Every six weeks, after a missionary transfer, we all gather for a set of meetings called zone conference. It’s a bit of a misnomer, because it’s actually four zones, and there are two separate conferences since there are eight zones in all. The entire mission is divided into those eight zones, so half the missionaries (roughly a hundred in all) gather on one day, and the other half the next. Confusing? It sure was for us when we began our mission.
Anyway, today was our session of zone conference. We drove out to San DIego, along with the fourteen missionaries in our zone, and enjoyed about five hours of training and discussions from the mission leaders and some of the younger missionaries who’d been invited to present topics. Although much of the training doesn’t really apply to us– as senior missionaries our responsibilities and rules are very different– it’s valuable to understand what the younger missionaries are learning so we can better support them.
At the end of each conference, we all gather in the church chapel and sing “the mission song”. Yes, there’s a mission song. It’s fun to watch because all these young adults stand up, put their arms around each other, and really belt out the song. It thunders in the chapel.
During our time at the MTC back in May, it was really cool to see hundreds of missionaries on campus. Here, it’s just as cool to see a hundred of them as they navigate this difficult job they’ve volunteered to do: learning and growing and making mistakes and being frustrated, but all united in purpose and dedicating their time and talents to this work. We sure love them.