Hello!

This has been a good week. But a little sad. We are getting a new Mission President tomorrow, so this week has been filled with good-byes and such. I will miss the Gillette's, they were wonderful, but I am excited to see what President and Sister Poulsen are like, and what they decide to change.

So we have to move apartments, they are renovating some, and ours is going to be renovated, so they are moving us into one of the ones that have already been renovated. I am excited! But it stinks because I just barely unpacked. Oh well.

Anyways,

One cool thing that happened this week:

So way back in my first transfer, like my very first week, I took a chat from a man named David. He told me how he was meeting with missionaries, and how he really likes what he has been taught, but that he was scared that he wouldn't be allowed to be a part of the church because he didn't want a family. We were able to talk about it, and he was able to have peace with the issue, and even invited me to his baptism (too bad it was going to be in England). He gave me his contact information and logged off. When I tried to put it into my Online Area Book, another sister had his information which means that I could not input him too as a contact. I was really sad! That meant that I would never be able to hear how everything went, etc. Well this week, my companion said hey, I am going to contact this man (for first contacts, we don't teach together) that was transferred to me (She had taken a chat from him, and he too was in a sister's OAB but the sister transferred him to her). So I was taking care of some other things, and I hear her having a difficult time. She tells me that she is going to add me to the call because she can't understand his accent. So I put on my headset and looked over at the computer to see where he is from, and I see his name and email and it is David! The one I never thought I would hear about. Well come to find out, he wasn't able to keep his baptismal date and is at a standstill. He is ready to just drop everything he has learned, because he still doesn't believe that God exists (he was atheist) and he doesn't see why he needs the gospel in his life. We tried teaching him a bit, but he said that he had to go and that he doesn't think he will keep meeting with missionaries. When we asked him if we could stay in contact with him he didn't want to, but we just decided to be bold and asked him if he would one more time, put all his faith into it, and ask if there is a God. We asked if he would give it one more try. He hesitantly said yes. So we will be calling him this week to find out what happened! But I know that our companionship was inspired, how crazy is it that we both took chats from him but couldn't teach him, and then he got transferred to my companion, and we were put together where we can now teach him? That could only be from God.

Follow up on Tim:

So we called him, and he said that he was able to read the introduction page of the Book of Mormon like we invited him, and he even got to read a little extra! He said that he hasn't read anything that has seemed weird to him, and that he has had peace. We were able to teach him about the Plan of Salvation, and even then he said that nothing seems weird to him, and he likes the idea. Well, our goal was to invite him to church, and when we did that, he explained that the local elders had rubbed him the wrong way a little bit. If you remember, Tim is on Dialysis. So when they invited him to go to church and explained what it would be like, he tried to explain how hard it is in the mornings for him being on dialysis, and how some mornings he doesn't even make it out of bed. Well the elders told him that he had to go to all three hours, and he told them he couldn't do that. I am not sure if the elders had a misunderstanding, or maybe Tim did, I don't know but we were able to explain to him that Heavenly Father knows the desires of his heart, and that if He is doing his best to try to attend church and do what Heavenly Father wants to him, then that is all that matters. And if that is going to just 1 hour of church, or if he can't make it out of bed, or if he makes it the 3 hours, it is okay because Heavenly Father understands. He felt a lot better about that and said that if he could get out of bed, that he would go. So our goal was church, but I kept feeling like we should invite him to be baptized on a certain day so we invited him to be baptized on February 22nd. He hesitated, and said that he isn't ready and and some other things, and we explained that we wouldn't let him be baptized without being ready, and that we were here to prepare him and the local elders as well. We also explained the special symbolism of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost and having proper authority because he said he had previously been baptized. He felt a lot better afterward, and soft-committed to Feb. 22nd but he said that he would pray about it to see what Heavenly Father wants him to do. The hard part is that he is only available once a week, which isn't too bad, I would just rather follow up more often than that, and to teach him more because he is so prepared. But he is a truck driver, so it is a little hard for him. But I am still so grateful for the chance we have to teach him! He is really special to me, and I wish that I could teach him in person, so maybe I will just go outbound to Seattle! haha Just kidding. But really....maybe I will. That would be pretty cool.

