Transfers!!

Hey Everyone! This week was transfers and it was crazy busy. It was sad to see Sister Costilla go but it was time. What a blessing it has been to be her companion and her friend. Now I am with Sister Johnson from Arizona! She is really nice:) 

We have been running around like crazy this past week to try to make the transfer go smoothly. We have new people and lessons and assignments to all take care of but things are starting to slow down now so we can finally breathe, which is good. 

The other day we were in the North Visitors Center for the closing shift and this guy had just finished watching a Joseph Smith movie and when he came out he came right up to us and said "wow Joseph Smith is hot, I can tell why he had so many wives" and let me tell you folks, I just about DIED right then and there. Holy cow. We talked a little bit about the Temple and he asked how he could get in and we said "well baptism is the short answer" and he said, "okay I'm down quick someone baptize me". Then he tried to get into the temple the guy at the desk told him that he would call security. He came back really disappointed ten minutes later and told us of his failed attempt to get into the building. I didn't know if it was hilarious or horrific but hey it for sure went in the journal. 

Also, MY FAMILY CAME TO SEE ME! When we are serving on Temple Square, our families are allowed to visit us once on our missions and mine made it to Salt Lake! It was so good to see them and to hug them and just hang out. Don't get me wrong, I cried like a little baby when they left but it was worth it to see them for a few hours. 

That is all for this week, have an awesome week! 

Sister Moran 

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Mom and Dad,

First of all, it was so nice to see all of you. It was a little weird to see you here on Temple Square but it was good. It was not good to see you go. Ya girl cried like a little baby. But hey, there is no better distraction than hard work so that is what we did after we said bye! Just got back to the missionary grind. 

This week was crazy with transfers. Sister Costilla and I on our last day together I think were just stressed and I was annoyed and she was annoyed so I was like "good riddance" when I saw her leave and then two days later I was like "wait come back help me". But Sister Johnson is really nice. She is always apologizing and not wanting to step on my toes and that is nice. It is always hard to get used to a new companion though. I am struggling really hard. And like I said, she is super nice and super sweet but she is also super talkative and she talks about boys all. the. time. We saw one of her old guy friends on Saturday and we stopped and talked for a little bit and he had just got back from a mission and homeboy was dating her BFF and then after she was like "I have feelings for him I think" and asking me what I thought of him and all this stuff and I was like "whoa this girl catches the feels fast". That is what most of our conversations are about, her past relationships. But hey, I listen and react and support because we're bonding, right? It is kind of hard to hear all about boys though all the time and stay focused. At least when it is time to work she works. Additionally, we are having some major #compunity because she is super awkward and it is starting to rub off on me and we aren't even a week in. I am scared for how I will be acting at the end of the not six, but SEVEN-week transfer. 

We are teaching some solid people it seems like. Like two of the people we have met with missionaries before which is cool so hopefully, it goes better this time around. We are also teaching Kevin (you remember Kevin, right?) and Kola and Abraham and Johnetta. There are some others but those are the main peeps. We have our girl Viola on date right now but she lives so far away from the church and has no way to get there and we can't baptize her if she doesn't go to church. The missionaries just told her to pray and have faith and God will provide her a ride. I have faith that he will. 

Also, after you guys left on Saturday, we went proselyting on the Square. We talked to lots of people and they all rejected us. We had picked out a scripture from the Book of Mormon that we thought related to the pioneers and we would get in these nice conversations and then I would say "hey, do you mind if I share a scripture about the pioneers?" and then they would just go stone cold and say "nope, I'm good" and then we would feel awkward and leave. Anyways, we had shared it with some members but I really wanted to share it with some nonmembers, ya know? So I said, okay let's say a prayer right here in the middle of the sidewalk by the reflecting pool so God can help us find someone that will hear this scripture. As soon as we opened our eyes we say this large group of people in their 20s so we went over and started talking about the pioneers and pioneer day and how it was coming up and just chatting and then we shared the scripture! Yay, God does answer prayers! Then we ended up teaching them like most of the Restoration right there on the spot which was legit. The whole time though I felt a little anxious because they were anti. Yup. Super nice antis, but still they were. They rejected our claim to the truth very kindly and quoted some scriptures and then we took a pic (because Sister Johnson thought that it was so amazing and they were so cool) and became friends on FB and parted ways. The next day, the same group texted us and were like "hey we are on Temple Square where are you?" so we met up again and this time we chatted for two hours about the Gospel and the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Sister Johnson took half of them and I took the other half and we chatted in our respective groups and they were for sure still anti. Super cool anti but still. And one of the girls was 16 and this was her like initiation trip which cracked me up. 

