Hello Hello! Okay, I apologize, I know
last week I wrote a bit of a novel to everyone, so I will try to keep it a
little bit shorter...there's just SO MUCH goodness out here being on a mission
and I want to share all of it with everyone. First things first though...
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| Trying on some fun hats during Zone Conference - see below:) |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DAD AND MY
BROTHER!
Both of them celebrated birthdays this
week and I want them to know I love them and am thinking about them. It's true
what we teach, "Families are central to God's plan." I know that families are
such a blessing from God and I am so grateful for the amazing and wonderful
family that I have.
IN THE DESERET NEWS:
Goodness, where to begin...this really
is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. There have been so many miracles this
week.
We always have our relief society
meeting on
Wednesdays since Sundays are absolutely crazy here. For
Relief Society, one member of our mission presidency, President Seppi, gave us
an amazing lesson. He talked about the heart ache experienced when the
Provo tabernacle burned down (check it out online). It was such a historic building
and held a lot of value and memories to the people there. Not too long after it
was burned, it was announced at General Conference that they would be turning
the old tabernacle into a new temple!
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| Our District family photo :) I love seeing all the different flags |
President Seppi has worked on the project
and stressed to us the amount of time and expenses being dedicated to preserve
what is already there, and to build from there. He related it to our own lives.
Even as missionaries, our testimonies are still growing, we still allow doubts
to creep into our minds from time to time when people reject Jesus Christ and
our testimonies. However, he continued to say, "Start where you are and build
from there." What you
do know will always trump what you
do not know. I know that when we doubt things, it is at our own peril.
Start where you are, start with what you do believe, and go from there. The
foundation that we each have is so important- it's vital that we never lose
that. I've had to apply that in my own life as a missionary. Sometimes there
are questions thrown at me that I'm not sure how to answer, sometimes I have
people who continually talk over me and continue to speak false things even when
I just sit there and try to politely smile at them. But I do know some things
for sure...
God Lives. Jesus Christ lives and is at
the very head of this church. Everything that we teach, everything that we
believe, the way our church is organized is exactly as it was in the time of
Jesus Christ. There was no reformation or changing of doctrines, rather, this
is the restoration of what was before. God's plan for each of us is perfect and
we can read about it in The Book of Mormon. Everything we teach, all the
doctrines found in this gospel-they're all true.
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| In the conference center :) |
Thursday was an absolutely crazy
day. I know that there is no way I could be doing this all just because...nope,
the thing that gets me through these long, hard days are my testimony of Jesus
Christ and this gospel. Otherwise there is no way I would leave my family, my
friends, my school for 18 months. I know that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father
anxiously wait to bless us when we do what is right, and I am experiencing that
every day.
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| This was Thursday...we were so busy with tours and had a few spare minutes to
sit in the shade and rest! |
Half of our Temple Square sisters were gone Thursday for Zone
Conference and Sister Lin was the only Mandarin speaking sister at Temple
Square. Our companionship took 5 tours all from 9-3, each tour is about 45
minutes-an hour. The wonderful thing though, is I never felt exhausted, all I
could do was smile. I feel so grateful to be in a mission where the work is
going forward and we are constantly busy. I have a very strong testimony that
this is where I should be.
One tour we took was a group of 10 Mandarin speakers
from Taiwan. It was our third tour and I was feeling a little tired and my mind
was having a hard time staying focused on what Sister Lin was saying
as..well...I still don't speak Chinese :) I just said a prayer in my heart that
Sister Lin would be able to invite the spirit and to help them recognize it, and
that I could do my part as her companion to support her. I just got the most
overwhelming feeling and in a way heard a voice say, "Just be yourself, be who
I created you to be."
I may not speak Chinese, I may not know all the history
yet, but I do have a testimony and I do know how to smile. So as Sister Lin
spoke, I just put on the biggest smile I possibly could. It came naturally too-
I could feel so much love for these people I couldn't help but smile.
