What We Did For Christmas

Christmas Stockings

Hi Everyone! What a great week we had here! Contrary to some people's misunderstandings members of the church do celebrate Christmas and all other holidays. At  Temple Square we celebrated on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. 


On Christmas Eve we had Mexican food and watched the Polar Express. There were some very kind people that gave each of the sisters on Temple Square a stocking full of all kinds of useful gifts. I've already used the water bottle and the tissues. On Christmas day we had church in the morning like we usually do and then Sister Mendivelso and I were on the square in the morning. It was really quiet, as you might imagine, so we took our own "tour" of Temple Square. We sat in front of the Christus for about 20 minutes listening to Mormon Tabernacle Choir music that plays there during the season. Then we went to the Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall and talked about why we like each of those places. I love the spirit of Christmas that is here before everyone comes in the evening. It's calm and peaceful, just how Christmas should be. It was the first Christmas that I didn't open any presents on Christmas day, mostly because I didn't have time to, but it was great not to focus on that at all.

Hot Dogs!

In the evening we had hot dogs for dinner. Sister Mendivelso, Sister Moore, and I were in charge of boiling the hot dogs. We boiled about 300 hot dogs (I couldn't help but take a picture with all of that processed meat). We calculated that there were about 77,000 calories in all of those hot dogs. Then we watched the Nativity Story (I think that is it's name). It isn't a church-produced film, but it was interesting. After the movie President Holmes challenged us to highlight all of the references to God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost in the Book of Mormon. We were each given a new copy of the Book of Mormon and a red dry highlighter. We have until April 6 to finish, but I want to finish before that. We'll see, we don't have very much spare time right now.

Yesterday we took a tour with a family that is from Egypt but lives in Florida right now. They came to Utah to go skiing and they heard that they should see Temple Square while they're here so they scheduled a tour and we were assigned to take it. I think they were a very wealthy family because their driver came with them. This family wanted to know everything about our beliefs and so they insisted that we explained everything. We told them the story behind each painting in the New Testament gallery (which we never do) and they had lots of questions about anything we showed them. He was trying to figure out how Islam and the beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mesh. He realized that we have a similar moral standard and values, but our beliefs about prophets and the role that Jesus Christ plays in our salvation is different. It was a very long, but also good tour. 

The other day I found a spot on Temple Square that I really like. It's the handcart monument. There is a statue of a man and his family pulling a handcart to remember the sacrifice that was made by those that traveled to Salt Lake and the great faith that they had. Usually we look at the handcart monument, but the other day I realized that when we look at what the man pulling the handcart sees from that spot we can see the vision that he had. He could see the Assembly Hall where they could go to church with their family, he saw the Tabernacle where he could hear the voice of a prophet of God, he could see the Seagull monument, a reminder that God does answer prayers, and he could see the Temple where him and his family could be sealed for eternity. What a great vision those pioneers had! I hope that I always remember that.

At the Temple

Yesterday while I was waiting at the desk for the tour with the Egyptian family I met a young woman (I think she might have been a year or two older than me) and she had been on Temple Square for the past hour taking pictures and things. She is a member of the church and she knew a lot of sisters that served here on Temple Square. The first thing she asked us was "do you like serving?" Of course Sister Mendivelso and I said "yes", and we asked her if she was thinking about serving a mission. She said that she has been thinking about it a lot lately but she has a different situation. Sister Mendivelso asked her what that was and she said that she has Crohn's disease. With much excitement I told her that I have Crohn's too. She was super surprised and hugged me. It was more of a reaction than I was expecting. I wanted to talk with her and explain my story, but the Egyptian family came and I had to go, but I got her phone number so I'm going to call her back. It's interesting how Heavenly Father can put you in the right place at the right time.

Bonus!

Me and My Zone

Merry Christmas! Christmas is in a few days and I can hardly believe it! I don't know what we're doing for Christmas Eve and Christmas yet, but it's bound to be good. They like to keep us guessing until the last minute.

Today is my bonus p-day because I switched p-days so I have two in one week. We haven't done anything very exciting, but it is nice to have another break.

Yesterday was transfer day and it was CRAZY! As a Zone Leader I have learned that there are lots of things to figure out on the first day. The most complicated part is figuring out the schedule to make sure that at least all of the assignments are covered that first night. The assignments that we were in charge of were Christus crowd control, the two desks in the South Visitors' Center, opening and closing the Joseph Smith movie in the Legacy Theater, and introducing the choirs in the North Visitors' Center. There are ten companionships in the South 2 zone (the zone that I am in) and four of them were out of commission that night for various reasons. It made things complicated but it worked out. Tonight Sister Mendivelso and I are going to do our best to finish working out schedules so that we don't have to do that anymore.

Also, Sister Moore and I were companions for about two hours yesterday morning because a Michelle King from the Mormon Times came with a camera man to do a piece about the Temple Square mission and we were chosen to be her go-to missionaries for those few hours that she was there. While she was here she interviewed President and Sister Holmes and Sister Moore and I. She also took some quick shots of six international sister missionaries here. We were in charge of finding sister missionaries from various places for those shots. There were just so many international sisters to choose from that it was difficult to choose which sister should do it. We ended up with sisters from Italy, Australia, Mexico, China, South Africa, and Canada. I heard that the article is suppose to be up on January 15. I think Sister Moore will be in it more that I will, though, she tends to talk a little more that I do. They also filmed parts of the trainer/trainee meeting where everyone finds out who their trainer or trainee is. It was quite exciting because I got to go too.

Today during companionship study Sister Mendivelso and I were trying to find something to be the zone's theme/motto for the transfer. As we were thinking about it Sister Mendivelso showed me a scripture that I really like: Mosiah 3:13 --

"For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?"

I really like this one because as a missionary I get to wear his name on my tag and do my best to serve him. It made me think about if I talk with people the way that Christ would talk with people and if I love people as he would love people and if I invite people the way that he would. I don't know if this will be South 2's theme for the transfer, but I really liked this scripture.

I just found a Mormon Message that I really like: Wise Men Still Seek Him. No one is a stranger, we are all brothers and sisters. Christmas is a great time, as is every time, to celebrate with our heavenly family by serving our neighbors.

Transfer Conference

This morning we had transfer conference, so you're probably wondering what happened to me. Things haven't changed too much. I'm still a Zone Leader but I have a new zone and a new companion--Sister Mendivelso from Columbia! I haven't worked with her very much, but Sister Moore was her companion too and she says that she is amazing; one of the hardest workers you'll ever meet. I believe it. This means that I might get to learn a few crumbs of Spanish too. This transfer conference we went to the Conference Center and had time to take pictures with all of the Christmas decorations there. They go all out for the Christmas concert there.

