Mission Council . . .

We held mission council at the church building yesterday. There were so many new missionaries joining us. Some of the former zone leaders went home in the last transfer and many others were released to train their last three months of service.

Here is a picture of all of our new members of the mission council. Seven new zone leaders and one new Sister Leader Trainer! We are so happy to have them all with us.

Here are a few more pictures of those in attendance

 It is okay to smile, Elder P!

 Our sister leader trainers and one extra.:-)

Cooking for this crew requires two days of work so I really appreciate the missionaries who express gratitude. Most do it with words, but one elder also does it with flowers! :-) Thank you, Elder Patlán!

At this meeting we focused on the Book of Mormon as the most powerful tool in conversion. President Wagner has been concerned that perhaps we need to use it more effectively in teaching investigators, but even more, that perhaps many missionaries don't truly yet have a testimony of the book. The assistants taught the fundamental lesson on using the Book of Mormon and President Wagner took the last hour to help the missionaries learn to not only gain a testimony of the book but also how to keep that testimony growing. Other items covered in the meeting were the dedicatory prayer of the MTC in Mexico City by Elder Oaks (video that all the missionaries will see) and developing the attribute of Hope.

Now the zone leaders and sister leader trainers are supposed to take the things they learned back to their zones and help the members of their zone learn the same things. And hopefully as they study and teach the principles, their own testimonies will increase!