Afterwards, half of the visitors came up and asked for a Book of Mormon. They
said they were touched by my big smile. Of course, I couldn't help but smile
bigger knowing that God had helped me, and that He really needs each of us to do
our best at whatever it is He sent us here to do. I am grateful for the holy
ghost that guides me in times like that. I know that I am being helped so much
out here :)
Friday- Zone Conference was
awesome! If you have never been to "This is the place," Heritage park, please
go. We had meetings in the morning all about taking large tours, how to teach
over the phones and on chat, and how to just better ourselves as missionaries
overall.
Afterward we got to explore the park with the other sisters. It's a
park of where some of the early pioneers lived. There was a pirate ship,
beautiful homes, and even a cow named Helga...she says "moo." :)
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| THIS IS THE PLACE park is so fun, we even got to ride on a train :) |
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| Pulling A Hand Cart |
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| By a little bridge |
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| I always find my way to swings. |
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| She calls me "baby bird" and it just warms my heart |
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| I found my twin! This is one of my roommates, she's from Canada and quite a lot
of people think we look alike, especially in this picture. She's so sweet! |
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Sitting in an old pioneer house :)
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The last few days have been amazing too.
Saturday I ran into some of my very closest and dearest friends at Temple
Square and oooh it just made me so happy! Each of them were all so silly about
it too...tapping me on the shoulder to ask a question, or sitting on a couch and
awkwardly staring at me haha Thanks to
Tom, Britania, Sean, Evan, Daniel and Taylor..you all made my day :)
Sunday I even got to go to Music and The Spoken
Word. Did you know there's a group called the temple riders? They ride their
motorcycles across country from temple to temple. I thought of my Grandpa on
his harley davidson doing something like that...I love you Grandpa Chuck.
Today- Today has been such a
wonderful day. Sister Lin and I were asked to take a group of young girls ages
8-11 around Temple Square. It was an amazing experience to take them all up to
the Christus statue and to invite them up to touch the prints in the Savior's
feet. I don't think I will ever forget that. I love how open children are to
new experiences and to learning. I know that when Jesus Christ says to come
unto him as little children that this is what he means. He just wants us to
come to him, to trust him, to listen to him and be willing to learn.
One little
girl named Kailey came up to me afterward, tapped me on the shoulder and
whispered in my ear, "I know that God is happy you're here. I know that even
though you're away from your family, He is really happy you're here and He loves
you." What she said made me so happy and almost made me cry. I am so grateful
for her faith and her action to come and talk to me like that. I pray that I
can be like that as a missionary--to just be bold, to let people know that God
is happy they're here at Temple Square and that He loves them.
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| I always, ALWAYS find dinosaurs |
And now,
my scripture for you all
is something that I came across and something that really stuck me. In
1 Nephi chapter 4, Nephi's brothers are doubting that God can help them to
complete a task even after an angel appeared to them and said that God would
help them. In vs 3 , Nephi says, "an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can
ye doubt?" I feel like sometimes we wait for a giant manifestation that this
gospel is true, that The Book of Mormon is the word of God. As missionaries, we
teach that all people can know that The Book of Mormon is true and that this is
the gospel of Jesus Christ through prayer and the Holy Ghost. Well..it hit
me...an angel can be a spirit, meaning, in a way, the Holy Ghost is an angel.
If we can know the truth of all things through the holy ghost, an angel, then
how too can we doubt? We may not be able to see this angel, but we can feel it,
and isn't that even better? Ohh when I realized that it just made me so happy
:)
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| Such a missionary, but the church really is true |
It's been a most wonderful week! I am loving it at Temple Square and am so
grateful already for my time as a missionary. Please know I think of you all
often and am always wishing for nothing but the best for you.
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| I made asparagus for our apartment...of course in my dinosaur shirt :) |
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| Sister Lin and I made a feast last night! |
Shoutouts to: Lauren Moran, Kennedy Rushing, Momma Briggs, Robert Donakey,
Britania and Tom Busath, Sean Burton, Daniel and Taylor for letters and for your
surprises. They all mean so much!
Love always,
Sunday I even got to go to Music and The Spoken
Word. Did you know there's a group called the temple riders? They ride their
motorcycles across country from temple to temple. I thought of my Grandpa on
his harley davidson doing something like that...I love you Grandpa Chuck.
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