Birthday Fun!

Hello, hello!

First off, thank you everyone for all of the birthday wishes!!! You all are the best and I felt so loved!! :) Thank you!!

Last Friday, my whole District went to dinner for my birthday.  The entire time I was planning on going to BJ's (it's delicious and has pizookies! Cookies with icebcream on top) and I was so excited! But when we walked over to the restaurant, I realized I had mixed the names up....this place was called JB'S not BJ's and it's basically a dumpy version of iHop or Denny's. Hahaha. But we ate there anyway since we were running out of dinner time and it ended up being a lot of fun! We took lots of pictures and I was so stuffed by the end!

Birthday Dinner w/ my District!

On our P-Day, I picked out a cake mix that I wanted to make so I could celebrate with other sisters and invite them over for cake on my birthday. I bought a milk chocolate mix and then rich chocolate icing to go on top.  My mom sent me a few boxes on my birthday and one of them had the exact same cake mix and icing in it!  I just started laughing because my mother seriously knows me SO well!  Haha. Love you mama :)  And don't worry, one box won't go to waste...Sister Carvalho's birthday was yesterday so I am making her a cake tonight :) 

Happy 21st Birthday!!

We had transfers this past Wednesday the 16th and guess whaatttt?!?!  I 'm staying with Sister Carvalho for another transfer!  Which never happens here at Temple Square besides when training. I am excited to be with Sister Carvalho for another transfer!!  She is wonderful!!

Also, Sister Carvalho and I are the new Sacrament Meeting Coordinators! This means that we will be the ones to pray about and assign different sisters and topics to speak in wards around Salt Lake City. We work hand in hand with President Seppi (one of President Gillette's counselors for our mission) and we get to call and talk to the Bishops around the city!  We have worked a bunch so far and I love this calling!  It's so cool to pray to Heavenly Father and feel inspired to know what sisters to choose and what topic each particular sister should speak about.  :)

Hanging with Brigham Young at the Beehive House

I'm so grateful for my companion and for the opportunity to teach.  I have grown and been made aware of my strengths as well as my weaknesses. It's kinda cool to see, really.  I feel that I know myself better.  I have felt Heavenly Father's love and awareness of me and I know that this is His work.  I know that Jesus Christ lives and visited His people in the Americas. And something awesome that I learned this week is that there are little miracles in our lives every single day.....we just have to look for them :) 

I love you all!! Have a great week :) 

Sister Asay

General Conference Weekend

So I survived Conference! Hallelujah! :)

Conference on the Square is seriously so fun, but extremely exhausting....like exhausting to the MAX.  We are usually on the Square for about 10.5 hours per day doing different assignments with 30 minute lunch breaks and hour dinner breaks. However, during Conference we are on the Square for 14.5 hours and we only get 20 minutes to eat our meals. So by the time the weekend was over I had a sore lower back, my feet hurt, and my eyes were so droopy- not a pretty sight, haha. But talking to and uplifting the members all day, sharing scriptures, and asking if they had friends that we could teach was so wonderful!! I had so many great experiences this weekend. 

Ready for Conference Weekend!

Also, the food that different stakes were kind enough to make for us was the bomb-dig. We had sandwiches, lasagna, annnd Cafe Rio!! I about died. I was so excited to eat dinner that night! I miss Cafe Rio, haha. Something crazy, too, is that during the day I would forget I needed to eat lunch- and I never forget about food- but I was just so engulfed in the work! It's cool to when you're enjoying what you're doing so much that time just FLIES by!

My brother came and surprised me at the Beehive House and once I saw him I just started crying! Haha. We were doing stations in the Beehive and Carvalho and I were in the last room. One of the groups walked in and then, when I thought everyone had filed in, my brother walked through the door! Ah! I ran and tackled him with a hug! I then realized that there were people there watching me hug a male while crying, haha....I awkwardly pulled away and asked if they knew the that he was my brother. They said yes and that they had been looking forward to seeing my reaction...haha.  