I then invited them to Come Follow Me in one of the secret rooms in the back of the Assembly Hall and then they came because we were studying "straight-up only the Bible". They asked some anti questions in a nice way that made the other sisters in Come Follow Me feel a little uncomfy and then we parted ways. I told two of them I would send them local missionaries and I gave them some chapters to read in the Book of Mormon and to pray about. Overall, about 30 minutes into our conversation the next day I knew we were wasting our time but Sister Johnson was like in love with them. I was told that she lived in a bubble her whole life (mostly member charter school in Arizona) but this just proved it. Anyways, they told us if we were ever in Oregon (that is where they're from) that we could stay with them and they would take us to their Bible study. I'm for sure going to hit them up if I ever make it there. Plus, they said that they would be coming back down during Conference in October (ya know, to do anti things) and that they would take us out for dinner! I'm super pumped for free dinner! The whole situation was just weird, to be honest, but I mean hey Sister Johnson was on a cloud because of the whole thing and how cool they were so I just smiled and went with it. 

Hmmm, not really much else happened this week because of the transfer and everything has just been crazy. I will for sure send you a longer email next week, promise! Love you both and thank you so much for coming to visit me! I know that it was a crazy weekend (esp. for you dad) but I appreciate it beyond what you could ever know. I'm so grateful for you both and your generosity with me and with my companions. I never realized how awesome you were until I saw you again and saw what you were doing. So selfless and so kind! I miss you guys and I'll see you in person in just a mere 11 more months! I hit seven months on Wednesday by the way. Love you and have an amazing week and a fun and safe trip back home! 

Love 

Em 

 

I Really Am a Mexican Now

Hey Everybody! This week has been really long holy cow but it has been so, so good. 

Sister Costilla and I got to go to our second in person baptism and it was just amazing. We got to teach Rodrigo on Temple Square in Spanish. Not going to lie, I was really scared to do that but it turned out so well and we love Rodrigo so much. He even asked me to give a talk about the Holy Ghost at his baptism! Sister Costilla had to translate the whole thing for me but hey it was still super cool. He has been so prepared by the Lord. He had read and prayed and even though he had questions, he knew that the Book of Mormon was true and he told us that his questions wouldn't keep him from moving forward because he couldn't deny what he knew. I think my favorite part of being a missionary is watching people change. To see the light and the joy that have come into Rodrigo's life in just a few short weeks has blown my mind. There isn't a more important work in the world and I am just so grateful to get to be part of it for 18 whole months. What a blessing. 

On a more sad note, Sister Costilla and I are getting split. This woman is a fully trained missionary and is moving on to bigger and better things! We get officially transferred on Wednesday and my new companion will be Sister Johnson! She is from Arizona. I don't really know her too well but this next transfer I am really hoping that we will become good friends! 

For our last Sunday together, Sister Costilla and I decided to go out with a bang and be Mexican together. On the way to church, she told me "I mean you always had a Mexican spirit but now you finally look like one too" I have loved my time with Sister Costilla and she has taught me so much. I am so grateful for her and her example and friendship. I am going to miss her! It is a good thing that I will literally see her every day because our mission is pretty small, tender mercies. 

Have a great week everyone! 

Sister Moran 

p.s. we went to East High for Pday! 

