Created in God's Image

With MTC companion Sister Marsh during transfer planning.  She is training this upcoming transfer! 

Hello and happy happy day to everyone! I truly cannot believe it is half-way through September already.  My two transfers as an Assistant to the President finish tomorrow, and I begin a new transfer on Wednesday with a new companion and a new assignment as a Zone Leader here in the Temple Square Mission.  I have never felt so much love as I have been serving here in the office.  

With our dinosaur door! I love my companion--she has taught me so much this transfer and I am so excited for her and Sister Yeung (Hong Kong) this upcoming transfer

Sister Palmer ( California) and Sister Lau (Hong Kong) decorated our office door with dinosaurs--how thoughtful, they even have missionary badges!

When I came into the office, I created a small journal to keep track of the assignments we had and the inspiration I would receive from working so closely with President and Sister Poulsen.  On the front of this journal is a quote from God's called Prophet on the earth today, President Thomas S. Monson.

It reads, "What is most important almost always involves the people around us."

This quote has become rooted in my heart as I have served here.  As words from a Prophet, we are encouraged to pray and ask God if these truly are His words as well.  I testify that these are the words of God, and so my brothers and sisters, imagine the Father of us all saying this very same quote.

"What is most important almost always involves the people around us."

A surprise celebration for President Poulsen on his birthday! Ohh how we love him! Families--I can promise that your missionary's mission Presidents are hand-picked by the Lord, and your family members are being looked out for and prayed for every single day.

Time and time again through the Bible, The Book of Mormon, the modern revelation that we have received through the restoration of the gospel, we have been told of our importance in the eyes of God, we have been told that the worth of our souls is great.  How then can we ever doubt that we are the people that at one point surrounded God, and that His love, His mercy, His influence, His gospel is all around us today? We are most important to Him because we truly are around Him, and lived around and with Him before this life, and I had a very special experience yesterday here on Temple Square that solidified and strengthened this testimony.

Yesterday, we were blessed by the Lord to be in the right place at the right time.  Our best friend and sister, Jacque, invited us to the North Visitor's Center to come and play the film "God's Plan for His Family." As we walked up to the Christus, we were next to a young couple from Idaho, who being led by the Spirit, asked if we could play the God's Plan video for them.  What a blessing it was that that was the very direction we were headed at that precise moment, and that the video room was open and free for us all.

With my wonderful sister Jacque on our day of miracles! Music and The Spoken word was so moving and brought the Spirit so powerfully!

As we entered the first room with Jacque and this young couple, we saw they were covered in tattoos and both wore CTR (Choose The Right) rings on their right hand.  They said that they had fallen away from the gospel, but that they were trying to come back for their family and for their own personal relationship with God as well.  It meant so much to them to come back that they had chosen to come to Temple Square to celebrate their year anniversary of marriage.  The spirit filled the room, and I know Sister McQueen, Jacque and I all prayed earnestly in our hearts that they would feel and see what it was they came to Temple Square looking for.

They talked about the desire they feel to go back, and we related it to the way we sometimes feel about our family vacations.  We have these wonderful adventures together, and when we come home we often find ourselves looking through the photos and remembering the good times we had.  In the same way, we feel that desire to return when we have wandered to different paths from the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We see things that remind us of what it was like to be there, those pictures or images in the details of our lives that remind us of who we are as sons and daughters of God.

As we went through the different rooms (it is a moving film where you walk from room to room), so many principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ stood out to me that I had never quite thought of in such a personal way before.  In the second room you are in the setting of a baby's room. A film plays on the wall that ends with a line from the Family: A Proclamation to the World which reads, "All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God." I thought for a moment of a different meaning of image--of a picture, just like the photos I mentioned earlier that remind us of our favorite family trips. Sometimes we search and search through our photos, trying to find the best one that has all the family members and in the best setting. I know that God has one large image, one large, perfect picture, and it contains each and every one of us.  He created a perfect plan for us, the Plan of Salvation (http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/plan-of-salvation) and we were created as the perfect plan and image for Him. We really are His family, and He would do anything for us--He already has! 

Sharing one of my new favorite scriptures from The Book of Mormon with Sister Palmer (Alma 32:23). 
The scriptures really do bring joy and relief!

Being able to ponder that as we continued through the rest of God's Plan with this wonderful couple and with Jacque and my companion, brought such a strong spirit to my heart--and the Spirit testifies of truth.  Knowing this, that we are part of God's image, that we were created to be in His image, in His picture, answered so many questions of people we have been teaching, and for myself as well.  So often we say that the gospel gives guidance to the future, but what about answering questions of the past?  I know that each of us can look back, with the gospel in hand, and be able to now make sense and bring purpose to the things we have seen and been a part of. When we recognize this,we really can see that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everything, that it heals everything past, present and future. 

May we ever remember that in every picture that God has, that each of us are there, and may we decide today that we will be diligent in seeing Him in every picture and image that we have--for I testify and promise as His representative that He is there--we are His children, what a beautiful family picture. 

Patriotic Dress to remember 9/11

I love this gospel, I love my opportunity to share it with absolutely everyone I meet, and I know it to be true.  I thank my Father in Heaven each and every day for even the smallest moments that He allows us to serve those around us, for each and everyone of us are around Him.  May we please stay there and be near to Him--that is how we will forever feel we have found home in this life.

I love you each! If there is anything I can ever do for you, near or far, please write me and let me know--we are family :)

Sincerely,
Sister Briggs

SHOUTOUTS: Mom & Dad, Bry & Case, Robert, Mary, Sara, Brother & Sister Donakey, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZ DONAKEY!!! Jacque, Amber, Jessica Helms, Grandma Jeanie & Grandfather, all the future missionaries, my ward, Ah..just everyone--we are family :)