-We taught 88 lessons!!!!! I know, that is a lot of lessons. I would say about 90 percent are for people that we talk to on the Square though. We do a good job of picking out the nonmembers and talking to them, but at night when it is member central we just talk to them. All you have to do to teach a lesson to members is teach a principle and invite them to do something. I've had some really tender experiences with members though as I have done this. My two highlights are when I was talking to a recent convert family of about two years and we were in the Tabernacle. I asked the little girl if she knew what General Conference was and she said "no" and her dad was like "come on sweetie you're making me look bad" and I told her that General Conference is when we get to hear what God wants us to know about and it is very important. He does that through a prophet. We then were talking more and I invited this little girl and her dad to read a general conference talk this week together and then the mom showed up and she joined in on the invitation and it was the sweetest experience. The other was with this deacons group and we started talking about missions and if they wanted to serve and why they wanted to go and they all gave different reasons as to why. Their answers were all different and it was cool to see why 13 year olds would want to serve. We then talked about what my mission means for me and what their leader's mission meant to him and then I invited them to start preparing for their missions now! I asked them if they read the Book of Mormon everyday and they said "well kinda" and I said well the best way that you can prepare is by reading it everyday. I told them that they could ease into it and start by reading it everyday that week and they said yes! I can't follow up so I told them to keep each other accountable;) I am seriously super exhausted and dead inside because I am so tired. Yesterday night my head hurt so bad that I couldn't even feel it (idk if that makes sense) but I just kept talking to people for three hours straight. This doesn't sound fun, but it is TOTALLY fun. I love being able to be on Temple Square at Christmastime. We are so busy that Sister Safuan and I keep forgetting to take pictures, so, we decided to take at least one a day, especially with the lights so we can remember this time more!
- This week I saw literally every single person I know. I swear no one is safe here. I saw the McCombs, Ellie and Eric Martinez, Brian Davis (who asked how you're doing btw dad), Paige Neilson (I played vb with her @lakenheath), Matt and Corbin (who brought me German food!! How nice!), and some random person handed some other missionaries a plate of cookies for me for a late birthday gift but the person didn't write their name on it so I have no idea who it is from, and one other person who apparently knew me in England and was tall and skinny with brown hair but then disappeared before I made it to the North Visitor's Center to say hey. Yup. A crazy amount of people. I feel like I always have to look presentable just out of pure fear that someone I know will show up and they will see how dead I feel inside. Thank goodness for makeup, am I right? It is cool though to be able to run into people I know on Temple Square, unique to pretty much this mission for sure.
 |
| Emily and Corinne, her roommate from school |
-We went to the Temple yesterday! Usually I just do the endowment but we did sealings yesterday and it was my first time. When watching the sealings I was just thinking about the priesthood a lot and what it means to have the priesthood because the sealer was going quick and idk I just wasn't feeling it too much. When it was my turn to go the altar and proxy seal some daughters to their parents, that is when I felt it. The Spirit was there for sure and I could feel the importance of the Temple and Temple Sealings. It made me think a lot about how I was giving other daughters a chance to be with her mom and dad forever and it was just super sweet. I'm grateful for the knowledge that I have to be with you guys forever. We also did initiatories and I had some names from the Netherlands and the old ladies had no idea how to pronounce them and it was really funny.
-Apollo had a family emergency this week and hasn't been chatting with us too much which is concerning. We have been praying for him and it would be great if you could pray for him too! His name is on the prayer roll so that should help. We had a HUGE miracle this week and her name is Isabella. She was a Bible request but upon calling her, I discovered that she is 18 and super willing to accept the gospel. So, after trying (and failing) to explain the priesthood in a way that she would understand (side note: I did it a good job but it didn't click, even locals tried again and it didn't work) I just invited her to baptized by someone with the priesthood and she said yes and then we put her on date for Jan 4. HUGE MIRACLE THAT NEVER HAPPENS. Seriously. Ridiculous. She didn't end up going to church but that is okay because hopefully she will go this week. We haven't talked to her lately and neither have the locals because she isn't responding so we are a little concerned but pray for her and we will keep you updated. We have 6 people on date to be baptized and actually most of them are english speakers. We honestly haven't had too much time to be online because the Square is so busy but we are doing our best to find time to call the people that we need to and to find new people and send referrals.
- We got to go to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional this past Sunday and it was really cool. I super loved the music, the Tabernacle Choir is just out of this world. I really loved the talks that I heard. A lot lately I just feel like I am not really in the Christmas spirit. It just doesn't feel like Christmastime. Which is super weird because there are lights everywhere and I sing Christmas carols daily for the world to hear and I invite people to light the world left and right so it doesn't quite click that I am not in the spirit of things. I kept trying to brainstorm why and I received revelation during the devotional! When we keep our thoughts focused on the Savior, we will always have the Christmas spirit with us. Now I think in general I have my thoughts on Him. I mean as His representative I have to, but I could always do better. I am working on finding more ways to do this, to focus on Him. Any suggestions?
