We Will Not Yield

Dear Family and Loved Ones,

What an amazing week we had here in Long Beach!  Elder and Sister Zwick arrived at the Long Beach Airport Tuesday night.  They are warm, friendly and full of the Spirit.  Wednesday we began our mission tour (we don't have to travel far since our mission is so compact).  Four zones gathered at the Stake Center in Huntington Beach.  Elder and Sister Zwick began by shaking hands with each missionary, Elder Zwick would look deep in their eyes and ask a few questions about how they were doing, about their families, or areas.  He spoke for a few minutes and then had several companionships teach a principle from the missionary lessons. Ted and I each spoke, then Sister Zwick.  Sister Zwick is a powerful teacher.  She shared many faith promoting stories about how the Lord has strengthened her and how He will help each missionary become a true disciple.  I'll share some of the stories over the next few weeks - they are amazing.  One of the principles that Sister Zwick shared is that "We should never limit ourselves to what we think our capacity is, we should let the Lord expand us to become what He knows we are capable of."  Many of Sister Zwicks stories relate to their special needs son, Scotty.  He is a great missionary because of his pure faith and simple testimony.  He can't read or write but he knows it makes him happy when his family reads the Book of Mormon.  He talks to everyone he meets about the Church.

It will take awhile to share many of the sacred insights that Elder Zwick shared with our mission so I'll just share one for today.  Elder Zwick has an incredible amount of Church service experience.  He served a mission in Peru (his Mission President was Elder Scott), he has been a Seventy for over fifteen years and has served in the Area Presidencies in Brazil and Germany and now has his office in SLC.  Every six months the General Authorities wait to see if they might have an assignment to speak in General Conference.  The assignments are made about two months before conference so the talks can be written and translated.  In the Spring of 2008 Elder Zwick was relieved when the deadline for conference assignments passed and he wasn't given a call but the Thursday before April conference he was asked to speak.  Elder Hales was on oxygen at the time and felt he couldn't take the normal amount of time given to the Apostles, he needed someone to take about nine minutes.  Elder Zwick was asked to have his talk written and to translation by the next day!  The talk Elder Zwick gave at that conference session was, "We Will Not Yield, We Cannot Yield".  He included in his talk the story of a young man, named Ethan, who was struggling to fit in.  He asked his mom, should I lower my standards to keep my friends?  Elder Zwick responded to this question by answering, "Don't do it, Ethan. Never forget that you are a son of God. He loves you. Live by your standards. Stand up for what you believe in. Sometimes it is not easy, and you may be standing alone for awhile. Look for friends with integrity and character, then go to them and express appreciation for their examples. You might even find someone who has been feeling as lonely as you. Pray for guidance and protection from the Lord. He will sustain you. He will become a trusted friend, and you will discover that your example will attract many friends who will take courage from your strength of character."  Sister Zwick later shared a follow up to the story (we found out they received many letters regarding the talk).  A young man, named Ethan was "listening" to conference but not really paying much attention.  He had just been offered a spot in a band as a guitarist, the band wanted an answer right away, they were leaving on tour.  Ethan knew if he chose to go with the band the chance of him serving a mission were not good.  When he heard Elder Zwick say, "don't do it Ethan", he knew it was his answer.  He is now serving a full time mission in Guatemala.  It is always amazing to me that the Lord orchestrates events, puts the right people in our path and truly is in the details of our lives.  I'm sure that Ethan and his family feel that way too.


At the end of each conference (there were two), Elder Zwick invited the missionaries to share a brief testimony - it was powerful!  There was a very tender moment when one of our Elders said with great emotion that his Mom had used Elder Zwick's talk to help him through some difficult times.  Many times the words would ring out to him "don't do it, live by your standards!"

The Zwicks gathered the leaders of wards and stakes together each night they were here and gave them great encouragement to be better member missionaries.  They gave powerful testimonies of the value of Preach My Gospel.  As they like to say, "every word was prayed over by the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency".

They came to elevate and lift our mission and the Church in Long Beach and they did!  They made us feel like life-long friends and fellow servants in the Kingdom.  The more we see the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints up close the more our testimony grows of their inspired calls.  They are truly Disciples of Christ.  We will long remember their influence and example.

Another amazing highlight this week was Shelly's birthday visit.  It was short and sweet - but wonderful.  

We love you all!
The Long Beach Buberts

P.S.  I feel guilty that we are enjoying beautiful, warm, sunny weather  :)