It's Almost Christmas Time, 10 year old boys, & Me Patient???‏

Family and Friends,

So I didn't really outline my week like I usually do so at the moment I have no idea what I'm going to write. But I bet I will eventually. This was another really good week though!

 

Exchanges:
 

Fun during comp study

More FUN during
comp study

Exchanges were amazing! We have some truly wonderful sisters here and I feel so blessed to be able to have gone on exchanges with them. We have 4 companionships all together in the District and so I went on 6 exchanges overall. Oh, so funny story. ,I was on exchanges with a sister who is in her first transfer her name is Sister Quidiman. She is from Chile. She was getting ready to go to bed and she spilled her makeup remover all over the desk and floor. When I saw it happen I gently helped her clean it up and was just really calm with her, even though these desks were brand new and the mission is very protective with what goes on or in the desk. I was a little worried that something could get ruined. Well, Sister Quidiman looks over at me and said, "Sister, you are so patient. How are you so patient?" I just started laughing so hard. "Haha, you think I'm patient? That's a funny story, I'm beyond patient." She was like, "How are you not patient?" I'm like, "Oh trust me. I'm not a patient person." It was just really funny because reality is I'm not all that patient and so it was just really comical that she thought I was patient.

My comp looking
good for the camera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Work:

 

To be honest, the work has been going pretty slow lately. The Square has been beyond dead the past week or two. I think this morning I saw maybe 5 people. So it's been a bit of a challenge finding new investigators. We have mormon.org and it hasn't been that bad but we are finding that right now a lot of it is "trolls" or just members needing help with various things. This is usually expected because we are in our down season here in regards to people who aren't LDS coming to the Square. It will be like this for a couple more months (except during Christmas, of course). We will be VERY BUSY starting next Friday but a lot of people who come will be members of the church. But we aren't letting that get us down. Even though its been a tad bit slow we are determined to change that. We are now finally back together (me and my "regular" companion) and can really focus on bringing our numbers back up. I haven't talked to Wendell in a week so I don't know what happened last Thursday with the local missionaries. I will more than likely call him tomorrow. Julio - oh gotta love him. He is doing great! He attended church again on Sunday and is always super excited to tell me about it. He mentioned that he always tries to hide and not pay attention when they ask for someone to say the prayer, that way he doesn't have to say it. He told me, "The elders, yah the elders volunteered me to say the closing prayer during Priesthood. I never say it because I always turn my head and pretend I'm busy." I got a really good laugh from that. Haha gotta love him! I'm hoping someday I can meet him. He just cracks me up. I wish you could be on the phone with me when I call him. You would just be laughing the whole time. He is originally from Puerto Rico but now lives in Pennsylvania. Anyway, I don't think anything else has happened.

Raymond at his baptism

Oh yah, I forgot to mention, so Raymond, my other recent convert (I will attach a picture), received the Priesthood on Sunday!! He came on "chat" super excited to tell me all about it. He was baptized 3 weeks ago but apparently some of the paperwork got lost so that's why it took 3 weeks (he was waiting for his membership #). So that was really exciting.

 

 

Package:

 

Mom, you said it was nothing big. Well FYI I cried!! Receiving that isn't something small for a missionary. Thank you so much for sending it. Michael I love you! Thanks for the idea. It made my day Broski! It's something I will always treasure. It brought tears to my eyes as I was looking through the pictures. Haha, I couldn't stop laughing though when I saw the picture with Uncle Mark sitting on mom's lap. You know the picture I'm talking about. Or seeing dad's shirt cut with part of the shirt in Brandon's nose from his bloody nose. I miss you 4 so much and will never forget the Family trip. It was one of my favorites and I'm so glad I was able to spend those 2 weeks before I entered the MTC with some of my Best Friends, aka - my family. I love you so much! Again, thank you so much for the book. You did a very good job! I was not expecting that at all!! All the sisters were just amazed to with it. (I attached pictures).

 

10 year old boys and a Finding Faith in Christ DVD:

 

Dad, as you know the phone and I aren't best friends. I like to find every excuse in the book to not having to call people. Sunday I decided okay I will do this I will take an inbound call (someone who calls into Mormon.org wanting something). So I took my first call and guess who it was?? Yup 2 ten year old boys and a nine year old boy calling in for a Finding Faith in Christ DVD. I thought it was a prank but their parents said it was okay. It was all just a little weird. They kept yelling over who was who on the phone and kept asking me when they would get their DVD's. They wanted them ASAP. Haha, so that was a first! I asked how they found out about the Finding Faith in Christ DVD and they mentioned two guys came to the door looking for their dad and gave them the card. They were excited because they had a new bookmark but then they saw a number on the back so they called it and asked for the DVD. I have no idea what will end up happening. A usual 5 minute phone call for a DVD was a 25 minute phone call. So even 10 year old boys are interested in Finding Faith in Christ DVD's.