We were also able to teach Toni this week. We followed up on her previous commitments, and she said that she still knows it's all true, she just wants to read and pray more. We taught her about Keeping the Sabbath Day, and church attendance. She took it pretty well, and we had great discussions.She hasn't gone to church because she goes to her own church and doesn't want to confuse her daughter by going to another. She's liked everything that we have taught her except that I said one thing that didn't stick right with her...When we taught the Plan of Salvation, I mentioned that before we came here we picked our family. Well she grew up with a really hard life I will leave it at that, and so she feels sick at the thought of her picking her family. It is hard for her to realize that, but I know she picked them, because if you look at her life now, she has risen to so much of her potential that she could have not done it any other way than having that family. And she was placed there because God loves her. Well, I just apologized and told her to pray about it. She wasn't upset, she just didn't really understand. Well later on in the lesson, my companion asked a really inspired question (too bad I don't remember what it was). It was something along the lines of what more do you need to be doing in your life to receive an ultimate conviction, and to be better in your life? She said, I need to go to church. I was shocked! We had been waiting for that for weeks! She finally realized that she needs to put her faith into action. I am really excited to hear how it went, and she said that she can go to church, and still have time to make it to her church, so everyone's happy. It was a miracle.

Another miracle,

My first transfer I got a chat from a girl named Carleigh who attends Duke University. Her question was, how do I know if I should join this church? Well We chatted about it, she gave me her email, we emailed for weeks, met with the institute president and missionaries, and all was good until one time she asked how I gained my conviction of the Gospel. Well, I bore my heart and soul to her in a long email, and I never heard back from her for over an entire transfer...I emailed her 5 times since then. Well at some point with no response, we have to drop them. On Tuesday, I emailed her for the last time, telling her that I respect her decisions and that I didn't want to bother her but that if she was ever interested in learning more, she could reach out at any time, that I would always be there. So I sent it, and dropped her. Well later that night, I get online and she replied! She said that she went out of the country, and that she hadn't been checking her school email. She apologized and said she would send me a more thorough reply. Miracle! I guess I can un-drop her. haha I am so thankful for that. I feel a special connection with her, and I am excited for her to progress.

Well there are many wonderful things that have happened this week, but unfortunately I don't have time for them all. I love the new assignment that we have, and I love my companion.I love my family and all they do for me, I love being a missionary and I love this work. Above all, I love my Savior. I love Jesus Christ, that is why I am here.

I hope you are all doing well, and that you have a great week! Love,

Ciao!!!

So it is officially a new transfer and I have a bunch of new's news. So I have a new companion, a new apartment, a new zone, a new p-day, a new assignment, and a new Mission President (coming next week). My new companion is Sister Bonvisutto from Italy! We are in Temple Square Guest Services this transfer. Guest Services organize all the tours, investigator lessons, and answer people's random questions. It's really fun, and was one of the things I really wanted to do this transfer! I really wanted an assignment, because this transfer is especially slow on the square without lights and before summer. It makes for a lot of walking around without people, and so I wanted an assignment so that I could appreciate the square time I do have this transfer. It is a good balance, the amount of time is basically split between Guest Services and Square time each day, plus we have Teaching Center time.

This week we said goodbye to President Gillette (even though he doesn't leave for another week, the departing sisters wanted to all be able to say bye together). We sang a really sad song, and we all made home-maid leis and put a lei around them. There were so may it was like when Tommy from Tommy Boy inflates the life-vest on the airplane haha and then they had more hanging off their arms. It was really cool. They will be so missed. But I am excited to meet the new one.

Last Thursday, we as a mission were able to go to the new Museum in BYU the "Sacred Gifts" exhibit. It was really cool! They are paintings of the Savior from cathedrals done by Carl Bloke, and others. They lent us the original paintings to have in an exhibit to bring people closer to the Savior. Then afterward, we went to a Stake center, where a ward served us lunch and a ton of cookies! It was so great, and I am thankful for members who are willing to serve.

