Hello everyone,

We are just starting week 2 of this new transfer. I have a new companion, 
Elder Hubbard from Fallon, NV. He is just great- we get along very well. He
 has 1 year in the mission.

Tomorrow we have a meeting where our mission president will say goodbye, 
for he finishes his mission on 1 July. It will be a day of emotions for him and
 for us. I have learned so much from his instruction. I also look forward to the
 new Mission president, President Valadez from Puebla, Mexico, just around 
the corner from the DF (federal district). It should be good.

I have been learning a lot about vision in the scriptures. For example,
 Ammon, when he arrived with the servants of the King Lamoni to care for
 the sheep, SAW that the servants were fearful because their lamanite 
brethren scattered the flocks. What did Ammon do? His heart rejoiced. 
Who in their right mind would rejoice upon seeing such misery (the servants 
were going to lose their life). The answer is in the verses that follow. Ammon 
rejoiced because when he saw those servants, he didn´t see their imminent
 death as they did, but rather the opportunity to make them and the whole 
people believe in his words. He thought, this is my chance! I will gather the
 flocks, SO THAT i can manifest the power of God in me SO THAT I can
 win their hearts SO THAT they will believe my words. And what resulted?
 King Lamoni, his wife, the servants, and many of the people were converted 
and baptized. Later, Lamoni, a recent convert, asked the missionaries (Ammon) 
to accompany him to his father´s house. After a few more events, His father, 
his mother (the queen), his brother (Anti-Nephi-Lehi), more servants and many
 more of the people were converted (they become those who lay down their 
weapons of war as a testimony). Imagine what would have happened if Ammon
 never had had a vision of the future and had been discouraged when he saw
 the servants. How many souls would not have been saved? How many 
times did people REACT when they SAW something in this story? I invite
 you to read this story and pay attention to "and WHEN the
 king/queen/people/Ammon/Aaron/servants SAW this/that/vision"...and
 their reaction. 

Likewise, I invite you to ponder your own vision of yourself in the 
future. Do you have one? Have you really SEEN it? Do you have goals 
to fulfill that vision? Plans to reach those goals? Daily tasks to 
ensure that the plans are realized? this pattern of 
VISION-GOALS-PLANS-TASKS really does help us achieve our
 potential. Like Ammon, his vision was that the people of Lamoni
 (lamanites) would believe in his words and be converted. THAT 
is what he saw when he saw the servants fearing for their lives. 
Ammon´s Goal was to win their hearts. Plan? manifest his power. 
Tasks? Go, Look for, find, gather the flocks, etc. That is what we 
are working on in the mission right now. It is important to have this 
pattern VISION-GOALS-PLANS-TASKS written and visible so 
you can remember For waht purpose you do everything you do
 every day. Exaltation is a great vision...

Love you all
Thanks for the prayers, love, and encouragement.

Elder Bunker

Thanks for writing. It has been a good week this week. We have a baptism this Saturday.
 I believe I wrote about this investigator before, how he was drunk in the street and he
contacted us. He went to church the next Sunday, and has only missed 1 sunday in 2
 months. He is reading in Alma 42 right now and is progressing really really well. He gets
 baptized on Saturday. I am really excited for him. I learned not to be a respector of
persons, but to contact and share the gospel with everyone. That humbled me a bit.

Thanks for all of your support...it really helps.

We have one more zone leader council with President Chavez tomorrow all day
 (10am-4pm), and we have a meeting where he is going to say goodbye to our
 zone and another on 20 june. The President finishes his mission on 1 July when
the new mission president gets here. It should be good.

Everything is going good here. The ward is learning their responsibilities, and the
 bishop is too. Do you know who holds the keys to missionary work? Did you
know that it is NOT the mission president? It is the bishop and stake president
 of each ward and stake. Hence, the work is the members´. the bishop has the
 right to revelation for the missionary work. The full time missionaries just assist
in the teaching and interviewing for worthiness for baptism. THATS ALL. Nothing
more. That´s what we are learning now. And we shared this with the bishop of our
ward and he said ´Well elder, they didn´t tell me that when they set me apart!´.
 So he is going to investigate his manuals and get to work. Can you imagine?
 A bishop that doesn´t know that he has the right to revelation for the missionary
 work in his ward. No wonder some ward pass a lot of time without convert
baptisms...they wait for the missionaries to find the investigators, teach them,
fellowship them, sit with them, fill the font, baptize them, drain the font, clean the
 font, confirm them, and when it comes time for transfers, inactivate them. And the
 ward wonders why there is no retention of new converts. That´s why. The
missionaries have followed false traditions and grabbed the responsibilities
that are not theirs because the ward doesn´t do their part. The missionaries
 do not have the keys to, and therefore the responsibilities of, missionary work.

That is what we are working on now in the mission. Ending false traditions.

That´s about it.

Love you.

Elder Bunker