Elder and Sister Heninger: Conferences

Sunday, November 24, 2013

This was conference week. We had the opportunity to travel to Benson, AZ on Friday to attend what is affectionately called a “Half Mission Conference”. It is called that because it involved approximately half of the missionaries in the mission. There were about 120 missionaries as best as I could count which included 3 senior couples. There was one senior couple who are in New Mexico that could not make the conference. There are about 265 young missionaries total and I think about 15 senior couples in the mission. In addition to having our mission president and his wife, we were especially honored to have Elder and Sister Paul V. Johnson, of the seventy participate in our mission conference. Elder Killpack, our mission president, talked about how important it is for the missionaries and the ward to work together to be successful in missionary work. He also discussed how missionary work is not just convert baptisms, but involves member activation and helping members receive the saving ordinances.

Elder Johnson talked about what it means to be a successful missionary. He talked about how Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Lehi were all prophets in the same era. He talked about the “missions” they were called to serve and how different they all were but that they were all successful in their own callings. He reviewed the bullet points in Preach My Gospel, page 10 under A Successful Missionary. He then asked which of the bullet points on success depend on what area of the mission you served in? He asked which bullet points depend on your position or on someone else? Oh course the answer was none of the success factors depend on anyone but you and none depend your on location or position. That is really the way it is in the Lord’s kingdom. He does not measure us by where we are, what calling we have, or what anyone else does or does not do or say to us. All the success factors outlined in PMG are under our control. I think if we work on these same success factors in our personal lives, we would experience success in whatever it is we pursue, that is right.

This was a great lesson for all of us to learn. We should not measure ourselves against others but simply against our ability to live the Lord’s standard. He made an interesting observation, he said; “Imagine if all of the General Authorities measured themselves against the other General Authorities." He then mentioned how he received an assignment to speak in General Conference and that he was to follow President Uchtdorf. He said imagine that feeling.

This weekend was also our stake conference here in the Sierra Vista Stake. Elder Johnson and Elder George M. Keele, an area authority seventy reorganized the stake presidency. It was a very good conference.

I will include a few pictures from our missionary conference. Unfortunately, the missionary I had snap a picture of our zone with my camera, jiggled the camera and the picture is blurry. I will include one later when I find a good copy.