FINAL ZONE CONFERENCE- PEORIA/WEST MARICOPA June 2014

 PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT INCLUDING A PHOTO OF EACH MISSIONARY WITH PRESIDENT AND SISTER TAYLOR
We met with the Peoria and West Maricopa Zones this Wednesday for a final Zone Conference.  What a sweet experience it is to be with these great young people!
President Taylor began the day with part of the DOCTRINE OF CHRIST as we always do.  Today's focus was ENDURING TO THE END.  We learned that this principle is one of JOY and PATIENCE and ACTION!  We believe in enduring to the endowment.  We believe in ENJOYING TO THE END.

Next, I brought back a favorite health skit...MAN COLD!
Could not resist!
(Check it out on YouTube for the Brittish version)

 "Poor Little Bunny"
My advice to the missionaries about their health came from the head Doctor of Missionary Department...BUCK UP!  Actually, we celebrated the success of our mission in being proactive and taking care of health concerns as much by ourselves as possible and then reaching out to local resources.





My next focus was on FAMILY HISTORY.

Our mission has been asked to use Family History as a proselyting tool.  Your missionary has hopefully asked you for help in finding names and stories and photos to fill this booklet so they can use it to find people to take to the next ordinance in their lives.

The HASTENING OF THE WORK is not about separate departments of
MISSIONARY WORK
TEMPLE WORK
FAMILY HISTORY WORK

They are all part of one eternal plan so we need to use them as such!

We had beautiful musical numbers in conference today.
I wish I had a CD of all the music from Zone Conferences over the last 3 years!

I am always so glad we have pianists in the mission.
Thanks to Elder Hall...

...and Elder Andrus for sharing talents

 I had to laugh a lot today when I saw on the front row of our meeting this cute pair...yes, they are companions and yes, they found they had the exact sweater that matched so they took it to the next level!

When I saw the matchy sparkly gold shoes, I really laughed!

Sister Bailey and Manwill were a match made in heaven!

 Lunch is the best time to socialize and get to know new missionaries.  We love it so much and appreciate the time and efforts of the local wards that help us with this meal! SAVES THE DAY!

 I brought our MISSION QUILT for all to see where they fit in on the PHOENIX TEMPLE pattern.

Got a few Elders to point out their spot!

MISSION FIGHT SONG is another great tradition!  We love the enthusiasm of our missionaries singing!

HAPPY JUNE BIRTHDAY TO:
Elder Hamilton
Elder Ogden
Elder Soper
President Juchau
President Taylor

Cool fact...all three of those Elders birthday were June 17!!!  And two of them are companions!

 We had a special BIRTHDAY SURPRISE!!!
Elder Moala taught a group from his zone how to perform the HAKA!!!

It was amazing!  I hope someone did a video for me!  They all did awesome!

 And we got them together for a traditional photo with President Taylor afterwards!

As you may have seen, we love to sing Happy Birthday in all languages of the missionaries...

And Elder Enkhjargal from Mongolia does his with a special flair!

He is a magician and today it was colored scarves that then turned into a staff and an umbrella filled with confetty...and he had given Preisdent Taylor confetti as well that he came and tossed at Elder E!  It was so fun!

ZONE PHOTO: Seated on floor:  Sisters Bailey, Manwill, Jackson, Waddoups, Hansen, Bennion, Barlow, Stanley, Dayton, J Turner and Taylor. ROW 2: SistersPerry & King, Sisters Poulin, Elcock, Nolan, Turville and Johnson, Elders Odgen& Martinsen, Sisters Esplin, Baldwin, H Harris Hixson, Summerhays and Barnett. ROW 3: Elders Perry, King, Rodgers, Miller, S Smith, Hamilton, Dobson, Munoz, Shin, Linkogle, McFarland, Yoxtheimer, Andrus, Peterson, Handy, President Juchau, Elder Moala and President Taylor. ROW 4(seated on stage): Elders Searle, McMilllen, Pettingill, Lovstedt, A Hall, Dart, Boyce & Reid.  BACK ROW: Elders Johnston, Merrill, Syndergaard, H Young, C Johnson, Giron, Okelberry, Lane, Perry, Castro, Osai, Thiel, Wolfgramm and Soper.

After lunch, we returned to our meeting room for a lively discussion I had been waiting 2 months to have...the theme being DECIDE NOW TO BE WEIRD!  Elder Bednar had talked with us about how important it wil be to stay firmly rooted in things that the world may consider "weird."  We made a

 list of a whole bunch of things that may be considered weird or strange or even peculiar...like early morning seminary, modesty, deciding to marry rather than live together, serving a mission and even paying to do it..now that's weird!

We had the best discussion about what we can do to STAY WEIRD!  The desire of our hearts is that we can remain true to our COVENANTS, for that is what sets us apart and allows us to be different in happy ways.  Covenants give us the strength and power to live lives worthy of our Savior Jesus Christ Atonement and the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide us in daily decisions.  I pray that each missionary will remain worthy and use a temple recommend to have the power they will need in an ever increasingly difficult world!

President Taylor then led a discussion about the difference between SUBSTANCE AND STYLE!
Some things, the WHAT things, just remain the same from mission to mission no matter who the President and Wife are.  We all teach from the scriptures and Preach My Gospel, we all love obedient missionaries, we all have the same basic meetings...but the HOW we do those things are as difference as there are missions in the world...which is about 405 different ways!
We brought CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES to show that we may all have a favorite way to make them or way to eat them, but the ingredients are basically the same.

 After an amazing testimony meeting, we greeted each missionary with a hug and took a photo of them in front of our Phoenix Temple Quilt.

 Google+ does some fun moving photos when they notice a sequence, so this one is pretty funny.





Elder Moala presented us with some beautiful Tongan memories to take home.  We hope we can visit his beautiful home someday!

How could we be any more blessed than we have been in these 3 years of service...has it been perfect or even easy?  Well, no.  We have had our share of tough things, but WE HAVE GROWN!  We have been able to bless the lives of many and watch as they have done the same!
May we all continue to love missionary work and do all we can to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone possible!

We invite you to check in with us if you live in Utah or come through to visit.  We are cheerleaders for life for all our missionaries past and present. We will get you information on when we are speaking in sacrament meeting on July 13 in Provo as well.
May the Lord bless you as you support your missionary and this great work of salvation.
This is the Lord's work, and we are privileged to be a part of it.