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Mom and Dad,

This week was so good! We had this fun tour with two families and when we were in the Assembly Hall explaining the Sacrament, this old lady got triggered because we didn't use wine because Jesus used wine. So I explained that water back then was no good and dirty and she just kinda scoffed but then there was another family on the tour that weren't members and the mom just like really quietly to me said "that was a good answer" and it made my day! We worked hard to even get the kids involved in the tour and asked fun questions and it was just an all-around good time. At the end we explained the Book of Mormon and it seemed like no one wanted it but then the little boy of the one family was like "I would like a copy" and you could tell his parents were like ???? what? And so I was like, "are you okay with that?" And they were like why not sure and so I gave the little boy a copy and I said you guys can all read it in the car together on your way home. It was too cute and that little boy was in tune with the spirit for sure. We then gave the old lady who was salty about the sacrament a copy and she and her husband gave us big hugs and said we did so good on the tour. It was sweet and only slightly awkward when we hugged the old man. 

We had our final lesson with Rodrigo this week and it was AMAZING! We taught him about tithing and then lesson five. He had some questions about the word of wisdom and the "church for only white people" in the Book of Mormon and he also thought the church was sexist so we cleared all that up for him. He told us though that he knew the church was true and the Book of Mormon was true so none of his questions would stop him from getting baptized this Saturday. That is what we wanted to hear. We were teaching him then in lesson five about the priesthood and I was like wow this is hard with trying to explain and visualize and translate (because Sister Costilla didn't feel comfortable explaining the priesthood so she had me do it) and then the spirit was like "hey, why don't you go to the priesthood restoration monuments?" And then I was like "hey, why don't we go to the priesthood restoration monuments" and it was perfect #thankyouholyghost. It made so much more sense to him and made it more real to see it there and explaining it really strengthened my testimony of the priesthood. Plus, it was so cool to see how Rodrigo would be able to get the priesthood in the next few weeks and he was so excited because when his daughter eventually comes to visit, he would be able to baptize her! 

Speaking of Rodrigo, his baptism was AWESOME! There were barely any people there but afterward he was like "wow so many people came I didn't expect there to be so many" and it was so cute. He asked Sister Costilla to give a talk on baptism and then he asked me to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. I thought that was strange because I don't speak Spanish but I was so happy that he still wanted me to be a part of the program. Sister Costilla translated my talk as we went and she was an absolute champ. We also gave the restoration in Spanish (well her translating for me) after he was baptized and was getting changed. He is so prepared and he has such a strong testimony. He told us that he always wants to feel the way that he feels right now and he loves having the Holy Ghost. He promised us that he will keep praying and reading and everything and we love it. For me, his baptism wasn't the highlight because it is just the beginning, I just love seeing now how happy he is and how he will be going to the Temple and how he will be getting the priesthood and how excited he is to progress. He even asked us what he could do to keep progressing after he goes through the temple and we said just keep going and doing the work for his ancestors and learning and serving in the church. He is awesome and I love him a lot. I don't even really notice the language barrier at this point because it doesn't matter. The spirit is a universal language and that is what we connected over. I LOVE RODRIGO! 

Sister Costilla's birthday was this week and I went BIG for her. We had cake the night before with our district and then I made her a surprise package! We have a table in the South Visitor's Center where people get packages and Sister Costilla always looks but she never has anything but I wanted for her birthday to have something there so I had the people in our district help and trusty old Sister Broadbent contributed some stuff and then we used one of the boxes that you had sent me and taped it all up with a paper on top with her name. She almost screamed when she saw it sitting there it was so cute. We went and got pizza for dinner per her request with the district and Sister Broadbent and one other companionship that we are friends with and of course I paid for her. We then got to go home and Sister Barcellos made a Brazilian dessert and we had that too and then we had ice cream the next day because we forgot the day before. She loved it though. Like ten times she said wow this is so awesome thank you so much I love you so much. And it made my heart feel warm. It isn't every day that you turn 20 and I knew that if I didn't do something, no one would because she is still rather new and doesn't have too many friends. I think that it was a success. 

