Hello Dolly!!
It's been a wonderful week. My companion, Sister Montano, is going back to Argentina this week. She has finished her 18 months here in Salt Lake City. I love her! She has taught me so much. She is so patient and just loves every person that comes into Temple Square.
This upcoming week, we should be having some changes. For my mission, my time is divided into whats called a "transfer". There are 12 transfers on my mission (every 6 weeks= one transfer). As of Wednesday, I will be entering my 2nd transfer.
With each new transfer, we could be getting a new companion, a new assignment and even a new apartment. So, next week brings with it a sense of FRESH! :)
Here are some of the memorable things that happened this week:
--We met this woman who volunteers with the Red Cross (she was such a LOVE!!). She said, "Oh! We like you Mormons. You're always so ready and organized when we need help with disaster relief. But don't get me wrong. We love those Southern Baptists too. They sure know how to cook some good food!!" :) I love the Baptists too my friends.....love the Baptists.
--We met some fabulous Jewish people this week. I loved them!! We shared with them some of the history about the early members of the church and how they moved from the East Coast to Utah. The reason why they moved was due to religious persecution. The woman we were with just nodded her head and sighed, "join the club".
--Sister Montano and I did a little math...Sister missionaries at Temple Square get to meet so many people. We invite people to learn more about things like the Book of Mormon, temples, prophets or Jesus Christ from missionaries back in their areas (anywhere in the world). In 6 weeks, each companionship will usually be a part of about 50 people or so saying that they are interested in learning more.
--Yesterday, a woman asked me about the Book of Mormon. She said, "Now tell me, do you really think that all of those stories in the Book of Mormon--you know about wars and things from hundreds of years ago--are useful to you?" Well everyone, my answer is "absolutely". We can ALWAYS learn from the past. The accounts of people in the Book of Mormon help me manage the battles and wars that may be in MY life. I deal with different battles--how to spend my money (and save it too), where to go to school when I am finished with my mission, how I will spend my time...SO many different things boggle my mind. Choices. And at the same time, I can read about how people in the Book of Mormon made choices too. The tread is how those people and people in 2010 can make choices with their values as the foundation and motivation of their choices. Although my choices are different than people in 600 BC- 400 AD, I can still let my heart and my Heavenly Father guide my choices. Just like they did. Beautiful! It's still applicable today!! The Book of Mormon is such a wonderful tool in my life. I love it.
--Shamelessly, I grinned from ear to ear this week as I heard the one and only Miss Miley Cyrus come on the radio at the food court. Gotta love her.
Thank you all for another week of updates with those beautiful letters and e-mails. I love hearing about how you are all doing!
Thank you Margaret, Grandma & Grandpa, Bishop Knudsen, Sister Woodland, Bishop McAdam and everyone else for all of your sweet words and uplifting stories! I really appreciate you all!!
I hope you're all doing well!! Until next week.....go out there and be happy people-- it's a choice.
Love,
Sister Amy
