This week has gone by SO fast! With our late nights and talking to thousands
of people, the time just flies by! We
are already halfway through this transfer....what??
I'll start out with some funny things from the week:
Sister Palmer and I were in our
beds by 10pm one night because we were so tired, but we ended up just talking
in the dark for the next 30 minutes. Sister Palmer asked me a question,
"If you could have any animal as a pet, and it wouldn't eat you, what
animal would you want?" I immediately said a tiger! Then, I changed
by answer to a lion. Wouldn't it be so
cool to ride a lion around? Then I asked her what she would pick and her answer
was a "baby cow". I just started laughing because as she was
thinking about her answer I was trying to imagine would she would say.... like
maybe a bear, or an elephant...and she wants a calf. Hahah, whatever floats her
boat.
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| This is actually from 2 weeks ago, but it's us walking home in the snow with our zone leader from Germany in the middle. :) |
A few days ago, Sister Palmer
and I were in the South Visitor's Center at one of the video stands explaining
to a group of young women what the sealing room looks like and it's
purpose. It was in the middle of my testimony about the blessings of temple
marriage when we heard a huge "bang!" and I looked over at the Temple
Model and saw a group of college-aged guys and one of them had been looking so
intently at the Temple Model that he didn't notice the glass in between and he
totally smacked his head! They were all
laughing and I was cracking up. Poor kid. But I had to compose
myself to continue teaching to the young women, if only there was a replay
button.
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| The point of this picture is to show how bundled up we have to be when walking around! Whenever it snows, I sing "Snowflakes are falling on my head" la la la. Also, notice Sister Palmer's one mitten. Ha :) |
Bob
(the older man in a wheelchair who was in a car accident at 18) was hanging
with Sister Palmer and I while we were at desk assignment in the North
Visitor's Center. We were talking about his life and we asked him who he
lived with. He responded that it's "three VERY interesting
people.....and they drive me nuts!". I laughed and said,
"Really?" and then he smiled and said "It's me, myself, and
I".
On the subject of Bob, I have a
really cool story about him. He has been handicapped and hasn't had the
full use of his muscles since his car accident. He began telling us how
it has been really hard being handicapped and that sometimes he just wished it
would all be over. However, he then started to describe how being
handicapped is something that he is grateful for and that he knows is a
stepping stone in his life to be something great. He testified to us that
this was his plan in this life and that he was meant to go through this
trial. He then looked over at the paintings of Jesus Christ that were
behind us and said, "Christ said He would come down here for us. This was
His mission. In heaven, He volunteered to do it. And I think that's the
same thing with me- God said that this life would be hard, but I think I
volunteered to do it. The knowledge I have from being handicapped can
only help me after this life- in heaven." Bob has a really hard time
talking and having him tell us this and share that he knows His divine
potential really touched my heart. I was
tearing up as he was talking and I looked over and Sister Palmer was crying,
too. Bob is the best example to me of enduring to the end and always
having that faith in Jesus Christ. He has never stopped believing, even
when times were hard, and he has continued to persevere and trust in Heavenly
Father. Bob is such a sweet blessing to all of the sisters here at Temple
Square!
On Tuesday, we had a mission
tour which is when a leader of the church comes to teach the mission and help
us be better missionaries. Elder Clark from the Quorum of the Seventy and
his wife came to speak to us. It was pretty much an all day thing from
8:15am to 3:30pm, but it was SO wonderful!! I learned a lot and it totally
inspired me to be an even better missionary! A few things that were
mentioned: Obedience= Faith = Power (President Gillette), We need to
forget about ourselves and realize that we can do hard things (Sister
Clark), "I fear no man, I have God with me on my right arm and on my
left" (Sister Clark), and Elder Clark talked about so many great things!
We talked about the difference between a testimony and being converted and he
gave us 7 principles to help us missionaries as well as those we teach to be
converted:
1. Knowledge of the
doctrine
2. Faith/Acting
3. A testimony
4. Repent/Change
5. Baptism/Partaking of the
Sacrament
6. Receiving the Gift of the
Holy Ghost
7. Obedience
I really liked that he focused
on the Sacrament, and that the Sacrament should be of top priority to us
because by partaking the bread and water we have the opportunity to pray and to
be forgiven of our sins, to renew our covenants or promises with God and to
have that constant companionship of the Holy Ghost with us, and it is also a
time we can receive solutions to problems. Everyone, church is so
important! We not only are able to go there and be edified in doctrine and
learn from one another, but we also have the wonderful opportunity every single
week to be forgiven of our sins, renew our covenants, and receive guidance from
God! How cool is that?? I'm
definitely going to think about all of these things this Sunday when I partake
of the sacrament. Church is the best!
I have one short, but great
experience that happened last night. I was super pumped because of the
training we had just had earlier and we were literally talking to EVERYONE. I mean, we always try to talk to everyone, but
Elder Clark urged us to not let one person pass by us without having a
conversation with them. It was so great! During one encounter with someone, I saw an
older man sitting on a couch and I had the prompting that we needed to go talk
to him after the conversation we were currently in ended. Once it did, we
were walking in his direction, but Sister Palmer noticed the clock and said
that we needed to get going to our next assignment, but I said, "I really
want to talk to this man, we have a few minutes". So we went over
there and started up a conversation! He's
from Utah and hasn't been to Temple Square for a while, but he loves people
watching and seeing all of the lights. We talked about that for a bit,
but then I was impressed to tell him that Heavenly Father loves Him so much and
that I could feel the love that God has for him even though we hadn't been
talking for very long. He said, "I
know you feel that because of the sweet Spirit you have". I wasn't
expecting a sweet comment in return, but I think that was his way of accepting
what I told him. We talked a minute longer and then said goodbye.
It was on our walk to our next assignment that Sister Palmer said, "You
know, I think he really needed to hear that. I'm glad you were listening to the
Spirit". I know for a fact that we are all here on this earth to be
tools in the hands of the Lord. We all
need to be open and ready for those promptings that will guide us to help
someone else, even if it's just as simple as telling someone that God loves
them.
Something cool is that Sister
Palmer and I are both learning from each other! Sister Palmer wants to be more in-tune with
the Spirit and she told me that she wants to learn from me how to be better at
listening to promptings. I really want to know the scriptures better and
understand all that I read, and guess what? Sister Palmer knows the scriptures really
well!! It's awesome being able to ask her questions and she has the
answers! I love that we both have these goals and that we have a great
companion to help us with it!! God truly
wants us to become our best selves and help all of us learn and grow :)
I love you all! Remember Jesus
Christ this Christmas season and think of something that you can do to come
closer to Christ! Help a friend, a family member, a neighbor...just something
you can do that will help you to come closer to Christ. :)
Love,
Sister Asay
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| Sister P got this from a friend in the mail and it totally represents how most of the international sisters feel about the snow! ;) |
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