If Ye Are Prepared....

Sister Moore and I committed Sarah to baptism last transfer and she kept her commitment. Now Sarah is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! True to her word Sarah--our investigator that we found on the RC--got baptized on January 20th. What a miracle. I'm so excited for her. 

In other baptism news Nathan is getting baptized on February 4th! Sister Mendivelso and I found him them this transfer and his member friend that we met here on Temple Square is an absolutely incredible member missionary! I'm very grateful for members that are excited for missionary work. For those of you that understand Spanish, Germania sent us an email this week:

Sister Samantha y Karen: 

Hola como han estado yo muy bien gracias a Dios,yo fui al templo en
domingo con los misioneros y me gusta mucho ellos me ha ayudado con
las clases para recibir el bautismo el 4 de febrero. 

Muchas gracias por sus ayudas pues sin sus ayuda no hubiera logrado
localizarlo aqui en charlotte. 

Dios le de muchas bendiciones y sabiduria para guiar a las gentes.
 

I don't speak Spanish, but the important part is that she is getting baptized on February 4th! We also found Germania this transfer. It has definitely been a miracle transfer for baptisms.

 

This week Sister Mendivelso and I took around three men, probably in their late 20's, that were here in Utah for the Sundance festival (we've been getting a few visitors from that event). They work in the film department of a Christian camp. We showed them the temple model, the seagull monument and the tabernacle. The last place we went to was the Christus, and that is where they started to jump into deeper doctrine. One of the men had met with four different sets of missionaries back in California. It kind of made me wonder about his motivations for coming to Temple Square, but he asked us if the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers spiritual death in addition to physical death. Well that morning I had read about the Atonement in my personal study. In Preach My Gospel pg 52 (which I read that morning) it says "This triumph of Jesus Christ over spiritual death by His suffering and over physical death by His Resurrection is called the Atonement." So I knew the answer to that question. Then he asked us a question related to the Doctrine of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end), which I had studied that morning. Then he asked us a question about grace, which I had also studied that morning in John 15:1-11. Heavenly Father certainly prepared us for that tour with those men. We were able to help them understand that the Holy Ghost is essential to our conversion and that no amount of physical evidence will help us to know that anything of God is true (Matt 16:13-17). They didn't refer for missionaries, but everyone has their agency. It was a very spiritually draining tour, but I'm so grateful for personal study. "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear." (D&C 38:30)

 

Today Sister Mendivelso and I went to the Pioneer Museum by the Capitol building. There are a TON of old artifacts in that building and I found a picture of Ezra T. Benson and Adeline Benson with their two children. Adeline and Ezra T Benson are my great-great grandparents (correct me if I got the number of "greats" wrong). I also read a short biography about Adeline Benson about how she crossed the plains and settled here in Salt Lake City.  She gave birth to her first child under a ox-drawn wagon in the middle of the trek to Salt Lake. I saw on a map where Ezra T. Benson lived in Salt Lake City, which is right across the street from Temple Square. I have quite a bit of family history right here where I'm serving my mission! It is so neat that I get to come on my mission and tell their story.

Revelation on Temple Square

I had a really great week, but I'm having a hard time remembering what happened. We have a new mission president now: President Gillette with his wife Sister Gillette. They are really great people and they will be different from President and Sister Holmes, but also great. I look forward to getting to know them better. We all have interviews with President this week and most of my interview was spent asking about how things work in the mission. It made me realize that he knew almost nothing about the workings of Temple Square before he came here. There are a lot of things to learn, and he'll learn it all pretty quickly.

Today is our Zone Activity. Zone Activities take a lot of time out of your p-day, but I'm looking forward to it. We're watching a movie and eating pizza. It should be good.

We talked with one of our investigators this week--Will. His parents aren't supportive of him learning about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but he still wants to learn. He told us that it is more important to him to follow God than it is to please his family. He definitely has some incredible faith. He wouldn't have said that if he didn't already have a strong relationship with God, and he probably has his parents to thank for that. I hope that the missionaries can contact him soon.

One of the best parts of this week was our Zone Companionship Study. Sister Mendivelso and I organized a "Temple Square Experience" for the sisters in the zone because it is so important to love the place where you serve your mission. We took them to the temple model and talked about the foundation of the temple. They started with a sandstone foundation and later had to take it all out and replace it with granite because the sandstone cracked. We related that to the atonement because now it doesn't matter that the foundation used to be sandstone, all that matters now is that the foundation is granite--much stronger and durable than sandstone. It is the same with us, it doesn't matter who we were before or what we have done, all that matters is who we are now.

