Christmas Miracles

From 12/14/15


To All I Love,

We can get a little crazy, huh?

My heart is filled with so much love for my Father in Heaven and Savior at this moment. Words can't express to you all that they have done for me and how grateful my heart is for what they have allowed me to witness so far on my mission. I just have to start with one of my favorite miracles and one that I have been on a journey with for about 10 months now. I couldn't ask for a greater Christmas Gift than this.

 

 

Christmas Presents for Kakata:

How long did you wait to be baptized? Well besides being 8 years old. Did you have to wait like 2 weeks till your baptism day?? Try 3 months, maybe even 10 Months. What if you were told a year and a half??

 

My "class" - we all came out together

The only thing we wanted to occur was for our investigators to be baptized. It has now been 10 months since I first started working with the Kakata Branch. Week after week, month after month we were told the missionaries would be back shortly, and it never happened. Until Last Sunday, Dec. 6th, when President Harmon said the Missionaries will be back tomorrow. I have never cried tears of joy so much when I heard those words come out of his mouth. This past Wednesday we called him to give him an update on the work and he said the missionaries came on Monday at 2 pm!! You will NEVER understand how much that meant. How much joy that brought me. Hearing now that these people who so desperately want to get baptized now can be baptized. He said we have 4 Elders, 2 from America, 1 from Nigeria and 1 from Ghana. It just made me so excited to hear that they are back, that the work will really be hastened. I asked President Harmon if they knew when the baptism would be and he said, "Well, I talked with the Elders and we are going to have it on the 26th of this month." Hearing that brought so much excitement and joy. Knowing that for Christmas they will know that the following day they will be baptized and then confirmed on Sunday. The last Saturday of the year is when they will get to be baptized. Could you ask for a better Christmas Present??

 

 



Just because we can....

We talked to President Harmon again yesterday and asked him if we

Picture time...again....

were still good for the 26th and he said, "Yes. We are talking to all the investigators. The Elders are working very hard meeting with everyone as frequently as they can. They went to the investigator class yesterday and we will have the baptism on the 26th." We have had several investigators, who just 2 months ago, due to various things, wouldn't be able to be baptized. However, yesterday I talked to him and he said, "Siannes will be baptized. Gaiduwo will be baptized. Anthony will be baptized. Wenneta will be baptized. Jay Edward will be baptized." Hopefully Jimmy can be baptized as well. I'm praying sincerely and fervently for them in every prayer I give that they will each pull through. President Harmon said that about 45 people will be baptized, but they are going through to verify that they can each be baptized. What those 45 people include are the primary aged children, the teenagers, those who have parents who are members, and then the adult investigators. He doesn't know for sure if it will be 45 but it will be around there. About 10 Sisters are teaching people in Liberia and there were 2 Branches in Liberia that have been waiting for missionaries to come back and BOTH branches have missionaries and they BOTH are planning on having the baptisms on the 26th. I haven't had contact with the other Branch but I have heard they have about 80 awaiting baptism as well and the sisters are working hard to teach them as well. 

My "class"

Could you ask for a better Christmas present??? They are each so excited to be baptized. Who couldn't ask for a better Christmas Present than being baptized and confirmed a member of the church and being able to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost for Christmas!! It is moments like this that fill my heart with an exceeding amount of joy. I'm thrilled for them!

 

When I talked with President Harmon he said he will talk to the elders about Skype and figure out how that works and if there is a way for us to be able to Skype the baptism on the 26th. It will be a long stretch and it will be okay if it doesn't happen because that isn't the point. President Harmon was like, "Sister Skaggs. Is it okay, too, if we took a group picture and sent it to you as well?" I was like, "That isn't a problem at all." Having the missionaries back is the best present and to be able to see how excited they each are when we call them will just bring huge smiles to our faces.

 

Allowing the Atonement to Change You:

 

We just LOVE
getting mail!!

Over the course of our life time we can't stay complacent but must be willing to change. Sometimes it can be hard to make that change and it is hard to let go of that pride in our life. That is why we must allow the Atonement to work within ourselves. A Sister today said, "You must learn the Atonement, understand the Atonement and find yourself in the Atonement." That is the key to change and then seeking and earnestly pleading with the Lord for that help and strength to be able to use the Atonement to change you. One of the things that I have learned on my mission is how we truly can do all things as we one, rely on the Lord and two, are patient with his timing. When we trust in the Lord he will take a weakness, an imperfection, and give us the strength to clear it from being a blemish to something that causes us to do good, molds it into a strength. Throughout the mission the Lord has shown to me many imperfections. I have learned that when we rely on him and seek to do his will, through fervent prayer and application on our part, he will do his part. It takes TIME, and that is something we must remember. A key weakness that I have sought to change my entire mission, has literally taken up until this transfer, to see the progress and to see the results. To ultimately see how the Lord will do his part. It reminds me of the scripture "I the lord am bound when ye do what I say, But when ye do not what I say ye have no promise."

