We are visited by a GA!
Another frantic month—although this appears to be our new normal in the mission. This time the ‘extra’ events that made our life interesting included a visit to the mission from Elder de Feo. He spoke to all the missionaries in two zone conferences (all-Ireland and all-Scotland). The conferences both followed the same format, testimonies of missionaries going home before the next conference followed by instruction from President and Sister Macdonald and then the rest of the time handed over to Elder de Feo for teaching.
That’s when it became interesting.
Elder de Feo has a gift. He starts off his presentation by commenting on the previous speakers. For example, Sister Gifford, who is going home shortly, commented briefly in her testimony that she had felt the mantle of her mission. Elder de Feo picked up on this and gave us an illuminating 30 minute discourse on the subject of spiritual mantles, weaving in comments from the other previous speakers too. It was fascinating and uplifting and inspired. He used a similar approach when he spoke in our stake conference several weeks ago and apparently did the same thing at the all-Ireland conference. I say inspired, and I do not use the term lightly, but it is also informed by his deep knowledge and love of the scriptures and the gospel, which were both also apparent. It is further enhanced by his quiet demeanor and soft voice.
Elder De Feo also visited some mission flats and walked around the streets a little. Some missionaries encountered him on the street and, not recognizing him they GQed him. He quickly introduced himself. The missionaries were a little embarrassed at not having recognized him, but personally we thought it was great that he saw they were willing to approach people and share their message with them. Besides he was wearing sunglasses and they had never seen him before unless they were paying close attention to the General Conference he spoke in, so their not recognizing him is very understandable.
For those not familiar with mission slang GQing means approaching people in the street and asking them the Golden Question, although in practice it just means starting a conversation about the gospel and then inviting people to learn more. The other finding activity that missionaries do is called "chapping" which is Scots for hammering, and means going door-to-door and banging their front door mail-slot covers, which is the accepted way of door-knocking in these parts.
The frantic part of this activity came from preparing for the visit, especially tidying our desks, ready for his planned inspection of the mission home, which may or may not have actually happened. Still, it is nice to have a tidy desk and also we finished up a whole bunch of little jobs we had been meaning to do "sometime".. We worked very hard to get caught up on everything so we were free to attend the presentation. We loved his visit and would be glad to hear him again.
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| All-Scotland with guest Elder de Feo (centre third row) |
Elder de Feo has a gift. He starts off his presentation by commenting on the previous speakers. For example, Sister Gifford, who is going home shortly, commented briefly in her testimony that she had felt the mantle of her mission. Elder de Feo picked up on this and gave us an illuminating 30 minute discourse on the subject of spiritual mantles, weaving in comments from the other previous speakers too. It was fascinating and uplifting and inspired. He used a similar approach when he spoke in our stake conference several weeks ago and apparently did the same thing at the all-Ireland conference. I say inspired, and I do not use the term lightly, but it is also informed by his deep knowledge and love of the scriptures and the gospel, which were both also apparent. It is further enhanced by his quiet demeanor and soft voice.
Elder De Feo also visited some mission flats and walked around the streets a little. Some missionaries encountered him on the street and, not recognizing him they GQed him. He quickly introduced himself. The missionaries were a little embarrassed at not having recognized him, but personally we thought it was great that he saw they were willing to approach people and share their message with them. Besides he was wearing sunglasses and they had never seen him before unless they were paying close attention to the General Conference he spoke in, so their not recognizing him is very understandable.
For those not familiar with mission slang GQing means approaching people in the street and asking them the Golden Question, although in practice it just means starting a conversation about the gospel and then inviting people to learn more. The other finding activity that missionaries do is called "chapping" which is Scots for hammering, and means going door-to-door and banging their front door mail-slot covers, which is the accepted way of door-knocking in these parts.
The frantic part of this activity came from preparing for the visit, especially tidying our desks, ready for his planned inspection of the mission home, which may or may not have actually happened. Still, it is nice to have a tidy desk and also we finished up a whole bunch of little jobs we had been meaning to do "sometime".. We worked very hard to get caught up on everything so we were free to attend the presentation. We loved his visit and would be glad to hear him again.
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