Then we went to the handcart monument and talked about the vision of the handcart pioneers. They saw the temple where they could make covenants with God and where their families could be united for eternity. They saw the Tabernacle where they could listen to a prophet of God. They saw the Assembly hall where they could worship with their families on Sundays. We asked the sisters to think about what their vision is of their mission. Where do they want to end up. 

We went to the Tabernacle and we sang "Come, Come, ye Saints". It sounded beautiful in that building. We talked about the Restoration and how it wouldn't have been possible if there wasn't someone who wanted to follow Jesus Christ. We are all part of the Restoration because we have that same desire. I had never thought of myself as being a part of the Restoration, but here I am!

The last place we went was to the Christus. Sister Mendivelso and I felt that the sisters in the zone were being too tough on themselves so we read part of President Uchtdorf's talk from General Conference--Forget Me Not:

"God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not.

And yet we spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others—usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does.

[...]

Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.

In the meantime, be thankful for all the small successes in your home, your family relationships, your education and livelihood, your Church participation and personal improvement. Like the forget-me-nots, these successes may seem tiny to you and they may go unnoticed by others, but God notices them and they are not small to Him."

I love that talk. It reminds me that all that really matters is our standing before God, and not our lack of success compared to others. Then we shared with the sisters the parable of the talents in Matt 25. I learned something new as we were sharing that with them. Even though the one servant had five talents and made it into ten and the other servant had only two talents and turned it into four, their master said the same thing to them in the end (Matt 25:21):

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithfulservant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make theeruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

It doesn't matter what other people's success are! All that matters is that you are striving to become better than you already are! I learned a lot that day. I'm so glad that the Spirit is so abundant here on Temple Square--it teaches me a lot.

Teaching in the Conference Center, distant relatives (maybe), and Will you be baptized...

Hello everyone! It has been a WONDERFUL week here at Temple Square. This week we had Zone Conference which is basically where we have a long meeting for the whole mission (half of the mission one day and the other half of the mission on the next day). There were two big focuses for this Zone Conference. The first was the contacting model. It basically helps you organize how to talk with someone and organize how to teach. It was organized kind of like a progressive dinner except instead of eating at each spot we taught a step in the contacting model. Sister Medivelso and I were in the Conference Center and the step that we taught was teaching and testifying. It was so neat to teach IN the Conference Center auditorium where the Prophet teaches the world what God wants them to know. We emphasized being brief and clear, asking questions, using the scriptures, and bearing testimony frequently. There are a lot of other things that you can do to teach, but those were the ones that we chose to focus on. I learned that the purpose of everything we do in the "teaching" step is to bring the Spirit because He is the true teacher. Without the Spirit nothing will make sense.

Then the next focus of Zone Conference was baptism. Baptism has been emphasized in Zone Leader Council, Leadership training, AND Zone Conference. I definitely have baptism in my head now and I think it is getting deeper and deeper in my heart. Baptism by someone holding the priesthood authority of God is the only way back to Heavenly Father. When I talk to people on the square, when I'm talking with them on the phone, and when I'm teaching our investigators I always have baptism in mind because that is my purpose as a missionary. There is no other way! (2 Nephi 31:21)

Since this is Sister Mendivelso's last transfer we also had the "Finish Strong" meeting to go to. President Holmes said something about scripture study that I really liked. He said, "how long you read is not as important as how much you apply it." I love that. By the way, today is President Holmes's last day as mission president of the Temple Square Mission. Sister Mendivelso and I met him and his wife, President and Sister Gillette, this morning. They are going to be great in their new assignment. We're going to have a mission meeting EARLY tomorrow morning and we're going to get to know them a little more.

The reason that Sister Mendivelso and I met our new mission president is because we were one of thirteen companionships that were asked to contact people on Temple Square with the new visitors' center directors. Each visitors' center and historical sight in the church has a director (Temple Square and Nauvoo have mission presidents, though). Visitors' Center directors start their assignments in January instead of July (like other mission presidents). My guess is that it is because summers are really busy at visitors' centers. Anyways, Sister Mendivelso and I were with the new director for the Cody Wyoming Mural Chapel. Guess who they are...Elder and Sister Smiley. Yes, I was just as shocked as you are right now. They are a wonderful couple and we had a great time on Temple Square. We only got to talk with one person, who is actually a teacher at the MTC in Provo, but it was a really great contact. In that contact we talked about what it would be like if everyone knew who they really were--children of God (Romans 8:16). Hopefully we helped them get excited about their new assignment and look forward to teaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in Cody, Wyoming.

