Transfer 5 Week 2

Where do I even begin to talk about what happened in the past week?

Last Friday, Sister Pipe and I went to Ensign Peak, a beautiful walk in the blazing sun and it was great! walking up a lot of things reminded me of home with the gold grass and little shrub type things, we made it to the top and took photos and looked out over all Salt Lake City, it was beautiful! You could see Temple Square and all the building surrounding it, I love my mission so much. I feel so truly blessed to be here and to have these wonderful opportunities. No where else in the world would you see names like Bringham Young, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith, Ezra Taft Benson on plaques, besides Utah! because here, it's not just church history but Utah State/United States history, which is so incredible! We look lots of photos and then went our way down, and after all that hard work of walking up, we went and got pizza, so rewarding! haha.

Last Saturday Sister Pipe and I were able to attend the Stark's baptism! He was so excited that we could make it, and he was so happy that the day had finally come. On the way there, we used the GPS and we came across the chapel... but the GPS told us to keep going, and so we did and literally just around the corner there was another one! #OnlyInUtah. It all happened so quick because the next thing we know, He is entering into the waters of Baptism and it happens, he goes down and comes up, a child of God, making that promise with the Lord to follow Him for the rest of His life. he went to go give me a hug afterwards but I did this awesome matrix move and said we just shake hands, and it was like "oh, I forgot sorry!" haha, it was all good. He was so happy, just filled with joy! and in one year they can all be sealed and when their little boy is old enough, He will be able to baptize him! It was so amazing, to think about the power and authority of the priesthood and how essential baptism is in coming unto Christ and why that is part of our purpose as missionaries. Actually being able to see baptisms changes the way you see it all, which is so amazing.

Sunday comes and we got to watch a screening of the Ogden Temple Re-dedication! It was so amazing, I have never need to a dedication and so I had no idea what to expect! We went to the 1pm session and I just learnt so much about the temple and how important it is to keep these promises we make, to hold them close to us and how special the temple should be to us no matter where we are or how often we can go, to have the temple open and close to us no matter where we are, that it should mean more to us outside the temple than inside the temple. What it means to hodl a temple recommend and it was just wonderful! I can't wait to go to the temple, having all of this in mind, it's an exciting and wonderful feeling. After being so close to the temple here, walking around and near it's holy grounds, I have learnt how truly important they are and how much I will miss being so close to it every day when I return home (luckily I have a while before that day comes). My temples are now the Melbourne and Salt Lake City temples, they are the ones that will always be close to my heart.

Being District Leader companion, you are forever on exchanges! and Monday I was on exchange with Sister Malavasi (from Italy), we saw so many miracles that day, we set high goals and had the faith that we could achieve them, the day was going well and we had talked to many people, taken many tours, unfortunately they didn't want to keep in contact, but we know they had a special experience, dinner time came and I was thinking that we hadn't achieved our goals yet, how could we make it up... we had finished dinner and was just resting and talking with other sisters until our time had finished, west gate called the kitchen to see if anyone was available to take 3 English and so we looked and said we will! We got up stairs and greeted them, they all looked like a lovely family (which we found out later wasn't the case, being a family that is). Turns out a member (Edna) had a friend (Richardo) come visit his daughter (Tiffany) and her boyfriend (Alejandro) and he wanted to come to Temple square and so they came all together. We took them around and it was an average tour, I was trying to get them involved but they all stayed so quiet, as the tour got on, we learnt more about them and then we went to the Christus, on the way we taught a brief Restoration and when we got up there, we talked about how through Jesus Christ all things are possible and Richardo let it all out, that he wasn't close with God or Jesus Christ, that he doesn't feel that love, that he wants to but keeps feeling something is in his way or that something keeps pulling him back, we testified how this was possible and how we as missionaries can help him achieve his desires to come closer to Him. We offered to stay in contact and next thing we know, they all wanted to keep in contact and all want the gospel. I felt prompted to invite them to go upto the Christus and tough the prints in His feet, we did this and Richard just looked up, and it was a look that said "I want to know you and come closer to you", Tiffany was looking at her father, look at the Savior and it was such a tender moment. I was holding back tears, Edna was in tears and it was just beautiful, we gave them Book of Mormons and also asked if we could send missionaries to them and they all are so willing! We are calling them tomorrow so we are really excited to see how it will all go. It was an incredible miracle and because of that we were able to see our goals achieved, they were truly inspired and as we had them in our heart and worked hard to achieve them we were able to see it happen.