- This week in District Council we talked about prayer and repentance but specifically repentance. We had them read the talk by president Nelson from the most recent priesthood session (thanks for the idea mom) and they liked it! Our training was specifically about teaching lessons on Square to members and having QUALITY lessons and interactions with them. How to discern their needs, how to get them to talk, how to tailor specific invitations that will help them.. we don't just want to have cookie cutter conversations with everyone because everyone is different. Plus, one companionship in our district taught two lessons total this week. There are a lot of things that I could say about that, but mostly I will just say that here is no excuse and they need to do better. One of the sisters in the companionship used to be a Zone Leader so she really knows better and should be doing better. The good news is she is going home early so she can go to BYU and her companion will be with someone new. Her companion is just as bad though. She doesn't work and she has been told that she is on her last chance or President will send her home to finish up in a service mission. I know. So that companionship not doing anything is really bad. We gave a really good training and everyone was participating and we had a great role play at the end and people were taking notes and we challenged each companionship in the district to teach at least three QUALITY lessons per day. This way we will have 60 lessons as a district for the week! They all committed to it and we are excited to see the changes that take place. I will update you on that next week. The whole thing we wanted to focus on was making sure we are discerning needs and fulfilling our purpose and not just raising indicators because yes quality over quantity but you can have a goodly amount of people talked to and lessons taught because there are a goodly amount of people on Square. Right? Do you guys disagree? Let me know your thoughts.
- We had our interviews with President this past week and I just love that guy so much. To my surprise we started off my interview talking about last transfer with Sister Brinkmeier. I had heard her saying things about me and our old roomie told me and she said "don't worry no one believes her because everyone knows who you are and everyone knows who she is" but ever since last transfer I just keep feeling so terrible and like I ruined everything and I should have done something different. Her telling people that I was "mean" to her made me feel terrible. I broke down to Sister Safuan and she comforted me and said all of the right things but I still felt bad and then I was praying and asking Heavenly Father to help me but I felt like I was just feeling still terrible. I went in for interviews though and President's first words to me were "Sister Moran, none of what happened to you last transfer was your fault. She was a bum and was mean to you and she admits that and has admitted that to me. I can see that you are hard on yourself about it but you did what you needed to do so don't be so hard on yourself, know that you are loved and that you are one of the best we have and that is why you had to be with her. She has some demons in her life that she has been hiding and I'm sure that you have been able to see some of those and that you know that but I'm helping her and she'll get out of it and everything will be just fine. Just know that you did great and you are loved and this transfer is just going to be so much better for you" and I just felt this relief wash over me. It was my answer that it was okay, yes I had made mistakes and I could have done some things better but I did my best with a companion that was hard. I also found out that she has been working with President to repent of some things that she did pre-mission and didn't work out so it all makes more sense now why she is the way she is. Doesn't make it any easier to see her. Shoot every time I see her I get terrified and my heart beats fast and I want to cry sometimes even but that is okay. I really tried with her. I did. I just want her to be happy. Also, idk if dad is going to get that signed picture because I am terrified to ask her again but I will. I'm going to get her a Christmas present so I'll let you know how that goes. Maybe this sounds dramatic but it's true and it has been really bothering me this whole transfer but somehow President just knows what to say to calm you down. The rest of the interview was good and I just told him that Dad got promoted and he said to keep him updated on where we move and then at the end he said "Well Sister Moran, what is next for you?" and I said "Well President, I have been here for almost a year now so I would love to go outbound if at all possible" and he just laughed and I'm taking that as I'm going. I think that we will know right around Christmas so stay tuned to see where my reassignment will be!
You guys I just really love doing missionary work. I feel like I have just fallen in love all over again with what I am doing. I love my companion. She is the BEST and we are having a lot of fun together. She thinks I'm hilarious and likes my jokes (which is rare because most people just think that I'm weird) so I am just living life out here. I love my Savior and I even love talking to members (wow, what a change). I'm excited to go outbound but also sad because I love Temple Square and I'm going to miss it, but I know that I will learn a lot and I will still be fulfilling my purpose no matter where I serve. I don't always understand how, but God does and He will help me always.
I love you both! Thank you for all of the love and support you give me. I'll talk to you soon and I'll see you soon! You know I am almost at my 6 months till I go home mark? Wild. I guess that time flies when you are having fun.
Love
Em
No comments:
Post a Comment