I will share just a few of the experiences from this week:

I had a chat I mentioned I think last week, when I was saying that we had miracles to meet our numbers. Well, one of those was named Christina. She said that she wanted a Book of Mormon because her husband is a member, but doesn't go to church, and she had been reading his copy, but wanted her own. She said that he had been answering her questions, but that he couldn't answer them all, and she wanted them answered. We were able to help with questions, and when we asked if we could continue to teach her, she gave her phone number and I recognized the area code from when I went to NAU. I asked if she lived in AZ and she said she had, in Snowflake, but now lives in Colorado. So we talked a little about that, and then said that we would talk to her later. I felt such a connection! We referred the local missionaries, and I called her yesterday to see if they brought her B.O.M. She said no, and we chatted for a while, and it got brought up that I am from Tucson. She said, oh I actually went to High School down there, at Mountain View High School. I was like what! That's where I went! She is a little older than me, so I never knew her. but I know Heavenly Father put her in our path so that we could find a connection, and build trust from kind of knowing each other, it was such a miracle! I am excited for her to learn more. It is humbling that Heavenly Father would trust me with His children....

Update on Tim. We taught him lesson one last Saturday. He was so receptive! He wasn't grumpy, and at the end of the lesson, he said that it wasn't weird, and that he felt peace. We were able to help him realize that that is the spirit, and that if he will pray, Heavenly Father will answer his prayers, and he can know for himself that it is the spirit witnessing to him that Joseph really saw what he saw, and that this really is Christ's restored Gospel. He is very open, and is going to do that. We asked if he would go to church the next day, and he said, well I actually have plans to help a friend move, but I can go next week. We were like what the heck so great! We didn't expect him to go since we were asking the day before, and it was so wonderful that he was willing to go the next week without any hesitation. I know that this gospel can bless him, and I think he is realizing that too. He said that he felt so peaceful afterward. And the local missionaries had an appointment with him later that day, so I can't wait to talk with him on Saturday to see how he is doing, and how the appointment went.

A couple days ago, we took a mom and her 3 little kids on a tour. She is catholic and came for a vacation to ski. We took them to God's plan and the kids loved it, and she cried the whole way through. We tried to testify the entire tour and we know that she felt the spirit. She even took a Book of Mormon, but didn't want to learn more. It was a little discouraging at first because I know she wants to live with her family for eternity just like we shared with her, and I know she felt the spirit, but I guess it's not her time yet. Maybe she'll open up the Book of Mormon out of curiosity, and maybe that will change her. But I know that we can have peace because we did all we could do. In the end, everyone still has their agency, and we never know if they will change, and remember their experience later.

Well, that's it for now, just a lot of changes this week .It is going to be a good transfer, and I look forward to all the opportunities and miracles that Heavenly Father places before us. I know this Restored Gospel is true, and I hope you all have a great week,

A Couple Stories

So I am going to start off with the funny story of the week...it is one of the funniest/weirdest things that have happened to me yet so far!

So we were covering for some sisters on desk at the Eternal Families desk, which is in the South Visitor's Center, right off of the South Gate of Temple Square. So, we are going about our business, and all of a sudden, this man comes right in the gate, in the doors, and intensely up to me. He's got this weird writing on his hands, and he walks up and says I just really feel like I need to be here today (And looking back now, I had trouble finding words to say because the spirit was not present, and so I was just finding words to say on my own). So I say ok...well what is going on in your life? I was thinking he would start unloading his troubles about how he hasn't been to church and how his life has gone wrong but I was wrong! He gets really close to my face and whispers, this is going to sound blasphemous but.....I am the Savior. I know I am! I just want everyone to be able to know, and I just try to do good! And he starts crying, and then stops suddenly. At this point, I am trying so hard not to start busting up laughing, and trying to hide my smile. I say, ok so what do you expect out of being here today? And he says, just love, and guidance. So I say, yeah definitely, I know that God loves you and that you will be able to feel the spirit here on Temple Square. So why don't you go take a seat over in front of the TV and I'll get someone that can come talk to ya! And He smiles and says great, thank you! So he goes and sits down. I call security, and while they are on their way, I look at him, and he is nodding and shaking his head, and talking to himself, and crying. Well security gets there, and observe him, and he told me that he isn't violent but that he's either having a mental break or on drugs (obviously haha). But they said if he starts getting violent, to pull the panic pull, which is like a red button at a bank. So we had to leave, but the sisters that came to relieve us told us later that he had started crying uncontrollably, and causing a scene in front of the guests and freaking them out, so they called security again, and security had to come and a doctor came and tranquilized him and took him into police custody. So crazy!