 

Pass Along Cards:
 

They really do work, believe it or not! I can't tell you how often we get chats or calls from individuals wanting to know more or wanting a DVD because missionaries just handed them the pass along card. It's funny, sometimes people come on chat and I say, "So what can we do for you today?" Their reply, "I don't really know. Some guys just handed me this card and told me to come on here." So, people really do follow through. Pass along cards are great tools to use!!! You should use them! :)

 

IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS TIME ON TEMPLE SQUARE!  

Christmas training

Are you coming to see the lights?!?! I'm so excited!! We had Christmas training last Thursday for Relief Society. Yes, there is training for Christmas time. We have about 8 different assignments that we needed to be trained on because starting next Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we will have thousands of people here every night for about 6 weeks. They have been putting up all the Christmas stuff since July. I'm so excited for the lights to come on. It will be beyond tiring though. They say it's like General Conference (in regards to the crowds) every night from 5-10. Once the lights turn on we get brand new schedules and we go on Christmas schedules. We will get only 30 minutes for dinner and we will be on the Square multiple times a week till 10 pm which means we won't be in bed till about 11:30 every night. Oh, and that reminds me, we will go on normal P-Day schedule while the lights are on. So P-Day will be from 10 am - 6 pm instead of 1 pm - 9 pm. That will be a little different because I'm used to P-day starting at 1 but they need all sisters to be on the Square at night time because of the huge crowds we will have. So we have to go to normal p-day time while the lights are on.

 

Savior of The World:

 

Getting ready to preview "Savior of the World" movie

I just can't express the gratitude for my Savior, Jesus Christ and everything he did for me personally. We had the privilege of seeing Savior of The World last night at the Little Theater in the Conference Center because we will be inviting guests to see it. The producer and director of the show wanted us to know what it was all about for when we send our guests to see it. I wish everyone could see it. It really gave me a deeper testimony of my Savior and everything that occurred leading up to his birth and resurrection. I truly do know he is my Savior. He is my big brother and most of all is the Son of God. He took upon himself all of the sins we would ever commit, all the sorrow we would ever experience, all the heartache we would go through. He did so because he loves us. After watching the play, my appreciation, love and testimony for what he did deepened so much. I feel so blessed to know who He is and to having that simple understanding of what the Atonement is all about. It's real. I have never used the Atonement more in my life than I have on the mission. I'm beyond grateful for him and for his sacrifice for me. I love him so much and sometimes wish he didn't have to suffer for me. But I know that that was part of the plan and he did so because he loves me and wants me to return to my Father in Heaven. He knows that the only way that is possible is through that sacrifice. He is the only way back home. I can testify that as we follow His example in all things, as we learn to apply the Atonement in our lives and strive to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ we will be able to return to live with our Father in Heaven again. He loves you and wants you to return home.

 

This Gospel is true! There is no denying it. I just cant express my gratitude to my Father in Heaven enough for allowing me this opportunity to come on a mission to learn, to grow and most importantly to serve his children. This is beyond hard! But I wouldn't trade it for the world! Life was never meant to be easy! Family and friends I love you so much! And hope you each are doing well!! Continue to be who your Heavenly Father needs you to be! Don't give up on him! Love you!!!

 

Till next week!!

Sister Skaggs

 

 

It's Getting Cold, You Never Know Who is Watching & A Salt Miner

I love you ALL!!

Another great week has come and gone! I swear I was just emailing you yesterday, but yet I'm here again emailing you. This just doesn't make sense. Anyway, this week has been a really good week! Being a missionary is just the best! I love everything about missionary life, yes even the trials, because like I said before, trials are blessings because they allow us to grow. Okay so enough of that here is how the week went!

Lets Talk About the COLD:
 

Salt Lake Temple at
Christmastime

Haha - so guess what I have been bringing out this week??  My WINTER CLOTHES!!  Yup. I don't know if I'm just a pansy or if it really is cold. Right now it's about 30 degrees outside. We don't understand what's happening with the weather because just a couple weeks ago it was like 85 degrees and now it's 30 degrees. I don't mind the cold all that much my black jacket you bought me, mom, from Costco last year and a scarf has kept me pretty warm. Sisters think I'm crazy wearing just that. But I haven't been that cold, except for today of course. I talked with President this morning about getting my big winter coat from Uncle Lenny and Aunt Wendy and he was like "We definitely need to get you your winter coat, it's not supposed to be as bad tomorrow as it is today." Haha - I was like "Hmmm - tomorrow it's supposed to snow." I got a good chuckle out of that. So last week at Costco a box of hot chocolate was on sale - 60 pouches for $5 and so I bought the whole box. I will put it in my locker so when the Christmas lights turn on and I have to stay outside for 4 hours in 30 degree weather I will have my nice warm mug of hot chocolate to keep me nice and toasty. Speaking of which, the lights come on in 2 weeks!!! SO EXCITED!! They put the HUGE nativity scene up yesterday in front of the North Visitor Center. I joked with my companion that I want to go take a picture with them but then they put the fence up so nobody with a crazy idea like me would do it. I'm hoping I survive this winter. I feel like I should be able to. If I survived a winter in Idaho I should survive a Utah winter. These cold nights remind me of a lot of memories up at BYU-I. Good times, that's for sure.

