Merry Christmas Y'all!!

Merry Christmas Family & Friends!

I think early last week it hit me that I didn't have much time left on my mission and I started wondering if I had done all I could and if I had worked hard enough. I prayed about it and we had Zone Conference this week, so it was a day full of edification, learning, and the Spirit! Soooo good!! What is wonderful though is that my prayers have been answered with feelings of peace, contentment, and love from God. I also received the guidance to keep working my hardest :) I have been blessed with so much focus and I have made a goal to be in the present at all times! Sister Sindylkova and I are working hard and I am loving it!

A cool thing happened the other night! Twice a week we are assigned to sing somewhere on the square for 30 minutes. Usually it's three companionships, however, once we got to our spot we found out that one companionship had a baptism to go to and the other was sick, so it would just be Sister Sindylkova and I.  We called asking for covers, but no one else came.  I suggested that we just sing anyway since S. Sindylkova has a nice voice and could carry us.  She liked the idea of still singing, so we stepped up onto the side of the plant things and I stood there for a minute, second guessing if we should, and then my comp said with her sweet little accent, "Sister Asay, open your hymn book". Haha. #stagefright!  We started singing and I know that there had to be angels singing with us!  You wouldn't think it was just two of us and we actually sounded GOOD!  Little kids every now and then came to join us and everyone who walked by was so nice and would say "Merry Christmas" or "thank you".  It was so sweet, they probably felt bad for us too, but I'll take it!  It turned into a spiritual experience and I felt a deep love of the Gospel and of my Savior, Jesus Christ as we happily sang by ourselves and, even more so, when others joined in. :)

The other day we called a guy named Jim from Indiana who we are teaching! We taught him the first half of the Plan of Salvation and focused mainly on the Atonement.  It was a really good lesson and at the end we invited him to be baptized.  He said yes!  We set the goal of his baptism for Jan.10th! Super excited!! And we are teaching a guy named Tim that Sister Sindylkova was teaching before we were companions and he has been meeting with local missionaries and goes to church each week.  He is going to be baptized Jan. 3rd, but is a little nervous about committing even though he knows it's all true. We are doing our best to help him have that confidence and review & teach key principles of the Gospel!

Lastly, we had a Youth Conference yesterday that we (along with Sister Peters and Poznanski) were in charge of and it was amazing!  It was about 60 youth from a ward in Ogden and President and Sister Poulsen (my mission president and his wife) came and spoke at the beginning for about 15 minutes. Then, we did a fun little thing with the youth and showed a picture of the man on the front of Preach My Gospel and asked the youth if they could guess who it was. Most said Joseph Smith or Brigham Young or Parley Pratt, but it is actually a man named Dan Jones!  He was a missionary in England and was short, so he would get on top of a stool or something and would hold up the Book of Mormon and shout his testimony to all who could hear.  We had 5 volunteers come down and they did the same as good ol' Dan Jones.  It was really cool actually.  We then split them up into groups and they went with sisters for a tour and to hear the sisters’ testimonies about why they went on missions, etc.  Then they came back and they each presented a minute long "Mormon Message" through testifying, singing, or doing a skit with their group.  It was so powerful hearing all of their testimonies.  My favorite was from a little boy who said "You have to change yourself before you can help change someone else". And he was like 12! So cool. We ended with showing "He Is the Gift", us four (sister peters, poznanski, my comp, and myself) sharing our testimonies, and then all of the sisters singing our version of Called to Serve. We have an extra verse. The whole thing was amazing and I just love the youth!

I want to close with this scripture that my Dad shared with me today from Isaiah. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace".

I know that Christ is my Savior. I feel so blessed to be able to testify of His Atonement and His great love for us this Christmas season.

I love you all and Merry Christmas!! Talk to you in a few days, family!! :)

Sister Asay

Working in the Lord's Vineyard

Hello there!!

We were talking with our roomies about apartment stuff and we mentioned about cleaning the dishes thoroughly before we put them on the drying rack.  One roommate, Sister Frasier, said "Yeah that's true, no one likes dirty dishes. ...Ha, that rhymes!!" And Sister Taylor (S. Frasier's comp) and I both looked at each other and started laughing.  Hahaha, it definitely doesn't rhyme, but S. Frasier was SO convinced.  It was sooo funny...at least to us anyway. Hahah. I still laugh when I think about it. #missionarylife

Announcing while it was snowing! Look at S. Mathias on my left.  She is my fave!