So I think my favorite story of the week happened last Friday. We were stationed in the Assembly Hall, and there was going to be a little concert so we were contacting people before it started. We talked to some people and then we saw this man we both wanted to talk to. Well we start talking to him, Tim, and he is this grumpy middle-aged man who came from Washington for Christmas by himself to "get away." well He wasn't very pleasant to be around, and I wanted to just go talk to someone else, but I remembered my personal goal for the week that I had set, to love everyone. So I decided to love him. I tried to share that we care for him, and help him feel God's love. Well come to find out, his wife doesn't want to be married to him anymore, he never had any kids of his own, only step kids, and he is in level 4 kidney failure, and has been on dialysis for the past 3 years. Then we found out that after getting in trouble with the law with alcohol, he quit drinking 18 years ago, and quit smoking 16 years ago. That opened up something that we could testify about (just like a quote from Elder Holland I will share!), and he started to soften up. Then I remembered something that one of my MTC teachers had shared with me. It was a question. So I decided to ask him, I said Tim, who do you want to become? He got really quiet and thought for a while and said, I don't know, I have never thought about that...and he softly said, I guess kind and happy. Then we were able to testify about Jesus Christ, and how all things are possible through Him, and we can become what we want through Him. Then he really softened up, and we explained about the Book of Mormon, how it is another testament of Jesus Christ, and how we can learn more about Him. The performance was starting so we said, can we give you one of these? And he said sure. So we ran and grabbed one, wrote a little note in the front in chicken scratch, and gave it to him, and asked if we could keep in contact to follow up with the BOM and see how he is doing and he said yeah sure! then, we came back and picked up the referral card and not only did he check the box, 'I want to learn more,' he also checked the box 'please send local missionaries to my house'!!! That could have only been the work of the Lord. I am so excited to talk with him, and see how the Book of Mormon can change his life! Huge miracles this week.

Happy New Year!

2014, are you ready for it? I can't believe it!

Well it has been a really good week!

It was good to talk to everyone last week, and then I also got to take Adam, Kami and Eli, Nathan, Jenny, and Kami's parents and brother on a tour! It was so fun.

So this has been a week of miracles! We've really been prayerfully planning, asking to know what goals we should set, and then relying on the Lord to help us meet those numbers, and He has been answering our prayers. At the end of the week, we were really short in one area of numbers, since it was Christmas and Christmas Eve, but in one day, we got the remainder of our goal! It was a miracle.

One miracle, we were on desk in the South VC and our goal for that assignment was to give out a Book of Mormon. Well, this host from the JSMB [Joseph Smith Memorial Building] walks in and brings this man up to me and says, this mas would like a Book of Mormon. He just saw the Restoration video, and wanted to know how he could get a Book of Mormon. Well, He ended up referring himself so we can teach him, and wants to meet with local missionaries, AND took another book to give to his brother! Heavenly Father just let that fall into out hands...we were speechless!

We've been having a lot of miracles on chat but have had to wade through a lot of trolls....I am not sure if you are familiar with what a troll is (i wasn't before I came here) , but it's when someone is directed to go to a particular site and has to say a certain phrase. So usually they start out by asking a good question that makes them sound like they are interested, and then at a point, they'll say that random phrase and then they wait for our response and copy and paste it on a troller website where they get points for it, and everyone can go and look at it and laugh. Well, last weekend, multiple websites blasted us on their website and we had thousands of troll chats, they are such a waste of our time! Some of them end up being miracles, where they are really interested but 99% are wastes. So we had to wade through those, but we have had a ton of blessings from doing so, and have found many new investigators that we are very hopeful for.