You NEVER KNOW WHO is WATCHING it may just be an APOSTLE:

Elder Oaks

So yeah, always be mindful of what you do especially around Temple Square. Well, of course all the time because the Lord is always watching us. But you never know, an Apostle could be watching you. Every Sunday we have church at 7:30 AM. Yah, for those who complain about 9 AM church try having church at 7:30 in the morning. Anyway, we are asked to be at ALL meetings 10 minutes early. As we were walking to the light we had about 3 seconds left until we would have to wait again to cross the street. As I looked at the time I realized we weren't going to make it in time (10 minutes early). I debated if I should sprint across the street or just wait. I decided I wasn't going to push it and run across the street in a dress, on a Sunday with 3 seconds to spare, while eating a bagel and break the law. So I decided to wait. Well, a companionship in front of me, started booking it to the light but they got to the intersection with like 1 second left and right before they decided to sprint across the street they stopped. We had a car at the intersection waiting for the light to turn green. Right after the sisters stopped the car rolled its windows down and next thing I hear is "Hi Sisters how are you today?" I'm like "Wait. What?" I look over at the car and it was Elder Oaks and his wife in the backseat waving at us. Those sisters were so glad they didn't book it across the street. That would've just been really awkward. So moral of the story -- do the right thing at all times because you never know who is watching.

A Tour through the Prophets House, the BEEHIVE HOUSE:

A room inside the Beehive House

I love being in the Beehive House! It's really neat to be in a Prophets home. You know there are a lot of things about the history of the church that I just never really had a testimony. Polygamy, for one. I never really had a huge testimony on Brigham Young just because I just haven't focused my attention on those things. When we had training the Zone Leaders mentioned that as we serve in Brigham Young's Home we will gain a testimony, if we have the desire to, on the various topics that we may struggle with. One of the Zone Leaders mentioned that it was here that she gained her testimony as to why polygamy was ever enforced. I was like, "Okay. Yah, that won't happen for me." But since being in the House and learning more about Brigham Young and his life, I have gained more of an understanding/testimony as to why polygamy occurred. I have really gained a stronger testimony of Prophets. I feel so blessed to be alive during the time when we have prophets upon the earth. It's really quite funny because before being in the Beehive House I always cringed when I heard the word "Polygamy". Now when people ask "Why did Brigham Young have so many wives?" "Why did you have Polygamy?" etc., it gives me the opportunity to testify as to why polygamy occurred at that time and the importance of prophets in our lives. I'm so grateful to have this opportunity to serve in the Beehive House. I wish everyone had the opportunity to. You learn so much about Prophets, various gospel topics and your testimony, in general, is strengthened so much. If you ever read Doctrine and Covenants 138 about the Spirit World it was revealed to Joseph F. Smith in the Beehive House in a room that during our slow months we take guests through. I never knew that. It's amazing the different things you can learn! If you live around the Salt Lake area you should come tour the Beehive House. :)

62 year old Salt Miner from Ohio, WENDELL:

I shared with you more about Wendell last week. I just love him so much! Last week we went to call him and I ran late in regards to calling him because I was talking with people at the Reflection Pool and so we called him late and he didn't answer. I called again and he still didn't answer. I was really bummed because I finally felt like things were beginning to pick up but then yet again something went wrong. I was frustrated with myself because I knew if I would've gotten to TC (teaching center) when I was supposed to (exact obedience) he probably would have answered. I called several days later and he still didn't answer. To be honest, I lost a lot of faith with the aspect that nothing would happen. Well, yesterday I was in the Beehive House and it was just really slow and so I decided I will give Wendell another try. I called him yesterday and he ANSWERED! He mentioned that the moment I called him he was looking up videos as to how people received their belief in God. He mentioned that he met with the local missionaries the other day and would meet with them again tomorrow, I believe. I shared with him my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that it's through it that we can find that strength that we need in our lives. I was thinking of inviting him to be baptized and putting him on date but I feel that since he now has local missionaries that's their responsibility. I did invite him though to accept the invitations that the sisters will give to him and that as he starts to keep the invitations he will see his life greatly blessed and this peace he is in search of will be found. He was glad to accept it and so I'm praying the sisters will extend to him invitations on Thursday.  I asked if they gave him a Book of Mormon and he said, "Yah, but the print is too small" and so he wasn't going to be able to read it till he receives surgery. In my head I'm like "No the Book of Mormon is essential he must read it now. Heavenly Father I know there is a way he can start reading it now." It occurred to me that he was on the computer as I called him so I asked him to go to Lds.org. I was going to see if the wording was large enough there. It took me a good 10-15 minutes to get him to the right spot but he was super excited when he finally got there because he could read it. I shared with him several chapters that I wanted him to read and we read several verses together. At the end he was like, "I followed along with you. I'm going to read these chapters when we hang up. It will take me some time but I'm super excited. Thank you so much!" I was like, "You know Wendell, I know just how important this book is and I know that your Heavenly Father wants you to read this and so I knew he would provide a way for you to read it." He is just so amazing! I will talk to him again on Sunday and I'm super stoked. I can promise you I WILL NOT be late to that appointment!