We've had some great teaching moments this week. We're still teaching Shannon and his humility never ceases to amaze me. We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ: faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. As we were teaching him about baptism we committed him to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by one holding the proper priesthood authority of God. He told us that he hasn't been baptized yet but that is something that he has wanted to do. Sister Moore and I didn't know what to say to that, it was amazing. The next time we taught him we gave him Enos to read and we talked about it when we called him. He asked us if we had ever felt like we had chills go down our backs when we read the Book of Mormon or the Bible because he said that he felt that as he read parts of Enos. We told him that we knew exactly how he felt. He also called the missionaries there and they set up an appointment to meet on Wednesday! Those missionaries have no idea what an incredible and prepared person they are about to meet.

 

This past week I also had a miracle on the phone. I called and talked to Sarah who was referred by her friend here on Temple Square. Sarah has had a lot of member friends growing up and she was curious about their beliefs so she asked her friends for a copy of the Book of Mormon. Sarah's friend who I talked to on the square gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and highlighted her favorite verses. I think that was a little while ago because when I called Sarah had read those verses and felt that they were true, she just didn't know what to do next. I told her that I could help her with that. I don't know that I've ever called someone that was so prepared as she was. I'm learning more and more what a difference it makes in a person's life to have a friend that is a faithful member of the church. I definitely what to be like these incredible members that I meet here on the square. Sister Moore and I are going to call Sarah this evening. I'm praying that she picks up the phone.

 

There are TONS of people that come to Temple Square to see all of the lights so one of the things that we have had to do differently is crowd control at the Christus. Before we did anything about the Christus we would get complaints all the time about people climbing on the statue. I don't understand why people think it's alright to climb on the statues here on Temple Square. So we made is so that we stop people at the bottom of the ramp when it is full at the Christus then the sisters at the top will introduce and play the narration (words of Jesus Christ from the scriptures). Then after that people exit down the stairs instead of the ramp and we let more people up. It has taken a bit of orchestrated effort to make sure all the Christus assignments are covered and all of the sisters doing it know what they are supposed to do. Since there is more than one zone doing different assignments it has taken some extra communication. People seem to like the new system, though, because you can actually hear the narration. So that is one thing that Sister Moore and I were helping to figure out this week.

 

I love being able to spend time here on Temple Square during the Christmas season. It's a great mission to be in at this time of year. Have a great week!

Miracle Week

Wow! What a busy day! Today's p-day was FULL. This morning Sister Moore and I went to the temple. It was wonderful. I really love sitting in the Celestial room and feeling so close to Heavenly Father. Then we went home and made French toast and banana-oatmeal pancakes (I made the pancakes and Sister Moore made the French toast) for our zone activity. So everyone in the zone came over to our apartment we had breakfast and did a white elephant exchange. It was quite fun. Then Sister Moore and I took Sister Wu and Sister Chau to places that they wanted to go. Sister Wu really wanted to go to East High School (where some of High School Musical was filmed). So we went there at took pictures. You know Asians and their love of pictures...:). This evening Sister Moore and I were invited to go to a Christmas party at President's house so our p-day turned out to be much shorter than we thought, but it has been quite fun.

Anyways, back to missionary work. We have had lots of miracles this week, but the two that stuck out to me were talking with Shannon and Levi. Last week I told you how we met Shannon (in front of the Priesthood statutes) and this week we got to teach him TWICE! He is absolutely amazing and SO prepared. The first time we taught him about dispensations, the Savior's earthly ministry and the apostasy. We taught him how to pray and he said a beautiful prayer at the end. We found out that he grew up without religion in his home and just in the past few years he has become interested and started going to a Lutheran church. He calls himself a "beginner". He is really curious, though, and sincere about finding out what we believe. The next time we taught him we continued with the Joseph Smith's experience  receiving an answer to his prayer. He asked some really great questions like "why are there so many churches?" and "is the Holy Ghost the way that God communicates with us?" He said that prayer has been going really well for him and he can tell when he is feeling the Spirit. He is so great!

Sister Moore and I met Levi yesterday on the phone. He has been trying to figure out what church is for him and it sounds like he was praying to know what he should do. The only thing that came to his mind as he was praying was "Utah" and the only thing he knew about Utah is that Mormons are there. So when he found out that we are in Utah he knew it wasn't coincidence. He said that he wished that his answer was "Florida" or "California"... Utah isn't as warm. We got to share with him about Christ's purpose for coming to earth and how God has called a Prophet again. He thought it was pretty neat. So we are going to be teaching him and helping him know for himself that these things are true. He sounded really excited to meet with missionaries.

We also had another miracle on the Square! On Friday night we were walking towards the South Visitors' Center and we started talking to a very tall man from Gambia that has lived in Salt Lake for two years now, but it was his first time on Temple Square. He looked a little lost so we took him to the Temple model and there were tons of people there as usual (it's really busy at night time when the lights are on) and we shared a very little bit about the Temple. In fact we didn't teach him almost anything but we both felt that we should invite him to meet with missionaries. So we did and he said that he would like that! It is just incredible what the Spirit does. So hopefully we'll be able to get in touch with him and share more about Christ's church restored!

Well, those were the really big miracles that we had this week, but there are so many more that just made this week incredible. It is amazing just how much Heavenly Father loves all of these people that we talk to and how much He truly wants to bless them! I am quite blessed too.

An AMAZING Week!

My companion Sister Moore is to my right.

Hi everyone! It has been yet another great week here at Temple Square. The lights are on and the Christmas season is in full swing. We have met some interesting people. On Tuesday night we met Aaron with his 10 year-old son, Zach. They both live here in Utah now and they came to Temple Square because Zach wanted a tour. It was quite an interesting tour. Zach had investigated the church twice before but told us that he couldn't decide between being a Mormon or being a witch. It turns out that Aaron is a Pagan and told us right off the bat that he wasn't interested. Zach has a difficult time expressing himself so he talks really fast and it's difficult to understand, but he understands so much. You can tell that he knows a lot more than he can really tell you. Anyways, we took them to the Christus and the Tabernacle and finally the temple model. Zach asked me where Jesus was before He came to earth and Zach also wanted to know how Jesus could help everyone. So I read him Alma 7:11 while Sister Moore was talking with Aaron. Aaron and his children have gone through a rough time, but he felt like he should learn more so he referred for missionaries.

Aaron came back to Temple Square a few days later with his daughter, who is eight, because she wanted to go on a tour of Temple Square too. So we took them all around. Those kids have lots of energy. But we also learned that Aaron is actually a member of the church, just very inactive. His kids aren't members, though. So we got to teach them about Jesus Christ and how there is a prophet on the earth again today.

Sister Moore and I also had some great teaching experiences over the phone this week too. We talked with Ashley, who referred for missionaries when she called in for a Finding Faith in Christ DVD. She has three young children, all under that age of five, and she has great faith in Jesus Christ. Well, it turns out that the missionaries brought her the DVD the day after we sent the referral. That's AMAZING! That almost never happens. Not only that, but they came back the next week too. They talked with her about the Restoration and also about baptism. That is also incredible. Those Elders really know what they're doing. She wanted to go to church too, so hopefully those missionaries got her there this past Sunday. She is certainly ready for the restored gospel in her life.

