Transfer 12 Week 6

The weeks just seem to be going by faster and faster, I don't really feel like anything happens from p-day to p-day. 

I get my weeks all confused and messed up because it's all just going by so fast. It will be transfers next week and I feel like this transfer just began. 

But we did have a great week! We are seeing so many miracles with tours and investigators. We truly are fulfilling our purpose and making the most of every teaching opportunity. 

It felt so good to get back on the Square and contact everyone and take every tour that we could! One of our investigators that we lost contact with randomly text us and said that everything has been great and lately he has been thinking about getting baptized and is hoping to do it very soon! 

My Mandarin has improved a lot and my vocabulary is growing! I can hold a pretty okay conversation with someone from China now, which is awesome. We had a lot of cool experiences this week and I can testify that the gift of tongues is so real! There would be moment sin the tour that I wouldn't understand the words being said, but when Sister Chen turned to translate to me I would confirm that I understood correctly and it was often right or very close. The people notice and they are just amazed, it's been awesome to see Gods hand in creating these little miracles for us and I know  they soften the peoples heart to receive the gospel. I'm getting better at singing I am a Child of God (Wo Shi Shen Di Hai Zi) and they love it! 

I am thoroughly convinced the only reason why China hasn't opened yet is not because of the people in China, but it's becausewe're not ready for it yet! There will be so much work that needs to be done and I gain a testimony of that each time someone refers. They recognize truth and hope and they want it for themselves, even if they don't understand at first, they love the feeling of the Spirit. I love testifying to them that those feelings they have here on Temple Square of peace and happiness (which is huge for them) it's Gods way of telling them that, He is aware, that He loves them and wants to develop a relationship with them. And really, isn't that what the Spirit does? Every time we receive Revelation or those simple feels of the Spirit, it's God communicating those things to us.

Saturday was so incredible! A girl that Sister Orndal and I taught got baptized! and we got to Skype the baptism, it was so special, we only got to see the ordinance itself, but it was so special! I haven't seen anyone really progress to baptism since before Outbound and so it really rekindled that joy that baptism brings, being our first covenant with the Lord. We also got to speak with her on the phone later and it was so special, all three of us (Sister Orndal, Bruyzgina and I) and she was just to happy, you could feel her happiness through the phone, he just talked about how amazing she felt and she is a naturally bubbly person anyway, but this was something different, she was just thanking us so much for helping her, being patient with her and teaching her these things that have changed her life. It was a tender moment!  

I feel like this week I have grown spiritually in many little ways that make a big difference int he way I think and do things, I finished the Book of Mormon last Saturday and it was such an amazing experience and I really searched for the words the Savior Himself has said to us, being able to strengthen my testimony as I put Moroni 10:3-5 to the test is such a blessing. I feel like I have been so much more receptive to the Spirit lately, and really just pondering in my heart how all things come back to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, wow. I can truly say that when we always have the Savior in remembrance, we do have His spirit to be with us in a greater abundance. I see things very differently, it also helps that I am keeping a gratitude journal so I am always pondering about what I am grateful for and making sure that I not only acknowledge that gratitude but act on it. 

Gratitude is like faith, it leads to action. As well as every other Christ-like attribute. I am so grateful for my personal studies in the morning, they are always so uplifting and inspiring, as I study from the scriptures and Preach My Gospel. Studying the scriptures really does change our day! and not only our day but who we are. It makes me so determined to constantly be studying the scriptures after my mission. I hear way too often of missionaries getting home and "not having time" to study the scriptures and it breaks my heart! 

"Don’t yield to Satan’s lie that you don’t have time to study the scriptures. Choose to take time to study them. Feasting on the word of God each day is more important than sleep, school, work, television shows, video games, or social media. You may need to reorganize your priorities to provide time for the study of the word of God. If so, do it!" - Elder Richard G. Scott

I just love being a missionary so much and I am so grateful for everything that I have learned and become because of this time serving the Lord. The time goes by so quick! I know this is His work and I know that we are so blessed and privileged to be a part of it. He wants us to find joy in serving him, and joy is found as we rely on the Savior. He truly is the vine that gives [us] the branches strength to bear fruit (John 15), all things are made possible through him! (Moroni 7:33).

Love, Sister Ryan xx 

photo

Cute group we took at Welfare Square

Transfer 12 Week 5

Well, Hi!

I'm back from the grave! Haha. I died this week and I'm back alive! (well, getting there...)

It's Summer and I got the flu, I was down for most the week, it was terrible! 

