G'day! Well lot's happened this week, and I'll only be able to share a small snippet of it all, but let's jump into it.
My First Baptism: Jennifer got baptized!!! Yep, she entered into the waters of baptism and she knows she has made the right choice and she feels home in the gospel and it has brought her so much happiness! In her words "Baptism was wet, and the Holy Ghost was tingly" hahaha. It's truly an incredible and humbling experience to know that you are helping Heavenly Father's children return to Him and that you are someone's missionary, forever. not just the 18 months - 2 years, but eternity.
Helping Testimonies Grow: The other day we met with our less-active Jacque (who now everyone on the Square knows about because she loves telling the other Sisters that we are teaching her, she is such a sweet heart), we taught her the Restoration and she was terrified because she had problems with Joseph Smith, didn't have a testimony of him at all. We talked and bore testimony and I spoke with such force I knew it came from the Spirit, I bore testimony of Joseph Smith and all that he went through and how if he didn't see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ then there is no way he would have gone through everything that he did! It was a powerful lesson and I'll never forget the way it felt, we left and had other appointments and then we had everyone telling us that Jacque was looking for us on the Square and we were walking down and we saw her! She came to us smiling and just bursting and she said "I have good news, I know Joseph Smith was a prophet" and it was the most exciting news! In a matter of hours she went to not believing to knowing and testifying that he was called as a prophet of God. We have met multiple times since then and it gets better and better, she want to go through the temple when we finish teaching her the lessons and want's us to be there with her, she calls us her angels and is constantly grateful for the time and effort we put into her. We have become Best Friends and we have so many inside jokes like "Hot Pink Fanny Packs" and "Orange Cheese". When Jeffery R Holland talks about listening to our friends in Preach My Gospel, I didn't realize how true his statement was until I met Jacque. I love her so much and we are like spiritual twins, everything she is going through I have been through similar situations and I know that everything I went through no matter how long ago, was for a reason. Jacque is my reason. We have a connection that can't be broken and it's incredible to see how the Lord knows where and when He needs us so we can meet the people He has prepared specifically for us.
The Beehive House: What can I say? I love it! It's the best assignment and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have been blessed with to teach the gospel there. It's awesome how you can go from "This is Bringham Young's original Hat and cane" to "We know that the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families and that through Holy Temples our families can be together forever" and then "this is Bringham Young's personal office, he was not only a Governor and Super Intendent for Indian affairs but a Father and a Prophet..." and teach the Restoration. It's awesome and I love being able to teach and testify all day everyday! It's a dream come true and I truly get to do that here on Temple Square.
Relief Society: I never really liked relief society back home, but being on my mission is a whole different story, where else does Sheri Dew speak to a group of 199 sisters in Relief Society but in the Temple Square mission. She talked with us about Women and the Priesthood and it was so incredible, it really reminded me of Elder Oaks talk in the Priesthood Session of General Conference just this April, it was incredible and I learned so much! About what the Keys, Authority and Power mean and how it applies to me not only as a missionary but as a women in general. There is just too much that I learned to type in this email, but it really opened my eyes and I would invite you to read/watch Elder Oaks talk because it truly is just amazing and so eye opening.
Random Fact: We have 199 Sister Missionaries on Temple Square at this very moment in the mission and it is the most Sister's the mission has had throughout all history of the Temple Square Mission, it's so awesome to be a part of that! When I found out, I thought it was so awesome! I just love my mission so much!!!
Mission Tour: I didn't even know these existed and it was the best meeting I have had my entire mission so far! (my whole 1 and a bit transfer's in). We had Elder Don R. Clarke of the 70 come and speak with us from 8:30am - 3:30pm. There was so much encouragement and I gained so much from it, I just wanted to go out and just make sure everyone knew my testimony of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. I have so much to apply from what I learnt but planning was a massive part of it, I love planning, but I see it in a whole different light now from yesterday. There are so many quotes from yesterday that are so simple yet, so powerful. "Don't let dumb things, mess up eternity". Goals and Planning are the most important way I can fulfill my purpose as a missionary. Not only that but how I use my time, how much time is my fishing line actually in the water? We have been called to be fishers of men, and sometimes we are too busy worrying about all these things that aren't relevant or don't talk to everyone because we are going to and from places or whatever it is. I realized how much more I need to have my fishing line in the water, in order to more fully be a better fisher (missionary). We have the resources we have for a reason and we need to use them! Preach My Gospel is there to show us how we can be the missionaries Heavenly Father needs us to be, sometimes it's hard adapting little things to being a Visiting Center Sister, but most of it is still the same and as we apply the things in Preach My Gospel, turning to the Lord kowing we cannot do this alone, we will be the best missionary we can be, the missionary the Lord called us to be. To actually serve Him with all our heart, might, mind and strength. "Don't count time, make time count."
I can't possibly put all my 17 pages of notes in a few short paragraphs, especially with the time allocated, but if I could I would. The heavens were truly opened to me and I received so much personal revelation for me and my investigators, it was awesome to see how prayer, faith and humility took a toll in how much I learned and received from the Mission Tour.
Never forget that Joseph Smith truly did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, I read the accounts this morning in my personal study and the Spirit I felt as I prayed and continued to have a prayer in my heart to reconfirm my testimony of the Restoration was incredible, I hadn't felt the Spirit like that in a long time and I can't exactly put it in words, but I know with all I have, that it happened and I can never forget that. It really happened! It's not just a story that sounds cool to start the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As I said to Jacque, Joseph Smith would not have gone through everything he did, all the persecution he went through majority of his life, right up until death, sealing his testimony of it in his own blood as he was martyred in Carthedge Jail, if he did not see God the Father and Jesus Christ. He did everything humanly possible to bring forth the gospel because of that one amazing experience he had in the Spring of 1820, a 14 year old boy, humble enough to ask God for the truth. I know it, and I could never deny it. The first vision really happened and I don't dare say it lightly. I teach the Restoration more times in 1 day then some missionaries might do in a week being here on Temple Square and it never gets old and that's because I know it's not just a story, it's not made up and it was not a dream. It is real and God and Jesus Christ live and they love us so much! So much that a way was provided that we can return to Heavenly Father and have eternal life. You can come to a knowledge of this for yourself as you read the Book of Mormon and as you pray and ponder having real intent! Really be willing to act on the answer you receive, you can not fail as you follow the promise given in Moroni 10:3-5 you will come to know without a doubt that it is true. I know it, I have seen how the gospel changes lives and it's because of the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ that this is all possible.
Don't give up, keep pushing forward! If you feel like you're not there yet I promise you can be, it took me a long time to get my own testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, it took Bringham Young two years to get a testimony of the Book of Mormon and he became Prophet! I hope it doesn't take you that long, but don't worry if it takes time, everyone's experience is different. The greater the struggle, sometimes the greater the reward, and there are immeasurable blessings ahead of us all as long as we humble ourselves enough to receive them.
I love you all and thank you for the blessing you are in my life. Thank you for your support and love.
Love, Sister Ryan xx
Photo: Jennifer at her baptism with her 2 sons (don't worry, I asked her if I could a photo home)
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