Elder Mitchell Brett Bagley: Conference was stunning

Mother dearest,

Conference: Oh it was so great, so comforting and so spiritually tailored to me. I feel bad that the rest of the world had to listen to "my" conference but maybe we can all learn something ;)

I didn't bring my notes with me so I can't make too much commentary on the talks but I do remember some very powerful moments.

· Elder Holland bringing the heat as always…"Man creating God in his own image."

· Elder Scott teaching very simply how we can teach the doctrines of Christ with power and simplicity. The moment when he raised his hand and just said "Simple!"

· Elder Christofferson’s power and descriptive testimony about the resurrection of Christ. When he quoted from Jesus the Christ I really felt like I was there.

· Elder Oaks in priesthood blew my mind when he mentioned the "priesthood keys of creation and resurrection." Really inspires some great thought about the sanctity of marriage and procreation powers.

· Elder Ballard and his call to "follow-up". He is a great missionary and has done so much to help this mission, through counsel and personal letters to President. Crack open Preach My Gospel and study with me! I am reviewing Chapter 2 trying to learn how to study better :)

· I also thought the Spirit was so strong when President Monson thanked Heavenly Father in his closing address of the fourth session. It felt so personal and sincere. I learned a lot in that simple giving of gratitude.

All in all it was wonderful. I can't wait to review and learn more in the months to come! But one special moment really stuck out to me that I want to share.

In between the first and second Saturday sessions we got transfer calls and I learned I will be transferred to a bike area:( and Elder Spears we be staying to serve as a district leader (I am so happy for him!). I started kind of freaking out. I am going to have a new area, companion, form of transportation, members, District, house…the list goes on. I was starting to get scared. I went into the second session with fear in my heart and was praying that it would leave me. That I could see the good and that God would help me see all of this as the blessing it truly is. After my short plea to the Lord, Elder Nelson got up to speak. Never in my life have I felt so personally cared for. So powerfully comforted and aided. Throughout his talk he addressed the question of fear and faith. “Who or what are we tied to?” I love Elder Spears, I love the members, and I even love our apartment. Am I tying myself to those things? “Who am I putting my faith in?” Then after all had been said and I thought that I could not physically handle any more spiritual impressions, Elder Nelson mentions Jordan's mom.

I have never met Emily but I have heard a lot about her. Out of all the farewell talks I have been to, Jordan's sticks out in my mind. He was the first person that I knew and felt personally involved with that would serve a mission. I remember how I felt when he bore his testimony about the faith of his mother. I don't remember the words or the subject but I remember that feeling. I have always looked up to Jordan and now in this moment of fear and doubt I was blessed to hear of his mother and her testimony of faith. That in turn bringing back such strong spiritual memories of someone I look up to. How loving is our Father in Heaven? That in my moment of weakness and pride he would bless me with a tender mercy I will never forget.

Conference was stunning.

But in terms of the week things are going well. We had ZTM (zone training meeting) and turns out we found 203 new investigators the month of March. That is a mission record. It was very good to hear that many people choose to investigate. I am getting some packing done today and am enjoying the last bit of time I have to serve with Elder Spears. He has been a wonderful companion and I am so grateful for him. I have to dust off the bike and get back into the mindset of pedaling around. It will be fun and kind of a flashback! I am also headed to Target today to buy a new bike lock...just to be sure ;)

This next week we will be having Kent F Richards come to personally trains our mission and I am so excited! These weeks are just packed with spiritual fuel right when I needed it! I hope my hand can keep up with all of the note taking.

Love you Mom. I too smiled during Conference to know that we were doing the same thing at the same time. Conference brings the family together. Tune in for details about the new area! Talk to you soon.

Elder Bagley