Transfer 4 Week 1

Well, well, well.... 

This week is the start of the new transfer, the transfer I will hit both 5 and 6 months on the mission, the transfer that is 1/3 of the way through my mission and it's CRAZY!

First things first...

Transfer Conference: We got there and we were waiting and it was tense, we had no idea what was going to happen, and all of us sisters in tiny little room anxiously waiting to find out our new assignments, companions, appartments, for this transfer.

Sister Turro and I had a feeling we would be together but at the same time we had no idea... They called Sister Turro's name "your companion is... Sister Ryan!". Though we had a terribly rocky start last transfer I was actually so excited to know we were still companions and I know that transfers are so truly inspired. We didn't have to move (YAY!) but we have a new assignment! "Sister Ryan, Temple Square Guest Services", Yep I'm in Guest Services! which means nothing to you unless you served on Temple Square, hahaha. Basically what we do is we book the tours (busloads of people or Motorcoaches we call them, VIP, Hospitality, investigator lessons for the missionaries in the Salt Lake area, etc) that come to Temple Square and different things like that and it is so much fun, I was scared that I wouldn't be able to be much of a missionary there (we are only there for 3 hours every now and then) but even in my first day we had people call up for information and we were able to teach them a little bit and it was so cool! We get to assign the tours for different Sisters and look at all the schedules and stuff, I love it so much! It is needed for a bubbly, energetic organized freak like myself, so this assignment is perfect!

The weather this week has been crazy! It's getting better now but at the start of the week it was shocking! We go outside and it got really windy all of a sudden and then is slowly started to sprinkle and the motorcoach we were waiting for came and then all of a sudden is bucketed down full of rain and it got really wet, really fast! We got everyone in the shelter part of the tabernacle and then we tried to figure out what to do with limited umbrellas and a massive group of people, we tried to get to the tabernacle, we gave our umbrellas to the guests and then we ran (though we are not meant to run on the Square) to the Assembly Hall to get on with our tour, by this time I look like I just walked out of the shower with my clothes on and we get there and the power is out... we called security and they said that all the buildings on Temple Square power is out (except the few emergency lights in the Tabernacle) we waited to see if it would stop, at this moment the rain is so heavy there are mass waterfalls happening off the sides of the Tabernacle and so we did the same thing and the guests had the umbrellas as Sister Turro took her shoes off and we all ran inside to the Tabernacle. We got inside and shared a little bit about the building and what it was used for and then we had the acoustic demonstration and while Sister Turro and I were sitting down we could literally wring our clothes with how wet we were and we did our absolutely saturated hair in quick braids to look a little more professional, haha. We ended the tour and send them off and the rain lifted a little (it was still pretty crazy), we went to get our stuff but of course the power was still out and the mission offices were so dark! we tried to find our way around to get our stuff and everyone but a few of the leaders pretty much went home early. It was so crazy! and this type of weather hit a few times this week (and the temple just re-opened! I feel sorry for the poor brides and their wedding photos...) but the power hasn't gone off again, just the crazy winds and rain. Yay for almost Autumn (fall, whatever) time! Haha!

Our investigators are doing awesome! Sister Turro and I are really focusing on those who are ready and progressing, Kaley is feeling God more fully in her life and Simone (our Italian miracle) is so incredible, he is reading the Book of Mormon and just loves it, he has great insights and is just so amazing, he always makes our day when we get an email from him! Jacque is going through the Temple tomorrow!!! Sister Magidson and I are so excited! It's going to be so amazing and so full of the Spirit and so wonderful! If you told me when we met that she would be going through the Temple in August and I would be there to see it, I probably would have laughed in your face, but she has a flourishing testimony of the gospel and is so strong! She has become a best friend of mine and someone who has changed/made my mission! Jacque is one of my mission miracles and has made such of a massive impact not only in my mission but in my life. I love her so much and I'm so excited to be a part of this and to experience this part of her life with her.

And with everything going so incredibly, obviously the opposition is not happy and this week has been hard, with some news that has been hard to face, however Satan is just not happy that everything is going so amazingly! That my Mum is strong her faith, my brothers are working on coming back to church, that our investigators are doing incredibly, that Jacque is going through the Temple tomorrow! that Sister Turro and I are close friends now and are a powerful companionship! So much is happening in favour of the Lord and thanks to the Lord, and Satan is not happy and wants to tear us down, but it won’t happen, we will stay strong and I will get through this because trials turn into blessings, that’s something I learnt before my mission and I’m glad I did, because I am becoming a better Sister Ryan for this all, like Nephi, like Joseph Smith, like Alma the Younger, like all those who suffered and then were blessed before me. The Lord knows who I need to be and what needs to happen for me to be that person and if I have to go through hard times, bring it on because the opposition won't win and I will not falter, my faith is constantly increasing and becoming greater and stronger than ever. There is power and healing in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and if the Lord has to carry me a little bit, then so be it. "The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done". 
It is impossible to not feel the Spirit when you work in the shadow of the Temple. With all of this happening, I truly know that I love this work so much and nothing is going to stop me, I will continue to let my testimony shine bright, I will continue to share the gospel with all those I meet, even if my companion has to translate for me, I know that Jesus Christ lives and is my savior, that families can be together forever, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and we truly do receive inspiration and revelation from God, for ourselves and also through a living prophet.

I love being a missionary, I love being an instrument in the hands of the Lord, I love knowing that I am loved and known by the greatest and most glorious being in the universe and that He knows me so perfectly and individually, I love knowing this is not my work but the Lords and I need to make the most of every opportunity given to me, I love knowing that miracles have not ceased and as we put out faith in Him, all things are possible according to His will.

I will not fall, I will not falter, but I will battle valiantly until the end, because it is worth the battle, this is eternal life we are talking about, people need what we have! Which is the greatest of all joys, knowing that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored and we can live with our Heavenly Father again. The opposition will never win the war, sometimes battles get hard but in the end it will never overcome, light will always over come darkness! When we are at our weakest and we feel that we can not push on anymore, that's when the atonement kicks in, that's when we find the strength to push a little further, to smile and to be grateful in those hard times because they make us better.

I don't know if I'm even making sense because I'm simply just typing what is in my heart but I love my savior so much and I know we are never alone.

I love you all and thank-you for everything.
Never forget to smile, a smile has so much more power than we realize, tell someone you love them, hug someone, do something to brighten someone's day because I promise it will mean the world to them!

Much love, Sister Ryan xx