JULIO:

You already know about how much I love Julio! I can't wait to met him someday. This past week when I talked with him it made me so happy to hear the change in his voice. He attended church again and was super excited to tell me about receiving his baptismal certificate etc. He was even excited to tell me about the books they gave him for the classes (the manuals). I was in contact with his Ward Mission Leader last week. He has an amazing support group out there. I regret so much the frustration I had about what I wasn't seeing when reality was I just wasn't seeing the big picture. His Ward Mission Leader gave me an update as to what was happening over there and I was able to explain to him who I was, how I know Julio, and why I'm in contact with him. I feel so bad that I had judged what was happening when reality Julio was just being well, Julio. I will continue to stay in contact with his area and update them as time goes with what is happening on my front. Oh, so I forgot to mention, Julio prayed again last week with me on the phone! At the start he found again another excuse as to why he couldn't say the opening pray. I was like, "Okay. I will say the opening and you will say the closing." At the end he didn't even argue with me he just said it. It was so heart felt. He actually prayed for the local missionaries this time and thanked Heavenly Father for all that they are doing for him. I about cried. You may think that's crazy but it's been a battle with having him trust his local missionaries and so the fact that he said that in his prayer meant A LOT. I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has allowed me the opportunity to come in contact with Julio.

Sister Bryuzgina and Exchanges:

My comp - Sis. Bryuzgina

Sister Bryuzgina and I are doing really well! Like I mentioned, the first couple of days were rough but it's just a weakness I have, which is one I'm working on. She is just so sweet and I love being around her. I have been on exchanges everyday this past week and so every time I saw her it made me appreciate even more the fact that she is my companion. Starting Tuesday we should be done with ALL exchanges, including the ones with the Russian sisters. She is teaching me so much and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have her as my companion. Exchanges have been going really well! I'm learning so much from these sisters! I love being able to spend this time getting to know them and strengthening that friendship with them. The next two days I will be on exchanges with sisters who are in their 1st and 2nd transfers. I'm excited but a little nervous because I will be expected to take the lead and one of them doesn't know a whole lot of English. But the Lord qualifies those that He calls. He wouldn't put me on exchanges with these sisters if he didn't think I could do it. I'm super excited!



Dinner at City Creek

I love you all so much! I feel so blessed to have such amazing examples in my life! I'm so grateful to have been given this opportunity to share the Gospel to all those whom I come in contact with. It's funny how the more into the mission you get the more anxious you get to share it with everyone you meet. When people come on chat, especially, I don't hesitate at all as to why I am here and what my purpose is. It weeds out right way who is truly interested or who is just trolling me. The Gospel is amazing and I feel so blessed to be a part of it! I love you all so much!



Continue to let your light shine and don't be afraid to show the world who you are. What matters most is that you are becoming who your Father in Heaven needs you to become. As you know that then you won't be afraid to do the things that he requires each of us to do. This short time on earth is a test. As we do the things that our Father in Heaven has asked us to do we will pass the test. Our Father in Heaven wants to see all of his children return back home to Him. He loves each of you so much and I hope you know that. Don't give up on him. He has a plan for you. I like to put it as our instructions as to how we can pass this test and those instructions are the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's that easy. The instructions as to how we can pass this test and return to live with our Father in Heaven again is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Good luck this week!! Be safe and remember who you are!!

Till next week!!

Sister Skaggs

I just LOVE MISSIONARY LIFE! :)‏

To All I love,

Okay so I honestly just don't know where to begin. This week has been by far one of the best weeks of my mission! I just can't express enough just how much I honestly LOVE being a missionary! I can't believe I get to be a missionary for 18 months. I kind of don't want to come home. Good thing I still have about 15 months to the day till I have to take the dreaded car ride to the airport and then to the Stake Presidents office and take off this badge. Anyways, let me share with you the MANY ADVENTURES/LESSONS that I encountered this week!!

