Back to the Basics

From 11/16/15

Family and Friends,

1st time serving at
West Gate

Way too much to write about this week! But hopefully I can get it all in, with the short amount of time that we have. Can I just say being a missionary is one of the greatest things? It is hard, really hard, but it is just so rewarding and ultimately satisfying! We are excited, too, because our busy season will be soon upon us. We already have a lot coming up!

 

 

 

Transfers!

 

Serving at West Gate

It seems as if the hard part of these emails is knowing where to start, but, I guess I should start with talking about my companion and this transfer so far! I LOVE my companion! We are just laughing 24/7 with each other. One thing is so relaxing is how I am able to just be my 100% complete self with each of my companions especially with her. She is always laughing. Which then makes me laugh which makes her laugh harder all because of something I say or do. One of my favorite times is planning. We will just start laughing about something that happened during the day as we reflect on our day together. Sister Rodriguez is in her 7th transfer and she is from Spain in a town called Seville! One thing I love about her is how she has such a strong desire to be exactly obedient which is such a blessing! We both have the same goal in mind and want to do what the Lord expects us to do. We have seen just so many blessings though from seeking to be exactly obedient. One - the work is progressing, two - we have been more in-tuned to the spirit and three - we have met so many elect. I just love missionary work!! I will have to tell you about the miracles we have experienced this week. Oh and she is AMAZING when it comes to helping me with the district! One thing I love is working two by two. Throughout my life I have always been someone to want to do things independently with somethings (I still have that desire). But for the most part I just love doing it together as a companionship. She is a big help! There have been a lot of goals and plans we have set and we have talked about how we can do the action part of these goals. She has been really helpful as we recognize how these things apply to the sisters within our District. Which is what I'm really grateful for!

Back to the Basics:

Seeing old friends!

As a Zone Counsel we were discussing what we could do to really help the sisters in all walks of life and missionary work. As we were discussing, we concluded to establish a zone theme - something to keep in mind as we work to achieve our goals. This transfer we decided to focus on "Back to the Basics." Think about it, how often do we make our lives so complicated or teaching so complicated when we simply must fall back to the basics of things? Especially here on Temple Square. It is soo easy to make missionary work complicated. We were then given the responsibility after we established the theme to apply it to our district. Sister Rodriguez and I, on Thursday, were discussing our purpose as missionaries here on Temple Square and how can we help the individuals we meet get to one of the end goals of baptism. We thought about it and something that came to our minds is two things. One - Baptism can't occur unless the local missionaries are involved and Two - they can' have a desire to be baptized unless they have a conversion to the gospel which comes through the Book of Mormon. We decided to invite the sisters to focus on those two main invitations as they extended invitations to the guests on the Square and in the teaching center. We recognize it may be challenging at first, but how are we helping those we meet see the end goal in mind if we just say "well we hope you have a great day, we invite you to ponder over your relationship with Jesus Christ?" or "We would love to stay in contact with you and share with you more about these things that we shared with you today." The fastest way to that first covenant is baptism and that is only done through the Book of Mormon. We wanted several experiences this week that I wanted to share with you. That as we talked about these things how much stronger the spirit was in the room and how it was easier to bridge to baptism and how it would bless their own lives.

Andrew... Seeking Eternal Purpose... On a military trip:

1st time eating
Vietnamese food!

One thing I have recognized is if we truly want something we must do our part and seek it out. The Lord isn't going to hand it to us and say "well, here you go". On Saturday we were in TAB and this gentleman walks in and seemed focused on not talking to me. But I just felt this draw to him like I needed to speak with him. I had the thought come through my mind that "Well, I don't care if he doesn't want to speak with me, he is going to speak with me" and also because I saw he had a Book of Mormon in his hand. I ended up stopping him and as we were talking he didn't seem super interested but I kept asking inspired questions and he mentioned that he really wants more in his life. He has daily purpose but wants more of that eternal purpose. I asked if he was given scriptures to read within the Book of Mormon and he mentioned he hadn't. As we continued to talk I ended up mentioning to him about 2 Nephi 31, Alma 32, & Alma 34. He mentioned how he is in the Military and his children know how to fear him but he wants his children to love him. He mentioned that with today's society he doesn't know how we are to find peace, how to find stability. Andrew said, "I have observed the Mormons and they have all of it. I just don't know why. I don't just do things to do it but I first observe." I mentioned with him a little about the restored gospel and how you, mom and dad, were really good at applying the teachings to our family which really helped strengthen and unify our family. He said, "I will read this book." It was really interesting because I just naturally invited him to attend church and I started explaining it to him and he is like, "Oh that is kind of like the catholic church" etc. Then I mentioned the last hour and how we gather based on gender and learn our various roles and how we can withstand the things of the world. He was like, "That is different. No other religion does that." He accepted to attend church and I briefly mentioned baptism. But he was sincerely interested as he recognized how it applies and will bless his own life, as concerns he had were able to be eased a bit. Other sisters already have his email address so I won't be staying in contact with him but I could see the sincerity in his eyes as I talked with him. That doesn't just go for him but for several others.

Saying goodbye to Sister
Huang

The Lundquist family and
my old friend, Preston

I don't have anymore time. But know that I know this gospel is true. We must be firmly rooted on a sure foundation. There is no more gray and we need to make sure we have solidified and firmly rooted our testimonies. Too many members of the church are having their testimonies shaken and some shattered. We must be able to withstand and it comes first of all through our faith in Jesus Christ. If we truly have faith we wont allow anything to shake our testimonies. As we read the book of Mormon with that sincere desire our testimonies will become firmly rooted and we will gain that special witness and testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored for our time. We can't procrastinate anymore. We have to be firmly rooted and be hastening our own testimonies. The preparations for the Lord's coming is hastening, as we see throughout the world and what the Lord is doing to prepare the world for his return. Are you ready for his return? What more must you do to prepare?

Know I love you, and the Lord is on your right hand ready to bear you up. He loves you more than you will ever know!!

Love Always,

Sister Skaggs