of which were accomplished on the last day, and many of which required great miracles. That’s different than many missions. Many missions set high goals for baptisms and never accomplish them. So right now this is really our main focus. And one of the families who still needs to go is mine and Elder Mackay’s candidate. Anyway, after we discussed thatPresident taught us about something I found very very interesting. He quoted Elder Holland who said " we are to accustomed to 220 volts of M.
Priesthood power being forced through what should be 110 volts of Aaronic Priesthood power" He was talking about Bishops when he said that. I will let you see if you can figure out what he means. But it is definitely something that is true about the church in many places. Tell me what you come up with. We also talked about how in a democracy it is run from the bottom up. Meaning that the people elect their leaders, and it’s the people who ultimately decide. That is also true in many, or you could say all other churches. But in the Lords kingdom it is run from the Top down. Meaning that all things come from God first, then the prophet and so on and so forth. Just another small piece of evidence verifying that the church is true. We went on to talk about meetings and he is another quote you might like. "It takes a darn good meeting to beat no meeting at all," President Packer.

That was pretty much the highlight of the week. Other than that we had a few days in our area, and they were very productive. We have a few really good people to teach right now and hopefully we can prepare someone for baptism soon. I am getting frustrated small with it because we have such a limited amount of time in our area it is really hard to make much happen and keep investigators progressing when we don't see them for weeks at a time sometimes. But we are managing and things are getting better. One of the apostles said that "Assistants should be powerful master teachers that you can send to any corner of the mission to help lift and encourage and teach other missionaries in need" I read that and I thought "are you kidding me". Master teacher! That is a high expectation. So of late I don't care about learning doctrine, reading the scriptures just to read them, but all I am working on is becoming a master teacher by working on my teaching weaknesses and studying PMG a lot so I can do what that apostles expects. I know it is hard to become a master of it but I can become much better.

You were saying that the mission presidents send a letter saying that one of the elders form the ward received a position in the mission. Well I can tell you the reason why President Sabey doesn't send one of those is because he hates the "mission ladder" and in this mission there is no mission ladder. I can attest to that. He hates aspiring to positions too. And he is right in all of those. It's wrong. It goes back to the way the Lord governs the kingdom from the top down. There is no reason to send one of those letters if you ask me. It sends the wrong message, as if one missionary is more important. We were all called to me missionaries, not to be zone leaders or assistants. Some of the best missionaries in this mission have never had a position; it's just where the Lord wants them to serve. I am just guessing that that is why President Sabey doesn’t send out any letter, because to him position means nothing about who you are, it's an opportunity to serve. Not that what leaders do isn't important, but he wants to send the right message, that we are equal missionaries. Well that was a little much, but I believe that is why you haven't ever received a letter from our mission. I would have to agree with it.

Well I just want you all to know that I have a testimony of this gospel, of the church, and of the Prophet Jospeh Smith. I know it’s true. How grateful I am for the atonement. Though I may not comprehend how he suffered for us all I know he did, and I am grateful with ever fiber of my heart. He taught us how to live, how to love, and how to die. He has secured our salvation. I love you and pray that the Lords choicest blessings be upon you.

Love Elder Adams