A New Transfer:

Mail time!!!

Mail!!!! (not MALE) ;)

The Gospel is true. I'm grateful for these 7 weeks I have left in my mission to serve with all my heart, might, mind and strength. Due to Christmas next week this transfer was only a 5 week transfer. Which means I'm now in my last transfer! Can you believe that. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to be here and to be able to serve my Father in Heaven with everything that I have. For this last transfer my new companion will be coming from Italy! She is going into her 5th transfer, Sister Taglivia. And for the 4th transfer now I will be a District Leader! To be honest, I'm so grateful to be able to stay a District Leader. I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm grateful to be a District Leader and to have this opportunity to serve the sisters within the District. I have grown to love each of them. Being able to help them grow into the missionaries and daughters of God that their Heavenly Father sees fit for each of them to become brings so much joy.

 

 

Picture time AND mail
time!!

With this new transfer things are changing. My NEW PDAY will be on FRIDAY. So, I will be emailing again this week on Friday. And I will be in Guest Services this transfer. Guess what is so crazy....my entire District is from America!!! Except my companion! Sister Brooks from Temecula, Sister Fraiser from Hemet, Sister Butler - North Carolina, Sister Chamberlin from Mission Viejo and then a Senior Couple - Elder and Sister Richardson from Arizona!! We are now the Socal District!! Quite literally!! Well, I love you all and am excited to give it my all this transfer in the remaining 7 weeks I have left to serve my Father in Heaven and his children.

 

 

 

Love Always!

Sister Skaggs

P.S. We will need to start figuring out a time for Skyping on Christmas.

 

 

 

Busy working....??

 



LOVE that camera!!


 

Glimpsing ETERNAL JOY

From 12/07/15

To All I Love,

 

Sis. Skaggs and Sis. Rodriguez

To sum up this week all you can say is it was a week of miracles, blessings, lots of tears, and an overabundance of Joy! My all time favorite week of my mission would have been this past week. Don't worry, I will tell you all about it. To be honest, I don't know how I will ever express my gratitude to all that my Heavenly Father has blessed us with this past week. The only thing we have thought about is we must just work even harder to pay him back for all of the miracles he allowed us to witnesse this past week. I'm sitting here trying to contemplate as to where I should begin. And what comes to my mind is Sunday November 22nd at about 8 P.M. that is when it all started.

 

Sunday, November 22nd:

 

 

At the start of this transfer Sister Rodriguez and I had felt as if something was missing from our efforts as missionaries. We were talking, studying, seeking to be obedient, but we felt something was empty. And it really bothered the two of us. We had a lot we wanted to accomplish this transfer and we wanted the Lord to know he could really use us as his representatives. We were sitting in the Tabernacle at about 8:15 at night and the Square was just plain empty. We saw maybe 2 people in that entire hour come into the Tabernacle. As we were talking we both just shared with one another our thoughts about how we felt we weren't living up to our potential at that moment. We felt empty. We really started to ponder with one another what it was that was causing us to not completely live up to our potential at that moment. A mission is one big roller coaster. You will have steep climbs to the top that seem like its taking an eternity, then will have the joyous ride down screaming and just filled with joy and then come across those sudden turns that are hard to grasp at times, then you go back up again and so forth. Well, leading up to this moment we were just on the hill. As we were talking we discussed some things that maybe could be the reason for causing us to not be living up to our potential.

One was obedience with exactness. You can be obedient on a mission, but in order to reap the rewards of missionary work, you have to be seeking to be obedient with exactness. It's hard and takes effort, but the Lord has set bounds that when we seek to abide within them that is when our hearts will be filled with joy. I'm NOT PERFECT, let me make that clear to you. But we have to be seeking and striving to be as obedient as possible. Two, diligence. We must be diligent with the things we plan to change that would enable us to be more effective. Three, making simple changes that would allow us to give a little more to the Lord, kneeling at all times when we pray even when we go to the Square or in the Teaching Center. Little things like that or using our lunch time to go home and have extra study time or to go into TC and call our investigators. Little things that allowed us to use our time more wisely. I so wish I could say everything went perfect. Hahaha, yeah - I would be lying. It seemed as if Satan was always putting things in our way. But we sought to make the effort despite the road bumps that came into play. Personally, we feel that because of these simple adjustments the Lord allowed us to witness some truly amazing miracles this past week. Miracles that brought us to our knees in tears, as we couldn't comprehend and grasp all that he had blessed us with and why. Well, it starts with Tuesday.

