March 9, 2012

Yesterday we attended Zone conference here in Antananarivo, with Elder Soares presiding. He is in the first quorum of the Seventy and is the first councilor in the area Presidency in South Africa. He is originally from Brazil and has served as a mission president in Portugal. He talked about four principles of discipleship: repentance, faith, pray continually, and good works. The Savior Jesus Christ came unto the world to do the will of his Father, We are called to do the will of the Father also. He talked about how in D & C 33: 5-6 that the church was called out of the wilderness and we will gather out of the four quarters of the earth in the last day. We are doing that now through out the world as members of his Church. He looked at us, (Elder Cornelius and I), and told us that in behave of the Prophet and first Presidency he wanted to express to us their gratitude and most sincere thanks for our willingness to serve a mission. He also expressed gratitude for our lifetime of preparation, and sacrifice now to give up home and family to serve the Lord. He told us later that our family would be blessed for generations to come because of our example. The spirit testified to us that we have been called by the Lord to serve here for a specific reason and we know already one of those reasons. We are here to  serve the young missionaries and to support them, and help to clear their way. Another one of his messages to us was about attitude. He stated from a book written by Randy Bott that Attitude determines our Altitude. Meaning that if we do not have the right attitude we will not accomplish much in our lives, but with the right attitude we can accomplish many great and wonderful goals.We know that as we apply this principle our lives will be enlarged and enhanced. We felt uplifted and spiritually fed. Today and tomorrow we have Stake Conference with Elder Soares speaking again, so we will get to hear more from him. We are doing well and we know that we have been very blessed. We appreciate your prayers and your support of us. Love Elder & Sister Cornelius