Here is that quote from Elder Holland:

“More important than speaking is listening. These people are not lifeless objects disguised as a baptismal statistic. They are children of God, our brothers and sisters, and they need what we have. Be genuine. Reach out sincerely. Ask these friends what matters most to them. What do they cherish, and what do they hold dear? And then listen. If the setting is right, you might ask what their fears are, what they yearn for, or what they feel is missing in their lives. I promise you that something in what they say will always highlight a truth of the gospel about which you can bear testimony and about which you can then offer more. … If we listen with love, we won’t need to wonder what to say. It will be given to us—by the Spirit and by our friends”

Well the list goes on and on, but this email is already so long, I apologize. I hope you all have a great week, and remember that nothing is impossible through Christ! I love this work.

Merry Christmas!

This will be my Christmas email because p-day is on Christmas so I won't get to email. But we'll get to talk on the phone so even better!

This week was crazy....and it is only Wednesday!

So Sunday we spoke at a different ward, it was fun! We ended up with only about 2 minutes each to speak, but it was good. It was nice to experience that.

On Monday, we got to.....drumroll.....eat at a members house! One of the couples in my mission President's ward had my district over for a Christmas Dinner! (Different couples had other districts over, so all the sisters get to do that, it wasn't just our district) Oh man was it good. We had roast beef on rolls with a ribbon salad, fresh vegetables, funeral potatoes, and all types of deserts....I had thirds I was so stuffed. Then we talked about our Christmas traditions, the food we eat, and got to play parts in a narration of 'The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever' It was great! It was such a treat to be fed!

So we were going to go straight home, but then we found out that some people from my companion's ward in India were here with some friends and wanted to see her so we ran (literally) to the square to see them. Well, as it turns out, the friends that the people from India were with were my cousin Megan and her husband Eric and his parents! So crazy. So we are talking to thm and guess who I see.....my entire YSA ward from Ogden was there! So we ended up staying and talking with them, it was so fun to see everyone.

Yesterday morning, all the sisters had the opportunity to go on an organ tour. We got to go behind the scenes and see what the organ really looks like from behind, in both the Tabernacle and the Conference Center!

The Tabernacle has 11,623 pipes ( i feel like i am giving a tour) and the Conference Center has 7000 i think, and we got to see them! Some are 32 ft. tall, and some are just 1/4 inch tall.

But when we were in the conference center we got to go on the stage, play the organ, go in the choir seats etc., and so I went and sat in the Prophet's chair! (I hope that isn't sacrilegious haha) but i had to do it.

Today we got to go to the Temple! It was so great, I really miss being able to go once a week...but I am so blessed to be able to go every six weeks, most missionaries do not get that.

It's been weird getting used to live sessions but good too. I love the SLC temple. I actually got to do a name for someone who brought some sisters some names for his family that he couldn't do since he is male. So it was really cool to be able to help someone do their family history (not that temple names aren't helping but you know what I mean).

So this week has been a week of miracles, we have found several new investigators and had multiple less-active lessons, which are a little harder to come by.

One of the less actives, Alisa came to Temple Square by herself a couple nights ago. She moved from Michigan and hasn't really gone to church but she acted like she was all happy. We could tell it was just a front though. She wanted to see the presentation God's Plan for His Families so we ended up taking her through it by herself, which is rare with all the people. I know that that was the work of God though because we needed to get to know her needs and we couldn't have done that with 10 other people in a big group. So at the end, we really just felt like we should tell her how much God loves her. We said, you know, we don't know what you are going through, but there is one person that does. Christ has felt what you are feeling, and has gone through what you are going through. She started crying and said that she is going through a lot. We invited her to pray and to work towards the temple, and she gave us her phone number so that we can continue talking to her and helping her get there.

We also found a new investigator on chat! Her name is Nan, and she lives in London England. She came on chat and had some questions. We taught her the Plan of Salvation in depth, and she really liked it. She found it really interesting. She is not religious at all, but lately has been really interested, and when she tried asking questions about where she is going after this life, why she is here etc., no one could ever tell her. So she liked that there was a solid answer. She committed to pray that night and we called her the next day. she prayed! She said she enjoyed praying. We got to teach her the Restoration and Priesthood. A lot of people get overwhelmed so we try not to teach as much at once, but she is so hungry for information, she wants to learn about it all! She said she will pray to know if it is true and committed to start the Book of Mormon. She is a student, and just finished the semester so she is going home for the holidays and said that we can call her when she gets back January 6th (I know so long time :( ! ) But she gave us her email so we could email until then. She is really willing to keep commitments, it is refreshing.