Witnessing the Elect:

 

This past Tuesday Sister Rodriguez and I were assigned to have the closing shift of West Gate. Because we had no tours being sent out at that point due to the lights, we decided we were going to take chats from people that came onto Mormon.org. At one point we had about 10 chats going which was a little stressful but so worth it. We were multi tasking - swapping between chats, answer their questions and trying to teach together and end chats when people weren't prepared. It was a tremendous blessing because we found several elect children during that 3 hour window of being in West Gate. During that 3 hour block we were able to find about 3 new investigators, 2 of whom were open to meeting with local missionaries. Let me tell you about Dotdot & Jenna!

 

 

The crazy faces one can make!

Dotdot from the Netherlands - He had come on having several questions about various different things. As we continued to talk to him we testified and shared with him a little bit more about the Restoration and invited him to stay in contact with us and to read the Book of Mormon. In that moment he wasn't completely comfortable with having people he didn't know come to his door, which is understandable. The next day we logged onto Teaching Center and we saw we had an email waiting for us asking if he could chat with us. We proceeded to share with him that we would love to chat with him. About an hour later we had taught him the entire Restoration and pretty much the entire Plan of Salvation over Chat. He stopped us saying, "I think it would be okay now if the local missionaries came to bring me a copy of the Book of Mormon." We screamed a little bit. You have no idea how big a step that was for him to personally take. It will be interesting to see how things progress with him because he was interested but showed signs of not complete interest. But what matters is he felt the spirit, has a desire to have a Book of Mormon and said yes to local missionaries bringing him a copy. All of you that receive referrals in your local missions from Church Headquarters, take it to them ASAP!! There is a reason why PMG says within 24 hours!!!

Anna (name changed) "This is what I have been looking for, I knew I had to say yes" - On Tuesday during that window of TC in West Gate, Sister Rodriguez took over mainly teaching Jenna while I was focused on Dotdot. I don't know clearly what happened on Tuesday, however, I know that she really wanted to learn more, had been studying on her own, wanted to read the Book of Mormon and just ultimately wanted know more about the church. Sister Rodriguez invited her to meet with local missionaries. She said yes and asked if she could call them. We gave her the number to the local missionaries and said we would continue to stay in contact with her. We had asked if we could call her and she said she wasn't comfortable with that but would prefer to just email us. Which that is totally okay. Wednesday we emailed her and she replied back to us briefly on Wednesday. Here is her response:

"Hi Maria and Jennifer! I hope you both had a wonderful day! It's so nice to hear from you! Reading all of this was really wonderful. I'm good! I'm really excited about this and hearing again from you made me even more excited! Thank you so much! Going by myself is definitely not the easiest thing in the world (I'm still really nervous, I tend to be really shy) but there's something in my heart telling me to go. I don't question the Lord when I feel like He is calling me to do something. :) I actually was unable to call the local missionaries today for numerous reasons. The first being that I actually lost the numbers you were so kind to have sent me last night! :( I accidentally exited out of the chat before copying them down and I realized my mistake right after. I also was insanely busy today (I'm in college here in Orlando and we have our final exams next week so it's been really crazy lately!) so I wouldn't have had a moment to call them even if I had had the numbers. If there's anyway you could send them to me again, I would so appreciate it! I think I'll have time to call them tomorrow. Well, that's a long story! I really don't remember any moment when I began to feel called, the feeling just grew more and more as I learned more about the church. I watch this family on YouTube who post videos daily about their lives and they are Mormon! I always admired how close the family was and how strong they were in their beliefs. They seemed so happy and so sure in the Lord, and I became more and more interested in learning about everything they believed in. So I started reading a lot about the church! I read websites and I looked at mormon.org and watched a ton of videos.. and everything really seemed to just make sense. I've been a Christian for most of my life, but when I read about what was practiced in the LDS church, it just made so much sense. It was kind of like as if I had this uncompleted puzzle and when I found the church it filled in all the pieces. I was really young at the time though (this was two years ago) so I didn't have much ability to do anything with this. I just read more about it and pondered on whether or not I should attend a church service or not. Now that I'm a little older and I have a lot more freedom, I've finally decided to go. When I made the decision to do so, a huge feeling of relief and happiness flooded over me. I prayed about it and the Lord has only been sending me positive signs since. I trust Him and I really think that this is a calling from Him! I actually have started reading the Book of Mormon! I saw a lot things during my research in which so many people suggested reading through the book and praying a lot throughout the entire thing, and then the truth would be revealed to you. I don't know if that will happen to me, but so far I've gotten through 1 Nephi and started 2 Nephi! It's a little difficult to find time but I'm trying my best! I have an app on my phone that has a reading schedule for me so I don't get overwhelmed. :) I'm definitely not deaf, no. :) Sometimes I just have a hard time understanding what other people are saying over the phone, and I know that can be very frustrating. I'm also really shy so phone calls are a little scary for me! I really love everything you had to say and I really cant wait to learn more. Thank you for your time sending this email to me! It was lovely to read! Talk to you soon,

