Guest Services Pics

Guest Services, Sister Despain on a phone call. The board is all of our referrals from phone calls!

More of Guest Services Pics

Making Guest Services Fun!

YES... we got exercise balls to sit on to stay fit.

March 26, 2011

Hi Everyone!!

Wow, this week went by fast but we are getting so busy with tours and scheduling we have no time to do much else (or think of much else). There are so many new protocols which have to be arranged that we went to a staff meeting with the mission presidency, APs, office assistants and the youth conference coordinators just to get everything sorted out. Kinda weird being there but oh well. We gave our input then went back to our duties. We all had to get together just to realize how much miscommunication we have. Apparently the Church Office Building also schedules our theaters or buildings without telling us which is adding to our headache. But we got it squared away!

So we have a problem with becoming zombies on the Square because we are only out to see the sunshine for about two hours everyday. So for the first hour we are really awkward and cannot get a tour to save our lives. I was getting really sick of it and more or less forced this poor dad and his son to walk with us around Temple Square. I wasn't overbearing; no worries. We shared some principles with them but it was families that really hit home for the Dad. I think his son has autism but he was really cute and kept talking about how much he loved skiing. When I asked what they would walk 1300 miles for (that is how far the pioneers walked from Iowa to get to Utah) the son said, "Skiing!" The Dad looked at his Son and said, "You and Mom". I am not one for cheesy moments BUT because the Spirit was there I was quite touched by that comment. And then I invited for his family to be eternal by meeting with missionaries - he accepted. How can you not?!

A few days later we more or less forced a group of three high school seniors to follow us around Temple Square (again not overbearing, we were just really awkward and desperate to talk to people face-to-face). It was uneventful and then my companion, Sister Despain, suggested that we take them to see the Conference Center. So we did and that really opened them up! One kid told us that he stayed with an LDS family for a week. They recently lost their son so they would read from the Book of Mormon every night. The other two seemed kinda indifferent about everything till we took them to the auditorium. I love talking about prophets here because that room is special. Even though it us HUGE you don't feel like you just walked into an auditorium, you feel like you just walked into a blanket of comfort. When asked if they wanted to learn more they all said, "I don't know" which in my brain is not rejection so after pushing for it a little bit they ALL referred! So happy. I only tell you happy stories. We do take many other tours where we are flat out rejected but you get used to those and forget them so in my mind I have a perfect record. Oh, the joys of selective memory.

Investigators: We got a lot of new investigators this week which is awesome. They all seem solid too, I hope those missionaries get there soon! Some of them need so much more than a ten minute phone lesson on prayer, Book of Mormon, or the importance of Church (which by the way are the three ways to receive personal revelation to know for themselves if this is true). Sometimes we switch it up and share Plan of Salvation if they need to hear that. It is always good to teach that because to me it is no big deal, to them it changes their lives.

Cool phone story: So this man calls in while I am at guest services and asks for the directions to see the Joseph Smith Movie. After talking to him a little bit - He isn't a member but was curious because all of his friends said that it is amazing. He had many questions on why God favored those that lived many years ago and not now. I told him that God is the same yesterday, today and forever and called a prophet again. I pulled out a verse to read (Mormon 9:19) but I explained the Book of Mormon bears record of Jesus Christ appearing to people in the ancient Americas. He stopped me and said, "What did you say?" I repeated it and he said, "I am from Peru. My grandfather spent his whole life researching accounts of a white bearded God appearing to the people there. He had a dream where somebody said that it was Jesus Christ. It just brought back all of those memories when you said that. I was able to bear my testimony that it was indeed Jesus Christ and we had that record here today to prove that He is the Christ. When I asked if he wanted to learn more he asked if there were missionaries on Temple Square he could talk to (Dang! I wanted that miracle! Oh well, charity and love) so I said, "yes." He thanked me for sharing this with him and hung up. I hope he made it to the movie ok.

But that is my week! We are getting ready for General Conference and so next Saturday I won't have a p-day. I don't know when I will write again so please move on with your lives, I know you all anxiously await my inspiring letters but you can make it! Anyway hope all is well in the world... which, by the way, a member told me that we need to all have our 72-hour-kits ready for the second coming! Glad I am in my bubble, bye!

P-Day at the Planetarium/Belgian Waffles!

Artist's at Work at the Church History Museum

Elizabeth smart package

March 19, 2011

Hola Familia!

Sister Despain, my companion, is working on passing off Spanish so I have to "help her" get back into it so I decided that I am learning it to. Against the rules but gotta love loopholes. Anyway this last week was a blur but the Square is getting busier and the excitement level for conference is starting to build. At Guest Services we are starting to get a ton of phone calls about tickets (come on people; go to your bishop) and we are starting to schedule many tours for Welfare Square and Temple Square. Big tour groups are starting to request tours as well. It is going to be a really busy summer and as I look at the list I have no idea how only 200 Sister Missionaries can handle all of this. The Church has asked us to start helping with Youth Conferences - talk about a headache. President Holmes stopped by our cave... I mean cubicle...I mean office and was looking at our schedule on his IPad. I told him that we needed one of those to do our job better and he ignored me! He was wondering how we are going to get all of the logistics down for the summer. We are going to a staff meeting tomorrow morning and go over new protocols and need-to-know information. We mess up a lot down there but I have learned how to grovel and so I am still alive somehow. The only part of Guest Services that makes life stressful is that we have to baby-sit Sisters aka calling them the morning of tours to make sure that they remember them. Or Sisters decide to take another tour when they KNOW they have a scheduled one. Oh well, that part is out of my hands so I sit back and pass blame to someone else (love it).

