October 31, 2014 - Elder Kopischke visit

Elder Kopischke, Elder Raban, Elder Miles, Sister Kopischke

Elder Kopischke of the First Quorum of the Seventy came to visit our mission this week. He was here Sunday-Wednesday. On Monday and Tuesday we had half mission conferences that took most of the morning and afternoon. He was very laid back, so both conferences were completely different. He just taught about whatever questions missionaries would ask. He taught some doctrine from the scriptures very well. He had scriptures for every question asked. I would love to know the scriptures as well as he does.

Fall Colors

On Wednesday we had a mission leadership council with Elder Kopischke. Once again, he just taught as the spirit directed him and it was really good. After each meeting he would interview several missionaries that President chose. Elder Raban was interviewed on Monday and I got to talk with him one-on-one yesterday. He asked about where I'm from, about how my family was doing, and what my plans are for after my mission. We talked about what I can do to make the biggest difference in our mission right now. He told me that I will need to be good at using the principles he taught me so I can be a good leader in the church. At the end he prayed for me and also for my family. He prayed specifically for my little brothers to be prepared and ready to serve missions.

This semester at George Mason University there is a class on Mormonism. The teacher is a Lutheran, but he probably knows more about our church then most Latter Day Saints. He has taught this class before at different colleges. He has written a book on Brigham Young and the pioneers. He also wrote an article titled "Mormon Envy". You might ask, "Why is he not a Mormon?" It's because he really loves our church but has a few doctrinal disagreements. The reason I tell you this is because we were invite to their class yesterday. Both us and the sisters in our ward sat in front of the class and did a question and answer with them. There were 13 students and they asked a lot of good questions. They ranged from "how do you pay for your mission?" to "what are your thoughts on plural marriage?” It was really fun! For part of their class they are also required to come to church this Sunday! Hopefully we can get some new investigators out of it!

Happy Halloween everyone! Tonight we are watching Frozen and Despicable Me 2 at a members home in the stake. They are having nearly 40 missionaries over for dinner and movies so I'm guessing their house is quite large. Have a great night and stay safe!

Love you!
Elder Braden Miles