I met a nice guy named Jeff in the South Visitor's Center who is here for a foot doctor convention. He was interested and I gave him a Book of Mormon and three pamphlets and he was like oh thanks. I taught him how to repent and like half of the plan of salvation and invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I got his phone number too! I almost invited him to be baptized right there because you could just tell that he is special. I texted him yesterday and he said it wasn't likely that he would convert but this is interesting but I know that he felt something so we are going to go with that. 

Also, we had a really good lesson with this guy named kola. He had so many questions about the Bible and the Book of Mormon and he quoted the classic anti scriptures about not adding to the Bible and stuff like that but he was sincere! So we gave him some scriptures to read in the bible and in the book of Mormon and he is going to read and pray and then we will call him again pretty soon. I cried on the call with him because I could feel the spirit so strong and just because I love being a missionary. I don't know what happened to me this week but like three times I have just cried because I love what I am doing. It is the most important and worthwhile work on the earth and I am just grateful that Heavenly Father is letting me be apart of it. 

Also, I have a new companion starting on Wednesday!!! Her name is Sister Johnson and she is from Arizona. I have talked to her all of two times but she is really nice. She is also super chatty because both of the interactions I've had with her involved me saying that I was so sorry but I had to go. Anyways, it will be good. Sister Costilla is going to be with Sister Forbush who was one of our disobedient roomies our first transfer together. When she heard we just decided to leave the big reveal party at our zone leader's apartment and go home and she was just crying because she didn't want to be with someone like her. To be fair, I really feel like it was Sister Forbush's companion more than it was her but I guess that we will see. I am praying for her for sure because if this how she is feeling before the transfer, I can't imagine what her transfer will look like, especially because it is seven weeks long. Awkward. 

I am so excited for you to come this weekend! You will get to meet my new companion whoop whoop! I am like switching between dread to be with her and excitement so please pray for me and for her because I know that I can sometimes be difficult to get along with. Love you both and I AM SO PUMPED TO SEE YOU!!!! 

Love 

Em

'Murica

Hey everyone! 

Life on the mission is great. We had zone conference this week and Sister Fisher (the mission president's wife) totally destroyed us because we were being disobedient and there were "secret combinations" in the mission. Nice. It was a good reminder to tighten up and do and be better. 

We are having our final lesson with Rodrigo tomorrow before he is baptized on Saturday! Plus, he lives here in Salt Lake so we will be able to go and we are so excited for him! Plus, he is just so excited himself. He keeps talking to us all about his baptism and what it will be like, too cute. 

This week was full of activities! We went on a hike for our zone activity, for the Fourth of July we had a barbeque for the mission, we had a zone service project where we picked apricots for 2 hours, and we had our district activity where we had a water balloon fight! It is so nice to be able to have these things to make life more fun, especially in the summer.

Also, for the 4th of July activity, Sister Costilla was so cute and she dressed up in red, white, and blue to match the holiday. She barely even looked Mexican... besides the flag;) 

I hope everyone has an awesome week! 

Sister Moran 

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Hey Mom and Dad! How are you? This week was good and more of the same though. 

Mari was confirmed, making our goal of 2 baptisms for this transfer complete! BUT we are going to exceed our goal because our man RODRIGO prayed and got his answer... twice! Idk if I told you last week but he had been taught like everything and we kept inviting him to pray because he would read and everything but never pray for like two weeks and finally he did two times! We are so pumped for him and he is so excited and wow. I love that Heavenly Father is preparing people not only online in the teaching center, but also on the square. What a huge blessing. He is getting baptized this Saturday and we are going to go (because he lives like 5 minutes away lol). We are baking another sick cake. People that we meet on square should really get baptized more often because we always bring a cake. It's like a 2 for 1 deal: making promises with God that will bless your life AND getting a sick cake. win-win. 