This week Sister Mendivelso and I met Will through the referral center. We taught Will yesterday and he is such a wonderful person. We asked him what his expectations are for us calling and teaching him. He said that he is looking for the church that is right for him--he hasn't found it yet. That made my heart leap for joy because I know that if he is really searching for truth then this is where he will find it. We taught him about God and how He is our loving Heavenly Father and about prayer. We asked if he had ever had an answer to a prayer and he told us "yes". We asked how his prayer had been answered and he told us that he found out that there is an LDS church building in the town next to his. He thought that the nearest one would be hours away. What a wonderful prayer he must have offered. At the end we committed him to baptism by asking him if he "would follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" He answered with a firm "yes". We committed him to pray morning and night and ask God if baptism in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is what God wants him to do.

What a blessing it is to learn the gospel of Jesus Christ by teaching it everyday!

A HAPPY New Year...and Text

Happy New Year! It wasn't that exciting here on Temple Square, I went to bed at 10:30 and I didn't even hear the fireworks that went off at midnight. That's quite alright, though. This has been an incredible week though. There are three REALLY big highlights that I can think of right now.

FIRST, Sarah is getting baptized on January 20th!!! Yes, this is worthy of THREE exclamation points. If you'll remember, Sister Moore and I taught Sarah over the phone once. She was so incredible to talk with, she even pulled over to the side of the road so that we could talk with her. We taught her about the Restoration and why the Book of Mormon is important and she said that now she understood. So of course we invited her to be baptized right then and she said "yes". That was on December 19th and we couldn't get in touch with her after that. On Tuesday Sister Mendivelso and I sent Sarah a text, which said: "You feel God's love when you read the scriptures ". A few hours later we got this text back from her: "Thank you so much! I am being baptized on the 20th. Thank you so much!!! ". We literally jumped for joy when we got that text. It's probably the happiest text I've ever received in my life. Just a few moments ago I talked with Sarah's member friend, Jennifer, on the phone and she was absolutely ecstatic. Jennifer thanked me for asking if there was someone that I could call for her and she told me that Sarah is using her frequent flier miles to fly her out for the baptism. What a miracle. Heavenly Father loves each of us so much.

SECOND, we had Zone Leader Council on Tuesday (that was when Sister Mendivelso and I sent Sarah a text). Zone Leader Council was in the Capitol building last transfer and this transfer it was in the Relief Society building. It felt like we were meeting in a palace because that building is so beautiful. We met in the Presidents' room which has pictures on the walls of all of the presidents of Relief Society, Young Women's, and Primary. That building had a special spirit about it and one of the hosts there told us that it was built using the donations of sisters in the Relief Society. Each sister in the Relief Society was asked to donate $5 and they kept records of every sister that donated. 

Anyways, Zone Leader Council was incredible. That is where all of the Zone Leaders in the mission meet together with President and Sister Holmes and the Assistants and talk about what we need to do and focus on in the mission for the transfer. We talked a lot about accountability and it really made me think about whether I'm taking my accountability to the Lord seriously. Sister Mendivelso was already teaching me about accountability before Zone Leader Council because when she says her prayers each night she makes sure to give an accounting to Heavenly Father of her day's work (PMG 151). In my work as a missionary and after my mission I am accountable to Heavenly Father for how I use my time and someday I'll have to stand before him and tell him who I've become. We read a great scripture in Alma 5:15-19 that really helped me to understand how important it is to understand accountability:

15.  Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body? 

16.  I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth? 

17.  Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you? 

18.  Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God? 

19.  I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?

I sure hope that someday I can stand before God with a pure heart and clean hands.

THIRD, we had leadership training on Wednesday and that was also incredible. It was also in the Relief Society building. Sister Mendivelso and I presented about the 12 Week program that is used for training new missionaries and is also incredibly helpful in any training situation. We have quite a lot of material to study from as a missionary: the scriptures, Preach My Gospel, Our Heritage, White Handbook, etc. and the 12 Week program helps us know what we need to study and what materials are helpful so that we can come up to speed as missionaries as fast as possible. It was really fun to present.

Oh, I also got to talk with the young woman that has Crohn's just like me. I told her that God keeps His promises and that if she needs to go on a mission, then a way will be prepared for her.

I love being a missionary. I know that what we share is true and that baptism is the first step back to Heavenly Father. God answers prayers--no doubt. The gospel of Jesus Christ is real and I can prove it because I'm happy.