To All I Love,
Lots of amazing things happened this week in all aspects of being a missionary! But I don't have a whole lot of time to email because our P-day is packed today! We are only given 3 hours to use the car each preparation day and so we are emailing from 1-3 and then using the car from 3-6 and then have to leave promptly at 6 pm to go to zone activity till 9 pm tonight. We are going to do FHE at a retirement home down in Sandy tonight! I'm so excited it is going to remind me of my time in Woodbridge! Well let me start!
A Glimpse of Heaven:
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| Olive Garden catered Halloween dinner |
I will start with this one because you asked about it mom in your email to me today. Because of the way society is today, especially on Halloween, for security reasons they pull all of the sisters off of Temple Square at 5 PM. The buildings all get locked down and then security will go through and lock all gates going into Temple Square at 6 PM to make sure people don't do crazy things to Temple Square. You wonder what happens to all of the Temple Square Missionaries?? Great question. It is probably one of the neatest nights of the entire year.
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| Halloween dinner |
As a mission we went to the cafeteria in the basement of the Church Office Building and had catered Olive Garden and then afterwards we did the 7 PM session in the Salt Lake Temple as a mission. Every seat but 3 we filled up with about 95% of them being the Temple Square Sisters. One of my favorite parts of this experience was the very end.
Standing in the corner of the Celestial room seeing all of my sisters dressed in white some crying, some giggling, some smiling, some praying, some just over joyous, allowed me to ponder over the life to come. A sweet spirit came upon me as I recognized that this is what it will be like as we prepare to enter the next life. It gave me a very real reality of the importance of doing all that we can in this life to make sure we have a secured spot in the Celestial Kingdom. As we were in the Celestial Room, Sister Chazen, George and I (2 Former Companions) were talking, hugging and crying with each other as we truly recognized that this is what life will be like. Each of us searching for those we love, greeting one another as we see our loved ones come to the other side. Some mourning as they recognize things they could have done better, others joyous for their reunion back home. The best way to describe the scene is 200 angels in the Celestial Room gathered together. It was a glimpse of Heaven. A Sister in fast and testimony meeting yesterday made a comment to us about this experience. She said, "Sisters, we each live in foreign countries and we may never see each other again until the next life. I want to see each of you again but it depends on how much you live up to the covenants we make in the Temple with our Father in Heaven." Ponder "how does that statement apply to your own life?" The blessing of being with those we love in the Celestial Kingdom and even seeing friends etc, depends on how well we live up to the covenants we make in the Lords house, the Temple.
Investigators in Africa:
They are doing very well. The best day to teach them is either Saturday night or Sunday night, their time but things were a little different this week. Want to know why???
Well they had a multi district conference in the Capital of Liberia Monrovia with Elder Curtis from the 70 and Elder Bednar from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles! Hearing from a member of the 12 Apostles trumps me any day. They were each very excited for this and every time I called they were like, "We have to hurry and get ready because tomorrow we leave at 6 AM to drive to Monrovia for the conference and we don't know when we will be back on Sunday." They are the sweetest and most humblest people I know! One of my greatest dreams is to be able to meet them at one point or another in this life. Who knows if the Lord will make that possible or not. They're so willing to accept the Lord's will in all things and to learn more about his gospel which is a motivation to me as to what am I doing to submit myself to the Lord's will.
Change in Season:
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| Halloween package from home |
Every season here is so different on Temple Square. When fall hits it means cooler weather and it also means less people on Temple Square which is never a good thing. The visitor centers have become very empty lately and its funny because the same person will get stopped by about 4-5 different companionship's now before they even leave Temple Square and even sometimes the building. We love the weekends because we are a little bit more busy. The weather is being really crazy here right now. Some days it will be in the mid 50's and we are in our winter jackets and then the next day I can be in just a cardigan. We have heard the snow is coming sooner than later. My wish is that it would come tomorrow!!! But I don't know if the Lord will grant that wish. We are going to be averaging the low to mid 40's of the next week and the temperature just keeps dropping. Our opening night of lights may be a little chilly.
What Does it Mean to Really Be Humble?
Over the course of the past couple of weeks this has been something that I have really had on my mind as I have pondered over what it means to really be humble. For me I always assumed that to be humble was to just not be prideful saying "I'm better than you" etc. But the other day I was reading and recognized that to be humble means to submit to the Lord's will. Do we submit ourselves to the Lord's will? It was an interesting thought to think about. Last week I pondered over this if I had truly submitted myself to the Lord's will and put his interests in me first or what I thought was best for myself first. I recognize that I hadn't, which was holding me back from finding that peace that I was seeking. When we submit ourselves to the Lord's will and give up our own internal desires that is when we see more clearly the plan the Lord has for each of us. We may not even recognize it at the start but we will come to see that it is easier to follow and submit ourselves to him than create our own path. Sometimes we don't recognize why but that is when we act in all faith. We have patience with him. It reminds me of a scripture that really came to my mind this past week as I was studying in Mosiah 24:15-16. As I pondered over these two verses the other day the impression came to my mind that sometimes the bondage that we are held captive to sometimes is due to our lack of yielding ourselves to the Lord's will. Which is something I invite you to ponder.
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| Made treat bags for some of the other Sisters |
Well, I have to get going but know that I love you each so much and feel blessed to have you in my life! Being able to serve a mission is a hard but yet rewarding experience. It is amazing how fast it goes. Later on this week we will receive word on what is to come next transfer. Can you believe next transfer is already next week. When I email you next week I will share with you who my new companion is and any change in assignment. Weird that we are already at this point! I love you and hope you each have a phenomenal and safe week! Continue to do what the Lord would have you do and all will work out!
Love Always!
Sister Skaggs
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