Anna then emailed us back on Thursday and this was her response:

 

"Hi Maria and Jennifer! My day is going really well so far! I hope yours is going good as well :) I was able to call the missionaries (yay!!) and we set an appointment for tomorrow at 4:30! I'm really, really excited. I'm ... years old! College is a little crazy but it's wonderful and fun. ... That brings me so much comfort to hear, you have no idea! I'm sure everything will be fine, and it'll be worth it in the long run. I think if I got up the courage to talk to you and to call the missionary, I'm sure I can go to a church service. These emails are something I look forward to so much! It's amazing to finally have someone to talk to about this. :) The story about your mom gave me chills! Just to know that someone else felt the exact same way that I do really just shows that the feeling is real! Thank you for sharing that with me! I'd love to hear more about it! It sounds familiar and I think I know what it's about but I'd love to hear what you both have to say. I really love learning about this church and everything else that comes with it :) Aw, thank you so much! It is a little difficult to understand and there's definitely some parts of it that have been a little confusing, but I think I'm getting it for the most part and I'm excited to read more of it! I think when I get a little more into it it'll make a little more sense. That's really good advice, I'll definitely take that to heart and do that in the coming weeks! Thank you! Okay, I think I can probably work up the courage to talk on the phone! I'd love to talk to you both about all of that. I look forward to it! I'm just a little busy in the next coming days and so I'm not really sure when I'll be able to talk on the phone next. Hopefully sometime soon! :) Thank you for everything, :)

From that point we weren't able to really talk to her. She had briefly texted us on Friday saying she loved meeting with the Elders that they talked all about Prophets, the Book of Mormon and even brought a member from the congregation to their appointment!!! (Member presence make all the difference in a lesson!) And the Elders invited her to church on Sunday! These Elders are everything we want in a local missionary. We didn't talk to her at all Saturday and she wasn't replying to our texts yesterday (Sunday) which scared us just a bit because we were nervous not knowing what was happening. But one thing we had fasted for was that the spirit would work in the hearts of our investigators and we would see miracles be performed I had specifically fasted for about 10 of our investigators. About 15 minutes after I ended my fast about 3:15 in the afternoon we received this text. It was just me in the main kitchen with all of the other sisters there and my companion not being there. hahaha imagine what my expression may have been... What would yours be?? It reads as follows:

The cell phone where we get
these GREAT texts!

"Hi there! I'm Great! Sorry I haven't had an opportunity to text you, I've been so busy! Church was amazing this morning! Everyone was so nice and welcoming and it was so cool to hear so many testimonies today! I really liked how the meetings are structured and I loved the things discussed during the meeting. And afterwards, I was able to go with the missionaries to look at the Orlando temple!! It was so beautiful! We talked a lot about so many things but we agree that I would pray continually and continue to meet with missionaries and go to church with a goal of being ready to be baptized by January 30th. I of course still have a long way to go but I'm really excited about it!! :)"

 

 

Ahhhhhhh!!!! I jumped out of my chair in the kitchen with a half eaten taco in my hand and ran to the bathroom trying to find Sister Rodriguez. She was touching up her makeup and so I was like companion you have to stop right now, the text we have been waiting for just came! After I read the text we just freaked out together in so much joy! We texted Anna asking if we could call her and she said YES!! Now imagine me with a bowl of ice cream and a half eaten cookie.... Haha always at the wrong time. When we got into TC and called her she was so excited to talk to us and she went into detail about everything that happened. She has been searching for the right religion for a while now and nothing has seemed to fill the emptiness that she had been feeling until she found the church. And guess when it started??? Her senior year in high school when she had a class with a member of the church!!!!!!!!! That member now is attending BYU-I. You never know what a simple contact will do. Anyways she mentioned how she just loved church, loved Sunday school. They talked about the second coming and other things and then she loved Relief Society and all the ladies were so friendly and welcoming. And then they went to the Temple, which the Temple is LITERALLY right across the street from where she went to church. As they were walking the grounds they talked about a lot of various things and then the missionaries invited her to be baptized. She said, "You know, I just felt something and I knew I needed to say yes." She said, "I, of course, know there is more to learn and its a little scary but I had the feeling I had to say yes. I'm so excited to be learning right now and I'm just so happy I found this church and I look forward to everything I will be able to continue to learn, it just all makes so much sense!"

