Every week seems to be my best week ever!!

Tuesday!

ZONE CONFERENCE!!!!!!!

It was the bessstt! Don R. Clark came and talked to us!  We were all a bit scared since the Monday prior we had received an email from our mission president that had a talk on receiving chastisement with grace... lol

Turned out to be the perfect mix of love and chastising.  Missionaries who have been out awhile say that it was the best training they have been apart of in a zone conference.  I'd have to agree. 

A couple points that he made that I really loved...

-Take care of His sheep and He will take care of yours.

During zone conference Elder Clark said "Everyone who has a family member, or loved one that is inactive, stand up."  Almost everyone in the room stood up.  As we were standing he told us that when we put our whole heart into the work, "Genuinely" loving those that we teach, the Lord will bless our family and friends who have lost their way.  What motivation!!!!  I want my family, and my friends to experience the blessing of the gospel but first i need to feed His sheep.

-Will the mission go through you? Or will you go through the mission?

There are definitively times where I have felt I was just going through the motions.  Was i happy?  No.  Was I effective?  Nope.  The mission experience I have, or even the experience I have here on earth, can all be determined on how I act.  What will be my response to trials, sucky companions, investigators not keeping commitments etc.?

-The Lord needs to trust you.

Ain't it the truth, i can definitely testify to this.  If He cant trust me, He's not going to even think about sending one of His precious sons or daughters my way.  My mom recently shared a couple stories of different times where she has had the opportunity to lend a helping hand, or a shoulder to cry on.  I know that the Lord will put people who need a hand- in our paths when he knows He can trust us.

Those are just a few of the MANY points that Elder Clark talked to us about..oh and he said.." If your dating an RM, you call his mission president and ask him what kind of a missionary that boy was. If he says good, DROP HIM! You want and exceptional missoionary!" lol

Saturday

C O L O R  R U N

There was a color run taking place in Salt Lake and our mission presidents wife had a family member who needed help getting more volunteers, so they volunteered the missionaries! lol We helped people check in and went to the finish line to cheer people on and hand out packets of the colored chalk, there were some of us handing out water bottles and granola bars as well.  It was really fun when people would run by or check in and they'd yell out... "ITS THE MISSIONARIES!" 

Sunday

We were blessed to have a baptism, her name is Alexis.  Alexis has one of the most inspiring stories. Born in a Bulgarian orphanage, adopted to Minnesota, reconnected with someone she was friends with in the orphanage who got adopted to Provo and is now on a mission in Bulgaria. 

Sister Curtis and I have been so blessed this week, mission life is great and getting better. I love you all, keep smiling :)

keep it real. keep it righteous.

Sister Efnor

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!

 

I've been transfered... from my beloved Family Tree and Park City!

(preface to the following story)

The new apartment we live in is pretty nice, aside from the fact that the ceilings are accommodating to dwarfs, but that's not even the problem. Our apartment is infested with box elders (sp?) its this black and red abomination of an insect, and instead of saying box elders, we just call them elders. I still am trying to understand their purpose.

Pretty much every night before we start planning we go through an all out brawl with them so we can plan in peace. 

(the actual story)

So sister Curtis goes to hop in the shower..5 minutes later... I hear..."THERE'S AN ELDER IN THE SHOWER!"...I died laughing.

Anywhooo...

IM SERVING IN YSA WARDS NOW! (and I welcome every change and challenge)

My new companion is sister Curtis from Boston, she is the beezneez.

It definitely is a change going from one ward in Park City to 5 wards in YSA, but i welcome the busy schedule with open arms that is for sure.  I wanted to cry tears of joy when sister Curtis filled me in on all the potential investigators, the areas, and the people they are teaching.  The wards that i cover are so diverse because they are all college students going to school at the U.  Its a little intimidating, everyone is so educated..that sounded dumb hahaha anyway... Everyone LOVED the sister before me so its been hard because i feel like i have big shoes to fill, however last night made me really happy. We were in a lesson with this girl, she only had one lesson before i got here.  The lesson went great and then the investigators offered the closing prayer.  In it she said, "And i was really nervous because sister Tennyson had to leave us and now we have a new sister, but sister Efnor is awesome and I'm happy that she is here", it warmed my heart to hear those words.

