To All I love!
Okay I have to start by explaining my title. That is the one thing that I'm sooo excited for!! Ahhh - you have no idea how amazing this new initiative the church is doing is. It's like candy for missionaries!!! Okay so let me begin!!!
HE is the GIFT
 |
| As displayed in Times Square in New York City |
The Church has a new initiative that they are launching starting Friday. Let me first explain just HOW BIG this is going to get. We had an hour and a half training on this yesterday morning for the Temple Square Sisters. The church has bought about 6 jumbo screens on TIMES SQUARE. They showed us pictures of what each jumbo screen will look like. Haha - you DEFINITELY won't be able to leave Times Square without "He is the Gift" in your head. The Church has BOUGHT YouTube for the night of DEC. 7th (first presidency devotional). They showed us what YouTube will look like that night. We have a full blown wall covered with it in our North Visitors Center. The 3 minute video is in all of our video rooms and Theater's now. The "I'm a Mormon" station in our South Visitor Center has been completely changed and will play the 'He is the Gift' video. Mormon.org is now different. We have new "He is the Gift" pass along cards and the Missionary Department sent out an email to the whole mission. Not only do we have to report to our mission president but we have to send a weekly report directly to the Missionary Department each week about all referrals, new investigators, and baptisms that occur because of this new initiative. This is going to be HUGE!!! I'm sooo excited!!!
What does this video mean to you personally?? How are we expressing our gratitude for the Gift our Father in Heaven has given each of us?
I truly am grateful for the Gift my Father in Heaven has given me. Our Father in Heaven sent his son here to earth to atone for our sins and to sacrifice his life for each of us. If it weren't for the Gift our Father in Heaven gave us and for our Savior's sacrifice we wouldn't be able to return back home to our Heavenly Father again. After watching this video it gave me a whole different perspective on what Christmas truly is all about. It truly isn't about all the different presents we get, what new iPhone we are getting, what new car we are getting. It's not about being upset because we didn't get what we wanted. It's about remembering the precious gift our Heavenly Father gave to each of us so that we could return to him again someday. I want to invite you to really think about your life right now; to think about this time of year. Are you showing your Father in Heaven just how grateful you are for the Gift he has given you? Are you seeking for opportunities to show him just how thankful you are?
It's called CHRISTmas for a reason.
I truly do love my Father in Heaven and my Savior, Jesus Christ with all of my heart. I feel so blessed to know who they are and to have this amazing knowledge, understanding and testimony of this precious gift our Father in Heaven has given us. Let us remember what this time of season really is all about. A good friend reminded me that we shouldn't say 'Happy Holidays' but we should say 'Merry Christmas' because it truly is a wonderful time to remember the Gift our Father in Heaven has given us -- which is the birth of his only begotten son Jesus Christ. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. What a glorious gift we indeed have been given! So that is what I am THANKFUL for! Happy THANKSGIVING!!!
A Time to Change:
 |
| Sis. Skaggs and her comp being silly |
The one thing that I have really learned to love is the opportunity our Heavenly Father gives us to change. Since being here on Temple Square Heavenly Father has made it very clear to me that I have pride and that in order for me to achieve my full potential, not only here but life in general, I have to get over my pride. This transfer had been going really well and I truly felt like things were going really good. Sister Bryuzgina and I are always laughing, being stupid, being spiritual and just having A LOT of fun with each other. Well, last Wednesday, Nov. 19th the AP's (Assistant's to the President) pulled me into their office to talk with me. It scared the daylights out of me because I was wondering what I had done wrong that they would need to talk with me. I knew that I had this weakness and that it had been visible in the past but I honestly thought things had gotten a lot better. They started by saying, "Sister Skaggs, do you know why you're here?" I replied with, "Umm, I have no idea. All I know is I'm freaking out." They went on to say that they have just been observing several sisters that may be struggling and they felt prompted that they needed to speak with me. In my mind I was like "Oh great, so I really am not doing good. Wow, I thought I have been really happy, positive and filled with a lot of energy lately. This is nice. Right before transfers, too." Reality was it was EXACTLY what needed to happen. They asked me what has been going on and I mentioned to them this huge weakness that has been a really hard hurdle to get over and that I'm trying to find a way to get over it and I'm just not having success. One of the AP's shared with me some verses in Moroni. It was Moroni 7:39-48 (from the Book of Mormon). Powerful verses, that's for sure. They went on to share a lot of really powerful things with me that gave me a different perspective on how necessary it is to change. They then invited me to write this down and then to give them a hard copy the following day so they could keep me accountable. It has been such a tremendous blessing in my life. It's what I have needed for so long. Sister Bryuzgina and I talked and mentioned that we had 21 days left in the transfer to make charity become a strength of mine. "Moroni 7:45 is my goal". That following morning Sister Bryuzgina and I prayed together and then created a transfer, weekly and daily action plan with the various things that I must work on to make Charity a strength. Family, this past week has been AMAZING. Of course I'm not perfect, nor will I ever be. But it's been amazing the different things Heavenly Father has put in my path each day to help me overcome this weakness. I'm so thankful for this trial and for EVERYTHING I'm learning right now. I have been praying all transfer for a way to overcome this weakness and even though I wish it didn't get to that point, it was exactly what I needed. Heavenly Father knows us best and knows EXACTLY what we need when we need it. I just love him so much!