 

HAPPY HIGH:

 

Lol - you're probably wondering what in the world this means. Well, so MUCH has happened this week! Yesterday as I was walking through the Square I just started thinking about everything that had happened, everything I have learned, the AMAZING miracles that occurred and it just brought a HUGE SMILE to my face. I have found that nothing brings me more happiness than being a missionary. But it's not even that. It's being given the opportunity to come into contact with so many of our Father in Heaven's children and being able to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ change their life as they realize who they are and that there is hope in life. It's funny because I feel soooo unqualified to be a missionary and to be trusted with these people. It scares me that I won't be able to be this happy when I get home, but I will MAKE IT HAPPEN because I ABSOLUTELY love it! My companion, last night, was almost crying as we were having companionship debriefing/daily planning because she is like, "I haven't seen you happy like this since we have been together, there is an amazing light in your eyes right now. I love it when your this happy!" I looked at her and was like, "I don't even know why I'm this happy. So many amazing things are happening right now I just cant stop being happy."

 

 

YOU KNOW THE CORRECT CHOICE:

 

Several weeks ago Sister Ferguson and I took an Investigator lesson. I think I told you about her Alissa. Anyways, her baptism was this past Saturday and Sister Ferguson and I were both invited to attend. I was beyond excited because it was something different. I was driving outside of Salt Lake. I was going to be able to attend a baptism etc. As we were trying to figure everything out I just kept thinking "Why are you going? You're giving up 4 hours of precious proselyting time. Did you really have that big of an influence on her? You're already going to be on exchanges. The weather isn't supposed to be good and you're going to have to get a 30 minute cover for Beehive House and it's near impossible to get a cover." As I was thinking this I kept finding EVERY EXCUSE as to why I should go to the Baptism. I guess you could say I was having a debate with myself. About 2 hours before we were scheduled to leave Sis. Ferguson informed me she was going to be watching someone else's baptism via Skype and that she wouldn't be going. I started thinking to myself that the only reason why I wanted to go was for selfish reasons and that while they were both good choices the better choice was for me to stay here on Temple Square. I called my Zone Leader's and informed them of my final decision to stay and they mentioned that because of my choice the Lord would bless me with a new investigator. I was like "Okay yah. We will see about that."

 



Sisters Skaggs and Orndal



Let me tell you about Wendell. I was on exchanges that day and Sister Orndal and I only had about 30 minutes left in the day before we needed to head home. Well I COMPLETELY forgot what my Zone Leaders had said to me. Sis. Orndal and I were in TC (the teaching center) taking chats and this man comes on named Wendell. Lately I have had trolls and so I figured it's another teenage boy coming on to troll. Boy was I wrong!

We asked Wendell how he had been doing and he went on to explain he wasn't doing good. We dug a little deeper to see what we could do and he explained his story to us. We asked if we could call him on the phone and talk with him. As we were talking with him on the phone he started crying as he has been really trying to find God lately but he is at the point where he no longer believes He is there and doesn't feel there is a point to life anymore. It broke my heart when he shared this with us because we knew just how much he was loved. We continued to share with him that we knew God knew him and loved him and that He is still there for him. At the end he was super thankful that we were able to talk with him and took the time out of our day to meet with him. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon and shared with him the hope and direction the Book of Mormon could bring to his life and also invited him to attend church. Wendell said, "Well, a co worker of mine is a member and I'm actually going to church with him, not tomorrow but in a week, and I will ask him for a Book of Mormon on Monday. I will definitely read it." We called him Monday and he said he was getting ready to meet with his co worker to talk about the church and to have dinner together. We will call Wendell on Friday.

 

What amazes me is that here I'm this 19 year old girl with not a lot of life experience who has only been to 2 semesters at BYU-Idaho and then here is this 62 year old Salt Miner from Ohio who is trusting me with the things I have to say. But reality is I have done nothing. The spirit is the one who has done all the work, I'm just the middle man between the communication.

 

Several hours later, I realized Wendell was my miracle. If I would have gone to the Baptism I would have never met Wendell because the time I took the chat would have been while I was more than likely at the Baptism. The Lord does bless you when you do what He asks of you.

