Hello everyone!
This week has literally FLOWN by! Tuesday until Friday
literally felt like one day. So weird!
So,
the Temple Square Mission performance was a success!! So many people came and
it was such a blessing to be a part of it! One song that particularly touched my heart
was the "EFY Medley" (a mix of “As Sisters in Zion” and “Armies of
Helaman”) for two reasons. First, I sang
that song every summer at EFY while growing up and it always made me tear up
then and still does now. Second, this is
the song I heard in the MTC back in April when I was there for the Vocal Point
Fireside. The words were changed from "We are as the Lord's
missionaries and will bring the world His truth" to "We are now
the Lord's missionaries and will bring the world His truth".
That part is what helped me decided to go on a mission.... and hearing and
singing that song again while actually serving a mission made me feel so
grateful for the small promptings of the Spirit that I was given over 6 months
ago, and for all of the joy I have felt because of my choice to serve.
After the performance, the sisters had the opportunity to talk to the guests
who came! I talked to a number of
people, but a conversation with man interested in the church who was with his
two members friends stood out to me. He had been searching all of his
life for something more and has been going to church for 2 months now! We had a nice long talk and I was able to
share my testimony with him. It was such a wonderful night! The Spirit
definitely speaks through music :)
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| Sisters Jones, Walsh and Asay after the Temple Square Fireside |
Early on in my mission, I had a
hard time deciphering between promptings and my own thoughts. There were always times when I would have a
thought to talk to someone or ask them a question and I wouldn't do it. It
was after a few experiences of feeling guilty for not acting upon a possible
prompting that I promised Heavenly Father that whatever thought or prompting
popped into my mind, I would act on it. And so I did, and do you know
what is amazing?? Ever since that prayer
where I made that promise, I have been given more promptings that ever and
there have been so many positive outcomes because of it!
One example of following a
prompting this week was in the Teaching Center (where we call people, also
known as "TC"), so each week we have Weekly Planning and we schedule
what day and time we are going to call certain people. On Wednesday, I
had finished calling the individuals I had set aside time for, so I was going
to hop on chat and see if I could help anyone. However, I had the thought
come to my mind "Call Joe". So I thought "Sure, why
not!" and called him. (Here's a little back story-Joe* (name changed) was released from
jail over a month ago, moved in with his sister, and called Mormon.org
to request help to get a new job and also to visit with the missionaries. We
talked once after the original phone call to see how he was doing.) Anyway, so I called the number and it was his
sister saying that Joe had moved, but
she gave me his new number. Something I noticed was that she was a little
prickly over the phone, but after I told her I was "Catherine from
Mormon.org" she softened some, which I thought was interesting, but didn't
think much of it. We said goodbye, and I dialed Joe's new number. He answered and we had a great talk! He told me how the missionaries came over her
their first visit a few weeks earlier and his sister sat in on their
conversation. Now, his sister is getting
married and getting baptized within the next month! So cool! That's when I realized why there was a change
in her tone on the phone after I told her I was associated with the church :)
Then, Joe proceeded to tell me
his story. Joe lives alone and he told me how the night before he had
almost choked to death and there was no one around to help him. He tried
everything he could, but there wasn't any air getting in or out and that he
looked into a mirror and was starting to turn blue! He finally gave up and just
sat down. The relaxing, thankfully, made his body loosen up and he was able to
get air in. He told me he was still shaky from the experience, but when I
called him he was like "Hey, someone does care about
me!" That's when I realized the meaning behind the prompting I was
given and I was SO grateful that I had listened. Joe is awesome!! He is meeting with the local missionaries,
and his goal is to be baptized! Listen to promptings everyone! We are all
here on this earth to help and serve each other. The Holy Ghost works through
each of us to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters around us.
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| A picture just for my Dad since he served in the Southern States Mission! |
A few other highlights!
We met these two older men and
they were just so sweet! One really
loves the church and the missionaries and kept talking about the light that we
have in our eyes and smiles. His friend, who is around 85, then pinched
my cheek and Sister's Jones' cheek and said "Yeah, are they real??"
Haha. The first guy then said, "If someone were to come to Temple Square
right now and go against what you girls were doing, I would say 'You have to go
through me first'". I don't know why, but this made me tear
up! I feel like I tear up all the time on my mission, but those two men
were such great guys! Too bad they didn't want local missionaries, but we
gave them our number to call us if they had any questions!
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| Where else can you watch General Conference and Sports Center? The Church Office Building! :) |
Sister Walsh, Jones, and I made
a goal to give out a Book of Mormon on Friday. At the end of the day, we
were giving a tour to an older man and a young man- not family- and at the end
one referred! Then I remembered our goal and asked them if they would
like a Book of Mormon to read and they both said yes! This was a reminder to me
that we are urged to make goals for a reason- they help us go the extra step :)
At the Conference Center, a
group of VERY talented individuals put on a performance called "Savior of
the World", and the Temple Square sisters were split up and given either
Thursday or Friday to go to their dress rehearsal! My zone went on Friday and
the show was amazing!! I felt the Spirit
and it's a great reminder to know what Christmas is truly about the birth of
our Savior. Anyone can go and I'm pretty sure you can buy tickets
online! Afterwards, the cast came and talked to us and I got to meet some
of the main actors! And fun fact, a girl
from my tap class was one of the cast members. Ha! It felt so funny to hear
someone yell my first name to get my attention.
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| Mary & Joseph from "Savior of the World" They were so nice!! |
Anyway, this week was pretty
awesome! We gave a lot of tours and were
able to share the Gospel with many! I love you all! I can't believe I've been
out for over 3 months now and that transfers are next week....what??
Love,
Sister Asay
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