First Zone Leader Exchange

September 29, 2011
Yesterday was a really good day. I did my first zone leader exchange with a very young missionary. I went to his area in Brea, which covers the Brea 1st ward. It’s kind of small area but not too bad. I was with Elder Moe. He has been on his mission for like 3 transfers I believe, so yeah he's pretty fresh. There was a lot to train him on. I could tell he was beginning to pick up on things all day long. He was asking me so many questions and seeking a ton of advice. He told me how it was his first time ever being with a zone leader one on one. I could tell he was a little nervous but we really got to know each other well and had a good time. We talked to absolutely everyone in our path. We found a few super solid potentials. We did a lot of tracting. The area we were in isn’t doing too hot when it comes to lessons. In fact, almost my whole zone isn’t doing too hot. President Bowen warned me before coming here. He told me "Elder Bray I’m sending you to an area that could really use some upliftment. You'll be the zone leader over some very young missionaries. I hope you can bring some fire into that zone and inspire those elders." He was so right. I’m in one of the largest zones in the mission but it’s also the youngest for sure. You could take every elder from 2 districts in Brea, add up the amount of total transfers they have all been on, and it still wouldn’t equal the amount that just Elder Bannister and I have been on. Crazy. Anyways, the day in Brea was good. I enjoyed the exchange a lot. It was fun being able to train this elder I was serving with for the day. It’s so interesting being a zone leader. I’m finally that "old missionary," the missionary I could never imagine being when I first started my mission. Crazy how fast time flies and how much I could change in such a short period of time. I didn’t think I would enjoy this so much, but I really do like being able to lead by example and help these younger missionaries learn how to become better servants of the Lord. I felt like all day yesterday I was giving advice or providing some sort of direction. I could get used to being a zone leader. However, I still miss the Yale branch a whole lot. Maybe I'll go back there in December or something. I know I’m here as a zone leader at the very least until December 13th. I'll just keep leading this zone until that date and then see what happens. There’s still have a lot of time until then.