Monday, August 18, 2014

Salt Lake City East Mission and LOVING every minute of it!!

I think it's interesting how different the work can be, granted I am in YSA wards, but I could get transferred to an area 30 minutes from here and I'd have a totally different experience.
Serving in these 5 wards has been such a blessing. 
Just this past Sunday a girl came up to me in a rush, she had read the book Power of Everyday Missionaries,  and she had set a goal/date to find someone who is interested in learning more about the gospel.  "You do this all day everyday, I have tried literally everyone I know and no one has seemed interested to take the lessons! What should I do?" she said to me.
I was just in awe of her raw desire to share the gospel with someone.  She was in the same ordeal that Clayton Christensen talked about in his book, she was to the point of desperation.  How inspiring i thought!  I told her that with her attitude whether its the day before or the day after, the Lord was gonna bless her with someone to share her sweet testimony with.
 
We have been teaching this guy from Japan, Shuhei.  We have been taking him to temple square so we can have some language barrier assistance from one of the Japanese speaking sisters there.  Lessons have been going really good, he was coming to church and was getting a lot of fellowship from the ward.  After a lesson we had with the temple square sisters, we asked him about his scripture reading, he said he had been reading everyday.  Pretty awesome, then he said that since the Book of Mormon has been hard for him to understand he has just been reading and studying the index everyday. 
Does it get any more precious?! He wants to know for himself if its true to the point of reading anything out of it so he can get his answer.  Its really inspiring to see the will and desire of people when they feel the spirit and they want more.
 
(Slade)... 
Some sisters in our district saw him walking around the neighborhood in a storm trooper outfit.  Oh yes.  He hadn't been to church in a long time, but was totally up for visits from the missionaries.  So we set up a time where we could introduce ourselves and tell him about all the activities that the YSA wards do.  He knows that he feels good when hes around us, or around the ward members.  He says that he'll never give up drinking, but we'll see about that ;)  Now Slade texts us asking when the next activity is, if work would permit him then he would come to church..hopefully as we continue to meet with him then he'll slowly make changes in his life to make him happier.
(Divine Rendezvous??)
There might not be a direct correlation between all of these people, but when i was thinking about it in my head it made sense.  So lets cross our fingers that i can tie this together in a neat bow!! haha
 
The will and want for good in people is so inspiring, even though all of these stories are different in a way they are all searching for light.   They feel the light of Christ within themselves as they share the gospel, read the scriptures (even if its from the index), or visit with the missionaries.  Its inspiring for me personally because it feeds my own testimony. 
 
I had the blessing of going to the Salt Lake temple this morning with the missionaries I serve with. What a blessing that is, to have the temple so close to where I serve. 
Alexis, who is getting baptized on Sunday, came and did a temple square tour with us. We stopped at the replica of the temple and talked about the importance and the blessings that come from us. She leaned in to get a better look and WACK!  She slammed her head on the glass.  I lost it... Laughing so hard... then the guy next to me said with a chuckle " OH! she feels the spirit so much that she wants to jump right in!"
 
Its a funny story, but with a great underlying message. Lets all "Jump In", and get a good "wack" from the spirit ;)
I love you all, especially little Joe ;) haha oh and you to Ronald haha i hope you all have a great week!
Love Sister Efnor
Me and my new Comp!
 A favorite place of my Mom's to take family pictures since I was a small child... I have many pictures of myself in front of this temple and in this same window- of my big sisters holding me when I was a small baby... Feels a bit like home for me to be here!