 

At that moment Sister Rodriguez and I just fell to our knees after and just cried. I honestly can't express enough to you the gratitude that we both felt in that given moment for our Father in Heaven and all that he had blessed us with. And that was only the cherry on top to the entire day. I still have a whole other story to share. When we put the Lord first, seek to go the extra mile and seek to be obedient to his will, we will experience joy. My favorite scripture is "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, But when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." I can testify that this is true and it can be a living witness to each of us when we put his words to test. The Lord promises to bless us when we are obedient, he is bound to do so. But he doesn't have to do anything when we aren't obedient to what he expects of us. Now I want to share with you our next miracle that brought us to tears!!

They ALL went to church! The Missionaries will be back tomorrow! I love you!:

 

I haven't experienced so much joy before than being able to teach the people that live within the Kakata branch in Liberia. I love them so much, of course I love my Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ first and foremost and that will ALWAYS be the way that it is. One thing I have prayed for is for them to be able to feel the love that their Father in Heaven has for them. And maybe that is why I just feel as if there is no capacity to the love that I have for them. Because that is the love that our Father in Heaven has for us. There is and will never be a capacity on the true and everlasting love he has for us as his children.

 

As we were talking with the Branch President yesterday we asked how church was and he said, "Oh it was great. They gave great testimonies at church." He then said everyone was at church. I was like "What do you mean by that?" Well Gaiduwo, Anthony, Jayedward, Miapta, Siannes, Wenneta, Jimmy etc. all came to church. Everyone. They have NEVER all been at church at the same time. He just started naming them and I just started crying. Because we know just how much church will bless their lives and they know just how important church is for them. Several of them we used to teach but due to the connection we had, caused us to have to "former" them were at church as well. It is a living witness that God still hears and answers our prayers. We have prayed for months that the spirit will continue to touch their hearts and they will recognize the truthfulness of these things. Then President Harmon said "Sisters we have great news. Four missionaries will come tomorrow! The apartment is done and we just received word that they are coming tomorrow. They will meet with the investigators and we hope to have the baptism before Christmas or by the end of the year. We have lots of children, families, investigators and many prepared people here that are waiting to be baptized."

 

You will NEVER know just how much that meant to hear!! Hearing those words flow out of his mouth brought me to tears and are bringing me to tears as I write this. I love these people and I know just how excited they are to be baptized. That is all they talk to us about and just ask us to prepare them to be baptized. To have the opportunity to teach them for over 10 months now is a tremendous blessing and miracle in my life.

 

Siannes and Jayedward this week as we were hanging up the phone said "I love you." We are like "We love you too."

 

When I started my mission I never once thought the Lord would allow this to happen. I didn't know or even imagine the Lord would allow me to have this opportunity to be a part of their life. I haven't done a single thing, but I am grateful to have been able to have witnessed this. To have seen such humble people, willing to do what God needs them to do in order to find eternal joy. The Gospel is true and the Lord is hastening his work throughout the world and will do whatever it takes to have his work hastened. From Liberia, to Mainland China, to Sudan, to India, doesn't matter where you live, the Gospel is there and the Lord is doing all that it takes to get his message to all corners of the world.

 

I'm grateful for the remaining 2 months I have in the mission. I wouldn't want it any other way. I thought to myself earlier that the timing of my mission has been perfect. If I came any earlier or later I wouldn't be able to see these investigators truly progress and would more than likely not see our investigators in Liberia come full circle, I wouldn't have seen the miracles I witnessed in Virginia. The Lord's timing is perfect. We must trust in his perfect plan for us. He knows us best and he knows what we need. Obedience, Trust, and Diligence are key to experiencing eternal JOY.

 

During this Christmas season I invite you to ponder what you can change to experience a glimpse of eternal joy.

Know that I love you and am SO SORRY for this eternally, long e-mail.

Love Always!

Sister Skaggs

Simple Truth

From 11/30/15


To All I Love,

Water main break

Family, it sounds like you had such a neat experience at the Tijuana Temple Open House! The Temple is such a special and sacred place!! I'm so happy for the people there, to have a Temple closer to them. It is such a sacred place, something that needs to be a part of our life on a regular basis. I'm sure it has been hard for them to make the journey to San Diego to attend the Temple. I'm so happy for them, they will be able to have more frequent access to the blessings that come from the Temple!! So happy that you and the ward got to make the trip down there, I'm sure it not only blessed you but it really benefited and blessed our ward family!

 

 

 

The Impact of HIS Birth:

Beautiful results from a
water main break over
night

If the Savior was never born, what would life be like? If our sins were never paid for, what would we feel like? If the Savior didn't suffer in the Garden of Gethsemane how much pain would we actually experience? Imagine life without our Savior Jesus Christ?

Early yesterday, "A Savior is Born" was released worldwide. We watched it again yesterday. The spirit really testifies of the importance it is to have a Savior in our life. We see how his birth affects our individual lives. Do you personally know your Savior??

 

 

 

 

 

It's starting to SNOW!