I went to church and President Poulsen asked me how I was and I looked at home and croaked "not okay" he replied, "are you sure you should be here?" I told him "I just want the sacrament and then I'm going home to bed" and that I did! 

But I got to sleep a lot the past few days and I got to read Our Heritage from cover to cover, and the Historic Site Guide and get refreshed on all my Temple Square History!

Which was great because we had an amazing Zone Conference last Thursday, and a lot of it was centered on taking Large Group Tours and helping us make them more effective. Understanding what we can do to meet and exceed the guests expectations and help them feel the spirit through inspiring history. 

Along with sharing our inspirational history we will really testify that "All Missionaries Preach Eternal Doctrines" as we really teach and testify of the Apostasy, Restoration, Joseph Smith and Modern Day Prophets, The Book of Mormon, The Plan of Happiness, Eternal Families and the Doctrine of Christ. 

I haven't had much time on the square to use it yet, but I am excited to! I know that this comes from Heaven. Sister Chen and I have been roleplaying and it is going well, I received a lot of inspiration as I really jumped back into history with my readings, doing my best to put myself in their shoes and to really imagine what they went though. There were times I laughed and others my heart was completely broken for the pioneers and what they went through. But it filled my heart with so much joy to always see the Saints finding the lesson to be learned, to really embrace the experience that brought them so much closer to God and our Savior Jesus Christ. I feel like the introduction to Our Heritage really sums it up so beautifully! 

"Millions of faithful Saints have also had testimonies of the divinity of Jesus Christ. This knowledge has motivated them to make the sacrifices necessary to build The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the kingdom of God on the earth. The story of the establishment of the Church is one of faith,consecration, and joy. It is the story of living prophets who taught the truths of God to the modern world. It is the story of men and women from all walks of life who sought for the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and, upon finding it, were willing to pay the price of becoming the Savior’s disciples.These stalwart Saints pressed on through sufferings and hardships,witnessing even in their darkest hours of the goodness of God and the joy of his love. They have left a legacy of faith, courage, obedience, and sacrifice.

The heritage of faith continues today. Latter-day Saints throughout the world are modern pioneers in their own homelands, where they live with faith and courage in a time fraught with new challenges and opportunities.There are pages of history yet to be written. We each have an opportunity to leave a heritage for generations to follow that will help them understand the joy of living and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ."

I feel like these studies went hand in hand with that I just spoke about last week in my talk. I know it was inspired, and I feel so motivated to truly be a pioneer! I may not have to pull or push a handcart, I don't have to experience the cold, the heat and the conditions that they did. But we all have challenges and thing of the unknown that we face in life that help us become greater disciples of our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

A pioneer truly is one who leads the way inspiring others to follow and we can do that through the big and little things. I am excited to pioneer through life, I know that the Lord has much ahead of me and though the future is certainly unknown. I can have confidence in my future, to look forward with faith, because I know I have the Lord on my side, I know that He loves me and has a desire to help me in all aspects of my life, I know that He will never lead my astray. I know that as I keep His commandments and live worthy of having the Spirit to always be with me I can say "All is well!".

The Church and Gospel of Jesus Christ is so true! I have had my testimony increase so much of that daily on my mission and I am so grateful for it! 

Love, Sister Ryan xx 

Transfer 12 Week 4

Hey Everyone! 

This week not a whole lot happened that is different than from any other day, but however I did give my talk in Sacrament Meeting indicating that I am at the end of my mission. All week I had been praying and pondering, searching for what to say and the Lord truly did give it to me. We didn't have personal studies for a couple of days and it was those nights where I prayed and I was literally given the words which I should speak as I was in bed I would grab my iPad and type like crazy to get all of it down into words. 

It went well, many sisters really enjoyed it and said they gained a lot from it. Though it was one of the scariest moments of my mission, I'm pretty sure the Spirit was covering up my shaky voice, I realized in that moment I don't do public speaking, haha. I have never been as nervous as I was at that point, I used to be able to sing and dance as a kid in front of an audience, I'm obviously out of practice. 

But I would love to share it with you and I hope that you can gain something out of it that can help and assist you in coming closer to Christ and becoming His disciple. Obviously it isn't word for word than what I actually said on the pulpit, but this is the basic jist.

"What a wonderful time it is to celebrate the legacy of faith that has been left for us in our lovely and most beautiful Temple Square, how grateful I am for the pioneers and their efforts, their sacrifice, faith and testimonies. 

