Alpine, Utah!

Howdy y'all!

Well everyone, here's what's new with me!

As of Wednesday, I'm now serving in the Alpine zone, Alpine area, (which is in Alpine) as a district leader. :) We cover 3-1/2 stakes, which totals about 37 wards. The half a stake we cover is a YSA stake.

So, I cover more here than I did in Eagle Mountain. Scary thought, huh?

I'm just glad I already learned a bunch of lessons in Eagle Mountain - like how to create a dinner calendar that is fair (mostly), how to involve myself with the members, how important getting to know the stake leaders is, and so many more.. Whew. I must say, I definitely learned a lot in Eagle Mountain.

My new companion, who I'm follow-up training, is Elder Brandon Cole. He's 20 years old, from somewhere near Jacksonville, Florida. (Apparently it's pretty close to the Georgia border...) He has a huge Southern accent, and he's slowly bringing mine back. It is a weird thing to hear both of us talking to each other, because our words get so mushed together, but luckily, put us in front of families, and we are understandable. :)

One thing that has really stuck out to me was something that Elder Cole and I were asked to do yesterday. Yesterday, we taught a total of 4 Primary sharing times. It was a ton of fun, but they also asked us to share an experience from someone we helped bring into the Church. I thought that it would be really easy, considering how many people I was involved with in Eagle Mountain. But, it became harder as I thought of which one I should talk about. I kept thinking, and as I thought about each of the people I've worked with/taught/baptized, I realized how important and how special and sacred each of those experiences was to me. I didn't really want to share any, simply because of how special they were. I almost told the Primary president so, but then I felt a prompting, "Share this one, so the children can understand." As I felt that prompting, I remembered one of the families that I'd worked with, and I don't know exactly how I helped the "children understand", but I know someone in each of the four Primary sharing times we taught needed to hear about that family I'd had the immense joy of working with.

I invite you all to think about a sacred experience you've had. Bring it into the forefront of your mind right now. Forget about anything else. Think about it, then think, "What makes this so sacred to me?

Why is this the memory that comes to mind?" Now, go write it down in your journal. Even if it's already there, somewhere, go write it down.

Write down your thoughts surrounding it, the background of the event, who was involved, all that good stuff. As I've done so this week, I've realized that these experiences become a strong anchor for me when I feel lost, or confused. If I can remember a sacred experience that I know the Lord had a part in, it doesn't matter how hard something becomes, because I remember who my Savior is. I remember who my Father in Heaven is. I remember who I am, and that my Heavenly Father wants me back with him, and wants me to remember those special experiences I've had with Him already. Try it. Try writing these down. Write as many as possible, so that you have that many more things to remember Him from.

Anyway, much love to y'all!

Elder Conrad Hamilton

Keep Smiling!

Here are a few photos: