Zone Conference- Come Unto Christ

Salut! 

I'm not going to lie, this week felt pretty long but it was also really good! There was a lot to be done getting ready for zone conference, but we got it all pulled together in the end and it was really great to listen to President and Sister Harkness and to continue learning from them. Sister Harkness is truly a master teacher and President Harkness is a wonderful example of humility and faith. The theme of the conference was “Come Unto Christ” and it was the perfect subject for me and what I’m focusing on in terms of my personal development. Each zone conference we focus on a different part of our purpose, and we’ve talked about everything from faith to enduring to the end and now we are restarting the cycle by focusing on what matters most in the Gospel - Jesus Christ. Sister Harkness shared the story of the Christus statue, one of the most prominent symbols in our church, and how the Savior invites each of us individuals to come unto Him so that He may carry our burdens and cleanse our sins. We also talked about the Book of Mormon and its importance in helping others come unto Christ since it was created with the goal of doing exactly that! The last cool thing I’ll mention was that one of the assistants, Elder Chin, shared his conversion story of how he joined the church after deciding to play golf for BYU. After zone conference we did another zone wide finding blitz, and even though the logistics were a lot of work I think everyone had a great experience! I was with Elder Romney during the first half of the blitz and we weren’t seeing a ton of people to talk to, but we saw a car parked in front of a house with a bumper sticker of a flag that we didn’t recognize so we started talking about it, and I felt like we should knock on the door of the house to ask and the lady that answered ended up being in interested in learning more about the restored Gospel and the Book of Mormon!

As per usual we also had an exchange this week, and this time I was with Elder Baker. The last time I went on exchanges with him was at the beginning of last transfer, and it was really interesting to see how we’ve both grown over the past month or so and it’s always a party to have four Elders in the apartment! We ended up getting to host a lot of other missionaries this week since the Sherbrooke Elders and the assistants also each spent a night at our apartment.

There were a couple of days that were really hot and it felt like not a lot of people wanted to listen to us, but I know that those days are just as important for a mission as the miraculous ones. Attitude truly is so important as a missionary and in life in general, and at the end of the day it is always up to us to choose how we will react to our circumstances. Even if not a lot of people that we talked to on the street were interested in coming closer to Christ through the Book of Mormon, there were still a lot of instances where we ran into people that I know we were meant to meet, people who used to members or met with missionaries in the past or even people who just needed a little something to brighten their day.

The other highlights from this week were some more really fun member meals with the Carpentier and the Provost families! I’m sure I’ve said this many a time, but the members of our church truly are something else. It’s so touching to hear them share their testimonies and their stories of how they have seen God’s hand in their life, whether it be the story of how they joined our church, how they met each other, or how the Savior has supported them in their trials. 

Due to some last minute cancellations all of the missionaries in our ward got to talk yesterday. There’s nothing better than getting a call Saturday night letting you know that they need you to speak for 5 minutes, but I’m honestly grateful we got to do it. We ended up having six of our friends come to church this week, the Pindi family, Sylvain and his girlfriend Pascale, and our man Stanislas, and I got to speak about what I felt would help all of them the most, which is the importance of studying the scriptures. I have been studying the New Testament for the first time in quite a while and I was really struck by the parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, and I know that planting the word of God in our hearts is essential to finding lasting peace and joy in this life and eternal life in the world to come!

Love you all,

Elder Jackson