 

The Topping to My Happy High:

 

Fabiola and Franco! Okay I just LOVE THEM!! Yesterday evening we were at map because I left my planner there and had forgotten to get it. While we were there I really had to go to the bathroom. As I was walking out I saw this young couple about my age looking at the New Testament Paintings. They had "Laker" gear on and so all awkwardly I was like "Hey my family loves the Lakers! Where in So Cal are you from?" We started talking and the young man just COMPLETELY opened up to me and was sharing his life story. It's amazing what people have been through. I couldn't IMAGINE going through all that he did. He was mentioning about how he doesn't believe God can forgive him of his sins and why 2 of his family members were shot and killed, why God would allow that to happen? I started to explain to him that he can be forgiven. He mentioned he hadn't attended church in years because he feels guilty for everything. I invited him and his girlfriend to attend church with us Sisters on Sunday. They were totally okay with that. We continued to talk about EVERYTHING. It was an hour long conversation... in the end I invited them to read the Book of Mormon and they both agreed they would. I told them that I really wanted to continue to hear about their story and to share with them about how the Book of Mormon and Gospel of Jesus Christ can bring peace to their lives. I asked them if we would be able to meet up later on this week. Franco and Fabiola were like "yah. We would like that." Then right after, Franco looked me in the eyes and with sincerity said, "What is this feeling that I'm feeling right now, this like warmth? I have never felt this before." Fabiola was like, "I have never shared my story with ANYONE but it feels totally okay with you. Yah, what is this feeling?" I started crying because I knew EXACTLY what they were both feeling. I said, "When we meet on Friday can I share with you what that is?" They both agreed that they would like that. Franco said, "I wish I could have this all the time." I said, "What If i told you, you could feel this way all the time? I will share with you more on Friday about how you can." Then Franco said, "I have a friend who probably really needs to hear this as well. He is deaf." My ears perked up and I said, "I actually know a little bit of sign. Feel free to bring him on Friday as well. I would love to meet with him and share this message with him as well." Then Fabiola said, "Yeah and I have another friend who she probably needs this to." I said, "If they can they are more than welcome to both come with you on Friday if that's okay with you both."  They are amazing!  I don't know what will come of this, I have faith that things will progress.

 



Sometimes we aren't needed in that very moment of their life. But who knows? Only time will tell. I did learn one thing, and it's that the spirit really does testify to people of the truth! I would never have known that, but because Franco said, "What is this feeling, this warmth? I have never felt it before." It was a testimony to me that the spirit does testify to those of truth. That when we bare testimony of the things we know to be true the spirit will be bare witness to them that it's true.

 

 

Halloween=Mission Temple Trip:



Well it's true. The Salt Lake Temple can hold about 200 people. I have NEVER seen sooo many sisters in one session before in my life. We, NO JOKE, took up 96% of the seating. In the last room we only had just a couple seats to spare. That evening was just unbelievable. So many experiences occurred that I just can't describe. One thing is that I LOVE THE TEMPLE! I will DEFINITELY be going every week when I get home. Haha, I told my companion it was like a criteria for when I move to a new place. If I can't go to the temple once a week then we can't live there. The Lord will make a way for it to happen, well besides being on a mission. Family I will share with you everything when I get home from my mission. Sorry for the 15 months wait... :)



 

The spirit was so strong. I just honestly cant describe to you how it all went. It was just amazing.

 



Celestial room of the Salt Lake Temple

We started entering the Temple about 5:45 pm and then did the 7 pm session. I was really impressed with how fast they got us in (we gave them an advance notice). But it ended up taking about 2 1/2 hours to get all the way through because, well, 200 sisters -- that's a lot of people. Then I got to sit in the celestial room for about 20 minutes which was amazing! I wish we never had to leave. 

 

When we were changing I was like, "I don't want to look at the time or else I'm going to have a heart attack." Yah, I did, and it was 10 pm which meant I had 15 minutes to change, get back to my apartment, get ready for bed and be in bed. We tried our hardest. That was by far the BEST HALLOWEEN ever.

 

 

 

Russian, Companion, Best Friend, District Monkey, and A MILLION EXCHANGES:



Sister Skaggs as the District
Monkey!

Sister Bryuzgina and I, after a rough couple of days, had over an hour long Comp inventory on Sunday. We decided by the end that we were going to be BEST FRIENDS by the end of these 6 weeks. Sooo GLAD communication was DRILLED into me my first semester of college. It's coming quite handy. I really do enjoy being with her, she is an amazing missionary! We already have a lot of fun with each other. So many miracle are happening with her as my companion. Haha - we have a little to much fun because Daily Planning is supposed to be around 30 minutes. Well, the past 3 nights Daily Planning has been about an hour and 15 minutes which then gives us around 20 minutes till we have to be in bed. I don't care. We manage to get it done. She is so amazing! I'm growing soo much with her as my companion. Since she is District Leader I'm her District Monkey, which means I'm her sidekick in everything that she does. The one thing I really LOVE about being District Monkey is being able to go on exchanges. This is the 1st day in a week that we have been with each other ALL day together and will be the last time for the next week. But I'm learning so much on how to be a better missionary/leader from going on exchanges. I'm learning a lot about how this isn't about me. It's about what the Lord needs me to do for others. Sister Bryuzgina keeps telling me that I need to be prepping myself for next transfer. I have no idea what the Lord has in store for next transfer.