Since we are there all day we get to call lots of people or have people call in to meet with missionaries. Then we get to teach them until the missionaries come. We have so little time to actually call them back but we have managed to have one guy meet with missionaries. He is Seventh Day Adventist and when we called him back to address whether-the-Sabbath-is-on- Sunday/Saturday issue he said that he knew the Book of Mormon was true because the missionaries showed him where it was mentioned in the Bible. I asked if he prayed to know if it was true. He just answered well it is in the Bible so it is. Um.... great but BAD. Not the point. He needs a testimony not passiveness. We also have a new investigator who is a little slow. We weren't planning on sending his referral through but he said he was going to save up money to buy clothes for church and so we saw that as a good sign. We taught him how to pray (yes we do pray over the phone and yes it is awkward at first but a mission is one big awkward moment so you just get over it) and it was really neat to hear his sincerity over the phone as he talked, maybe for the first time, to our Heavenly Father.

But annoying people call in ALL the time for prank phone calls. One kid called in saying he was Chinese so he asked for a Chinese speaker. This was his 100th time calling in so we all knew that he was faking it. I had the phone and said, "Hold on, we do have someone who speaks Chinese." *pause* I said, "Ne how, it ban Mormon ging ma" He was silent and then started saying "Ching chang chung chou ting!" Then hung up. We were all dying of laughter. I'm glad I have learned some Chinese; it comes in handy when dealing with annoying 15-year-old boys.

Oh, so we did service yesterday at Heritage Park and guess what we got to do? Inventory for the Gift Shop. I couldn't believe it! I can't get away from doing inventory. This was old school; we had to write everything down! No scanners! Whatever, we revolutionized how they will forever count every ball of chocolate. We just weighed it and then subtracted the jar. We finished in 15 minutes rather than 2 hours. Life was good. But anyway we have lots to do to get ready for Conference and lots of people to talk to! I can't wait. Oh and lucky me - I get to watch General Conference when I have to be in Guest Services! And I get to go to one session... but I kinda don't want to if I get to watch two sessions in my cave. Anyway, I am just thinking. But Sister Despain and I are still working hard and trying to exercise for an hour every day! Until next week!

P.S We got to see the new version of the Joseph Smith movie yesterday! We had a mission meeting at 6:50 a.m.- killer. It is much more missionary friendly and it goes into a lot more details on gospel principles and basics. Can't wait to see if we have more success with it. Also I have a BAPTISM today! Her name is Molly. She is from Maine and I have been working with her for 3 months. She is facing a lot of opposition from her family but she knows that it is true so she is going through with it. Hopefully she can send pictures and then later I can photoshop myself in.

Matthew's Surprise Visit To Karly On Temple Square

March 12, 2011

Hello Everyone!

Guest Services really changes how I view life. So before I was really happy living in my ignorance as to how the mission worked but now it feels like I know everything. And I know that there is still a lot I am oblivious to. We are there six hours everyday and the other six hours we have to call our investigators and have some Square time. We get about two hours in everyday on the Square so we really try to make every moment count.

We have talked to some really good people this week but I warned my companion that I get really weird people or people with serious problems. She now believes me. So one such lady, who called herself a gypsy, was really good. We took her to the Temple Model display at the South Visitors Center and she was enthralled with the Temple. We talked about prophets and the Book of Mormon and she said that she really wanted to learn more, but she doesn't have a home (duh, she is a gypsy) so we can't send missionaries to her. Gah I think this is the Lord's way of telling me that numbers don't matter.... but they sure help.

We also have an investigator from India, I mentioned him last week but this week he is a progressing investigator and he is AMAZING! He is Hindu and when we asked how praying went he reviewed each step of what he did to say a prayer. Then he went on to tell us that he read the introduction to the Book of Mormon and he knows that it is a special book from God. I decided I love India.

We call Guest Services our "Miracle Booth". I think that the Lord just feels badly for us being in a hole and never seeing the light of day so he sends people who need the light of the gospel to us! We have had the most random people call in and request more information from the Church and missionaries. One guy called in and wanted to know more about the Book of Mormon so I talked with him for a bit. He referred for missionaries and we are calling to teach him soon. When we have nothing to do we call people so I am hoping to be a pro at RC (random contacting?) by the end of the transfer. One girl I spoke to said she was open to learning more but I kept talking because I felt like it shouldn't be that easy. She referred too! Finally I have had the worst phone calls lately (antis, hang ups, death threats- jk mom) so I feel better about life now. A lady called in from Jamaica and she was really hard to understand but we are going to teach her so I am praying for the gift of tongues for accents.