The English queue is dead on teaching center now which is a bummer but oh well. I just pick up any and everybody that I can ever see that pops up. I called this guy from Nigeria today who was a Bible request and we were talking about Job and he was so knowledgeable. I shared Helaman 5:12 with him because I thought that it went along pretty well with the story of Job and he was like wait I love that where is it from? So I really quick explained the Book of Mormon and he had never heard of it before (those are my favorite because they don't have any misconceptions) and he said that he would love a copy of that along with the Bible. He lives in an unassigned teaching area so I tried calling the mission office twice but no one picked up. I will try again tomorrow but I am low key scared that no one will pick up. How is he supposed to learn with no local missionaries?! I can teach him online and send him the address to the church but I kind of need the locals. That goes for all of my people. A lot of the people that are interested lately live in unassigned areas and live far away from missionaries and from church even though they live in America and it can be so hard. But hey, this is the Lord's work, not my work, so I know that He is preparing people and He is in charge so it might be hard, but it will all work out. I just need to pray a lot and have a lot of faith! 

We had our zone service project this week and we went to the This is the Place park and we picked unripe apricots off trees for almost two hours. It was actually super fun! I got a lot of scratches on my arms and more than on rock hard apricot fell on my head but it was fun to be outside and to work and to get a little bit dirty. Sometimes I feel kind of restrained in my skirt and on Temple Square in the middle of the city all the time, so it was nice to get out and about for a while. The next day, our zone leaders called us in for an emergency meeting for the zone so we show up and basically they tell us that they were disappointed with us. They said that a lot of people were complaining about the service project and that a lot of people were complaining about the Zone activity and everything and that "the attitude that we have towards our mission is a reflection of our attitude about the priesthood and Jesus Christ" (it says that it in PMG) and then they made us watch an inspiring video about being eagles and not turkeys. It made me think of dad when he gave me that pep talk Junior year. Anyways, it was interesting especially because after you could tell they were trying to be funny and diffuse any tension and it was just awkward. Good times. 

We had our district activity today and we had a water balloon fight! We were supposed to help fill them up but we kept breaking them so we only did five and everyone else did like five buckets. Oh well. But it was fun and it was nice to just mess around and have fun. Afterward, we all had this dish called "mango float" and Sister Thant (from Myanmar) made if for us and it was really good! I have the recipe so you know I will be making it when I get home! We are going to the Bountiful Temple tomorrow and it will be fun! Sister Guthrie and Sister Galvez from our district are going to drive us. I really like my district. I feel like the other transfers I've been here it has been okay but I feel like this transfer I want to hang out with my district and I know that I can go to them and ask them for help. I hope they feel the same way about Sister Costilla and me. 

Okay people we are down to the last ten days of the transfer and I am shook. This transfer was only five weeks so of course, it was going to be shorter than usual but the time really just flew by. Sister Costilla is almost done with training! It is exciting but also scary because I want her to be prepared for whoever her next companion is. She told me that she knows how to be a missionary and preach the gospel but that she still feels like she doesn't know enough to give a tour with all the history and she just doesn't feel like she knows everything yet and like she could be out of training. I have ten days to make her feel like she can so pray for us and wish us luck. We are about to be studying history like crazy so she can feel more confident. I feel like we could be together for a third transfer after this but I guess we will see. President is a mysterious man. Next pday I will know if we are staying together or if we are getting split and I will know my next companion *hyperventilates* #prayforme

That is about all I have for this week but I am so excited to hopefully see you both soon! What a blessing to be able to see our families while we are here at Temple Square. You for sure appreciate people more when you are far from them. Love you both so much and I miss you! Enjoy your time in the States! 

Love 

Em 

Fasting Brings Miracles

Hey Everyone!

This week was kind of boring but it was also really good! We found a bunch of new people to teach! For those of you who don't know, as missionaries at Temple square we do all of the online things. So people can request a Bible, a Book of Mormon, Missionary Visit, or they can call or text into our website. Then, all of us lovely sister missionaries take these requests and talk to them and hopefully start teaching them! In the English queue, there are mostly Bible requests which most people hate but I love with all of my heart! Most of the time, people don't answer, but when that one out of ten do they are AMAZING. We have seen a lot of progression from some of our Bible requests and it just makes me so happy because Heavenly Father is preparing people everywhere and we get to find them here on Temple Square!