My brother Andrew!!!!!

I also saw Heather Richardson, one of my best friends!! We saw each other from a good distance and basically ran to each other, haha. And, of course, I cried!  It was so good seeing her :)

More shout-outs to Ben Gong, Andrew Johnston, Megan & Mindy, Nicole, Krysta, Hannah Baker, Russell Ochoa, Elder Quiroz, Elder Kuck, Elder Clark, and Elder Totten.
The last three Elders were all in my freshmen ward at BYU and we seriously all saw each other at the same time! It was like a mini 51st ward reunion! 

Heather!!!!

Anyway, it was so great seeing so many familiar faces and I hope that I got everyone's names in there. It was a whirlwind of commotion at the Square!

Sarahi!!!

At the end of Conference, we had a meeting for the entire mission.  The mission President's wife, who is about 60 years old, opened it with a rap about sharing the Gospel. It was hilarious! Haha. Just imagine a cute grandma trying to rap...it doesn't work, haha, but it was defs one of the greatest things I had ever seen.

Also, word to the wise, never eat a blue sucker before going out on the Square to talk to people...I spent about 5 minutes in the bathroom scrubbing the blue off my teeth with a paper towel. Haha.

The goal for the Sisters at Temple Square was to have 486 baptisms from the referrals they received at the April 2013 General Conference.  We surpassed that and had a whopping 504 baptisms! The Church is true! :) Our new goal for the next 6 months is 603 and I'm excited to be a part of it!! 

Also, a quick story not pertaining to Conference, but I had such a great experience last Friday on a Portuguese tour with Sister Carvalho. We took the two couples around to different sites and lastly we watched a short 12 minute film called "God's Plan for Families".  At the end, they all had tears in their eyes. Sis. Carvalho then shared her testimony about families and then I shared my testimony in Portuguese- first time ever! I always get choked up when I share my testimony at the end, English or Portuguese, since the movie is focused on a family who lost their grandfather. I still miss you Gramps! And I'm so grateful that I'll see you again.  

I hope everyone enjoyed Conference and was uplifted by the wonderful insight and revelation from Heavenly Father which was told to us by our prophet and church leaders.  I know I was. I love this Gospel and I'm so grateful to have a living prophet today. 

Zone Service Project

"...remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation...a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."  Helaman 5:12

Love you all,

Sister Asay

Conference is coming!

Oi! Hello Family and Friends!

Soooo.....WHO'S GOING TO CONFERENCE?!?

The sisters here have been talking about it for weeks and are all so excited! If anyone is going, PLEASE say hi to me if you see me! :) For those of you who don't know what General Conference is, it's a meeting where our living prophet speaks to us and address the members of the church. It is broadcasted world-wide and it takes place in Salt Lake City- across the street from Temple Square. We have a huge Conference Center for the occasion and it seats 21,000 people. The conference is translated into 16 different languages, eventually 70, so that members around the world can watch :) It happens only twice a year so it's something we all look forward to!

So, last Saturday there was a General Relief Society Meeting (part of General Conference) for all of the women in the church. The Relief Society President, her 2 counselors, and then our beloved prophet spoke to us.  It was such a wonderful meeting and I got so much out of it! All of the sister missionaries were sitting on the far right at the front of the Conference Center where the prophet enters, and when he walked in the room I could feel a change in everyone- the Spirit was definitely present. He sweetly waved to all of the sister missionaries and my heart was seriously pounding! Haha. Here were some men who have been SO influential in my life and they were only 15 feet away!!

Relief Society General Broadcast w/ Sister Carvalho

When President Monson stood up to speak, after the Relief Society presidency gave their talks, he mentioned that he "missed his wife more than words can express" and it made me tear up....It helps you put it in perspective that, yes he is a prophet called of God, but that he is also a man like us with different trials. He then continued his talk where he testified to us that Heavenly Father loves each of us and that God does answer prayers. Every word he spoke was truth and I definitely have had so many experiences in my life where my prayers have been answered either by God or by God through someone else. We are placed on this earth to help one another and answer someone's prayer. I testify that He is watching over us and I invite everyone to watch conference this weekend to hear the words of a living prophet! The different sessions are Saturday at 10am & 2pm and then Sunday at 10am & 2pm. I promise that watching will make a difference. 

District dinner at the Lion House

I saw Kayla Black after the Relief Society broadcast!! I started crying I was so happy! Haha. Love you Kayla!! :)

Also, whenever I do something goofy or random my companion always says "soo yellow!" Haha. That's my core color if anyone has ever taken the Color Test. We had an activity a few weeks ago where all of the sisters got to take the test as well as hear from the psychologist who wrote the book...it was so awesome! I seriously love this stuff. Maybe because my dad is a psychologist? ;) So, yellows are the social, easy-going ones who can't live without their fun, reds are the leaders, whites are the peace-keepers, and blues are the emotions. When I tallied up my answers I had the most yellows, next highest was red, had a good amount of white, and then only a handful of blues....haha, I guess I'm not very emotional?  But it was such a fun activity and for daysss it was the topic of conversation amongst the sisters! 

And Bob, the man in the wheelchair who got in a car wreck at age 18, now says "hey y'all" whenever I say hello to him. Haha! He's knows what's up ;) 

I love you all!! I am loving being a missionary and I am continually getting better at giving tours and teaching! It's cool to see the change in yourself. Anyway, everyone have a wonderful week! :)

I was also able to go to my cousin's wedding this week at the Salt Lake Temple! I got permission from my Mission President and I was SO grateful I could go! James and Nicole both looked so happy :) It was wonderful being there for their sealing and seeing some family! A tender mercy :) I love you guys!  

James & Nichole's Sealing!  What a beautiful bride!!

Here is the link to watch Conference or you can watch it on BYU tv.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/invite-others?lang=eng

Visitors!!

Look who visited our favorite missionary!!  Mitch & Debbie Hill and their wonderful family!!  We loved hearing how Sister Asay is doing and I know that Sister Asay LOVED seeing some of our favorite people in the whole wide world!!

The Hill Family visit The Beehive House!

Funny Dreams

So, apparently I talk in my sleep....A LOT. Haha. The other night I had a dream that Sister Carvalho and I were teaching a man about the Church and then he asked me what I was called to do here at Temple Square. I told him, "Well, I'm called here as a missionary...."  I pointed at my name tag in my dream and realized I wasn't wearing it!  Annnd woke up my companion up by exclaiming "I forgot my name tag!", haha.  Whoops.  Good thing I haven't done that in real life yet!
 

Also, my companion had a dream about a giant chicken attacking people....what??  Hahah. And she wouldn't get into an escape car because she wasn't with her companion.  I probably had gotten eaten or lost or something. Haha.  So many crazy dreams here on the mish!

Anyway, this week has been WONDERFUL! So many great experiences have happened! I have been helping one investigator in particular with problems he is having and he has been able to push through and stay obedient! I'm so proud of him!  Also, on the Square the other day, Sister Carvalho and I were walking around and talking to people.  I saw a boy sitting on a bench by himself reading a book and thought "Oh, we should talk to him" and right at that moment Sis. Carvalho changed her mind about what direction we were going to take to get to our destination and started walking down a path that went by the boy.  It was perfect!  We started talking to him and had a conversation about his family struggles and his decision to go on a mission.  At the end, I felt prompted to tell him that Heavenly Father knows what's going on in His life and is proud of him and loves him very much.  He teared up!  While saying goodbye, I expressed that it had been great talking to him and he told us that he was grateful we did. This is just an example to me that Heavenly Father is aware of EVERYONE. 