There are so many return missionaries in the wards we cover so we can always find someone to go out to a lesson with us which is such a blessing. 

Dinner appointments are a lot different in YSA wards than in the family wards haha but hopefully ill lose some weight since ill be eating like a college student and not like a Maharajah!!!

Getting to teach people my age has been such a great experience, being able to relate to people helps so much during lessons.

I have another kicker for ya'll..

Sister Curtis was on the phone with an investigator who was being illusive about setting an appointment, but she kept at it trying to hook him for an exact date we could meet.  He said " your very persistent"...to which she replies "yes but its motivated out of love"...then he said, "What are your boundaries?"  She thought he was implying that she had gone to far with the whole "love"comment, immediately she starts back peddling "I meant Christ-like love! like charity!"..when really he was only asking her what our actual boundaries were that we covered hahaha oh the awkwardness..

The closeness of Temple Square has been such a blessing.  We can meet people over there whenever, and go have lessons as well.

I am more than excited to be here, serving where I am.  Yet again, i can see so clearly why the Lord sent me here.  I have so much to learn still.  Daily I am being pushed and challenged to do and be better.  I have to go now, man i wish i was fast at typing instead of this chicken pecking crud. Curse my lack of attention in computer class! haha

I love you all so much! keep it real, keep it righteous.

Sister Efnor

 

Saying good bye to Sister Tigno... (My first trainee, my baby)

Before leaving I threw my shoes up in the "Tree" Something done when leaving that great place!! 

 MY FAMILY- My last day with Davida's family- That was such a hard goodbye.  But when I hugged Terri, she said, "A lot of things wouldn't have ever happened if you hadn't come here to us."  Then she told me that she was just in the back room reading the beginning of the book of Mormon.  It was a huge cry fest, but I am so happy to have known them and been a part of their conversion.

 Me and my new companion!!

Yup, they booted me out of Park City!

I don't know yet where I will be going, but honestly, I am so excited I cant even stand it!

I had the opportunity to serve in Park City for 4 1/2 months and its been a great run.  As much as I'd love to stay for so many reasons, from the people that I have met and learned from as well as taught I know that nobody ever grows in their comfort zone.  I feel like I may have started to get comfortable, a little to comfortable, and we all know what happens when we get comfortable!

I thought of Elder Hollands talk "Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of ourage that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much,comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock the boat but don’t even row it, gods who pat us on the head, make us giggle, then tell us to run along and pick marigolds."..

I don't want to pick marigolds! Give me challenges! Rock that boat! So basically, Im excited for new experiences and opportunities to grow and learn.

I thought it was pretty interesting that the night before i found out i was getting transferred I had been reading another talk by, guess who- haha, that's right- Elder Holland!

Anyway, it was titled "The Best is Yet to Be"...how fitting haha

It was so perfect that I read it last night for a couple of reasons, one being that I was going to be getting transferred the next day.  Its not always easy to "be where you are when you are there".  We have cell phones and all these other objects that take us away from the here and now.  Obviously I'm not on Facebook or Instagram since I'm on a mission, but our thoughts can also be a distraction.  Just as much as any cellular device.

In his talk Elder Holland recalls the account of Lot's wife, what was it that she did that was so bad?  It wasn't just that she looked back, it was that she yearned to be back.

I think of home, my family, and my friends, and if i do it long enough..i might as well be as effective as a pillar of salt.  Elder Holland then makes the statement "FAITH points to the FUTURE"...A perfect example of this is Paul "After the Apostle Paul reviewed the privileged and rewardinglife of his early years—his birthright, education, and standing in the Jewish community—he says to the Philippians that all of that was “dung”compared to his conversion to Christianity.He says, and I paraphrase, “I have stopped rhapsodizing about ‘the good old days’ and now eagerly look toward the future ‘that I may apprehend that for which Christ apprehennded me’. 