This past Saturday Sister Moore and I got to do MTC contacting. That is where the Visitors' Center missionaries at the MTC come to Temple Square to practice being a Visitors' Center missionary. So Sister Moore and I each had a companion from the MTC for an evening. It was a lot of fun. I was with Sister Arnesen from Pleasant Grove, UT. She was on her way to the Kirtland, OH Visitors' Center. Let me just tell you that Sister Arnesen is pretty much amazing. We went right to work talking with people and inviting them to share the greatest gift with their friends. She was inviting people and teaching and testifying. We had a lot of number success that evening. Probably the best part was when we ran into Shannon. He was here for some kind of conference and he is from Minnesota. We found him outside by the Priesthood statues which show John the Baptist restoring the Aaronic priesthood and Peter, James, and John restoring the Melchizedek priesthood. He had just read the plaque about the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood so talked with him really briefly and explained a little about the history here at Temple Square and the sacrifice of the pioneers. I could feel right away that he would refer. Sometimes people have a spirit about them and you can tell that they're ready. Well, Shannon was ready and even though we didn't teach him hardly anything he said yes to missionaries. It was most definitely a miracle. So Sister Moore and I are going to call him on Thursday and get to know him and help him come closer to his Father in heaven. I'm excited.

AND we also got to go to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional yesterday evening. It was pretty great. I love hearing President Monson speak. Christmas is really a great time to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Christ. When we talk with people on Temple Square most of the time their favorite part about the holidays is getting to spend time with family. That is how Christmas all started--with a family. A baby boy was brought into the world so that we could return to our Heavenly Father as families.

Christmas Season on Temple Square

CRAZY week. I guess I should start with Thursday which was Thanksgiving. We only worked half of the day and then the whole mission went to a really big party-rent-out place nearby. It had a huge reception hall (probably where they would have a wedding reception) where we had Thanksgiving dinner, a theater with big comfy chairs, a wallyball court, and a game room. I did about everything there was to do there. I even played wallyball for a little bit, and I usually don't really like to play wallyball / volleyball because it hurts my wrists and it hurt this time too, but it was fun. It still doesn't compare to a Thanksgiving with your family, though.

 

I'm trying to remember what I did this past week because we've just been so busy. A lot of our time has been spent working out the Christmas schedule. Since the Christmas lights have turned on here at Temple Square there are tens of thousands of people that come here every night so we've had to adjust our schedules to meet the change. Sister Moore and I have had some quality excel spreed sheet bonding time trying to get everything right. We have some assignments during the Christmas season: opening movies, being at the desk, or running God's Plan for His Family. Sister Moore and I had to make those assignments for the North 1 zone. One of the new changes since Christmas is that we go home at 9:45pm instead of 8:45pm. That means that we have a lot more finding time in the evening. The schedule has been quite complicated to get all worked out, but I think that we've got it. The difficult part about being a missionary during the Christmas lights is that there are just SO MANY people here that it is difficult to invite the Spirit into contacts with people. It's something that I'm trying to figure out how to do.

 

It has been a little slow this week in terms of missionary work because we've spent so much time trying to figure out how the mission should adjust to the Christmas lights. Something that President is emphasizing is contacting and inviting with the Spirit. I'm excited for that emphasis because there are just so many people here and a lot of them really don't want to talk with us. So, it's something that I'm trying to improve on. Easier said than done.

 

Sister Moore and I went to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir yesterday and it was their first Christmas concert. I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, they're pretty much amazing. Speaking of Christmas, I started out Black Friday by reading Luke 2. Don't worry, we didn't go shopping after that, but it was a great way to start off the season. As I was reading verses 13 and 14 caught my attention:

 

13.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14.  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

I would like to think that we were a part of those heavenly hosts that were praising God. I'm sure that we knew just how important it was for the Savior to come to the earth to perform the Atonement. Without Him the entire plan would be frustrated. I've become more and more grateful for my Savior on my mission. He is my purpose for being here. It's a great time to reflect on exactly why we celebrate Christmas.

The Play by Play

It was quite a week. Here are some of the highlights:

 

1. We had Zone Leader Council. That is were all of the Zone Leaders meet together with the Assistants to the President and the President and learn how to be better leaders and where we are going to take the mission. The Assistants (Sister Bryers and Sister Rodriguez) are quite the jokesters and they wouldn't tell us where it is was going to be. So we all met at 9:30 am and they led us outside and we walked up the the Capitol building. Yup, we had Zone Leader council in the public lounge in the Capitol building (which we had rented out). I had never been in the Capitol before and it was a beautiful building, it's modeled after the US Capitol building. It was a great and spiritually uplifting meeting. We talked about how we need to be "show-how" leaders and not "tell-how" leaders. Another thing that president talked about that caught my attention is that if you only see what you see and hear what you hear then you don't see enough or hear enough. It is so critical that we rely on the Spirit as leaders to know how we can help those that we are leading. It is definitely something that I need to work on as a leader. I'm still working on knowing what I'm supposed to be doing--Sister Moore helps me out a lot.

 

2. We had Leadership training this past week too. It was mostly a repeat of what was talked about at Zone Leader Council, but it was still great. We met in the Conference Center in one of the rooms that are used for translation during General Conference. It was pretty neat to be able to look out over the auditorium there (it's being set up for the Christmas concert now).

 

3. Sister Moore and I (and another companionship) went to a baptism! It wasn't for anyone that Sister Moore and I had taught, but it was wonderful. Darryl was the person getting baptized. I guess he used to work in the Army, but he is absolutely terrified of water because he almost drowned as a boy. It took three attempts to baptize him. At first he wanted to be baptized going forward and they tried that two times, but he didn't fit. So they did it the normal way and it worked out. He sang "Amazing Grace" afterward and it was beautiful. It was wonderful to be there and see just how happy he was with the decision he made and feel just how happy his Father in heaven is with his decision. Baptism is just such and important step and brings so many blessings. Even Jesus Christ himself tells us in 2 Nephi 31:12 --

 

 "And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do."

 

4. Sister Moore and I met a wonderful couple at the desk this week. There was a huge plasma physics convention in Salt Lake this past week and it brought a lot of people to Temple Square. Vic and Betty were some of those people that came. They actually came to Temple Square because they were curious about what Mitt Romney believes. So we talked with them for a little bit, we talked about family and about plasma physics. I kind of understood the plasma physics part, but not really. I got to tell them about how I love science because it is just evidence to me that there has to be a God. Nothing so beautiful or with such incredible patterns could just be random. It made me think of Alma 30:44

 

"...and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."

 

They referred for missionaries right then. It was a miracle. They're Jewish at the moment.

