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Family and Friends,

This week was one filled with miracles! There were so many opportunities we had to grow and I learned so much about myself and how I can improve to serve the Lord better! I hope your week was just as fantastic!

I started out the week with an awesome exchange with Elder Eyslee again! On Monday we went to a thrift shop around lunch time and I found 3 completely rad ties for 4-5 dollars each! If you know me and my ties, you know I'm very happy right now. We had a great day and ended up doing an exchange within an exchange with the zone leaders because one of them was sick and they had a lesson they had to go to. Tuesday was also great! I was studying some more old conference talks! President Uchtdorf's and Elder Bednar's first conference talks as apostles! You can find them in October 2004, it was an idea I had to look them up in preparation for this new conference and I was not disappointed! It was really cool to see how much they've grown! I also looked up a the earliest talk by President Packer that's in Gospel Library, all the way back in April 1971. There's a cool video that the church posted on Facebook today that was so cool! It was a compilation of the first presidency and living apostles and their concluding testimonies at each of their first conferences as apostles! It was really touching, they are all men of God! I know it! Then Tuesday night we went tracting and we had a great discussion about showing faith while we were walking around and we found 2 new investigators for his area!

Wednesday night was a new experience for me! I had my first investigator that had his baptismal interview! Mikey is getting baptized on Saturday and I can't wait! He's such a stud and he's very prepared and ready. He says he's excited and nervous for Saturday. Excited because his heart tells him it's right, and nervous because it's a new experience. We've got everything all set up and are excited!

Friday was a great opener to a weekend of conference! We had zone training and I learned a lot about what it means to consecrate yourself fully as a missionary. I had some questions answered that I'd been wondering about for a while that really helped me. We did an activity off of page 152 in PMG that talks about goals for the end of your mission. As I've put in perspective what I want to have happened by the end of my mission, what I want to happen at the end of my mission and what I want to happen after my mission I've seen what I need to do now to reach those goals! Goals are amazing. To any of you that are on missions or preparing to go or want to go, the 2nd personal study activity on page 152 will help you a lot. And it's totally fine to change or adjust your goals as you start or continue to serve!

Conference was so insanely uplifting for me! One of the biggest reasons why was because I set some goals! Goals help with everything. I decided that I wanted to take notes on spiritual impressions rather than exact quotes, I wanted to write down all challenges/commitments/invitations that were given and I wanted to say a quick prayer of thanks after every talk. You may ask how I did wi my goals. I failed. But that's okay! Not all goals are meant to be achieved 100% and even though I didn't meet any of those goals 100% I got a lot more out of conference that was personal and meaningful and constructive than I would have if I had not set goals for myself! I would encourage you all to set goals in the future for General Conferences and all other aspects of your lives. My favorite talk for Satuday was probably by Niell F. Marriot! She spoke powerful,y and you could feel her experiences that led her family to their firm motto "It will all work out." On Sunday my favorite talk was probably a stereotypical crowd favorite that many people will love for years to come. It was Devin G. Durrant's on ponderizing! It was really cool to listen to him talk at conference after I've known his daughter and met him a few times! His invitation to ponderize a scripture every week is a powerful one that can sustain and uplift all of us in times of trial or doubt. During times when trials and doubt are lacking, ponderizing can give us the strength we need to withstand them later in life. I strongly encourage you all to throughly study and apply his words. You will feel so many blessings in your life. If it seems like a daunting task to do it every week, don't think about that! Just do it one week, and then tell yourself you'll do it one more week, and then one more week, and one more! Time will fly by, life will be more fruitful and enjoyable and you'll understand what it means to endure to the end! I also loved the talks of all of the first presidency members like usual. I loved that they all focused around simple things like obedience, courage and faith. Especially that they emphasized how simple it all really is! This gospel is a simple one, but it is profound and holds eternal consequences! I hope you all study and pray about the personal revelations you have received and will receive because of this wonderful weekend!

I love you all. Go ponderize!

Elder Tippetts