Zone conferences done-into Interviews!

Well, we finished up our Zone Conferences this past week down with all of our southern zones, and just as before, they were wonderful. There was such a great spirit in each one, and we just feel the desire of these missionaries to find people to bring closer to Christ. Missionary work is hard work, and it can get discouraging--yet these missionaries all seem happy and enthusiastic. As always, the testimonies at the end of the meetings are the highlight. I wish everyone could be there to listen to these 'disciples of Christ' share their testimonies about the Savior. It is so inspiring.
Following our last zone conference in British Columbia we began interviews (yes, the same day!) with our missionaries from Trail, Creston, Sparwood, and Jaffrey. They live the farthest from Cranbrook where we held our conference, and we didn't want them to have to travel back for interviews later on--so we did theirs that same day. Then we completed the rest of the zone (which is only 4 more) on Saturday morning.
On Friday, we held a mission wide fast and prayed unitedly that hearts would be softened and that we could find more families and others to teach and baptize. Now we will go forward exercising our faith to find those the Lord has prepared.
We drove home from BC on Friday so we could be ready for another round of interviews on Saturday with the Calgary Zone.
Today, Easter Sunday, we completed our reading of the Book of Mormon which we began on Christmas Day. It has been a great experience for me personally, and for Steve. It has also been fun to know that all of our missionaries have been reading along with us. Circling each reference to Christ has once again testified to us that the Book of Mormon truly is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ". I love the Book of Mormon and can share my own personal witness that it was divinely translated by the prophet Joseph Smith and that it testifies of our Savior. There is a power in the Book of Mormon that you can't find anywhere else.
Tomorrow, we begin our study on the atonement of Jesus Christ. We are really excited about this, and our missionaries are, too. We know as we come to understand His atonement more, and how it impacts our lives, that our desire to share it will increase.
This morning we attended the Mandarin Branch with all of our Mandarin speaking elders. It was really great to be in attendance at this little branch. There were 8 investigators there. We wore headphones, and Elder Smith, translated for us. It is so amazing to see this little branch of about 50 gather together to worship. It is really touching. I wanted to get a picture of all of our elders after, but they all had to hurry off to help teach classes, and things like that. We are so proud of them!
Afterwords, we had a meeting with the Branch President, President Bao to discuss how we could help him in the work.
On this Easter Sunday, as we reflect on the Savior and His atoning sacrifice, we realize again His great love for each of us. Because of Him we will all be resurrected and be able to see our loved ones again, and live with them forever. Because of Him, we can all be forgiven of the things we do wrong, and not have to carry that burden with us. Because of Him, we can feel true peace and joy, not only in this life, but in the eternities. We are so grateful to be able to serve as missionaries at this time and to try and help bring this wonderful gospel into the lives of as many as we can. We know our main charge is to help our missionaries to grow in their faith so that their testimony of the Savior is etched deep within their hearts. We pray every day that we can be guided in our efforts. We love the Savior, and know that as we keep Him as the center of our lives we find true happiness.