I'm going to.......................................
..................................The Ohio Columbus Mission!!!
So I leave early in the morning on Wednesday and will be there until September 17th :)
No Temple Square sister has ever been there before so that makes me a little nervous, and no one else is going with me, but I know it will be great! I am way excited! I've known since Saturday, and have had to keep it a secret all week, but today they announced everyone that is going. They did it in a different way too. Usually President Poulsen just reads off the names of those that are going, and then they find out on the next Monday at Transfer Conference where they are going. But this time, the Assistant's pulled the missions where the sisters are going out of a hat and then said the sister's name. It was so awesome! Then we all sang the Temple Square version of Called to Serve. There is a video of it that I will try to attach but it's so big I don't think it will work.
Well it has been a great week!
We've been able to gain a lot of New Investigators and a lot of investigators are progressing! It's a little sad because I know that I won't be able to see their progression after I leave. There is a mission rule that we are not able to communicate with Sisters that are on Temple Square. We can only communicate with those that are also outbound. That is so that the outbound sisters can focus on the mission they're in, and not be thinking of Temple Square. So that means that I won't know who gets baptized or anything like that. But I will just have to wait until September!
So Tim's phone is not working, and I want to get a hold of him so he knows that someone else will be calling him for the next few weeks. His bishop hasn't been answering, so I really hope I can get in contact with him before I go!
Megan didn't get baptized :( Her mom said she would feel more comfortable with her decision if she had more time, so she pushed her date back to July 19th. I am really sad that I won't be able to see her be baptized over skype but it's not about me. I told her that I will be leaving for a while and she said that she was going to push the baptism back until I return. I was like heck no, Megan! It's not about me, it's about Jesus Christ and you need to be baptized. She is still planning on being baptized on the 19th. Sister Gearheart will get to skype in to it!
Cameron is doing great. He happened to be in Salt Lake today, so we had a lesson on the Square. He is making great choices and trying to be better each day. He is really excited for Saturday, and we are praying or a miracle that he will get approved by the First Presidency before then, we need a miracle!
We had a great lesson with Chad yesterday. He has been going through a hard time, so we were able to talk about the Atonement and the Restoration and what that means to him, and how the Book of Mormon can help him. He really softened up and he is looking forward to the local missionaries coming.
We had a really cool experience yesterday. We contacted these 2 men on the Square and offered to show them around Temple Square. They accepted, and I knew from the second we started talking to them that they were Anti's. We starting taking them on a tour, and we were asking questions about their religious beliefs and backgrounds, but they were really really elusive and wouldn't give any straight answers. We just continued bearing testimony and sharing beliefs. They started to ask a lot more questions during the middle of the tour. We took them to the "Scriptures and Revelation" area in the NVC and taught the Restoration. At this point, the Anti monsters were unleashed haha they began to interrupt and ask their best questions and bible bash. It was amazing though, usually I get really upset when people come here to our place and pose as sincere and interested and pretend to be someone else and then they turn anti, but we were just calm and answered their questions. I felt peace and the presence of the spirit. It was one of those moments that the Spirit spoke through me. I've had little moments like that, but this time, things came out of my mouth that were directly from the Preach my Gospel sections I had studied that week, they were not from me. They tried to catch us by saying, well you said you believe this, but what about this scripture in such and such book? And then out of nowhere, I would open up to another scripture that would explain how they were wrong, I have no idea how I knew the verses to share, because it wasn't me. It was just like the Spirit took over for me. I don't even know if this is making sense haha it was just one of those crazy moments where you're like, what just happened? There aren't even words to describe it. But we ended up needing to go because we had an appointment, and it ended great, they thanked us for our time and peacefully left. Usually they are really rude and security has to be called, but I was thankful that Heavenly Father was guiding us, and that they had a good experience with the church. Even if they are not open to the beliefs, they don't have a bad thing that they can say about their experience here.
Well that was the highlight of my week. In Preach my Gospel, it says something along the lines of "You can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when you feel the Spirit working through you." That was a humbling moment, and one of the coolest things that's happened on the mission. The promise that the Lord gives in D&C 100: "Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men;" was given to us. They didn't change and decide they want to learn about the church, they didn't break down crying and say that they were wrong, but we were not confounded, and they felt the spirit. That's all that matters!
Well enough of my ranting, I am so excited to serve the people in Columbus, Ohio! I hope to serve in a University ward, that would be way fun. There is a Temple in the mission as well! I feel so blessed, and I feel very strongly that there are people waiting there in Ohio. I am so excited to go find them!
Have a great week and I'll write you next time from Ohio :)
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