General Conference

Dear all,
I loved having general conference this week. We went and watched it at
the visitors center which was really great. On Saturday morning during
my studies I thought of some questions that I have been having lately
and things that have been on my mind. I ended up with four questions
written down. Something that I tried to do was be as specific as
possible. I heard once (something along the lines of), "if you want
specific answers from Heavenly Father then you need to ask specific
questions". Every single one of my questions were answered and I felt
like i was able to get so much out of Conference. It blew me away how
fast it went by this time. I absolutely love watching general
conference as a missionary. It was sad to think that this is my last
general conference as a missionary. When I was in the MTC elder
Bednar came and spoke to us about how to get the most out of general
conference every time we watch it for the rest of our lives. That has
helped me a lot and I'm sure it will continue to help me for the rest
of my life. This week a new ward mission leader was called for our
ward, brother Peral. He is from the Philippines and his wife is also
from there. They both served missions and are great to work with. They
took us out to dinner at Chipotle after our meeting with them on
Thursday. At the visitors center this week it hasn't been too busy,
but the temple finally opens tomorrow after being closed for cleaning
during this month. Outside the visitors center there are people
stringing thousands of Lights around the trees. It's really crazy to
think that it's already this time of year. The program for the
Festival of Lights is already up and people are reserving tickets.
Earlier this week we had a great lesson with Manuel. We are helping
him overcome smoking. So far he has gone from 12 to 8 to 6 to 4 and
now he is only smoking 1-2 cigarettes a day. He has made a lot of
progress and loved church last week. While we were in his home
teaching him this week with Sister Taylor there was an older man who
was there just typing on the computer. He turned around every once in
a while to listen to what we were teaching. At the end we said a
prayer and he asked if he could join us. He prayed with us and
afterwards said that he really enjoyed listening to everything. He
asked if the next lesson we had with Manuel, if he could come too! So
that will be fun to teach both of them this week. Lately I've been
trying to find ways to make my studies each morning more meaningful. I
came across a quote from elder Russel M. Nelson. He says, "Living the
Lord’s standards requires that we cultivate the gift of the Holy
Ghost. That gift helps us understand doctrine and apply it personally.
Because truth that is given by revelation can be understood only by
revelation, our studies need to be prayerful”. I never had thought
about that last sentence before. Truth that is given by revelation can
only mean someone to us or be understood by revelation. When we take
time and preparation for the things we are trying to study and learn,
we will be able to have the spirit testify and receive revelation to
identify truth. There is a big difference for me between a prayerful
study and just reading from the scriptures. Both are good, but we can
gain so much more when we allow the spirit by praying beforehand and
really studying from the scriptures and words of living prophets. The
things that were spoken of at conference can mean so much more to us
when we go back, pray, and study the messages again. Sorry I only have
a limited time to email today, it was a crazy day. Love you all!
Love Sister Haertling