 

This is less of a highlight, but fun to tell, Sister Moore, Sister Igelzia (from Brazil), and Sister Cruz (from Arkansas) went to a Korean restaurant today. It's because Sister Kim and Sister Jung who are both from South Korea wanted to go to this Korean restaurant on their p-day but didn't get to because they couldn't find anyone to drive them. So we went and picked up their food for them and ate lunch there ourselves. It was fun.

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 'Tis the season to be grateful.

 

"...live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." --Alma 34:38

 

Another Transfer!

It's transfer number seven! I can hardly believe it, and we're already about a week into it now. Goodness. You're probably wondering what I'm doing this transfer, so let me tell you. On the Monday before transfers (which is on Wednesday) we meet as a zone early in the morning and they read off our assignments. In my mind I thought I might be staying with Sister Imazeki perhaps as a district leader, or maybe I would train because there were 17 new sisters coming to the mission. Well, I'm not doing either of those. I'm a Zone Leader. The mission has a hierarchy which goes Mission President, Assistants to the President, Zone Leaders, and District Leaders. I've only ever been a senior companion, and the only thing I've ever lead in my life is sacrament hymns and my beehive class. So this assignment was most definitely unexpected for me. It was almost as surprising as reading my mission call to Temple Square. I'm excited to get to know and serve all of the sisters in the North 1 zone (the zone that I've been assigned to). I don't know them all very well yet, but I can already tell that they're amazing missionaries already. There are six companionships in the North 1 zone (not including Sister Moore and I) and three of the sisters in this zone are in their first transfer. My companion is Sister Moore and she is the missionary that everyone wants to be companions with, so we're having lots of fun. Sister Moore is from Colorado and goes to BYU-I and she is an amazing missionary.

 

This morning, Sister Moore and I conducted a training for our zone. It was a different experience for me because I've never really done anything like that before, but I think it went well enough. The foundation for this training was Matt 11:28-30

 

28.  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
 

I love these verses, they are some of my favorite. We talked about how we need to rely on our Savior as missionaries and that we also need to teach people about how they can rely on the Savior. I have found this to be true. My mission has become much more meaningful to me as I have learned more about who Jesus Christ is and how I can rely on him. He set a perfect example for me and through Him I can have peace now and have the promise of living with my family for eternity. What a beautiful message it is that we share. I am so blessed to be able to serve a mission; Heavenly Father knew that I needed it.

 

This week they introduced cell phones into our mission. No more pagers! The best part about these cell phones is that we are going to be able to text our investigators. The idea is that we will send them short powerful texts (ten words or less) on a daily basis so that they can keep close to the Spirit. The doctrine of daily contacts is taught in the Book of Mormon (Alma 21:23):

 

23  And Ammon did preach unto the people of king Lamoni; and it came to pass that he did teach them all things concerning things pertaining to righteousness. And he did exhort them daily, with all diligence; and they gave heed unto his word, and they were zealous for keeping the commandments of God.
 

I'm excited to see how keeping in better contact with people will help them to be baptized. We had an entire training on this because we really need to be obedient with these cell phones; they can easily be misused, but also if they're used correctly then we will witness lots of miracles. (The cell phones are new, so we haven't really been able to use them much yet, I'll let you know how it goes)

 

This week I've been working on diligence because in 1 Nephi 10:19 it says "For he that diligently seeketh shall find..." and I'm taking that literally. I'm trying to be diligent so that I can find people that are ready to receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ into their lives. The real life application of being diligent here at Temple Square means that I call LOTS of people in the RC. Yesterday I called people for two or three hours and only one person picked up the phone. It wasn't the person that I was looking for, but she told me that her friend (the person I was looking to talk with) already has a church and wasn't interested in mine. Such is the life of a missionary, I guess. I'll keep calling, though. I know there is someone out there that is just waiting for me to share with them the restored gospel so they can have these same blessings that I'm privileged to.

The Keystone of our Religion

Sister Imazeki and me

We had a really great week here at Temple Square. The best part of it was getting to go to the Bountiful Temple. Everyone in our mission got to go and we went on different days, so I went on Tuesday. We met in the parking garage at 7:20am and all drove up to Bountiful. It was raining and then snowing, so I was glad that I wasn't driving. We went to the 9:00am session and it was wonderful. Bountiful is a beautiful (and very large) temple. I really liked the celestial room because it had big windows and there was lots of light coming in. It was so wonderful to be in my Father's house and to remember how much He loves me.

 

We also celebrated Halloween here. It was my favorite Halloween in my memory. They closed the square at 5:00pm so we all went to the basement of the South Visitors' Center and watched two movies in the theater there. We saw "Disipicable Me" and "The Best Two Years". We were also provided dinner: pizza, cupcakes, and lots of candy, as well as a toothbrush and toothpaste. It was really nice just to sit and relax and I didn't even have to worry about dressing up!

 

I had a really great phone call in the RC this week with Sarah. She was referred by her friend at General Conference and I finally got a hold of her! The bulk of our conversation started with me inviting her to read the Book of Mormon. She said, "sure, but first I have a question: why do I need the Book of Mormon if I already have the Bible?" So I went into explaining that the Book of Mormon is important because it teaches and testifies of Jesus Christ and if one has a testimony of the Book of Mormon then they know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church restored once again to the earth (last paragraph of the Introduction to the Book of Mormon). Then she asked why it is important the Joseph Smith is a prophet and not just a good person and her questions kind of went on from that. She was really trying to understand and had a lot of really good questions. Interestingly, in the end the answer to all of her questions was that she needed to read the Book of Mormon and ask if it is truly the word of God. The conversation made me really realize just how critical a testimony of the Book of Mormon is. If you don't have a testimony of the Book of Mormon then everything built on it crumbles. That's why it is called the keystone of our religion. So in the end, she said that she would call her member friend and set up something so that she would be accountable to her to read the Book of Mormon. Sarah didn't refer for missionaries right then, but I know that if she reads the Book of Mormon in the sincerity of her heart, with faith in Jesus Christ, and with the intent to act on what she reads, then she will come to know that the Book of Mormon is indeed the word of God.

 

Today we had our first big snow here and Sister Mata'utia, from Australia, is absolutely amazed by the phenomenon. She has never seen snow before so every new experience with snow for her is magical. She loves to have snow in her hair, she likes to take pictures with snow, she said that she would like to roll around in the snow and pretty much experience it in any way that she can. I think that when it is April and still snowing, she'll think otherwise. But for now it's cute.

 

Well, this coming Wednesday is transfers and I find out what is happening to me on Monday morning. I'll let you know what happens!

 

Nu Skin Comes to Town!

It was an AMAZING week here!

First, Sister Imazeki taught me how to make dumplings last Saturday and they were delicious! Don't worry, I wrote down how to make them.