But what we do: We answer phones, set up appointments for tours on the Square, Beehive House, Welfare Square, VIP tours, etc. We page (yes, we still have ancient pagers) Sisters when they are needed, and make everything more efficient. Sister Despain (who is amazing and motivates me to keep looking for ways to make things better) and I sat down and brainstormed on ways we could improve Guest Services. So we have a few projects that keep us busy. It was hard to do this with about a half hour of training but we've got it down now. We had one mishap with a VIP tour- the Sisters who were assigned were never told - but when the APs were saying it was their fault I didn't correct them.

I really like Guest Services. It is a switch to life which I think is needed every once in a while. It is a big job but we've got a handle on it so life is much less stressful. It makes us talk a lot about what is important in this life and what isn't as we try to prioritize our time. We have one investigator who is Seventh Day Adventist and we came to the conclusion that it doesn't matter what day you go to church - just as long as you go! It doesn't matter who said what or who did what - as long as you are striving your best to follow our Savior Jesus Christ. So many trivial things we focus on in this life are just not that important. I double testify with President Uchtdorf to just go back to the basics, therein lies happiness and peace that we can find. So everyone focus on what will help you be a better person and the rest - who cares. But speaking of the rest we are on our way to Happy Sumo right now for some sushi so I wish you all a fabulous week and talk to you later!

Pictures January 2011

Roommate pic:

Sister Kinikini (Hawaii) , Capeding (Philippines), Sulollari, Me

Me and Sister Binte from Germany

Departing sisters :'(

Karly at the Family History Center on Temple Square

March 5, 2011

I AM SO HAPPY. Ok, no more caps. But wow life is so wonderful and I smile all the time and yeah.... My companion's name is Sister Despain from North Carolina (Raleigh) and she is such a good missionary. We were in the same zone before so I was shocked when they said we would be companions. When transfer conference came I just felt really peaceful. Sister Despain is wonderful. We go running; we set goals on how we can be better; we strive our best to work hard; you know, typical motivational things. When we talk to people on the Square we say different things and we TALK to people. It is amazing. *Sigh* so good. So funny story I was running this morning and saw the phone list and in my apartment I am shown as a district leader. So I guess what happened was I was supposed to be a district leader this transfer but at the last minute President changed my assignment to Guest Services. He hand picks who gets put there so kinda cool I guess. Friday I am on the Square in the afternoon but 3 p.m. - 9 p.m. I am at Guest Services. Saturday I am not on the Square at all and have p-day so no worries about seeing me! (Matt, Karly's brother, and Bev, Karly's mother, are visiting in the genealogical library in Salt Lake City this coming week from Thursday through Saturday so therefore the comments about "seeing me")

So transfers and I am still in my same zone with my same p-day - weird feeling as this has never happened to me before. But I have a new assignment: Guest Services. I answer the phones all day and set up tours. Sounds boring yes but it is actually really intense and the time flies. I am there for half the day then I am on the Square or on the phones. This is how the office on Temple Square is structured: there is the Mission President, then the APs, then the Office Assistants, and then Guest Services. No, it is not glamorous or prestigious in anyway but for the first time in my mission I can talk to the APs without them saying to go talk to my District Leader. I feel special. It is filled with a lot of paper work and sitting. So I get up early to go running and today we are going to buy exercise balls so that we can sit on those instead of the office chairs. I refuse to gain weight.

I have a new companion as well! Sister Despain from North Carolina. She is a fantastic missionary, very enthusiastic and a hard worker. We made a "bucket list" of things we need to do. So yesterday we went over to Deseret Book and met Paul Cardall and she got a CD of his signed. Then for dinner we went to the Church History Museum and got to see "Artists at Work". About 5 different artists were painting, sculpting or drawing and would describe what they do and how they do it. It was really good! The refreshments were not that impressive so we didn't stay too long. But with our few hours of Square time we manage to stay really busy and find lots of tours. We met this man who hasn't been able to find a job so he was forced to move to the homeless shelter. So he doesn't have an address and he doesn't have a phone, but we showed him where the nearest church is. He was so excited and even said that he was going to volunteer at Welfare Square where he could go pick out a suit for Sunday! We then took him to the Family Search Section and he got so excited about his ancestors. Cool guy! He said he would come back and see us after church on Sunday. We might be in our "cave" aka Guest Services, so I hope we get to see him.

Last Wednesday we took this guy around from Canada and he was so prepared. I asked him while we were looking at the Temple Model if he had ever wondered what the purpose of life was. He said that he was actually on a road trip to find the answer to that very question! Done. So we took him around and he referred! He was so prepared and it was so nice to be able to share this gospel with him. At the end he was like "Wait, you can't drink! Huh?" I said nope. He said, "Oh, that is a problem." I changed the subject. We can telephone and help him understand that later. Brevity and clarity work best.

Oh and we have a new investigator from India! We hope she is a good one. She straight up asked for a Book of Mormon. Love those people. Anyway lots to do and many more people to find....or in my new case schedule tours for! I am really going to miss the Humanitarian Center though. Maybe one day I will be able to return, but until then it is back to food I can eat that doesn't need to be refrigerated or heated up since we really can't leave the phones. Any suggestions?