 

 Then come these verses:

“This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto thosethings which are before, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14).  No Lot’s wife here. No looking back at Sodom and Gomorrah here. Paul knows it is out therein the future, up ahead wherever heaven is taking us,that we will win “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” 

With a new area, new companion, and new challenges... I plan to look forward with faith!  I know that with this transfer, I will be where Heavenly Father wants me to be, in a place where he has prepared more of his children to hear his word.  Bring it! 

I'll end with this last quote from Elder Holland "To all such of every generationI call out, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Faith is for the  future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for eachof us and that Christ truly is the “high priest of good things to come” (Hebrews 9:11).
 

I am so grateful for these 18 months of my life that I can dedicate to the Lord, lessons like this, of looking forward with faith.  I will carry them with me forever.  I know that as we all " look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes " 

our lives will be richly blessed. 

I love my family, and I love the Lord, I hope you all have a great week!

Love sister Efnor

 I will miss these ransom sightings of Moose!

 My view of Main Street Park City from the Tree- I have a feeling I might be back here before my mission is finished... Love this place! 

SLCE Mission Trek!

This week..oh how to describe it...pretty much the best week EVVAAAAAA! haha

 

Tuesday

We went on a Pioneer trek as a whole mission.  Picture this, 23 carts, about 8 missionaries to a cart, out in the middle of Wyoming.  I was talking to a girl in the ward about how we were going on a trek, she is preparing to go on a mission, she asked if all missions go on a trek...NOPE!  Just the greatest missions in the WORLD do!  Just kidding, every mission is the best, but seriously, how awesome is it that the day before pioneer day I got to go on a trek with tons of other missionaries.  I felt that it was pretty perfect since the same day I put on my own pioneer get-up to go pull a cart, my family was up in Nauvoo putting on their gear to go on stage at the Joseph Smith Pageant. 

There was a story that was told to us by the senior missionaries right before we had to do the womens pull (which by the way is A LOT harder when your an out of shape sista lol).  It was the story of Agnus Caldwell who came over in the same company of pioneers with Heber C. Kimball.  The children would often walk next to wagons in hopes that the person driving would offer them a lift since their feet were frozen and they had already been walking for miles.  Agnus didn't give up and she kept walking next to the wagon that Heber C Kimball was driving.  Finally he asked her, "Sissy, you want a ride?" to which she replied "yes sir".  He took hold of her hand and then motioned for the horses to go faster.  He started to make her run next to the wagon.  In her journal entry she said she felt like she was running next to the wagon for miles, when he finally pulled her up, he wrapped her in a blanket and stuck her in the wagon.

Why did he do this?  To get her heart rate going so she could be warm, had he just stuck her in the wagon she would have froze to death.

 

We can pray for days, weeks, months, and we may never know why Heavenly Father is making us run.  We may never understand why we are having to bear a burden, or pull our own handcarts of life. We may never know until our loving Heavenly Father has pulled us up, wrapped us in his arms, and put us in the wagon.  Just like Agnus was kept alive, Heavenly Father keeps us alive, alive in the gospel.  As we continue to hold on to his ever out stretched arm our testimony's, our spirits, our families will be made stronger.

 

Thursday

During our district meeting we had to do role plays.  I ended up not having a partner, i looked to my district leader and asked what i was suppose to do now. to which he replied.."you can role play with president eberhardt.." uhhhh...uhhhh...hahaha everyone had a good laugh over my reaction, if you can only imagine, it was awesome being able to role play with him though, not to many missionaries get that oppotunity.

 

Friday

My eye swelled up and I looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Not even kidding.

We were able to find a new investigator this week..sometimes i have to just read his lips because his English isn't very good, so we might have to end up turning him over to the Spanish sister, but a new investigator for any missionary is a new investigator for the Lord so its all good :)

I cant even tell you all how much I loved going on that trek with all of Gods army.  In those 9 and a half miles i feel like i learned so many different things that are gong to help me as a missionary. I love you all-

and remember.. don't let go.

Love, Sister Efnor