Second, we had a great lessons over the phone too. Hector lives here in Salt Lake and we have been teaching him and he is just hungering and thirsting after all things spiritual. We have been working on listening to people better and so our plan when we called him was to listen to what he was telling us and then teach according to his needs -- no planned topic. So that's what we did and we found out that he is having a really difficult time to raise his children the way that he would like to. It sounds like his wife left him and he has to raise his four boys by himself. He said that he prays for his sons so we taught him about the power of a father's prayer by sharing the story of Alma the elder and Alma the younger. We read Mosiah 27:14 with him -- 

"And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith."

He loved that story and he was amazed at the power his prayers could have. We continued to listen to him and discovered that he wanted his sons to have more structure in their lives so we taught him about family prayer by reading 3 Nephi 18:21 when the Savior taught about family prayer --

"Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed."

Hector wanted that for his family so we committed him to have family prayer every night with his sons. We haven't talked with him since then, but hopefully that has been a positive experience for him. We also taught Hector how to pray. I love teaching people how to pray because it opens up a whole new world of blessings for them. He said a beautiful prayer at the end of the lesson which almost brought him to tears because he felt the Spirit so strong. We asked him how he felt and he said that he felt "refreshed". I love teaching people how they can come closer to their Heavenly Father!

Third, Nu Skin came to town with their convention. The convention was being held in the Energy Solutions Arena and we were told that 6,000 Japanese came for this convention. That's a TON of Japanese here in Salt Lake City, and a lot of them came to Temple Square. Sister Imazeki and I were on the square that day (not Welfare Square) so we started with our first tour at 9:30am with two ladies. We learned that the New Testament paintings are a wonderful resource for teaching people about who Jesus Christ is. They felt the Spirit so strongly as we explained (mostly Sister Imazeki explained, my Japanese isn't that great) the role that Jesus Christ could play in their lives. Sister Imazeki gave me a chance to explain how he had helped me and she translated for them. I love being able to testify simply and clearly. Those women were so touched that they both referred for missionaries. Our day continued to be amazing. We took around a total of six groups of various sizes (the largest was 23 and the smallest was 2) and these people were incredibly prepared to hear about the restored gospel. 

I learned about the power of praying for your companion. There wasn't really much that I could say most of the time so I would keep a prayer in my heart that Sister Imazeki would have the words she needed to say to these people and that they would feel the Spirit here. I had read a scripture that morning that helped me to realize the power of prayer in seeking for other people's happiness and the importance of each person in Heavenly Father's eyes. In Alma 31: 34-35 it says --

34 O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.

35 Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee.

My prayers were answered. We took around a total of 51 people that day and 25 of them referred -- all of them were Japanese. What other mission in the world would I have been able to share my testimony with 51 Japanese in one day? Japanese people usually don't refer because religion is perceived as weird in Japan. The great thing was that they all had a member friend: the CEO of Nu Skin. Apparently he is an amazing person and they all knew that he was a member of the Church. We were so busy that day that we didn't get companionship study or lunch, but we were blessed far beyond those sacrifices we had to make. Sister Imazeki is an amazing missionary and I'm so glad that I get to be her companion.

The Temple Square mission is amazing.

If you can't take the heat, then go outside

This week started off with an alarm, literally. On Sunday morning (at about 2:00am) someone was pounding at our door and ringing the doorbell rather impatiently. So I went down stairs and tried to look out the peep hole to see who it was, but I'm too short so I couldn't see out. I opened the door and Sister Hoyos was there and she told me that an apartment complex next to the building that a lot of the sisters live in is on fire and that we needed to get outside to be counted. My building wasn't on fire, so I wasn't in too much of a rush and I went back upstairs and told Sister Imazeki what was happening and we put on our tennis shoes and sweatshirts. Everyone was outside and there actually was a pretty big fire in the adjacent apartment complex. We stood outside for about an hour until the fire was out and the fire department made sure everything was okay. There wasn't any damage to any of the apartments that the Sisters live, don't worry. President Holmes drove up to Salt Lake from his home in Sandy and met us all outside. he was wearing his PJs and dress shoes. They were probably the closest shoes when he was going out the door. He is such a great mission president. He told us that we didn't have to be on the square until 10am so that we could make up the sleep that we lost. That meant that we didn't have sacrament meeting that morning. We're probably the most inactive missionaries you'll ever meet.

 

We had Zone Conference yesterday in a conference room in the Conference Center by the Book of Mormon gallery, and it was pretty great. We were trained on how to better teach people how to receive revelation (prayer, reading the Book of Mormon, and going to church) so that they can come to know for themselves that this is Christ's restored church. The new emphasis in the mission is baptism, which means that when we teach people over the phones we commit them to baptism in the first or second call and we teach them to prepare them for baptism. I've found that it has really helped to focus my teaching and give it more purpose. Right now we're teaching a woman named Faith, and she is amazing. Faith has had a pretty rough life, but I can tell that the restored gospel is making a big difference in her life and when she gets baptized she will have the gift of the Holy Ghost to comfort her and guide her decisions. We've asked her if she believes that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and she answered that she "knows" it is true. It is because she feels the Spirit when she reads the Book of Mormon. We committed her to baptism and she said that she said yes. I'm so happy for her.

 

Yesterday we met a great couple here at Temple Square. They're from Colorado and they're here for their daughter's dance workshop. We took them all around Temple Square and showed them the Conference Center. I love bringing people to the Conference Center. The best part, as always, was going to the Book of Mormon gallery. When people are prepared they are absolutely fascinated by the paintings and they feel the Spirit of the stories. Well, this couple were reading the explanations of the paintings and asking questions. When people feel the Spirit you can see a change in their faces; it's a reflection of their hearts softening. The wife's eyes grew wider as we told her the stories from the Book of Mormon and when we showed her the card that she could fill out to see missionaries she looked at it almost as if it were a chocolate bar. We could tell that she really wanted to have this in her life. We also got to take them to the hall of the prophets and the roof of the Conference Center.

 

Being a missionary is great. I love being able to see people feel the Spirit and know that what we are telling them is true.

Miracles of Fasting

Being at Welfare Square is quite fun. Since tours are really slowing down we actually spend most of our time hosting there. The Visitors' Center at Welfare Square is connected to the Bishop's Storehouse so we help people fill their food orders there. People come in with a food order request form signed by their Bishop and then we take them through the storehouse and check things off of their list. My least favorite part is getting the right amount of fruit and vegetables because we have to weigh everything and make sure that they end up with the right total of pounds. Usually people are given between 15 and 20 pounds of both fruits and veggies. The other day I filled an order for a man that was given 53 pounds of vegetables! And the order was just for himself! That is a TON of vegetables. I'm very glad that there is something to do when there are only three tours in a day. It is great to see and know that people have a source of help when their family can't be there to lend them a hand. Heavenly Father really is looking out for his children. It just makes you want to pay fast offerings!

