My Temple Square Mission: A Greater Joy

Hello, hello!

It has been a pretty great week! Sister Ferguson and I have found some new investigators and one, Paul, who we met at West Gate is progressing!! The other, Neuman, who we met in the South Visitor's Center while we were on desk, we will call this Thursday :) That was a pretty interesting conversation with Neuman because he has a strong faith in Christ, but when I asked if he would like to learn more he said that he had his own church. He and I (Sister Ferguson was at the desk- we contact different people usually when we have desk assignments) had been talking for about 5 minutes at this point about the Holy Ghost- how it testifies of truth and works through the feelings of peace, light, and joy- and also about temples. He told me that he grew up with Mormon neighbors, that he felt the peace here, and that he could see the light of the Holy Ghost in me as I shared my testimony. He shared that he had a strong relationship with Christ and that it has been built through prayer. He is a pretty solid guy with great faith in Christ! So when he said he had his own church, I replied, "Neuman, there is something different about this church and it is something good. We would like to share more with you and for you to take it in, apply it, and find out for yourself if it's something you would like in your life". He is someone who I could tell was close to the Spirit and I knew I couldn't let him walk away without sharing that he could have even greater joy than he already experiences now. He accepted my invitation and gave me his number and email. He was such a kind man and I'm looking forward to us calling him!

In my last email I shared how we met a homeless man at the West Gate booth. Well, we have met with him about 5 times this past week. He was pretty interesting during the first few visits because he was still smoking and doing other things, but we committed him to keep the Word of Wisdom and he has been doing so well! We have been reading the Book of Mormon with him and also have been teaching him the missionary lessons. We taught him the Plan of Salvation the other day and had a pretty cool experience.

As a part of the lesson, we went up to the presentation of "God's Plan for His Families". At the end, he shared how he believed in all of it and I felt impressed to ask if his dad, who passed away August of last year, was a member. (Back story, Frank had done a ton of temple work for his ancestors before he was less-active). He answered that his dad was not and I said, "Frank...you have to go back to the temple. You need to do the work for your dad". He sat there for a second, and responded that he agreed and felt he needed to go back. We talked about goals with him and how going to the temple is the ultimate goal. Since he has been sober, everything from his past has been weighing on his shoulders so his countenance was sad throughout the presentation, but there was also the hope and reality that this Gospel was there for him. He went to church yesterday and plans on going each week. But the amazing thing about the experience I just shared is that I remembered how on the first night I met him that I had the strong impression that he needed to go back to the temple as soon as possible. And then, when we taught this lesson, it hit me that the urgency came from his father. His dad is ready to make those promises in the temple and Frank is supposed to be the one to do it and be his proxy. Tears came to my eyes as that realization came to my heart. Frank is being guided to help his family.

Something I know is that family bonds are some of the most important and powerful ties that we have in this life. Family is everything and I know that our family members can help us and guide back to the paths that we need to be on to progress. Frank's dad is watching over him and I know that there is no mistake in one of the titles of God being Heavenly FATHER. Families are eternal and those relationships aren't meant to end here in this life. I feel so blessed to have temples and the priesthood authority, the power of God, to be here on the earth so that I can be sealed to my family forever.

Miracles happen every single week and I am grateful to have this time as a missionary! I love you all and I hope you have a happy week!!

Sister Asay :)