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.