Yesterday evening we were walking across the square at about 9 P.M. and we were trying to figure out a good place we could go to contact people. Most of the time people just come to see the lights, which makes it a little harder to talk to people. Last night Sister Rodriguez and I decided to go to the far outstretched corners of Temple Square. As we were walking in between the Relief Society Building and Church Office Building, this young couple, about my age, stops us and really joyfully says, "Hi sisters! Where are you both from?" Half scared us to death because people are usually so mesmerized by the lights. Jeff proceeds to start talking to us about being a missionary as he just got home about 3 months ago. A little bit into the conversation it started to turn towards the Gospel and what it means to him. He paused and started to cry a bit and he says, "You know what sisters? It means everything to me. It is because of the Gospel that we have a Savior." We asked him what he learned from his mission. He replies, "I now have a personal relationship with my Savior and I recognize what he does for me in my life." It brought such a strong spirit as he bore a personal witness of the Savior's impact to him in his life. A couple of seconds later the four of us looked up and saw that it was snowing. Standing there with Jeff and Amy brought peace to my heart knowing that the Gospel, when it's applied to our lives, enables us to have that personal relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ. We proceeded to ask if he had seen "A Savior is Born" (remind you, it was just released that morning and it was about 9 P.M. when we talked to him). Jeff said "Oh I love the new videos! I have seen them both over and over again." In each of our lives, we must come to know who our Savior is at a personal level. It is a peaceful feeling and a feeling of hope when we know him and know what he did for us on a personal level. I invite you each to take the time to watch the two videos here: https://www.mormon.org/christmas and to give a gift to the Savior, a gift that will help you draw nearer to him on a personal level.

A Savior Is Born – A Christmas Message | Mormon.org www.mormon.org Each Christmas season we celebrate the birth of our Savior—the Son of God, who can save us from sin and sadness. Remember Him, love Him, and follow Him. Visit ...

Understanding Pure Truths:

A "perfect" snowflake on Sister
Burke's back

Out of all the miracles that have occurred over the course of my mission, and there have been a lot, one that rings dear to my heart is the sacred opportunity the Lord has given me to teach his children on a personal level in Liberia! I have never loved someone more than the Savior and my Father in Heaven so much before than I do them in the Kakata Branch! The devotion they have to the Gospel is pure and real.

Over the course of the past 10 months that I have had the opportunity to work with the Branch President there and the investigators. It has been a worry that those we teach won't clearly understand the things they are taught because of the language barrier. We have had to just trust in the spirit and trust that the Lord is taking care of things. That is one thing I can surely testify of! We must at all times trust in the Savior! 10 Months ago I would have never imagined we would be at this point and their testimonies, let alone, would be at this point.

 

On Sunday morning (so yesterday) we called Opi. This was one of the first real times we have taught him since his baptism last transfer. As we were talking to him we just asked him simple questions. Every time I think of him and the testimony this year old boy bore to us in a little city in the middle of Liberia brings peace to my heart and a strong witness to me that the Gospel is true. Opi, without hesitation was able to give us the most simplest, clearest and most powerful testimony of prophets and the Restoration to me. He knows it so well and he knows the importance of the Restoration. It's a witness to us that even in a remote town in the middle of Liberia the Spirit is able to bear witness of the truthfulness of these things to the people that live there.

Results of a water main
busting in the night with
water spraying all over the place.

Haha my favorite person would have to be Wenneta!! She is the funniest person ever, well and Siannes too. I just love the two of them so much! Who knew it was even possible to truly love someone so much. Apparently, it is possible!

 

We just love to ask them questions. They are able to really testify to us of what they know to be true when we ask them questions, and also to check for understanding. When we talked with Wenneta yesterday we talked to her about repentance and this was one of her answers:

"We are each sinners. Because we are born sinners. We do bad things, we must repent so we can be clean and enter in the kingdom of heaven. Because of my weaknesses I can't enter heaven, that is why I must obey God. When we sin the truth is not in us. We have to go to church and repent and when you are baptized you are new born, baby!!!! And you can enter heaven. We must obey him."

 

It is the sweetest and most purest answer. When we teach them we type out everything they say and we say so we can really keep an accurate area book as to what is happening with their progress. This is what she said - word for word - as she made that comment. She really wants to be baptized. We are one, waiting for local missionaries to return and two, for her husband to come back so they can be legally married!

 

"Why do I have to go to Investigator Class if Jesus didn't have to go? Why can't I be baptized now just like him?"

