Well yesterday it snowed all day up here in Utah, and I think we got over 7 inches of snow, it's the best!
This week has been pretty insane....the lights bring in so many people! There are people everywhere. It's funny to have come from Ogden because I have bumped into so many people that I know, and people have come looking for me but never find me (I hear from other sisters). I think my companion is tired of seeing people that I know haha
So I would have to say that the highlight of the week was seeing Grandma & Grandpa, Kyle & Cynthia, and Jordan & Loren! I was totally not expecting it and it made my day! I was so shocked though I was speechless, I had no idea what to say. And I had to go to an assignment but I just wanted to tell them THANK YOU so much for coming and spending time looking for me! It was great!
So the lights turned on last Friday. It changes things a little on Temple Square for us missionaries. We actually do not take tours after 5 PM anymore because there are just too many people. It is crazy, people are shoulder to shoulder, and it takes a lot longer to walk places. But it is a great missionary tool. We get to contact so many people. Our schedules change, too. Our dinners are cut in half and we have new assignments (I'll tell you my favorite next!), and the square is open later. So a zone is in charge of being on the Square until 10 PM twice a week, so that at least 1 zone is there every night until 10. So it makes for long days! Like yesterday we got up to do van maintenance at 5:45 AM and didn't get home until after 10 PM. But I actually like it, I like being there for the extra hour. It is a good tired.
So my favorite assignment we only get to do once a week, but it is the Christus. There are so many people that want to see the Christus that they have to rope off the ramp and people wait in a big line. They let about 50 people up at once. So we rotate jobs like being the ones that let people up, directing people where to go, or being the ones that play the Christus. We got to be the ones that play the Christus this week. It is my favorite because for an hour, every 3-4 minutes I get to testify to groups of 50 about Christ. I get to share my testimony of Christ with hundreds of people in an hour! It is so great. And even though there are a lot of screaming kids and rude people, I know that there are people who feel the spirit and that is all that matters.
I really try to listen to the Spirit when I testify so I can be able to know what I should say that people need to hear from the Spirit, and one particular time I was testifying, I felt like everything I said didn't make sense and that no one was listening. But as soon as I finished and people got up to leave, a man came up and shook my hand and said 'thank you for the Spirit that you brought, i have several non-members with me and i know they needed to feel that' I was really surprised! and really humbled...I felt bad for doubting that what I said was from the Spirit. It sure taught me a lesson!
So our investigators...With my new companion, I have gained a lot of investigators from India! They are really hard for me to understand with their accent haha but I am working on it.
It's been really hard to teach investigators in the Teaching Center (TC) because we try to be on the Square as much as we can, and sometimes we go days without having time in the TC. And a lot of my investigators are in different countries, so trying to find a time that works for both their schedule and ours is really hard too. But it will all work out.
I have had bad luck with anti's lately, it seems all the chats I take are anti, and we even had a request for a 1st lesson in the North Visitor's Center (we thought they would be golden!) but it was too good to be true, they were just anti's trying to ruin our testimonies. Heavenly Father is definitely helping my weaknesses (like in Ether) because anti's are really hard for me not to be rude! I am learning to deal with them with patience and not arguing. I just say thank you for helping build my testimony. I know this is true because I prayed about it, and you can too if you will pray about it. Have a great day. They are so hard to love though....
Well that's about all that is interesting here, I would just like to share one of my favorite stories that I think of often when times get tough, I am sure many have heard it! It is the Refiner's Fire:
Malachi 3:3 says:
"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."
This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God...One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says, "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver". She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time. The man answered that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was on fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh that's easy-when I see my image in it."
I hope you can think of that when times get hard! The Lord is purifying and refining you, and he is watching you carefully. And when we have endured the trial, He will see His image in all of us!
I love you all, hope you have a great week!
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