At the West Gate

Picture of Samantha taken by Bishop Eyre....thanks so much!

Happy Summer!

I'm so excited for this next transfer because it's going to be amazing. We got our new assignments yesterday morning (we had to be on the square at 7:15 am, which is quite early) so drum roll ... Next transfer Sister Williams is still going to be my companion (that's a "YAY!") and I'll be at West Gate! There are two companionships assigned to West Gate and that is the place that coordinates all of the motor coaches and VIP things (I think). So we get to hand out microphones, pens, and referral cards to the sisters taking motor coaches and page for language tours and probably other things that I don't know about right now. I think it will be pretty exciting with the summer season coming up and we're told that there will be a 30% increase in motor coaches this summer compared to the previous summer. Lots of Mandarin motor coaches! I also have to move apartments too...that's a bit of a pain, but it was going to happen sometime.

This week we had another miracle IRC. His name is Grant and he lives in Utah. He referred a while ago and it had been a long time since we were able to get in contact with him. He agreed to meet with the missionaries when I called him. He picked up the phone a few days ago when Sister Williams and I called to teach him (miracle) and he told us that he had met with the missionaries twice and was going to church this Sunday (which has already passed)! We didn't get to hear back from him yet after church, but it's always an incredible thing to know that the people that you had a ten minute conversation with on the phone are able to meet with missionaries and feel the Spirit.

We also had a summer kick-off mission meeting this past week too (super early as well) and they announced that we would be able to carry around Bibles on the square too! Before, everyone would carry around their copy of the Book of Mormon in its plastic cover. Now one companion carries the Bible and the other carries the Book of Mormon and we don't have the plastic cover on our books anymore. We haven't been carrying around Bibles for very long, but it's neat to be able to show people that we read the Bible too. Sometimes people would ask why we only carry around the Book of Mormon because I think they might have been thinking that we give higher precedence to the Book of Mormon than the Bible, but the Bible is amazing and has so many wonderful scriptures that we can share with guests. I'm going to have to learn where all of those great scriptures are, but that just means that by the end of my mission I'll know the Bible better than when I came on my mission.

We took a tour with about 20 primary kids and their parents this week (total about 40). They were a crazy bunch. Their ages ranged from about 3 to 10, so really short attention spans. They wanted us to stress eternal families and temples. I'm not sure how much those kids got out of it...

This transfer we have 26 new sisters coming. That's a lot of new sisters! 

This week I've been thinking about how I can be a better missionary and there are a lot of things that I can improve on, but during personal study this week I was thinking about charity especially towards the people that I talk to on the Square. I read in Moroni 7 about charity and one of my favorite phrases in verse 46 is "charity never faileth". I've heard that phrase tons of times but when I thought of it within the context of my work on the Square, I realized that if I have charity -- or Christ-like love -- for the people that I talk to on the Square then ever contact I have will have been successful...charity never fails, even in awkward contacts. My goal is to be able to have every guest or member I talk to walk being able to feel the Christ-like love I have for them, especially while I'm at West Gate. Charity never fails.

A Good Week

New hairdo and recipe!

It has been a really good week and I can't believe that we're already in the last week of the transfer! This transfer has gone by a lot quicker than my first transfer. 

So this week Sister Williams and I took my first motor coach tour (that's when a motor coach tour bus comes and wants a tour). With summer coming up motor coaches are going to be more frequent and there is already a steady stream of Mandarin motor coaches. The motor coach that we took only had 16 people, which is kind of small for a motor coach, but it's the largest tour I've ever taken. Mandarin motor coaches can easily have about 50 people. We get to use a microphone when we take that many people around. We were given 30 minutes to show them around, which is a really short amount of time because it takes FOREVER for people to get from place to place. I'm learning how to give short and simple explanations of buildings and such. During companionship study Sister Williams and I have been trying to give the first three lessons in 2 minutes each. Considering it can take 30 minutes just to share the first lesson, it is really quite condensed. We're taking another motor coach tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be better prepared for it.

Yesterday we got another IRC! His name is Junior and he lives in Boise, Idaho. IRCs are the best. We taught him over the phone yesterday and we shared with him Alma 5: 45-46 and also taught him how to pray. He said a wonderful prayer at the end of the lesson. I love sharing the gospel. 

When we were at the desk this past week we had another miracle. We talked with William, from mainland China, and pretty much taught him the first lesson (the restoration) right there. He was curious about why our church is different from other Christian churches. So we shared with him the Book of Mormon and invited him to refer. When people come here from China and they refer, we can give them a Book of Mormon in Chinese, but we can't teach them over the phone or anything because China is closed to missionary work. So we collect their email addresses and information and put it in a box. My understanding is that when China opens up that we'll open that box and be able to send missionaries to them. William referred for a Book of Mormon so he can take it home and read it with his family now. I'm so excited for when China opens up for missionary work. It's just going to be incredible.

I learned something new this week. As missionaries for the living we wear our name tags on the left side, but family history missionaries wear their name tags on the right side because they are doing missionary work for the dead. I thought that was interesting.

Personal Study is the best. We get an hour every morning to study the scriptures and resources we have for being missionaries. One of the things that I'm working on is following the Spirit. In my personal study I found some really great verses about that in 1 Nephi 16:28-29:

28And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the ^afaith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.

29And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us ^aunderstanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by ^bsmall means the Lord can bring about great things.