 

This past week I learned a lot about fasting and that it truly does have a powerful effect. We had fast Sunday last Sunday so I had a whole new appreciation for fast offerings and how it is an opportunity for us to help the poor and needy. Sister Imazeki and I witnessed some wonderful miracles on fast Sunday. We had a Japanese tour with four retired men from Japan. Most of the time I didn't understand what they were talking about, but at some points Sister Imazeki asked me to explain something or to bear my testimony and she would translate. They didn't have a Christian background so I was doing my best to explain in a way that would help them to feel the Spirit. It turned out to be a wonderful tour and one of them referred for missionaries back in Japan. Then right as we were finished with that tour we turned around and a couple asked us what they were supposed to do here at Temple Square, so we offered to take them on a tour. They here in Salt Lake from Washington DC for some meeting and wanted to come to Temple Square to see what Mitt Romney believes. As we were taking them around they had this realization that we are Christians too. I guess someone in Washington DC gave a speech about how Mormons aren't Christian, but since Jesus Christ is the center of our beliefs we were mentioning His name and they discovered that we too believe in Jesus Christ.

 

On Sunday evening I got a voice message from someone that I had called in RC a few weeks prior and she wasn't quite ready to meet with missionaries or go to church. She had been to church before but stopped going because she didn't have people there to talk to and the missionaries kept changing. Despite that, though, she still told me that she feels at peace when she goes to church. Her husband isn't religious and so that makes it more difficult for her too. But when I got her voice message she told me to call her, and so I did, and it turns out that she went to church AND met with the Sister missionaries for the first time! She really enjoyed it and she was going to be meeting with the missionaries the next day too! I was so touched that she thought to call me back and tell me that she had gone to church. I didn't think that she would go through such an effort. So I got to talk with her and be excited for her. I really hope that she keeps it up!

 

AND to top it all off, I called one of Sarah's friends (my sister) from High School and she wanted to get her own copy of the Book of Mormon from the missionaries...It was an incredible day.

 

I also spent some of my personal study time this week reading about fasting. Isaiah 58 is great chapter about fasting and I learned that there are some incredible blessings associated with fasting! Here are some of my favorite verses from the chapter:

 

 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
 8 ¶Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.
 9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
 10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
 11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Isn't that incredible!? The Book of Mormon even talks about how we are blessed for giving to the poor in Mosiah 4:26 --

 "And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants."

By fasting our needs can be met (as we receive answers to our prayers and other assistance that we need) and the needs of other are met as well (when we pay a generous fast offering). Heavenly Father truly is looking after His children and I get to show people how when we take them on a tour of Welfare Square. It is just an incredible program!

A Life of Giving is a Life Worth Living

It feels like ages since I've had P-day, but I made it anyway. That is not to say that this has been a bad week, it has been great. We had General Conference last weekend and it was amazing. We set a goal to get 7,041 member referrals over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That is a pretty high goal. last General Conference we got 6,455 member referrals. On Saturday Sister Imazeki and I started out pretty slow. We were spending too much time with members and we weren't getting very much out of it in terms of member referrals--not to say that they were bad contacts, just not productive in terms of our goal. Sister Imazeki and I got four member referrals, which is pretty abysmal for a General Conference day. Sunday morning they announced that we had a mission meeting and it was because we were way behind on meeting our goal. We only had 2,800 member referrals. President Holmes called us to repentance and then sent us out to find people that we could share the restored gospel with. Sister Imazeki and I were determined to do better than we did the day before so we went upstairs and with much enthusiasm talked with as many members as we could and invited everyone to share the gospel with their friends. The results were much better; we collected 36 member referrals that Sunday. Isn't repentance wonderful?

 

That evening we had a high-five meeting in the Tabernacle with everyone in the mission. They announced that we collected 9,222 member referrals. That is AMAZING! In one day we collected over 6,000 member referrals! The people that came here for General Conference were incredible and the weather held up so that there were more people on Temple Square than I've ever seen before. It was a wonderful testimony to me that if we work as hard as we can towards a difficult but reachable goal and rely on heaven's help, then we can reach our goal.

 

Yesterday we were covering at the Humanitarian Center and when we got there in the morning, guess who we got to meet? Elder Hinckley! (I'm not sure what the correct title is for someone that is an Emeritus General Authority) He was there because he is now doing church hosting, so he takes around the big dignitaries through the Humanitarian Center, Welfare Square, and other places. It was pretty neat to shake his hand.

 

Welfare Square is pretty much amazing. I've learned so much about the welfare and humanitarian efforts of the church in these last two transfers. We had our Welfare Square training on Tuesday morning with Brother Goodrich who is the manager there. He told us how the welfare program started as a result of the Great Depression and how the program worked back then. Harold B Lee was definitely an inspired Stake President. What I love about it is how resourceful the church is and just how far its outreach is. I didn't really know where my fast offerings went or to how much good it goes to and now I'm sold on the idea of fast offerings. Jesus Christ isn't on the earth anymore to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, but His church is and to be a part of this incredible program is such an honor and a blessing. It inspires me to be a much more giving person. I'm learning about what it means to be a true Christian. It isn't just going to church and reading your scriptures, it's charity--lifting others' burdens. I like what Jesus Christ said about this when he visited the Americas: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do" (3Nephi 27:21). The word "do" is mentioned FIVE times! I hope to be much better at that after my mission.

Transfer Number SIX!

Sister Fitzgerald, my Relief Society President and Sister Imazeki

Welcome to my sixth transfer! On Monday we had to be on the Square at 6:50am so that they could tell us what our new assignments would be and then have transfer conference before we needed to be on the square at 9:00am. Drum roll...my new companion is Sister Imazeki from Tokyo, Japan! She is an absolutely wonderful companion! We've only been companions for two days now, but we work so well together. On our first day on the job we took eleven people on tours! That is a ton of people for just one day. We also had some really great moments with members that were about to drop off their sons at the MTC. I also got a new assignment. I'm not at the Humanitarian Center anymore, but I'm at Welfare Square. That means that we get free lunch on the days that we are there. I don't mind free food at all. We also get to show people how the church welfare program works: there is a Bishops' storehouse, warehouse, bakery, cannery, employment center, Deseret Industries, and a Dairy there where they make cheese. It's going to be pretty fun.

 

Oh! I'm also staying in the same apartment! That means that I will be in this apartment for at least four transfers and I don't have to move.

 

Sister Wilson is going outbound to Indianapolis, Indiana! That is actually where she grew up for the first 14 years of her life and her grandparents and most of her extended family still lives there. It would be a little funny if she served in her home ward.There were a lot of sisters that went outbound this transfer--40 sisters. Since General Conference is this weekend, all of the departing sisters and all of the outbound sisters are staying for an extra five days so that they can be for that. It's quite the ordeal because they had to find places for everyone to stay. Some sisters are sleeping on the floor. I don't have to, though.