 

 

PACKAGES & LETTERS:



Sis. Skaggs and her
giant Rice Krispie treat!

Sharing the love!!!

Mom, THANK YOU for the packages! Haha - when you said you were sending something little I thought you meant little. Ummm, yah, that Rice Krispie treat definitely wasn't little! The Sisters plowed it down. Oh, FYI - they say thank you and they all think you're the best! Haha - the sisters are always like, "Why do you get like 4 letters a week and a package like every month?" I'm like, "Uhhh, idk. I live close and my parents love me, I guess." Thanks for the goodie bags. Loved the chocolate pumpkins and candy corn etc. Haha - I now know your joke about the Frozen Fun Dips. Hahaha - I didn't put it together until you sent the e-mail. Gotta love the college days. Lots of memories that's for sure. But yes, I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. I think.

  

Love you!! Thanks for the letters. I appreciate it! PLEASE BE SAFE!! I wasn't all that happy and jumping off the walls when I read about the alarm. I pray for you every night. I have only been gone for 4 months and it sounds like the world is only getting worse! Maybe I will just stay in my missionary bubble my whole life and never come home. That sounds like a plan. ;D [Over her mother's dead body!] But please be safe. Sounds like things are getting scarier by the minute.

I LOVE YOU!! SO GLAD I GET TO BE WITH YOU FOR ETERNITY!!! I'm luckiest daughter/sister in the world to have such an AMAZING family!

 



 

Okay, so I literally could write a 200 page novel about the MANY miracles from this past week, but I doubt you want to read that right now and quite frankly, I'm a missionary and time isn't something I have a whole lot of. Since I don't have a lot of it I better use it wisely.  The Lord has only given me an 18 month shot at this.

 

 

Anyways, I love you all!! Please remember who you are! No matter what is happening in your life right now, if someone isn't being fair to you, you feel alone, you don't understand why something is happening, you lost a loved one, or you're just down on yourself. Remember the Lord loves you! Want to know a secret to having happiness....??? Should I tell you? I don't know, can you handle this secret? Okay fine. Sharing is caring right? Well the KEY TO HAPPINESS, TRUE HAPPINESS, aka JOY, is LIVING the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I promise you, it works. Being on a mission we have to strive our absolute hardest to live it. I'm DEFINITELY FAR FROM PERFECT but I have NEVER in my LIFE been so happy before than I am right now. I just love this so much! You should try it for yourself. It wont kill you, will it? Hey, the only thing that can come of it is you will either find yourself happier or it's not for you.

 

Well, I better get going. I love you all!! Have an AMAZING week!!!

 

LOVE YOU!!!!

Sister Skaggs

I'm Taking Off the Training Wheels... I'm a BIG GIRL NOW!‏

To those I love,

Yes, you're probably wondering why in the world she is sending home ANOTHER email this week. Here on Temple Square, I may have explained this earlier, we have different p-days (Preparation Days) almost every transfer because if every sister had P-Day on Monday, like normal, then we would have nobody on the Square. So, last transfer I had Monday P-Day and then a new transfer starts today (Wednesday). I was given Wednesday P-Day this new transfer because of the new zone I'm in which means I have P-Day yet again. Which is good but not good at the same time because I will be doing like NO missionary work this week. You will understand at the end of the e-mail why I wont being getting any work done. So, should I start and tell you what has happened these past 48 hours?? Here we go!

 

Spalding Executives:

Have you ever played basketball before? [Did she really just ask us that question??] If you have ever lived in America then you probably have picked up a basketball. If you look on a basketball, the majority of them are made by a company called "Spalding". So, your wondering at this moment how does basketballs, Spalding and missionary work relate? Let me tell you. Yesterday, while Sister Ferguson and I were serving at the Humanitarian Center, we came down from lunch to allow the Senior Couple we serve with to go to lunch. Right before we were getting ready to do stuff the secretary, Kathy - who I love, by the way, comes in and says, "Sisters you have 3 people for a tour." We looked at each other and were like "Okay. Perfect." I seriously just thought it was going to be some random people from somewhere in the world like it usually is. Well, I was wrong! When we got to the desk I see a man in a suit and two men with nice shirts that say "Spalding." They were dressed kind of like you, dad, when you wear your tan pants and your Great Oak shirts and you are going to a sporting event. I seriously thought I saw you standing in front me! The way they were dressed was so similar to you. Hahaha! Anyways, we find out the man in the suit is from the Church Office Building and the other two men work for Spalding. They were here on business in regards to the church and the volleyball equipment. They were seeing what the Church does. My immediate thought was "This is a VIP tour. We shouldn't be taking this. Where is the Senior Couple?" For VIP tours only the Senior Couples take it and then on Temple Square only the Ap's or ZL's take them. And I'm thinking "I'm a trainee. Uhhh this is weird." Well, we put on a fake smile and did the best we could. As we were walking around I was trying to figure out who they actually were. Haha - I knew they were big in the company because when we were discussing the International Kits that we send out I was talking to them about how it would be weird to get Squid Shreds in a package and how in some countries that would be like them getting Mac N Cheese. Haha - they started talking about how when they went to World's this year or last year for Gymnastics it was really weird because for concessions they didn't sell candy bars, etc. So I figured they must be big in the company if you are talking about going to Worlds for Gymnastics. It was so neat to be able to take them around. At the end they were so appreciative of the tour and were impressed with the tour and what we did. Haha. I got a good chuckle afterwards cause I'm like, "You're probably a big wig and here some 19 year old girl who has only been on her mission for like 3 months just gave you a tour." But as I asked what they did in the company, one of the men said, "Oh, he didn't tell you but he is the Chief Operating Officer for Spalding." I'm like "oooo okay." It was really neat to see just how humble he was when he was introduced to us at the end. They were such sweet men. It's weird because that was my last tour there at the Humanitarian Center.

