Preach My Gospel

February 18, 2008

All’s well in North Carolina! This weekend was our Stake Conference broadcast from Salt Lake. We heard from Elder Wood, Sister Tanner, Elder Nelson and President Uchtdorf. It was broadcasted to 42 stakes on the east coast! I got a lot out of all of their messages, especially President Uchtdorf’s. He focused a lot on missionaries. He said there were 717 current missionaries serving from those 42 stakes, encouraged more young men to go on missions, and encouraged every member to study Preach My Gospel.

Most of what he spoke about pertains to one of my biggest roles out here! I love being with the mission-aged members of our ward as we learn from Preach My Gospel. I am trying to encourage the attendance of other members, like returned-missionaries and those that aren’t as excited about going on a mission. Last semester went very well. Ben and Dallin enjoyed the Preach My Gospel class and recently left to serve missions in the Salt Lake and Anaheim Spanish missions.

I’ve really enjoyed learning from Preach My Gospel! While it’s for the full-time missionaries, every member can benefit from it, whether it’s used for Family Home Evening, lesson preparation, or mission preparation, it is a great tool to learn the doctrine and learn how to teach it. I was able to study it really hard months before I left for my mission. I still remember how much I enjoyed reading, highlighting, searching the scriptures it suggests, and trying the activities.

Six months into my mission, my copy of Preach My Gospel is not as pretty as it once was. The front and back cover are coming off, the pages are covered with a rainbow of colored pencil and every color of ink, and it is full of teaching ideas and quotes. A few of the pages still stick together and smell like an Italian restaurant from a Sister Gwyn’s spaghetti-transportation-mishap, but I still feel like I have so, so much to learn from Preach My Gospel!

Thank you so much for the letters, prayers and support!!!

Elder Walters