 

Do you remember Mark who we met at the Humanitarian Center? Well, we called him yesterday and he was driving his truck in New Jersey. We got to tell him about the apostasy and the restoration to try to explain how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is different from other Christian churches. I'm not sure he completely got it because we have to explain it all in about 5 minutes, but he reads the Book of Mormon every day. That is a miracle because he doesn't even like to read very much. Hopefully we can help him meet with the missionaries somewhere along the line.

 

We also talked to Hector yesterday. Sister Imazeki took Hector on a tour of Temple Square with her previous companion. He hasn't been able to meet with the missionaries yet, but we got to explain to him about General Conference. We shared with him Amos 3:7 -- "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." From that he understood what the role of a prophet is--to convey God's word for the whole world to us. After that he was so excited to listen to General Conference. He said that he is looking for direction in his life as to how to help his family and keep up his job. We promised him that he would find an answer to his question in General Conference. We're going to be calling him back next week to see how it went for him.

 

Duane hadn't met with missionaries yet...he said that he was going to call them, though, so hopefully something worked out this week.

 

Sister Wilson called Grant and Stephanie and they have met with missionaries THREE times now! I'm going to have to keep following up on them so that I don't miss their baptism ... :)

 

Also, someone that Sister Wilson and I were teaching in Rwanda finally met with the missionaries there. I guess there is a senior couple there to teach people and they were finally able to coordinate.

 

General Conference is tomorrow! Hopefully the weather is good. Sister Imazeki and I get to go to the Sunday afternoon session of conference. The rest of the time we are on the square talking with people. We get two 20-minute meals on Saturday and Sunday and both are provided by President Holmes. President and Sister Holmes are so thoughtful. I think we'll have sandwiches for lunch and pizza for dinner. There are going to be so many people to talk to and hopefully so many lives to touch. I love being able to hear the testimonies that members have and how they are sharing what they love with their friends.

People, People, People!

Today is the Relief Society broadcast! In fact, it's only a few hours from now! I'm quite excited because I get to go to it.

 

We spoke with Duane this past Monday. He is still doing great. He didn't get to go to church, though, because he had some kind of Christian retreat he went to and he got back to late to go. Next time...The missionaries hadn't quite made it to meet with him yet because he was out of town, but I'm hoping that they got to meet with him this week.

 

We're calling Stephanie and Grant tomorrow, so I'm not sure how they're doing since the last time I emailed. I hope that Stephanie gets to watch the Relief Society broadcast!

 

We had a miracle this week at the Humanitarian Center. Mark is a trucker and he drives for a non-profit organization that gets some of its supplies from the Humanitarian Center. So Mark was waiting for his truck to be loaded and in the mean time he took a tour because he loves Humanitarian service. So we took him on the tour and we got a really positive reaction from him about the things that we do there. People might be impressed as we show them the things that the church does, but we don't usually know how impressed they are. Mark let us know. The best part came when we related the programs that the church has (donating wheel chairs, vision care, immunizations, clean water, etc.) to what Christ did as he visited the Americas as it says in 3 Nephi 17:7 -- "Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy." Mark didn't know that Jesus Christ came and visited the Americas so we told him a little about the Book of Mormon and especially that it teaches and testifies of Jesus Christ. When we told him that he said, "well if that's what it's all about, then why are other Christian faiths against you?" We told him that we didn't know and we both smiled inside. I love it when people have amazing realizations as we take them on tours. Mark referred for missionaries! It's the first referral we've gotten in the Humanitarian Center! He's going to be driving for a while, so I don't know how soon missionaries will be able to meet with him, but at least we get to teach him over the phone.

 

Yesterday we had another great tour at Temple Square. When we walked into the North Visitors' Center there was a family that had just asked for a tour: a dad with his two older daughters (they were probably in their late 20s). They were here in Utah on vacation from Toronto, Canada and so they stopped by to visit Temple Square. One of the daughters has a boyfriend that is a member of the church and so they had some exposure to the church previous to coming. We took them to the Christus, the Tabernacle, and the Assembly Hall, and finally to the Conference Center. Naturally the best part was in the Conference Center where we got to take them to the Book of Mormon gallery. They had heard of the Book of Mormon before but didn't really know what it was, so they got to see the pictures of the stories from the Book of Mormon and get to know what it is a little bit. The last picture we showed them was the picture of Mormon and Moroni towards the end of the writings of the Book of Mormon. We explained to them that Mormon (the prophet that compiled the Book of Mormon) saw our day and knew exactly what experiences and testimonies that he could use to help us. We shared with them Mormon 8:35 where Mormon is speaking to us -- "Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing." We explained the the Book of Mormon answers our questions that we have today: why are we here? what happens after we die? How can I keep my family strong? It was a wonderfully powerful moment. The family referred to have missionaries back home in Toronto, and probably the best part is that they already have member support through the daughter's boyfriend! We told them about General Conference too, so they'll probably watch that as well. I love missionary work!

 

Duane + Grant & Stephanie + large family = A really good week

We had another great week with teaching! On Monday we called Duane to see how church went for him. I've never had anyone go to church before they met with the missionaries, so I was half expecting that he would go (because he is pretty much amazing) and half expecting that he wouldn't go (because that is what usually happens). But he went! It was the best birthday present ever! He told us all about it too. We gave him the Bishop's phone number and I think that he called before he went on Sunday because someone sat with him the whole way through church, which is wonderful! The Sunday that he went to church was the primary program and he really liked that children get to participate in church. He also noticed that Sacrament meeting was much louder than he is used to. He also went to Sunday School and Priesthood meetings. He said that Sacrament meeting isn't too unlike any other Christian church service he has been to, but the other two meetings were a little different. The man that went with him through church gave him a triple combination (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price) and he also got a Gospel Principles manual, plus a soft-cover copy of the Book of Mormon from the missionaries! He has a lot of reading material now. Duane and the missionaries swapped phone numbers so that they can set up a time and place to meet. We haven't called him since that Monday, so I'm hoping that him and the missionaries have been able to meet by now. I think we're going to call this coming Monday to see how things are going for him.