This week has been a busy one!  But a great kind of busy!  We have been on the Square a lot and teaching a bunch during our Teaching Center (Call Center) time.  I also announced yesterday after the Mormon Tabernacle concert. (A group of sisters who all speak different languages wait outside and "announce" that we are giving tours of Temple Square to share the history and the basic beliefs of the church. A group of high school kids came up to me and wanted a tour.  It was 3 members and one less-active named Megan. Turns out, Megan had lots of questions but was shy to ask them around her friends.  We got her information and set an appointment to call her later that night. When the time came, we called her and it went so well!  We answered her questions and Megan told us how she felt so strongly God was guiding her to move to Utah to help her change, but how lately she hasn't really felt the Spirit. I told her that God was waiting for her to act, so we committed her to read her scriptures daily this week and share with us how she feels.  She is also going through similar trials that Jerrica used to have, so I was able to share Jerrica's experience of being able to overcome her challenges with help from Christ and His Gospel.  Megan is a sweet girl and I'm so happy Sister Sindylkova and I were able to meet her on the tour and start teaching her! 

My previous comp, Sis. Mathias, is back from Outbound!! Happy, happy! :)

Cheesin'

The group!

This is my cute new companion!

I also met a lady named Kim on chat who is really interested and wants to learn more about the Book of Mormon.  However, her spouse is kind of tough when it comes to religion and got angry when missionaries showed up at the door.  I told her we could mail the Book of Mormon and that I could call her if that felt less-intrusive for her than having missionaries stop by.  She agreed to receive the Book of Mormon, but didn't think calling was a good idea because she couldn't call at work or at home.  I suggested email and she was so excited about having an option to stay in touch!  In addition to the Book of Mormon, I also sent her the missionary pamphlets so she could get a good idea of what we believe.  I'm not sure what it will be like teaching her, but she seems so golden and how cool that she already really appreciates the principles of our church! I just love her already!

Last, but not least....I went to the temple with Jerrica this past Saturday :) What a special experience that I will never forget!!  Jerrica, who is really in-tune with vibes from her surroundings, said how powerful the Spirit was inside the Temple. She loved the whole experience and it was amazing to be her escort.  I was so incredibly proud of her. At the end, we walked into one of the side sealing rooms to show her what it looks like. We started talking about how happy she was and I just started crying.  The joy just filled my heart!  Later, we said a prayer together and she asked me to say it so, of course, I cried again.  Sister Jones and Sister Hansen also had permission to come and it was such a wonderful event!!  Probably one of my favorite moments of my mission. Nothing is more beautiful than seeing someone change so much, be worthy to go inside the temple, make higher promises with God, and in return receive so many wonderful blessings! 

Jerrica!!  Love her so much!

Sister Jones, Jerrica, myself, and Sister Hansen! What a wonderful day!!

It has been such a great week. I'm so grateful to serve my Heavenly Father and represent His Son, Jesus Christ. 

I love you all!! Have a fabulous day :)

Sister Asay

And so the last transfer begins....

Hello everyone!!

I am so excited for this last transfer because I am follow-up training a girl from the Czech Republic!!! How cool is that??  Her name is Sister Sindylkova and she is just the cutest and sweetest thing!  I don't know her super well, but I am really looking forward to serving with her! This is literally an answer to my prayers because since I'm training and I have no extra responsibilities.  I can do so much missionary work and work my hardest this last transfer! I mean, I do have the assignment of helping with Member Events...but it's pretty slow in winter so there will probably be one event the entire transfer. Ah, I am just so excited!

A miracle happened this week!!  The other night I prayed in my personal prayers before bed for new investigators to teach.  The next day we were walking on the Square and I saw these two guys walk by and I thought they were going to ask me a question, so I started to say something, but then they turned down another path.  About 15 minutes later we received a text saying there was a tour of 2 guests in the South Visitor Center.  Sister Ferguson and I have rarely ever had time to take tours this transfer, but I saw that text and felt a stir in my heart.  I asked Sister Ferguson if she wanted to take it and she said yes! So, we headed on over to the South VC and what do ya know?  It was the two men who walked past us earlier! They are both from El Salvador and one, Humberto, had been studying at the University of Utah for years and the other, Gabriel, was just in town researching or studying something for the past month.  We took them around on the tour and discussed the temple, that God is our loving Heavenly Father, proxy baptism for those who have passed on, eternal families, prophets, Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and then lastly showed the new "He Is the Gift" video.  Humberto actually knows a TON about the church because he lives in an apartment complex of Mormons.  He told us that he is the only single guy there and that his married friends invite him to everything, haha. So funny. He knew a lot, but also had many questions that we were able to answer for him.  Gabriel had never heard much about the church and was soaking everything in!  He was curious and open to everything we said. At the end, they both referred and we gave Gabriel a Book of Mormon! Sadly, he is going back to El Salvador, but we have his email so that we can get his new number and call and continue to teach him.  And Humberto will be coming back to the Square next week :) The funny thing too is that I totally forgot I had prayed for new investigators the night before until the tour was over!  I was so grateful though and I knew that Heavenly Father had answered the righteous desire of my heart.  Fun thing too- Gabriel was so excited for his new Book of Mormon that he took a picture with us and held the BOM and made sure it was seen in the picture.  So awesome!