My topic today is "a pioneer is someone who goes before, showing others the way to follow" are their pioneering experiences for us? Will future generations reflect with gratitude on our efforts, our examples? A pioneer stands up for what is right, dares to share the gospel in the face of opposition, and testifies of Christ through her actions. Let us all be pioneers!" 
As I have sought out the Lord for what to say, I know that this comes from Him, it is my prayer that you can receive answers to questions you have in your hearts or even a greater appreciation for the pioneers and how you can apply their stories and examples into your life today and always. I hope that as you listen to the Spirit he will teach you what you need to learn from the things I will say today.

I have really been thinking about what a pioneer really is, what makes them so special, why do we look up to them? What is it that created their legacy of faith? A few things that have come to my mind are, faith and testimony in the Savior, of the Restoration of the Gospel, they knew that Book of Mormon is true, that we have a Living Prophet, they knew the blessings of the Temple, they trusted in the Priesthood, they knew that God was on their side, they trusted in His promises, and they surely testified of Christ through their actions. I have come to really see that they are a perfect example of Disciples of Jesus Christ.

And that is when our journey starts. When we become disciples of Jesus Christ, sometimes it's easy, others hard, we pray and have to really trust in the Lord A LOT. Persecutions come our way, and like the pioneers, we can surely say, "All is well" because we know how to use the atonement for strength, we serve others, we have spiritual experiences, we stand up for what we believe, even in opposition, this is our legacy, it begins now.

Along our path of discipleship, like the pioneers, like the prophets and apostles in the times of old, we will go through many hard times, these times allow us to have new access to the Atonement of Jesus Christ in a greater way than ever before, they bring us closer to our Loving Heavenly Father and Savior, they also help us become more like Them, in reading “Our Heritage” one of my favorite stories that testifies of this beautifully and is something that I personally experienced myself on my own youth trek. He said: 

“I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, “I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it…” I have gone onto that sand and when I reached it the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there. “Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither than nor any minute of my life since. The price to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privilege to come in the Martin Handcart Company”

Unlike this man I did not have to pull a hand cart to get to Salt Lake City, but I am grateful that my mission has helped me become more acquainted with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, I am privileged to be a missionary on Temple Square. 

Like the pioneers we have to rely on the Saviors Atonement, we need to trust in Him, that is part of being His disciple, I have seen in my mission countless times, those mornings when it's too hard to get up, exercising it just too hard, those days where you are so exhausted you couldn't possibly take ANOTHER Mandarin Motor Coach, those days where you can't take one more step forward, but I know as you give him EVERYTHING that you have, he will give you the strength to carry on, the Lord promises this in Doctrine and Covenants 24:12 when he says "And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night. And I will give unto him strength such as is not known among men."... He will send Angels to guide your steps, to push you along, and you will be able to catch those glimpses of heaven, those miracles and tender mercies, like the pioneers 

So how do we then leave our legacy, how can we be an example, showing others the way to follow? It starts now, as missionaries we leave our own legacy by being disciples of Jesus Christ, now and for the rest of our lives! and like the pioneers we do not know what follows, but through our example, testimony and teaching, their lives are too changed, and like the pioneers we have no idea the measure of impact that takes, but one day, we will see the end of the story, I have a firm testimony that will be the case, and when we stand there in awe of the rest of those stories, as tears fill our eyes, I know that the Savior will be there with a loving embrace to say "well done, true and faithful servant"

To end my talk I would like to quite President Monson when he said "Jesus Christ, Savior of the world--even the Son of God--was and is the ultimate pioneer, for He has gone before, showing all others the way to follow. May we ever follow Him.”

I know my Savior lives and that Heavenly Father is so aware of us and His hand is in the details of our lives. The Savior will truly help us in all things as we let him, his atonement is more eternal than we realize. I am grateful for a young boy, Joseph Smith that prayed a humble prayer that changed the world. I know that this is Jesus Christ restored gospel on the earth today, I know that the Book of Mormon changes lives as it has mine and so many millions of others around the world. I know that this is His work and what a wonderful blessing it is to be part of it! Like the Apostles in acts 5:41-42 we can "Rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily on Temple Square and in every house (outbound), we cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."… I say these things in His name, even Jesus Christ, amen."

I was really grateful to give my talk on this topic, I gained a lot more from it while preparing that I had time to actually share (which, isn't it always the way). As everyone says "President Harman really is inspired" (greatest inside joke of Temple Square History). 

I hope you enjoyed it, I actually found an awesome video that goes hand in hand with my talk topic that I would love to invite all of you to check out as well! (I Am a Pioneer)

Love, Sister Ryan xx

photos

Sister Chen and Sister Ryan

playing twins haha