 

This past Sunday we also met Grant and Stephanie. There is a bit of a story about how we met them...One of the local stakes was having stake conference in the Assembly Hall and a dad was outside with his young son and we stopped to talk with him. We told him about the family presentation in the North Visitors' Center and he said that he would look for us after to go to the presentation. So we went to eat lunch really fast so that we could be out in time for the end of stake conference. We took a shorter lunch break so that we could be upstairs in time. As we were walking up the stairs to find the family that we had talked to, one of the sisters assigned to the desk told us to go talk to a couple that walked in that might have wanted a tour (we can't offer tours when we're at the desk). So we went and talked to them and right away I could feel that they were good people, they had a good spirit about them. Stephanie and Grant accepted the invitation to have a tour and so we showed them around. They had just recently moved here from Seattle and the wife is working here. It sounds like Stephanie has been asking her coworkers all kinds of questions about the church and they told her that they could come to Temple Square and have a free tour. Grant has another year of school to graduate, but his brother is a member of the church. The best part of the tour was taking them to the Conference Center and showing them the Book of Mormon gallery. Stephanie already had her own copy of the Book of Mormon in Spanish, but Grant doesn't read Spanish very well so we got to tell them both about the stories in the Book of Mormon and they were completely immersed in the Spirit there. As we stood in front of the gigantic painting of Christ visiting the Americas we invited them to have missionaries come and share more with them. They happily accepted. We also took them to the hall of the prophets in the Conference Center so they could see the paintings of the current twelve apostles and prophet. It was no coincidence the way that we met them. Heavenly Father has a perfect plan layed out and I feel like I'm beginning to see just how perfect and detailed this plan is. Everything worked out perfectly so that we could meet this couple. It reminds me of 1 Nephi 9: 6 -- "But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words."

 

So just before we came to email today, Sister Wilson and I talked with Grant and Stephanie over the phone. The missionaries haven't contacted them yet so we shared with them about how they can gain their own testimony of the Book of Mormon. We read the second to last paragraph in the Book of Mormon and shared with them about how we can find answers to our prayers. I have a feeling that they will progress as a couple towards baptism. Stephanie is already worried about breaking the Word of Wisdom...she asked what "hot drinks" means in Doctrine & Covenants 89 because she was worried that she was going to break that commandment. I guess her coworker introduced her to the Word of Wisdom but didn't quite explain what that meant.

 

Testimony of Christ

What an AMAZING week! We just got off the phone with Duane and he is still doing great.We left him 2 Nephi 31 to read, which he did, and so we got to discuss that for a little bit and he is very well versed in the Bible. He was pulling parallels from the Bible to 2 Nephi 31 all over the place. He says that the Bible is what he goes by and the Book of Mormon is lining up perfectly with it. God won't contradict himself. He knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true (he prayed about it and received an answer), and now all we need to do is to get him in contact with the missionaries over there in Texas. He is going to church tomorrow, so hopefully the missionaries will find him there and they can give him his own copy of the Book of Mormon and they can teach him (much better than over the phone).
 
We also took some wonderful tours this past week. Since Labor day, most of the people on the Square (during the day) are retired couples that are still on vacation and they are wonderful people to be around. Yesterday we showed around a couple from New Jersey but originally from Mainland China (they weren't retired). They didn't have a lot of time and they mostly wanted to take pictures--like Asians do--so we didn't get to teach them very much. Growing up they had a Buddhist background and it is something that they still practice so they don't know much about God or Jesus Christ, so we had to teach very simply. We took them to the Tabernacle (they took some pictures in there too) and as we were there the wife told us that she felt good when she was there and that before she came to Temple Square she felt tired and sleepy, but when she got here she felt more awake. I was jumping for joy when she told us that because I knew that it was the Spirit that she was feeling. People never tell us how they're feeling and we didn't even ask her how she felt in the Tabernacle. We told her about the Spirit and that it was God telling her that this is something good. Naturally she referred for missionaries. When China opens up for missionaries it will be incredible.
 
This morning we took another great tour with a couple from Florida. We walked into the South Visitors' Center and he walked up to us and asked where you sign up for tours. Those are the things that we like to hear here, so we told him that we could take them on a tour! It was wonderful. We went to the Assembly Hall and the Conference Center. They had already been to the Tabernacle because they saw the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearse on Thursday and while they were there they talked with a Bishop. So when we got to talk with them they already had some background information. I love taking people to the Conference Center because it just blows people away. The auditorium is of Titanic proportions and it is so peaceful and spiritual there. They loved it too, but the best part for them was the Book of Mormon gallery with the original paintings by Arnold Friberg (they're the ones that are in the front of hard cover copies of the Book of Mormon). The whole concept of the Book of Mormon just made so much sense to them. God loves all of His children and so naturally he would provide a means for them to learn about Jesus Christ anciently in the Americas. AND while we were walking around in the gallery the wife had an "aha" moment (i.e. she received some personal revelation) that it makes sense that God calls prophets today because He did before, why not now? So she and her husband referred for missionaries as well. It was just such a fun tour. They were great people and their hearts and minds were open.
 
One of the things that Sister Wilson and I have been trying to focus on is having Christ-centered tours. That sounds like something I should have figured out a long time ago, but as a missionary sometimes I get too caught up in the idea of God calling prophets and the Book of Mormon that I think sometimes people walk out of Temple Square thinking that that is all that we are about...but it isn't! All of the restored truths that we have teach and testify of Jesus Christ! The Book of Mormon is all about Jesus Christ, the prophet is a witness of the divinity of Jesus Christ, the temple is centered around Jesus Christ and His atonement. It's all about Him and that through him we can prepare to return to live with God again! I love bearing my testimony of the Savior. He is my purpose for being a missionary.
 

Teaching!

Sister Smiley at the Humanitarian Center

Hi Everyone! Sister Wilson and I have had a great week here on Temple Square. The best part of my week was teaching Duane over the phone. Duane called in a few weeks ago to find out about church because his finace is a member of the church and he wanted to know where the church would be for her. So I spoke to him about church and asked him if he wanted to learn more about his fiance's beliefs and he said that would be great. He is very familiar with the Bible and a wonderful Christian that is truely seeking to follow the example of Jesus Christ. So last week Sister Wilson and I set up a time to call him and we taught him about the great apostasy. We found out that he already has a testimony of the great apostasy--he was in complete agreeance with what we were teaching that there were no prophets on the earth from the time of Christ. We were completely surprised; we didn't even have to teach him. So we left him with the introduction of the Book of Mormon to read. Next time we called he had read the Introdcution as well as the Testimony of the Three Witnesses and the Testimony of the Eight Witnesses as well as the Testimony of Joseph Smith--way more than we expected him to read. Not only did he read it, but he said that he believed that Joseph Smith had been called as a prophet! He said that it lines up what the Bible teaches and it follows the pattern of how God works. That was what we were planning on teaching him and it had turned out that he taught himself! So we read Moroni 10:3-5 with him and he said that he would take up the promise to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. We also gave him 2 Nephi 31 to read because it talks about following the example of Jesus Christ and that is really what he wants to do. He is amazing! Hopefully next week he can go to church and meet with the missionaries.

The weather here is finaly cooling down. The past few weeks have been quite warm and I'm glad for a break. The Square is also starting to die down as kids go back to school and people go back to work. The next big thing will be General Conference, which we are already counting down to and preparing for. Something that we're really going to try to improve on as a mission is the quality of our interactions with members. One of the things that I try to work on here is trying to make sure that members know that I'm not talking with them just because I want to call their friends, but because I want to have a good interaction with them too and try to uplift them in some way too. So I'm quite excited for this focus this coming conference.