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.
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.
(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.
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