That is really all I have for this week, but I love being a missionary! I especially love being a missionary here on Temple Square:)

Sister Moran

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Hey Parents! I feel like this week just absolutely flew by! 

Okay so mom, I am SO HAPPY THAT YOU MADE IT TO THE STATES AND WOW GOD IS SO GOOD! I fasted after that initial email you sent me about being so stressed and crying and driving nine hours and then at the end of the day I opened my email and you had got on a flight... and then not but then the next day you did and the nice couple gave you all a ride so basically fasting brings miracles! 

Also, we fasted on Sunday for our investigator Johnetta. She is the sweetest lady and she wants to get baptized but her dad is a pastor in another church and he would be so mad and he is so old and she doesn't want to do that to her dad. We called her and read 1 Nephi 16 this week where Nephi broke his bow and even the dad started complaining but she said that she still couldn't do it. Basically, though she has told both the Elders and us that her dad is super old and his health is bad (it for reals is really bad guys) and that once he passes away she will be able to baptized. So, we did a group fast with her Elders and fasted for her to be able to be brave and make good choices and feel the spirit helping her so yeah. I hope that is works. At this rate, I don't even need to diet because I'm fasting so much. Maybe that is why I lost like 3 pounds this week... 

Also, another MIRACLE!!! We met this lady named Mariangeley on square on like our first week together and we put her on date with her cousin in the SVC. Maybe you remember the story? But we tried to teach her but she wanted locals so do it in person so we taught her some of the restoration and then have followed up and texted every so often to see how she was doing. We texted her earlier this week and she said that she was GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SUNDAY LIKE WHAT?!?! So yeah she got baptized yesterday and then she is getting confirmed this coming Sunday. What a miracle and even though we didn't do too much, it is crazy how one visit to temple square was able to change her life in such a huge way. 

Rodrigo is doing well. We taught him the Plan of Salvation on Square this week and he really liked it! His girlfriend passed away like 6 months ago or something like that so he really liked what we had to say. We took him to the temple model after that and explained baptisms for the dead and he was so pumped to be able to do hers and other people that he loves! We took him to the family history library after that and tried to help him set up an account but it didn't work but he said he would do it at home lol. He is on date for July 13 but he said that he wants to be sure before he is baptized, he doesn't want to just get baptized and not be sure. So we told him that he needs to pray about the Book of Mormon and what we have taught him (because he reads the Book of Mormon every day and has gone to church twice) and then God will tell him it is true and then he will know! But then he never prays. It is pretty frustrating. So he seems like 50% solid for his date but I hope that everything will work out. Maybe we can fast for him this week! 

I finished the Book of Mormon for the second time in my mission! Man, that is a good book. Make sure you guys are reading every day! 

Sister Costilla and I have a minimum of like 2 more weeks together, but I think that we will stay together longer. President has mentioned to our DL's that he likes us a lot together and he responded to my email last week with "you two are a powerful companionship" so I think that we will stay together for three transfers and I'm chill with it. I love her a lot. And we do have our ups and downs, don't get me wrong. But we are obedient, we work hard, we love each other and we love the work. Plus, we've just become really good friends and I'm grateful for that. So I guess we'll see in the next few weeks if we are together but I am willing to bet that we will be together for three transfers. 

Also, SISTER BROADBENT GOT HER OUTBOUND CALL THIS WEEK! She will be serving in the North Dakota Bismark Mission for three months. I cried like a little baby. Even though I sometimes had a hard time with her I still love her a lot and she is one of my only friends here and now she is leaving. Rude. But she is going to do awesome! 

I love you all and I'm pumped to see you in like a few weeks! God is so good! 

Love 

Sister Moran