This week has been a little crazy with all of the busyness that comes with the end of transfers! However, I truly feel so blessed with all I have been able to learn this transfer and I'm so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ and that I get to testify of Him and His divine purpose this Christmas season.  The older sisters in the mission were able to watch the re-broadcast of the Christmas Devotional last night and something I liked was by Elder D. Todd Christofferson and how Christ, who was the Son of God yet was born in poverty and suffered many things, descended below all things to redeem all things. Christ's had to go through what he did to be able to succor his people. His experiences had redeeming purpose and He did it because it was the will of the Father, but also because Christ loves us all so much. 

I hope you all have a great week! Maybe I'll learn some Czech! Haha. Much love!

Sister Asay

Soo, we had felt like cooped up chickens all day a few days ago, so we had a little fun after planning. Haha.

My last Staff Meeting! It was a great 2 transfers with all of them!

12.13.14

Hi everyone!!

The title of this email is 12.13.14 because that is the day that Jerrica will be getting endowed in the temple!!!  We have been working towards this goal for about 6 months now.  Before I left to go Outbound, we set the goal that when I came back she would go through the temple! It  has taken a bit longer because the Temple Prep teacher was out of town a lot, but now it's finally here and I am SO proud of her!! She asked if I would be her escort and I feel so honored to do that! I will probably just cry throughout the entire thing because of how hard she has worked and how much she has grown! She is just amazing and I'm so looking forward to that day! 

Gobble gobble! Our turkey with a mustache, haha. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving this week was pretty wonderful! We went to the home of the Duke family and they were so great!  We got to know the parents really well in the beginning and do you know what was awesome??  They have this legit massage chair that we got to each sit in for 20 minutes while we talked.  What's funny is that with all of the stress from schedules and Christmas stuff I was really wanting a massage, and then just a few days later I got one!  Haha. #blessings. Then we made these gratitude pages where we put pictures (the mom took some of us and printed them out) and we wrote what we were grateful for. We then helped the mom cook and get everything ready, which I loved!!  It was so nice to help out and be in a home.  Then the rest of the family arrived!  It was 3 brothers with their wives and kids. We all went downstairs and each read the gratitude pages that we had made. It was the cutest because one little boy was going through the list of what he was thankful for and got to one item- Socks. Haha. He said, "Um, I don't know why, but I'm grateful for them". It was so funny.  I just miss little kids! Then we went upstairs and ate SO much delicious food! They had a lot of questions about Temple Square and how it worked and then everyone started telling mission stories.  It was cool because at the end one of the brothers said, "We never would have talked about our missions tonight if the sisters weren't here!". Yessss. So anyway, that night was pretty wonderful and they sent us home with tons of food!  It was sad to say bye because we felt like we were family and it had only been one day with them! Definitely a fun, happy Thanksgiving :) 

All smiles! The Duke ladies and us

This is the last week of the transfer! My assignment as Temple Square Coordinator will be up since you only stay in it for 2 transfers.  I have loved it, but I really miss being out on the Square! I'm ready to just do missionary work and not split it with office work, haha. We will see what this last transfer has in store :)

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary. I'm grateful to have this chance to learn so much about the principles of the Gospel and, in turn, have an increased desire to live them. I feel so blessed to have a loving family who has a testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ is the reason behind the season and I know that through Him I can be complete and whole. Also, the church has released a new video called "He Is The Gift". It's all over Temple Square! Here is a link to watch the short video. It's really good!

http://www.mormon.org/Christmas

I love you all! Happy December! :)

Sister Asay

Sister Yeung and Sister Taito!