¡Aqui estoy! (I am Here!)

Missionaries with iPads

May 27, 2015 (Wednesday)

Hey. I didn't die. But the church's emailing service did yesterday and that's why I couldn't email. However, I am here now and emailing on...my brand new iPad! I'm going to be honest, the emails will probably be shorter now since I am now typing with 2 fingers on an iPad mini screen, but I will still try and get everything across!

This last week was awesome because Elder Don Clarke of the Seventy and Brother Donaldson of the Missionary Department came to our mission and gave us training to prepare us for receiving iPads. It was perhaps one of the most edifying and perspective changing experiences of my life. One of the first things that they said was, "If by the end of this training, you thought this was all about digital devices, we will have failed." And by the end, we understood exactly what they meant. 

Getting iPads in this mission isn't just an opportunity to be able to show cool videos when we teach people, it's an opportunity to practice self-mastery. To learn how to control technology and not let technology control us. To develop discipline. Every time we use the iPad we have to make sure we have a valid purpose and we know exactly what we are about to use it for. They taught us principles here that we will master with the iPads that will allow us to be way ahead in terms of maturity and discipline when we get home compared to the rest of our generation. And then in turn we will be able to teach our children how to better use technology. 

I am amazed at this incredible opportunity that our mission and I have to have been selected to be a test mission for the iPads and to be able to have this tool to help us bring souls unto Christ and to have this chance to learn the skills of discipline and self mastery.

After that training we had our Zone Conference and we focused a lot on the commandment "Keep the Sabbath Day Holy" and we learned a lot about how we can have more spiritual sacrament meetings and more edifying Sundays. PLEASE, when you're in sacrament, TURN OFF YOUR PHONE! It's really embarrassing as a missionary to talk to our investigators about how incredibly uplifting and spiritual that first hour of Church is, and then they come and only see all the members on their phones and not paying attention. So be the member that has a spiritual experience EVERY Sacrament Meeting and gives that example to others!

Other than that Elder Martinez and I had to give a training on how we can better study the Preach My Gospel lessons at Zone Conference and then Monday we went hiking at Red Rock and President Ahlander showed up out of no where! So we hiked with him and Sister Ahlander for a bit. Then we had more meetings and gave more trainings in prep for the iPads. And now here we are officially with iPads and continuing with the work! I for one am super tired from all the training I've both had to receive and give so I'm gonna call it good there. Hope all is going well back home!

Love y'all!

-Elder Alley

Sent from my iPad