Family Home Evening with the Zone

Carvalho and I were walking by the fountain and we saw a guy in a military uniform on a bench. I had the feeling we should go talk to him, so we started walking that way. We made our way over, and right when I was about to say hello that feeling immediately went away and I kept my mouth shut. We continued walking past and my companion looked at me so confused.  However, literally the second after that happened, two other sisters walked out of a building nearby and I turned around to watch them as they went over and introduced themselves to the gentleman.   Throughout the next hour I saw him with those two sisters all over Temple Square.  I was so happy for them!  I know Carvalho and I could have had at least some connection with that man, but I know that without a doubt those sisters, for whatever reason, had the background or life history to have an even greater connection with him.  God is aware of everyone's needs and I felt the Spirit there guiding me to let the sisters who were best fit for him step in.  Being a missionary is the best!

I'm loving all of the sisters here and I'm so happy to be serving. The mission is tough, but I'm learning and growing so much from those tough times that I can't help but love it!  My faith in Jesus Christ continues to grow and I'm so grateful for the Bible and for Joseph Smith and all that he endured so that we could have another testament of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon, to read from and receive guidance. 

I love you all!

Sister Asay

Temple Session with the District

Arrived on Temple Square!

One week complete! I can't believe it! So I want to share a funny moment from the week in each email...this one is short, but I still got a good laugh!

Sister Carvalho and I had TC (Teaching Center) time where we get on chat and answer questions from people all around the world who get on Mormon.org. This one guy gets on and says "hello" and Sister Carvalho and I each greet him back. He responds with surprise, saying "oh, there's two of you?" We laugh and answer "Yes! We work in companionships.  How are you today?"  We all start chatting a little bit about where he's from and then we ask him a question about his relationship with God.  It took him a while to respond and finally he says "wait....this isn't a dating website?"  I about died laughing. Hahaha.  Once we told him we were missionaries, he immediately signed off, haha.  No wonder he was surprised there were two of us!

So this week has been a big learning week!  I'm learning all about the history of the different buildings on Temple Square! It's crazy how much there is to know about each place and it's all so interesting!  My zone is serving in the Beehive House this transfer and I've probably given about 30 tours so far.  My first day there, I had to learn all of the information in about 2 hours so I could start giving tours.  Also, for those of you who have never heard of the Beehive House, like me before I got to T-Square, it's the home of Brigham Young who was our second prophet.  It's such a beautiful home and quite large, too! And I have one experience I HAVE to tell you guys!

Sister Carvalho and I were giving a tour in the Beehive House to a man who was in his late 40s or so and he was in SLC for a business trip and decided to stop by. We were going about our usual tour routine when we walked into the Reception Hall, which is near the end of tour, when I had a prompting to stop and talk about the picture of Jesus Christ on the wall that has an old Book of Mormon on a table underneath it.  We don't usually stop and talk about this part because I talk about the Book of Mormon at a different section of the tour and the picture of Christ is placed in such a way where everyone sees it when they walk by- I usually just give people a quiet moment to look at it we go through the tour, BUT I had the strongest feeling that I needed to say something about it!  So I stopped the tour by the picture and talked about Christ.  I explained how our religion is centered around Jesus Christ and His Atonement and that we are able to be completely cleansed of our sins through Him.  We then proceeded to show him the last two rooms on the tour.  Once finished we asked him if he had any questions and all he said was, "Well no, but where can I get one of those Book of Mormons?"  We were totally taken off guard!  He didn't talk much during the tour and seemed stand-offish, but we took him around front and gladly gave him a Book of Mormon.  We asked if we could stay in contact with him and he said he wanted to and gave us his info! We were so excited for him!  Also, that was my first referral ever on the mission! Woo! :)

There's a guy named Bob who got into a car accident when he was 18 and ever since he hasn't had full function of his brain. He sits in his wheelchair at one of the front desks in Temple Square every morning and we always chat with him for a bit.  He's a member and loves saying hello to people!  Yesterday morning, we walk by and ask him how he's doing, he responded with a smile and said, "I'm good, but not as great as a sister missionary with a name tag."  It was so sweet!  Later, I was still thinking about this one comment from Bob and I realized that being on a mission is one of the best things that I could be doing with my time.  Bob put it so simply, but it was exactly what I needed to hear :)   I'm so grateful for the opportunity to serve and to have Jesus Christ's name over my heart. It's an honor to spend my time teaching about the Gospel I love!  I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

Work hard, do your best. I love you all!! 

