Transfer 12 Week 5

Well, Hi!

I'm back from the grave! Haha. I died this week and I'm back alive! (well, getting there...)

It's Summer and I got the flu, I was down for most the week, it was terrible! 

I went to church and President Poulsen asked me how I was and I looked at home and croaked "not okay" he replied, "are you sure you should be here?" I told him "I just want the sacrament and then I'm going home to bed" and that I did! 

But I got to sleep a lot the past few days and I got to read Our Heritage from cover to cover, and the Historic Site Guide and get refreshed on all my Temple Square History!

Which was great because we had an amazing Zone Conference last Thursday, and a lot of it was centered on taking Large Group Tours and helping us make them more effective. Understanding what we can do to meet and exceed the guests expectations and help them feel the spirit through inspiring history. 

Along with sharing our inspirational history we will really testify that "All Missionaries Preach Eternal Doctrines" as we really teach and testify of the Apostasy, Restoration, Joseph Smith and Modern Day Prophets, The Book of Mormon, The Plan of Happiness, Eternal Families and the Doctrine of Christ. 

I haven't had much time on the square to use it yet, but I am excited to! I know that this comes from Heaven. Sister Chen and I have been roleplaying and it is going well, I received a lot of inspiration as I really jumped back into history with my readings, doing my best to put myself in their shoes and to really imagine what they went though. There were times I laughed and others my heart was completely broken for the pioneers and what they went through. But it filled my heart with so much joy to always see the Saints finding the lesson to be learned, to really embrace the experience that brought them so much closer to God and our Savior Jesus Christ. I feel like the introduction to Our Heritage really sums it up so beautifully! 

"Millions of faithful Saints have also had testimonies of the divinity of Jesus Christ. This knowledge has motivated them to make the sacrifices necessary to build The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the kingdom of God on the earth. The story of the establishment of the Church is one of faith,consecration, and joy. It is the story of living prophets who taught the truths of God to the modern world. It is the story of men and women from all walks of life who sought for the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and, upon finding it, were willing to pay the price of becoming the Savior’s disciples.These stalwart Saints pressed on through sufferings and hardships,witnessing even in their darkest hours of the goodness of God and the joy of his love. They have left a legacy of faith, courage, obedience, and sacrifice.

The heritage of faith continues today. Latter-day Saints throughout the world are modern pioneers in their own homelands, where they live with faith and courage in a time fraught with new challenges and opportunities.There are pages of history yet to be written. We each have an opportunity to leave a heritage for generations to follow that will help them understand the joy of living and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ."

I feel like these studies went hand in hand with that I just spoke about last week in my talk. I know it was inspired, and I feel so motivated to truly be a pioneer! I may not have to pull or push a handcart, I don't have to experience the cold, the heat and the conditions that they did. But we all have challenges and thing of the unknown that we face in life that help us become greater disciples of our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

A pioneer truly is one who leads the way inspiring others to follow and we can do that through the big and little things. I am excited to pioneer through life, I know that the Lord has much ahead of me and though the future is certainly unknown. I can have confidence in my future, to look forward with faith, because I know I have the Lord on my side, I know that He loves me and has a desire to help me in all aspects of my life, I know that He will never lead my astray. I know that as I keep His commandments and live worthy of having the Spirit to always be with me I can say "All is well!".

The Church and Gospel of Jesus Christ is so true! I have had my testimony increase so much of that daily on my mission and I am so grateful for it! 

Love, Sister Ryan xx