Toni, the lady we have been teaching for a couple months is still doing well. We have an appointment with her Friday, and we are hoping to set a baptismal date.

We have some other new investigators from chat too, Miracles come from chat! But this week we have had a lot of pranksters and antis too....but it is worth it.

One thing that I think is cool are our zone challenges. Each day, our zone leaders text out a challenge that we complete. We have a Christmas tree cut out of paper that we have hanging up, and if we complete the challenge, we get to put a "light" (colored dot) on the tree! and it is lighting up so fast! The challenges are so fun. Like this week some of them were to commit a couple to do companionship inventory, sharing our testimony of Christ with 2 pregnant ladies, testifying to someone in a white scarf, getting a RM to be a member present in a lesson, or committing youth to start preparing for a mission by using PMG. It's so fun because we usually by some miracle find someone to help us complete that challenge every day! It's really cool.

Some sisters were down in the tunnels last Friday and saw 10 of the brethren at once going to a meeting.....I am so mad. I haven't seen any yet....but my time will come! :)

Tomorrow for Relief Society, it is being held in the Relief Society building, so I am pretty sure we will have a "special" speaker! Man us Temple Square missionaries are so lucky!!

That is what I have really realized this week. How much I love the mission I am called to. I am sad that I wasn't more excited before because it is the best place to serve! Heavenly Father really knows me and knows what is best for me....I love being here!

I cannot believe it is Christmas next week and already time to call home....it is going to be weird but really cool. I know Christ lives, and He was born in a manger, the Prince of Peace. He is why we celebrate Christmas, and I love Him. He is our Savior!

So Merry Christmas, I hope you enjoy the celebration of this last special week before everyone gets excited for the next holiday. This is the best!

Love,

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

The Sister in front on the left taking the picture is Sister Simons
 who was on her outbound in our (Adam & Kami's) ward!

Well this week was a pretty busy one. We also got about a foot of snow dumped on us it's great! The best part of snow here is that it is constantly sliding off of the tabernacle and I can't wait for the day when it just nails someone! haha it almost happened to my companion and I.

Well I guess I will start out with my experience with Temple Service!

I was so excited to be able to finally do it!

So there were 10 of us sisters, and they grouped us with a stake from Tooele that was there for service as well. They had us change into all white and then they took just the sisters up to....................The Assembly Room! Holy cow, that was so cool! The Assembly Room was originally used to dedicate the Temple, but now is used for devotionals, meetings etc. for church leadership (a.k.a. the Prophet!). We got to set up chairs in there, and then dust. Then we were able to see the Talmage room where James E. Talmage wrote Jesus The Christ. There is even a little bathroom in there haha. Then we went down and cleaned the baseboards of hallways, etc. It was really cool to be able to clean in the Temple, it is pretty meticulous, but it is the Lord's house after all. The Pioneers did 800x the work I did daily, so I can scrub baseboards for a few hours. They gave us popcorn and cookies too. Temple Service is the best!

We also got to go the the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. All the Sisters! A YSA ward covered all our assignments for us. We were seated in Plaza 11, which is the middle front section! Not really close, but real good seats. Man it was so good, I loved Elder Nelson's use of media, I had never seen that before, it was really neat. Especially the part of his grand kid's singing!

So on Sunday at church, we actually arrived really early, so we were just quietly waiting for it to start when all of a sudden I look up and Elder Quentin L. Cook is sitting on the stand!! I was like what the heck that's Elder Cook! Turns out my Mission President saw him in the elevator, and he mentioned that he wanted to attend an early church because he is always going to Stake Conferences and wants to be able to take the sacrament. So my Mission President said, well, you can come to ours, we meet at 7:30. So he said he might do that then he did! And he might come back more! He didn't get to speak to us though. what a surprise for the sisters that were speaking that day! It was so funny because one sister was giving her talk and she goes, I wanted to share this story about Elder Holland. I just love Elder Holland so much, He is my favorite-- and then she turned around to Elder Cook and everyone busted up while she tried to make up for it. Then all the other sisters quoted pretty much every apostle except him haha. But one sister spoke about Elder Cook's visit to the Philippines where she is from and I think that really meant something to him. I really wish we could have heard him speak though!

