Hi Everyone!!!
Another week gone! It goes by so fast already and I heard it only gets faster! We had a really good week, too. Because things are getting slower on the Square they do things to occupy us such as service (and LOTS of it) and training meetings. We do service at Heritage Park. They had us clean the buildings and even wash one of the trains. We also clean the kitchen in the basement, or clean the temple. Not bad huh? We used to have study time until 9 a.m. and then we had to be on the Square but now we don't have to be on the Square till 10 a.m. and they let us take an hour lunch and dinner break. I am so glad to be in the teaching zone though because I don't know what I would do ALL day on the Square with nobody to talk to. Well, there are people but so few that by the time we talk to them they have already talked to 6 sets of Sisters and want us to go away. We have to get creative with our questions. But I learned a very important lesson about talking to everyone! We ran into this couple who had encountered at least 5 sets of Sisters before talking to us. They were reading the Testimony of the 3 Witnesses Statue and we told them all about the Book of Mormon and they ended up wanting missionaries! After every referral we get we look at each other and say, "Tender Mercies from the Lord" because that is really what they are. If we go on the Square expecting to find someone that the Lord wants us to find - we will find them. If we go on the Square with the attitude that there is nobody here and we can't talk to anyone - you won't. The Lord wants to bless us but if our attitude isn't right then He will give us what we have our mind set on. He will direct other Sisters to those people who do have the right attitude. So we should always have the mentality of "Here am I; Send me".
We met a group by the Christus Statue, a mom with 2 kids and her friend who was visiting from Texas. The mom lives here in Utah, not a member, but had a calling and so did her husband - weird huh? The lady had never heard of Mormons before so we told her all about the Book of Mormon and she said, "I want to learn more and I want that book!" Ok fine, twist our arms. Here is a card we would like you to fill out with your address. We will be teaching her until the missionaries come. Another good story we had was our zone goal to have about 35 potentials when we were on the Square. President Holmes is worried that we are more concerned with teaching people than dedicating our minds to finding on the Square as well. So we set a goal and headed out. We had straight zeros all day. We couldn't talk to any guests or members. We ate dinner a little discouraged. As we were on our way up to Temple Square I saw my Zone Leader and I asked if she had experienced any miracles today. She enthusiastically said "Yes! What about you?" ".... Uh.... nothing yet, but we still have an hour to go!" We headed up there and nobody was outside because it was about 50 degrees. We walked by this lady and we decided to talk to her even though it was freezing. We began by telling her how bad the world is today. She told us that she is worried for her children growing up in this world. I read to her Helaman 5:12 and had her look at the temple which provided a nice backdrop to our conversation. I said, "See this building? This is the temple. We make sacred promises with God there like being able for families to last for time and all eternity." She looked at me and made me say "time and all eternity" again. So I did. We shared with her more about eternal families and then asked if she wanted to learn more. She said, "Yes!" We will be teaching her as well till the missionaries come!
In the teaching zone we are working on making sure we have enough time to call all of the potential referrals we received from members at General Conference. It is really scary to call people but the same thing goes with telephoning as meeting people on the Square - it's all about attitude. I talked to a kid named Dean. Right when I called he told me that I was wasting my time because he isnt' going to join our church. We are only supposed to spend 10 minutes on the phone but I talked to him for 30. I just felt like I needed to keep talking to him. He had so many questions and they all had answers - if he wanted to take the time to learn. I was really bold with him. He said that he was waiting for a sign from God to tell him that He was real and what he should do. I said "Well, what if God is giving you a sign by me calling you? What if he has given you many such opportunities but you are so busy looking for a great manifestation you miss it? I want this for you so badly you don't even know. Your questions have answers if you are willing to take the time to listen to them". He replied, "Here is my address; send me those missionaries." BAM! I mean, thank you Heavenly Father!! That totally made my day. Even after that when we had 3 hours of Chat on mormon.org and people were sending us rude and vulgar messages and telling us that we were going to Hell, I was still happy. Chat is interesting. You get the worst of the worst and the best of the best. Opposition in all things right? We have found many people to teach there. Funniest question I have ever been asked, "Do you believe that black people come from werewolves?" I started laughing. Many people tell us to "pray to the right God to see the error of our ways and to stop following Satan." Love them. We also teach people regular half hour lessons. We open with a prayer and have a discussion with them. We are teaching this hilarious lady in Ireland - can't understand a word she says but she is really good. Of course, she got sick the day before she was supposed to go to church and meet with missionaries. She has an issue with baptism though - she doesn't see why it matters. We are teaching this kid named Bryce who is in the Colorado Springs mission - GOLDEN! He even told us he'd give up alcohol this week. Hurry up missionaries! Henry in Africa is finally meeting with the missionaries!!!! Hopefully he gets baptized soon. Not much time to tell you all about our other investigators but I can tell you the work is progressing! We were told the odds of someone meeeting with the missionaries and getting baptized is 20:1, from the teaching zones we average 3:1. President Holmes called it the new "investigator retention plan" for the church and we are pioneering it! I feel very blessed to be one of the first 50 missionaries in the world to be doing this. Anyway gotta go! Ensign Peak awaits!
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