 

What would you say if your investigator asked you this? We were talking to Jayedward this past week (one of our investigators in Kakata) and this is what he asked us. He is 21 years old and has been going to church for about 2 months now. For years the Branch President there has been asking him to come to church but he has always declined. And finally after some persistence on the branch president's part, he accepted to go to church. He mentioned to us that he knows this is the true church and he wants to be baptized now so he can be a full pledged member of the church. Because the local missionaries aren't there we can't have the baptism until more are ready. It broke my heart when he said, "What will happen if I die before I am baptized?" We were able to teach and testify of the importance of the Temple and why we have Temples for that very reason! He was grateful to know that he still can have an opportunity to be baptized.

 

More water main break
"damage"

One of my biggest dreams is to go and meet these individuals in person. Someday I hope a way is made possible for us to meet these individuals. Their desire is real and it's with intent. We invite them to each say the opening prayer and they always thank God for their many blessings, thank him for the missionaries calling them, plead with God that we may understand one another, ask him that they may know, by the spirit, what is being said and then they say and "we know that you will bless us with these things" and then they end the prayer. Because of the greatness of their faith, their prayers are answered. They have very broken English but it is almost never a problem for me to understand them and for them to understand us and to know what is being taught.

 

 

A Year Later:

Know that all is well! I try not to think that I go home soon. Many people ask me "So when do you go home?" It's weird when I have to say "soon". Being a part of this marvelous work is a blessing, while being hard at the same time. I cannot believe one year has gone by already and we are now in the Christmas season again. I remember standing under the big "Tree of Life" last year singing Christmas carols thinking to myself 'Wow. One year from now you will be almost in your last transfer'.... I couldn't imagine that it would actually come. Now one year later I stand under the same tree surrounded by different people with the same cause but thinking 'Wow. That year actually went by.' Now I wonder 'Well, will I even be here next year??' I don't think about this next year a whole lot though...

 

It Looks Magical:

And MORE SNOW!!

The lights are a sight to see. The crowds have been about 50% less compared to last year. That is what security has told us. Mainly because it is so cold! Friday night, as we were singing at like 8 PM under the Tree of Life, the wind was bitterly cold, blowing in our face. We have had a dusting of Snow just about every morning for the past 3 days now. But we still get a good size crowd despite how cold it is. I sent pictures of the snow. It's not a lot. We are sitting at about 20-30 degrees as our high everyday right now. Yay for earmuffs, big marshmallow jackets, leggings, scarves and gloves!!

Well I better go!! Know that I love you, pray for you and hope you're each doing well. Have a great week this week!!!

Love ALWAYS!!

Sister Skaggs

P.S. I will be emailing earlier next week because we are now in the Christmas schedule which means we go to bed at 11:45 P.M.wake up at 7:45 A.M. and P-Day goes from 11:15 A.M.-7:15 P.M.



Someone's "bragging" about what
a great phone she has - wait until
she gets home and see's what a
REAL cell phone looks like!

Christmas is Faith and Love

From 11/23/15

To All I Love,



Sister Fingerle and Skaggs

Guess what week it is?! One of my favorite weeks of the year! The week when on a particular day you get to eat as much as your little heart desires. Okay, well that is a perk of this week but it is a special week because we are able to give thanks for those things we have been blessed with in our lives. Even though we should be showing our gratitude everyday and not just one time a year. I'm excited for Thanksgiving this year! Sister Rodriguez has a senior couple who served their mission in her ward in Spain who has invited us over Thanksgiving. I'm really excited! We usually go to members home within a particular stake in the valley but President gave our companionship permission to go to their home which is crazy because it is about a 45 minute to an hour drive to their home. We are going to Alpine for Thanksgiving. Which is so weird because I have family that lives in Alpine but I wont be seeing them. It seems as if it was just yesterday that Sister Bryuzgina and I were getting ready to go to our families home in Bountiful for Thanksgiving!

In regards to this week, I don't really know what to type about Not a whole lot happened this week. A LOT will be happening in the coming weeks. Oh wait I know what happened now!

Christmas Initiative!



Sister Fingerle and Skaggs

On Thursday for Relief Society the Missionary Department came and spoke to us on the new Christmas initiative that the Church will be releasing here this week. I love it! Did you know they are launching 2 VIDEOS this year?? The first one just focuses in on the Savior and in order to watch the second one you have to watch the first one. They made it hard to see the second one just because the first one preps you more or less for the second one. But I love the second one! It is all animation, but what they did and how it was created forces us to reflect on our life, reflect on the choices we have made, the mistakes we have made, how the mistakes and choices of others have affected our life and then we see why the Savior's birth would be so important and how, because of Christ, we can receive that peace that we seek in our life. It is a perfect set up for us as missionaries to then dive into the importance of following our Savior Jesus Christ and how the atonement and baptism tie in together. I strongly believe that if members really use these videos wisely the missionary efforts will really pick up. They are set up in a way that really forces you to stop and think. For those who have experienced those hard things in their life I feel will be more receptive to hearing the message that will be portrayed. But honestly how it is set up can apply to anyone, because at one point or another we have experienced one of the things, or the spirit will bring to your heart what you have experienced. I'm ultimately so excited for each of you to watch it and to really ponder over how our Savior, Jesus Christ, plays a role in our life and why his birth would be of importance to you. The videos will be downloaded in the Visitor Centers on Thursday so we can launch it and use starting Friday for the lights and then I read online everything else will be launched on the 29th but I'm not sure if that is actually true.