So Elder Don R. Clarke of the Seventy is doing our mission tour this week. For three days he comes and talks to us with his wife, basically helping us to become better missionaries, and more purpose centered. It was really good. My group got to go yesterday and it was from 8-3:45 so very long but it went by really fast and we all learned so much! He is a really intense guy...Also, I had to say the closing prayer. I have a cold and everyone thought I was crying, I guess I sounded like a turtle or something haha but he shook my hand after. hopefully I didn't give him my cold...

So the Sisters that speak in our Sacrament meeting are usually in their last transfer. Only sisters that are going home soon have to speak, so I thought I would be in the clear until I found out that every week, sisters get sent over to local wards to go speak and give musical numbers. And guess who is speaking in Riverton this Sunday.....yep! we are. So not only do I have to give a talk sounding like a turtle, but I have to sing like it too! Those poor people in the congregation. It will be good practice for outbound though.

I will tell you about one tour that we took this week. They were 4 men from China. We started talking to them, and took them to the Temple Model. For some reason I just started teaching about the Temple as if they already knew who God was, etc., when my companion asked them what their religious beliefs were. Turns out they are all Atheist! Well of course, they are from mainland China, where that is common.They believe there is no God. I guess my belief in God is so strong, I forget that's people even believe differently. So after that point, we tried very hard to focus on testifying and bringing the Spirit, so that they can know that God is real. The whole time I was thinking I have to help them feel of God's love for them, I have to help them know that God is there. We took them to a few places and ended at the Christus where were talked about Christ. They said they felt peace. I know they felt God's love! We were able to give them Chinese material, and Chinese B.O.M.'s however there is a strict policy with China. We can teach them while they are here, and give them material, but we cannot contact them after they go back to China. So we just have to hope and pray that they will remember the spirit they felt, and read the B.O.M. and gain a testimony of it.

It has been fun to be able to talk to lots of people with the lights. Each night is distinguishable too, like Mondays are Family Nights and YSA FHE nights,Tuesday and Wednesday are mutual nights, and Friday Saturday and Sunday are date nights, which mean awkward couples! That's always fun. But I love talking to the youth and talking about future missions with them. It's really fun to take big groups like that through God's Plan to be able to show them why they should serve a mission. It's not about Baptisms, but it's about the Temple, and it's really neat to be able to show them that.

So I have been teaching a lady named Jennifer for a couple weeks. She is from Virginia and was a former investigator until she heard some false information about the church and decided to drop her baptismal date. Anyway, she decided to call in for a free Bible, and I decided to try to help her. She became interested again, and when we called her this week, we were able to teach her about the Word of Wisdom. She knows all the lessons, and reads daily from the Book of Mormon, She is halfway through Mosiah. She says she knows it's all true, the B.O.M., Joseph Smith, Modern Day Prophets, all. But she is a chain smoker and drinks coffee. We talked a lot about the W.o.W. and explained how the Atonement makes anything possible, and we invited her to live the W.o.W. and she said yes. Then we invited her to be baptized on January 4 and she said yes. So we texted her last night to see how she was doing and she said good. Then out of nowhere, she said she didn't want us to contact her anymore. So we call her and she says that she decided it's all false and that she doesn't want to change. she is happy in her religion and thinks that our church is false. Man that hit us hard! She went from being so ready to dropping us. We think that she might have some mental disorder or something because it has previously happened with the local missionaries. But we were just really sad because we wanted to see her change. But we let her know that we love her, and that we will always be here. In the end, everyone has their agency....

Well, it has been an exciting week! Today for p-day we are going to get free scalp treatments (free for missionaries yipee) and clean our apartment. It'll be great!

I hope everyone is having a great week and is getting ready for Christmas!!

Have a great week,

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

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!