12/12/2011- Three extra meetings, two of the Seventy, and one Apostle called to serve the Lord!

Hey Y'all!!

My subject is sung to the tune of the 12 days of Christmas. And describes my next week (well, if you count the start of it next week). We had Stake Conference yesterday in Jackson, and Elder Dallin H Oaks came and spoke as well as Elder Hymas of the Seventy. It was really awesome! It was fun to hear Elder Oaks making jokes :D And then we went and said hi to him. He shoke my hand and then put his hands on my shoulders as he spoke to me. Very personably man. You could feel the spirit raidiating from him. And the coolest part? He gave Diego (who drove us there and back and enjoyed it!) a hug. Diego thought it was pretty neat and really enjoyed the talk. Elder Oaks spoke partly about how one of our greatest threats today (in his opinion) is the threat against freedom of religion. He mentioned how even if people wont convert to the Gospel, we still need to walk with and rub shoulders with our fellow Christians in preserving our religious freedoms. And other things. It was really neat. He talked about how we don't step up to a calling and we don't step down when we are released. We only step forward (if we served honorably) or backward (if we didn't really magnify our call). He mentioned that he knew what it was like to have a position one day and not the next. He served as President of BYU for 9 years and then was released from that. President of BYU one day and the next not. Big change. He mentioned that he is not looking forward to being released from his current calling... :D (I had to explain that one to Diego...) All in all, a very good stake conference.

Tomorrow we have Zone Conference where Elder Cardon of the 2nd quorum of the seventy is coming to speak to the mission. And then we are staying overnight in Brandon and we have a special training on Wednesday as well as a Christmas party. Should be fun and uplifting! I am looking forward to it.

I have been out one year! And I now go home in one year. Weird weird weird. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! So much to do, so little time. Crazy. Don't let a moment pass you by!

Okay. So I don't have time to write much else. Life is good though! I love you all! Take care and have a wonderful week! Thank you for everything!

Love,
Elder Mendenhall

PS... Totally excited to Skype on the 30th!!! YEAH!