Christmas Will Be Soon Upon Us:

Well Christmas is starting to occur here on Temple Square. The lights are up and have been ALL the time for testing! We are so excited! About 80% of the mission wasn't here last year for the lights so they are each freaking out. We are really excited they have added some new assignments to our schedule - things we haven't done before and so the mission is excited about that. President Poulsen LOVES the Temple Model and he doesn't like it when he walks by and there are no sisters there but a lot of people. For the lights this year we will have a companionship every hour for an hour starting at 5 PM at the Temple Model talking to the guests and explaining to them what it is, answering questions etc. We are actually really excited for this new assignment. Many families will be coming which will make it a neat opportunity to teach and testify about how the Gospel blesses our families and how the families were made to be Eternal and through the temple that can be made possible.

Back in April the Church installed a new exhibit in the North Visitor Center called "8 Stories" which takes up apart of the first floor where we always had the choirs sing. This creates a slight problem because where is the choir going to sing now? Well.... the choirs will now sing next to the Jerusalem MAP under the ramp in front of the paintings next to the escalator. For those who haven't been here before it will be really interesting to see how this works. The crowds are always really insane for the Christus, it goes down the ramp to the MAP and then for the choirs we usually have a decent sized crowd that comes to hear them. And then the entrance is usually super crowded with family and friends coming in and out. It will be quite a feat this Christmas. But we don't care. We are really excited. More people to talk to!!! But it shouldn't be too bad because we will have Sisters all over and in certain parts of the visitor center. In order to make everything run smoothly we will be stationed at the Christus, stairs, ramp, theaters, desks, and God's Plan to make sure the flow of people is going smoothly. The lights will turn on this Friday night at 5 PM.

Building Our Faith:

Faith has been a principle that we have really keyed in on these past couple of weeks as a companionship. We recognized that in order for our investigators to really progress they needed to understand what it means to have faith and how it applies to their life. With it being the first principle of the Gospel they needed to recognize that repentance, baptism, etc. wasn't going to occur unless we recognize and understand what faith means.



Sister Skaggs and Rodriguez

Yesterday we called Opi from Liberia and were talking to him about what Faith means. It was the sweetest thing to see how the spirit worked through him. Opi is only 16 years old. When we first began teaching him he was really excited and happy to hear from us. We started by asking him, "Opi what does it mean to have Faith in Jesus Christ?" Let's just say we didn't teach it simply.... He was like, "What does Faith in Jesus Christ mean?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Faith means to believe in Jesus Christ." We asked him another question and he is like, "I just said faith is to believe in Jesus Christ. That is what Faith means." Sister Rodriguez and I recognized that we needed to really go back to the basics with him. We decided that the best way we could involve the scriptures and teach these key principles is through turning to the Book of Mormon. We had Opi open his scriptures to Alma 32:21 and we read those first couple of verses with him and helped him to recognize what it really means to have faith. At first he started quoting the verse. But I knew he didn't really know what it meant unless he could teach us in his own words. As we asked him certain questions he was then able to respond back to us with what the meaning of faith was. We had a short 25 minute lesson with him and were able to help him see more clearly what faith means and how it applys to his life.

The above example is one of my favorite parts of being a missionary. The sweetest moments on your mission come from witnessing how the gospel changes hearts. And seeing how the others come to recognize and learn more about the Gospel.

People frequently ask me "what do you love about your mission?" What I love about my mission, is being able to witness peoples heart change because of the Gospel, being able to see how the Gospel really blesses their lives.

I want you to know just how much I love each of you! I know times get hard in our life but know that with our Savior Jesus Christ we can do anything. Family, I'm grateful for the knowledge I have that our family is an eternal family and that no matter what happens in our life we will be together in the life to come. Today we had the opportunity to testify of this principle to a young man from Oceanside, CA. As we stood with him we were able to bear witness to him that families are eternal and it is because of the sacred covenant we make as we kneel at the altar in the temple. As we seek to keep our covenants I can testify that we will be reunited with our loved ones. At the end of the tour with this young man I asked the question "If you love your family, then why wouldn't you want to be with them for eternity?" It is vital that we seek to do all that we can so we can receive that blessing that comes from being with our families for all eternity. I feel blessed for my family, and my extended family! Know that I love each of you!

Love Always,

Sister Skaggs

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