These verses are talking about the Liahona which directed Lehi and his family when they were traveling to the promised land. The Liahona works a lot like the Spirit. If we have faith in it's ability to guide us and are diligent in keeping the commandments and also give heed to it, then it will take us where we need to go. I'm learning how to follow the Spirit in knowing what to say to people and who to talk to. 

I hope all is going well! Have a great week!

Being Myself

Hi Everyone!

It has been a great week here on the Square! I'm learning more and
more everyday. Lately I've been working on trying to be myself when
we're contacting people. It's something that I'm not used to--I think
I usually come off as shy and quiet and probably a little awkward, but
I'm trying to me more of myself quicker. Sister Williams told me to
think of the people that we're talking to as family. I don't know if
that helped much, but I'm working on it. I think I've gotten better at
relaxing and just trying to have a conversation with
people...something that I hope to be much better at by the end of my
mission.

The Conference Center is pretty much amazing. I love to take people
there. Yesterday we had two tours (with two people each) and we took
them to the Conference Center and everyone referred. It was a miracle
day. Three of them were Southern Baptists and I learned something
about what they think about our beliefs. They seemed to think that we
don't believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior. So Sister Williams read
a really great scripture from the Book of Mormon (I can't remember
which one it is right now) about how it is only through Jesus Christ
that we can be saved. They absolutely agreed with the doctrine. So we
tried to put a little more emphasis on our belief in Jesus Christ
throughout the tour. I think that they thought that we worship Joseph
Smith...or something. It's not true, Jesus Christ is central to our
beliefs and it's only through relying on Him that we can return to
live with our Father in Heaven again.

We also took a wonderful young family from Pennsylvania to the
Conference Center this week and they referred too. I love being able
to teach families. They're the best because the family is absolutely
central to God's plan for us and it's so neat to be able to help them
see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can bless their family. We're
planning on calling them tomorrow, cross your fingers that they pick
up their phone.

In my personal study this week I was learning about the Plan of
Salvation--especially the Atonement. I read Alma 34 (which is an
amazing chapter about the Atonement) and verse 31 caught my attention.
It says: "Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your
hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your
salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your
hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought
about unto you." I love how it says that immediately after we have
faith and repent that the Atonement takes over. It doesn't matter
where we've been in life, only where we're going. There is so much
mercy in the great plan of happiness.

Miracle week! (Not whip)

These past three days have been full of miracles! On Saturday afternoon, the last call I made in the Referral Center (RC) was to Monica who lives in California. She sounds like she is a busy woman trying to raise a family, work full time, and take care of her ill mother. Her mother is Buddhist and her father is Catholic so she didn't really grow up with a religion and she doesn't have one right now either, but she said that she had been to pretty much every church available to try it out. She had been to an LDS church service as well and she said that she really enjoyed it. If she were to join any church right now she said that it would be the Mormon church. As you can imagine, that made me very excited to hear. She referred for missionaries and I'm excited for them to teach her about how she can find that peace and understanding that she is looking for.

On Sunday morning we were at the Temple Construction desk because we had an assignment there. Sister Williams was standing by the desk and a woman and her husband walked up to her and asked her how she could get a copy of the Book of Mormon. Sister Williams was secretly jumping for joy inside because that is a very rare occurrence. They had just been to Music and the Spoken Word and she felt the Spirit there. She said that the moment she walked in the tabernacle she started crying. We got their address and phone number and we told them that missionaries could bring a Book of Mormon by for them and share more about it. She said that she would love to have a visit! I've never ever had that response to having missionaries before! I'm so excited for her to meet with the missionaries. She will be on vacation for the next while, but when she gets back she'll be ready to learn.

Next miracle. Yesterday Sister Williams and I realized that we don't really have very many people to teach so we decided to call all of the people in our list of people who have referred for missionaries so that we could set up a time to talk with them. We weren't really expecting anyone to pick up (because people usually don't) but we got a hold of Cari! She referred for the missionaries about two or three weeks ago over the phone (her friend referred her on the square and I was the one that called and talked to her...miracle she referred in the first place) and we hadn't been able to get in touch with her since. Her daughter got baptized about two years ago and so she had had missionaries in her house before. Last night we found out that she had met with missionaries earlier this week and that they were going to come back this Saturday! That means IRC (Investigator Referral Confirmed)! It's the first IRC we've had this transfer. We shared with her Alma 5: 45-46 about how we can receive revelation for ourselves. Receiving revelation takes diligent work, but the answer always comes. She said a beautiful heart-felt prayer at the end. I know she felt the Spirit. We're calling her again on Friday evening before the missionaries come again.

Oh! We also got to talk with Gillian from Scotland this morning (the one that referred last week)! We did a brief overview of the first lesson about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm excited for her to learn more. This is the most amazing message that anyone could share with a friend or family member. There is no down-side to learning more.

So in my personal study recently I've been reading the Book of Mormon again. I love 1 Nephi. One of my favorite passages from this past week is 1 Nephi 10:17-19. Faith leads to diligence which leads to answers. There is a lot more that you can learn from those verses too. I love the scriptures SO much!

Oh! I got to go to the temple this morning. I love the Temple. It's the most amazing thing ever. It made me remember that the Temple is the ultimate goal for everyone that I talk to. It would be incredible to have someone that I talk to or invite to be able to go to the temple. It's the best and you really learn about your potential as a son or daughter of God. That is something that I was reminded of in Fast and Testimony meeting on Sunday. If everyone knew who they were--a child of God with divine potential--how much more they would want to share this message and how much more people would want to learn about it. (1 Nephi 8:11-12)