 

 

Salt Lake Temple

Halloween=Friday:

Since Halloween isn't the safest holiday now-a-days it's not really safe to have missionaries out proselyting. It's an easy way for people to dress up and come to Temple Square and do dumb things.  So, for safety reasons, they are closing Temple Square at 5pm and as a WHOLE MISSION, 200 SISTERS, we are having dinner together and then, get this, I still have NO IDEA how they are pulling this off, but we are doing a Temple Session as a MISSION in the Salt Lake Temple Friday evening! Hahaha. I hope nobody is planning on coming to Temple Friday night because, well, you're going to get the surprise of a life time. 200 sister missionaries... I'm beyond excited for this opportunity we get. When President Poulsen told us, we pretty much all passed out. Last year they had a huge party but this year President wanted us to do something more mission appropriate, I don't know how to describe it. So, I will have to tell you how that goes next Wednesday.

 

 

My COMPANION is from RUSSIA:

Okay so I just LOVE my new companion! She is AMAZING! We are in the Beehive house this transfer and she is District Leader. She is only in her 5th Transfer. Here on Temple Square since we are an all Sister's Mission the Sisters hold all the Leadership Positions. We were talking this morning about what this all meant for me. Like how her being a district leader impacts me. She was like, "Well, ALL of next week we will be on exchanges so we will never see each other." We have 6 other sisters in our District and they would prefer her being done with exchanges by week 3. It's 24 hour exchanges, too. The thing that scares me is 3 out of the 6 sisters are in training with one of them being in my class. Which means I will be expected to take the lead. I DO NOT feel QUALIFIED at all!! I don't know what to think. But it's funny because whom the Lord calls He qualifies so I know everything will be okay. I'm kind of excited but a bit nervous. Sister Bryuzgina said, "President has put you with a District Leader because you can see how it all works and you can start to prepare for when he calls you to be a District Leader." She was like, "Maybe next transfer or here soon." Haha. I have NO IDEA what the Lord has in store for me on my mission. He is sending curve balls left and right. Which is good because it keeps me humbled and on my toes, which is what I need.

 

Sister Bryuzgina is just the best! We already get along sooo well! She is so sweet and such a powerful missionary. In our first contact we met this couple who is so prepared we both feel like one more contact and they will be good. They knew so much and were genuinely interested because of the friends they had in High School. They have only been out of high school about 10 years but they were sharing with us about Seminary, Mutual and how one of their friends even invited them to go to their mission farewell years ago. It made me stop and think about the fact that people DO watch you. If you're in high school, and for anyone else, just take into thought that you have people all around you watching you. I'm so GRATEFUL for the example their friends were to them many years ago and still are. It's because of those simple missionary invitations they extended that this couple is so prepared. The lady left with a Book of Mormon and the husband said he already has a copy because of his friend many years ago. So, you never know what a simple invitation will do, or just simply leading by example.

 

BUH BYE TRAINING WHEELS...:

 

Can you actually believe it?! I'm done with TRAINING. Well, the 12 week training program. I will always be in TRAINING cause if we are constantly learning something new then we are 'being trained'. I seriously cannot believe it was 12 weeks ago that I came here to Temple Square for the first time as an official missionary. I'm beyond excited for what the Lord has in store for me this upcoming transfer and for the transfer to come. Even though I don't feel all that qualified right now I know that as I continue to just trust in the lord and do the things I'm supposed to do all will be okay.

 

Okay well I need to go now.

 

Love you all!! Be Safe this week! And I will e-mail next Wednesday!! Good Luck this week!!

 

Love ALWAYS!

 

Sister Skaggs