Zone Conference - Miracle of Feeding the 5000 & the Sacrament

*Sister Quinn holding a pottery gift of the 5 loaves and 2 fish from the Leadership Seminar*

I remember when President Quinn and I were first called to be mission leaders we wondered and even worried if we would have enough ideas for zone conferences every six weeks. I smile at those concerns now because between our thoughts from the scriptures, reviewing the Doctrine of Christ, Preach My Gospel training, and Ideas from our Leadership Seminars we have hours of things we want share with our missionaries. My only concern now is what to cut out because we don’t have enough time!

*President and Sister Quinn teaching at zone conference*

Once again it was a wonderful week spent with our missionaries, teaching, learning, and listening to their inspired thoughts and experiences.

We always begin zone conference by displaying the names of those who were baptized in the previous transfer. We start zone conference this way because we want our missionaries to understand that we are in the people business. We then review our key indicators for conversion including our progress toward our goal of 752 baptisms.

That goal of 752 did not come from mission leadership. It came from the missionaries themselves, companionship by companionship. Even so, there is creeping in a little bit of discouragement as some wonder if such a goal is truly possible. Missionary work is hard!

After listening to a BYU speech by Dallas Jenkins on the Savior’s miracle of feeding the 5,000, I felt prompted to revisit all four scriptural accounts of this sacred event. As I studied, I felt inspired to share this story with our missionaries at zone conference.

I love this miracle! I imagine the crowd of 5,000, very hungry and weary, and a loving Savior who truly desires to nourish them. Yet, all that was available were five loaves and two fish. The question was asked to the Savior, “What is this among so many?”

I love that it was a lad who offered what he had. Perhaps an adult might have held back, embarrassed at the meager offering.. But the Savior took that simple offering, gave thanks for the bounty, blessed it, and fed the multitude.

We invited our missionaries to see themselves in this story. The Lord is a multiplier. We bring our “five loaves and two fish”, our efforts, our faith, our obedience and offer them to Him. Then, in faith, we ask Him, our Savior to multiply our offering as we strive to find and bring 752 souls unto Him.

From the beginning, of the year our theme has been “752—Together, He and You.” We know this work cannot be done without Him. This miracle strengthens my faith. It reminds me that our role is to work hard and offer what we have, and the Lord’s role is to perform the miracle.

When I begin to feel overwhelmed, like trying to feed the 5,000, I remind myself to breathe, offer, trust, and allow God to do His work. I remind myself that it is God’s job to feed the 5000 not mine. The missionaries related well with these ideas.

President Quinn taught about the sacred ordinance of the sacrament. He promised the missionaries that as they faithfully attend church each week and worthily partake of the sacrament, they will remain strong in the Church and always have the blessing of the companionship of the Spirit.

At lunch we celebrated our Easter goal: having each missionary memorize The Living Christ. We had everyone sign a poster, symbolically adding their names alongside those of the Apostles. We gave each missionary a small gift to commemorate the effort.

It truly was a full and meaningful week ending today with the Vacaville Stake Conference, family Zoom calls, and a missionary preparation fireside for the Santa Rosa Stake this evening.

*Sisters Wood, Aston, Thueson, and Remund*

We’ll have R and R’s in a few minutes with the AP’s and then we get to go to the airport and pick up Hannah and Alice Francis who are flying in for a couple of days on their way back home from visiting Ken’s parents in Southern California to attend the Yorba Linda Temple open house.

I’m so excited to give Alice a big hug, although it may take some root-beer and some fruit snacks to warm her up first.

I can’t believe it is May already. The vineyards are in bloom, the sun is out and we’re ready for interviews this week and stacking blocks with Alice! Have a great day. Thanks for reading. Elaine Quinn

Here is prompt #43 for our “Coming to Know Him” journals