May 4, 2015 - Bridgewater, Nova Scotia

In front of an old church

Hello Family,

It has been a interesting week to say the least. We have been getting beautiful weather all weekend. On Saturday, it was plus 15. I look forward to talking to you all again. It doesn't seem that long ago I was talking to you at Christmas. 

On Saturday night, I was driving back from an exchange in Sackville when we got a call from President Leavitt. At first, I thought he was calling for Elder Sortomme since I was on an exchange. But no - he wasn't calling for Elder Sortomme, he was calling for me. He said he's been doing a lot of pondering and praying lately and he decided to make a mid-transfer adjustment. This mid-transfer will take place this afternoon.

On the call, he mentioned that he didn't get a chance to make all the changes he wanted to at transfers a couple of weeks ago. I was caught off guard when he called me. But such as with life, things happen for certain reasons. You will find that on your mission Chris.You will experience the same things I've experienced just in a different way. A mission is the best place to align your will with the Lord. That is one of the biggest things I've learned on my mission is submitting my will to the Lord. Accepting that even though I may not understand why certain things have happened on my mission, it was inspired. With a new mission president coming in July, the mission president may be changing but the one giving him inspiration and revelation isn't. The Lord is not going home. President Pratt will receive the same revelation with me as President Leavitt has. The same thing applies with President Evanson being released. It may be a new stake president but the Lord is giving him the same revelation as he did with President Evanson.

On Wednesday, we had zone training in Dartmouth with all the missionaries in our zone (The Nova Scotia South Zone). It was conducted by our zone leaders, Elder Funa and Elder McNabb. It was a good zone training. I really liked the emphasis on the Book of Mormon during zone training. That seems to be a big push right now throughout the mission. The Book of Mormon shed the most blood out of any book. If the Book of Mormon can be discredited, everything goes with it. I am on page 80 of the Book of Mormon challenge. My favorite parts so far has been Lehi's vision in 1 Nephi 8. He tasted of the fruit which was desirable above all else and wanted his family to partake of it.

Talk to you on Sunday! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder O'Brien