THANKSGIVING in a MEMBERS HOME!:
 |
| Sis. Skaggs pointing out the small shoes in a room in the Beehive House |
Our Christmas Schedule:
 |
| Sis. Skaggs & Sis. Bryuzgina in front of the main dining room in the Beehive house |
Starting Friday our schedule will change completely, even to the point of our sleeping schedule. So until Jan 1st we will be on the square till 10 pm. We will go to bed at 11:30 pm and wake up at 7:30 am and be on the square by 10 am. P-DAY WILL CHANGE. P-day will change starting Friday so our P-day times till Jan. 1st will be from 11 am to 7 pm. I will e-mail probably a little bit later though next week because for P-day we are going to sing to students at a special needs school and then we will go grocery shopping so I probably won't e-mail till about 2 or so next week - FYI. I can't believe the lights will come on Friday. They will turn on at 5 pm! It's going to be PURE MADNESS! They are expecting THOUSANDS of people. They say it's General Conference crowds every-night for a full month. I don't care, it just means more people we can talk to!
Missionary Work:
The work is going good. Julio (my recent convert) is still the same. Funny as ever. He is a Teacher's Assistant and loves it. He got to ask people to say the opening and closing prayers last Sunday in Gospel Principles. Raymond is doing good, too. He didn't get to pass the Sacrament on Sunday but he is okay with that. His dad has been in the hospital and in and out of surgery for the past week. They don't know why, so he is having a little bit of a hard time with that but is still doing really well. He is just in love with the scriptures and loves sharing with me about his scripture of the day and about what he is up to. Wendell, I haven't been able to get a hold of him for the past 2 weeks now. I hope he is doing well. I continue to pray for him everyday and I know he is in the Lord's hands so everything will be okay, eventually. Paul - so we met Paul from mormon.org. He called in on Sunday wanting to learn more. He had mentioned that he attended the Phoenix Temple open house and had felt a really strong feeling there and came on to mormon.org to learn more. I shared with him a lot about the Restoration and why we have Temples. He requested to have local missionaries come to him, so we will see what happens with that. We were supposed to talk with him Monday but things fell through. So we will see what happens. Other than that, the work is going good. I love the change I get to witness in these individuals as they start applying the Gospel to their life.
Beehive House:
 |
| The room where Doctrine & Covenants Section 138 was revealed |
I love that house. I'm learning so much there. The one thing that I have really learned is the importance of the spirit in leading all things. This past week I was in charge of leading the tour and well, we had a couple of guys come to the Beehive House, maybe in their late 40's. When the two of them walked in I just had really uncomfortable feelings. For various reasons I felt very uncomfortable and was on alarm. I was on desk, which meant we would have to give the tour. I started praying asking Heavenly Father for help and that everything would be okay. Well another group of men walked in asking for a tour. It brought a little bit of relief having these other men there. We started the tour and the 2 men just kept giving me uncomfortable feelings but not as bad since I knew things would be okay to an extent since I had the other 4 there. Before we went into the actual Beehive House I just bore the strongest testimony about coming into a Prophets house. As we got to the bottom of the stairs, I had a really strong feeling that we weren't to take them upstairs and that we needed to finish the tour, I was like, "But we have to take them upstairs, what if I'm just being paranoid." I had the thought and feeling about 5 different times. So I finally made the choice that we weren't taking them upstairs. We quickly finished the tour and let them go. Afterward I asked Sister Bryuzgina if she was feeling anything weird like I was and she said, "Yah. I had a strong feeling to not take them upstairs but I didn't know how to tell you. So when you decided to not take them upstairs it brought such a relief to me." I honestly don't know why we weren't supposed to take them upstairs. I'm so thankful though for the spirit and for being able to guide us. Heavenly Father is always watchful of us as long as we are in a place where the spirit can guide us and direct us and we are willing to allow the spirit to guide us. I have gained such a strong testimony of the Spirit since being in the Beehive House. So many amazing spiritual experiences have come since being in the Beehive House! Now don't get me wrong, the Beehive House is a really SAFE HOUSE.
 |
| Sis. Bryuzgina, Sis. Burton (a senior couple - husband taking the pic) and Sis. Skaggs in front of the Beehive House |
 |
| The wedding dress of Brigham Young's daughter as displayed in the Beehive House |
Well I need to get going! Family and friends I love you so much! I hope you have an amazing week this week! Be safe and know I love you all sooo much!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
LOVE ALWAYS,
Sister Skaggs 
No comments:
Post a Comment