My Trainer, Sister Carvalho!

Celebrating Brazilian Independence Day with ice cream!

2nd Week of the MTC

Hello everyone!! Finally reached another P-Day!

So this week has been pretty eventful! First of all, the Elders in our District left Tuesday morning at like 3 am to fly out to their missions in Mesa, Arizona, so our last class with them was Monday night. It was honestly pretty sad....I may or may have not cried a little....ha. We all missed our own families while being here in the MTC so I think this little District family kinda formed to make up for it. We were all so close and we had this great love for one another! It was pretty weird the next day being in class without our funny and spiritual Elders. They will be awesome missionaries out in Arizona!

The MTC District

Second, WE GOT TO TAKE A FIELD TRIP TO TEMPLE SQUARE! We went two days ago and it was such a cool experience! All the sisters who are serving there (which includes girls from China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, New Zealand, Switzerland, Fiji, etc) got onto a charter bus and drove to SLC. We were given a tour by some of the Temple Square sisters there and it was amazing how strong the Spirit was at the Square! It was so peaceful and I loved every single minute of it. Tomorrow we get to go back, and guess what? We will be the ones giving the tours! Holy smokes. We will be companions with a more experienced sister, but still.....nerve wracking! Haha. I can't wait!

Third, all Visitor Center sisters have the chance to chat online with people who are interested in our church or who have questions. It was seriously one of my favorite things so far! People get on chat through Mormon.org and we wait until someone connects with us to start a conversation. Sister Hansen and I chat together since we're companions and we get to use our first names. It has been great getting to teach people in this unique way. Technology is amazing.  So, cool story. Yesterday, we had a guy named John from Ireland talk to us and right off the bat he told us that he wanted to get baptized!! We immediately started asking him about the Church and what he knew and he is golden!  He has been trying to live a clean life for the past year and a half and said that the Book of Mormon was his "manual for life".  Sister Hansen and I were so pumped for him!  We found a ward close to his home that he could attend and we got his information so that the local missionaries in Ireland could speak with him.  He had been reading about our church on lds.org and mormon.org for a long time and soo badly wanted to be a "proper mormon" and get baptized!  Just 20 minutes before we started chatting with John, our teacher told us that sometimes MTC missionaries are able to take an investigator with them to the field....and low and behold, it happened with John!  We have our first investigator and we aren't even to the field yet!  It's crazy how much love you have for someone that you barely even know!  At the end of our conversation, we told him the next time we would be on chat and gave him a link so he could have us as his online missionaries again.  Man....this was one of the best experiences yet!

Sister Hansen and I were walking to class and we stopped at the water fountain to get a drink. I was talking to the other sisters around me when I heard a huge THUMP. I turned just in time to see Sister Hansen's head bouncing off the wall......She smacked her head right on her forehead! Apparently she had closed her eyes because she was so happy to drink some water and didn't look where she was going....hahah. Don't worry! She is fine and there isn't even a bruise! We all made sure she was okay afterwards and held onto her to make sure she wasn't going to pass out, but then Sister Hansen and I COULD NOT stop laughing! It was probably one of the funniest things that happened the entire day. Haha. I cried I was laughing so hard. 

Volleyball Crew

Anyway, I'm so excited to be here and to meet all of the wonderful sisters from around the world who have such strong testimonies!! I am stoked to be out in the field next week and continue my mission in SLC on Temple Square. The Church is true and the Atonement is real!  We are able to be forgiven of our sins and mistakes we make in this life and have that guilt lifted from us!  Happiness is attainable!

Work hard, enjoy life, and I love you all!!

Sister Asay