The Trinity

This one time on my mission....at one of the final zone conferences, I was having a wonderful time seeing some of my best friends that I had made on the mission, Elder Connolly and Elder Owens. I had trained Elder Owens and had not seen him or Elder Connolly in quite some time. We gave each other hugs and joked about a little club we had created between the three of us called "The Trinity." No one else knew of this club. We kept it quiet for obvious reasons. Anyway, my companion and I gave a really powerful training at this zone conference and the spirit was very strong. Immediately after the training we started a testimony meeting. I was sitting by my buddies Elder Owens and Elder Connolly and decided to set the example by getting up and sharing my testimony.
I could tell Elder Connolly was inspired because he got up right after me and went to the pulpit. The room went silent. "I can tell that I'm growing so much from having so many spiritual experiences." He said calmly, "In fact, if I keep going at this rate I'm going to be the next Prophet." The room exploded with laughter. Elder Connolly went on to give a wonderful testimony, which left Elder Owens as the only remaining member of "The Trinity" who hadn't yet born his testimony. Elder Connolly and I encouraged Elder Owens, but to no avail. He strongly refused our offer, as he had never actually gone up in a zone conference before to share his testimony. The more we persisted, the more resistant he became. The end of the meeting was drawing near and drastic action became necessary. Elder Connolly leaned over and whispered something to Elder Owens. With enthusiasm, He promptly got up and rushed to the pulpit. This was an epic moment - his first time ever sharing his testimony at a zone conference. "Umm, ahh, well...I do not want to be up here," he stammered, "but Shields and Connolly said that if I didn't come up that I would get kicked out of the Trinity." The room erupted once again in roaring laughter. I have never attended a testimony meeting as funny as that one. One of us the next Prophet and the other afraid to lose his spot in the Trinity.

Elder Shields
Florida Tampa Mission
1999-2001