Brenda is going so good! She put back her baptism date for the 11th October, but that is okay! and this is why... when planning for her a while ago, we had 2 dates in mind, the 28th September or the 11th October, after praying about it, we felt like the date should be October, but when we called and she said she was going to on the 28th! it was like oh, okay, maybe I just mixed it up or got it wrong, but now looking back at it, I know it was true inspiration and that she will truly have those blessings of the gospel on the 11th October as she enters the waters of baptism, she has so much going on for her and she is changing her whole life around, she is doing all she can to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and that includes sharing the gospel with her family and friends! Listenig to conference when she can't make it to church and reading the Book of Mormon any chance she gets, she is so wonderful and I just love her so much! She has so much going on around her yet she chooses to put the Lord first, she is a great example of faith and trusting in the Lord.

Rose is so excited for General Conference! she can't wait to see the prophet walk in! She has the strongest testimony I've ever seen in a 15 year old girl and just has such a strong desire to really apply all these things in her life and she is receiving the blessings for it. She has questions she is praying about to receive answers at General Conference and is just so willing to put forth every inch of faith that she has, she loves the scriptures, she loves praying and says the most beautiful prayers, she loves the Book of Mormon and reading from it, studying topics to help her in her life and she herself is being a great little missionary because now her parents back home want to watch General Conference and come to church when they come to visit her soon! Miracles happen and people are truly prepared, sometimes certain things need to happen in order for us to get in the right situation to receive such greatness and joy, to recieve the fullness of the gospel that has been restored on the earth again today.

This week we had an awesome Relief Society and has Michael Otterson (member of Department of Public Affairs for the church) come to talk to us about answering questions and dealing with anti's on and off the Square. There was so many great insights that really made me think and really strengthened my testimony in the truthfulness of the gospel. A few things really stood out to me, Testimonies are a life time quest, people must have a genuine search for truth, a humble inquiry and desire to learnand that the Lord wont keep you waiting when he knows the sincere desire of your heart. It is so important for people to act, in order to receive their answers, they must pray, read and ponder with an open mind and being willing to learn, to humble themselves to the Lord and admit they are searching for truth and light and when we do that, He will know we are ready to receive that knowledge that comes from Him.
People have had issues with the church since the very beginning and I'm not just talking about since the Restoration, and everything that Joseph Smith went through, I'm talking about when the greatest man to ever walk the earth was here, Jesus Christ, because He went through more than we can ever imagine. Ridiculed, charged of apparent blaspheming against God, being accused of so many things, to the point where an innocent man, crucified... People have always opposed truth.
The Book of Mormon is what holds it all together, the evidence of what we share as missionaries purely comes down to if the Book of Mormon is true or not, if it is, then Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Jesus Christ restored gospel on the earth today and everything else that stands with that. If it is not true, than this is the greatest hoax in the world that 15 million+ people have fallen for. The Book of Mormon has been tried and tested more than any other book in all history and yet it still stands. I know it to be true with all that I have, I have developed such a greater love and testimony for the Book of Mormon than ever before and I know it is from God and that it is inspired, that it is for us in today's day, no matter how long ago it was written.

Our standard of excellence for the mission is to double baptisms and have it be our divine obsession and with this hard work, diligence, faith and using time wisely, it's coming naturally, nothing forced. I am beginning to become the missionary I have been called to be, the reason I was called here to Temple Square and I love it. As each day passes I have a greater love for those people the Lord has entrusted to us and a stronger desire to help them receive those blessings of being a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This week I truly felt like the most successful I have been my entire mission, with everything I have learned, I've been able to put it all into practice and see the fruits of those labors. There is an amazing feeling you have when you know you are doing what the Lord needs of you. I know the Lord is proud of the work I am doing and I know that I have become a greater instrument in His hands and I pray that I can continue to do this and get better at it as time goes on and as I go through my mission.

Thank-you for making it too the end, I didn't anticipate on writing this much, but I guess it just happened.. haha

Love you all! Thank-you so much!

Love, Sister Ryan xx