Transfer 9 Week 5

IT'S GENERAL CONFERENCE!

It has begun and it's getting really exciting here on Temple Square! With the amazing Women Session of Conference last Saturday, the Square is getting prettier as the days go by as they get ready for the busiest weekend on the Square! There are members from all over the world coming in and checking out the sights, I can't put into words the excitement I have for this weekend. I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE! I have truly been concerted to conference throughout my mission. This is my 3rd Conference and I am just living it up right now! getting quotes and scriptures ready to use, role playing and picking out those Ensign worthy outfits! Hahaha

Last week I expressed the difficulty had in the ways of missionary work. Last Thursday after everything, I just got on my knees and prayed so hard... I told Heavenly Father that tomorrow we will do EVERYTHING we can to see miracles happen, to feel that success and to feel and fulfill our purpose as missionaries. I cried to the Lord and just expressed and told him everything I was feeling and gave my heart to Him in that prayer. I felt good afterwards and then tomorrow came. It was Friday, usually an okay day on the Square, we got there and when we started, we didn't stop. We were flat out ALL DAY! There were moments of trails of faith, I think the Lord was checking to see how serious I was in my prayer. 10 minutes for lunch and very little dinner later, it was the best day on the square I'd had in a long time! And it felt amazing! At lunch Sister Christensen was like "what is going on?" then I confessed... "I may, or may not have promised Heavenly Father I would do everything I could to see miracles happen" We both laughed and you know what... we took 6 tours and found potentials and even a new investigator and a less-active to start working with. It felt so good to sacrifice even just little things to do the work of the Lord. It was incredible and I know that my prayer was answered though my faith and diligence. 

Just like in Enos 1:12 "And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith." 

It was so amazing at the end of the day to get on my knees and thank the Lord for everything He had given us that day and to report to him on the success we had. The difference was so dramatic, it has changed me completely and I am so grateful for the witness after the trial of faith (Ether 12:6) 

The next day was just as incredible as the last, we had District Leader exchanges and we took around and met my first Australian Jewish people (I love Jewish History and Culture!), we met some incredible families, opened Meet the Mormons! Yesterday was the day my prayers were answered and today I was able to the opposite view... Heavenly Father has a perfect plan, He really does, sometimes we do not understand but it all works out in the end. After opening Meet the Mormons we met this rather receptive family near the Temple, we got talking but when we invited to take them on a tour, they said no. So we kept walking and followed out plan to go to the North Visiting Center, we turn around the corner and there is a Women with 2 teen girls, she stopped and was so surprised and shocked she said "It's you!" and I was like "what... is... going... on?... Do I know you?" then she replied "You don't know me, but I know you" I asked her if she knew my Mum and she did! We got talking more and then she continued saying that not only does she know my Mum, but her son is serving in Japan... with my boyfriend! "ELDER BRADLEY?! what?! No way!" It was the craziest thing, the world is so small! It was incredible! The more we got talking the more amazing it got, she told me that she had been praying to find me and then I just walked around the corner, I then understood why the family didn't accept the tour, I needed to be here to answer her prayer. It was such a tender experience! We played Because He Lives and bore testimony and helped lift another spirits, it was amazing and I am so grateful for that experience! 

But the answers to prayers didn't end there! later on we were walking around near God Plan for His Family and met these awesome RM's that served in New Zealand and then we finished talking and a women came up to me and she had tears in her eyes, she said "I don't know if you remember us, but we were there when you played Meet the Mormons and my daughter loves everything Australian, would you be able to bear your testimony and allow me to film it so I can show my 8yo at home? We are here for Womens Conference with the Young Women in my ward and I felt prompted that I needed to find you and do this! I have been praying that I would see you again, and here you are!" It was crazy... Heavenly Father is so amazing, I can't put it into words how I felt about the whole situation... I was the cause and answer to 2 peoples prayers that day and it was just an incredible follow up that not only are my prayers answered, but so are other peoples. He loves everyone one of us so much and I know he hears you, I know he is listening, even when you feel no one is here, he is listening I promise! I gained a strong conviction of that this past week and I am so grateful for it. The Lord has been pretty quiet with me lately and it was hard... I didn't know what I was doing wrong, it's not that I was doing anything wrong, it's just that I needed to learn and grow from these experiences and I am so grateful for that! (Mosiah 23:21) 

However, The Lord has ceased to be quiet with me and was rather loud Saturday night as the General Women Session of Conference came along, I had in my heart 2 questions about my mission, I have prayed about post-mission in the past, but it was quiet and then I realized that it's not important right now and to just focus on the work that I am doing. The Lord knows me so perfectly, He knew that the thing he had to tell me is something I would not have listened to unless I was in the right place at the right time with the right spirit and instruction

given. I'm not going to go into the details of the revelation received and I'm going the be annoying and say something they say in the Book of Mormon "suffiecth to say"... The Lord set my priorities straight and told me what needs to be my primary focus after my mission. He told me something that I need to do that I never set as a really high priority... It was hard to take in and even my MTC companion knew something was up and couldn't wait to get out of me what happened and I has warned her previously while talking about revelation and answered prayers that I had the feeling my life was about to be changed forever through General Conference and.. it has. At first I was shocked and nothing made sense, but as I started to ponder it's starting to make sense in my mind. Obviously I don't know the logistics of it all but I feel more at peace about post-mission than what I have in a long time and I have hope, I look forward to the future and have greater confidence in it all and it's exciting. I don't need to worry or think about it until after I get home, but it's nice to know that the Lord knew me and knew that I needed to receive the revelation the way that I did, if it hadn't of come the way it did, I would have easily dismissed it and so I'm happy and grateful for the quiet so that I could appreciate the loud!

So if there is anything that I have learnt this week besides the fact that my Mum is basically Facebook Famous on Missionary Mommas... It's that prayers are answered... I became converted to that this week, it's not only just a testimony now, but it's something that has been building a long time and it's come. Please never doubt the Lord listens and hears you as you pray. I love the second verse to one of my favorite primary songs when it says: "Pray, he is there; Speak, he is list'ning. You are his child; His love now surrounds you. He hears your prayer; He loves the children. Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heav'n."

I know it to be true, I know he hears and I know he is listening, you are never alone! But not only does he hear and listen, but he answers in silent and loud ways that sometimes don't make sense, but all come together perfectly for the right reasons at the right time. Keep praying, just like Elder Ballard said last General Conference "Choose to converse with your Father in Heaven often. Make time every day to share your thoughts and feelings with Him. Tell Him everything that concerns you. He is interested in the most important as well as the most mundane facets of your life. Share with Him your full range of feelings and experiences." Please make time to do this, I know that as you do it will change your life and you will feel so much closer to Heaven! 

Love, Sister Ryan xx