Holla my friends.
Missions are such great things. Some days are incredible, some days are less than incredible. It felt like we had a few lamesauce days in a row but then Monday came and boom goes the dynamite. The day started off well because as a mission, we got to listen to an mtc talk by Elder Holland which got us nice and fired up. He stressed the importance of personal study and companionship study because we need to know how to teach to everyone's needs and we can't if we don't know how the gospel can relate to them.
As West Gaters, our teaching time on the square is quite limited so we really need to make the most of it. This is where Monday comes into play. We got to talk to an amazing older couple from England who were excited to learn about our beliefs. Right after that, we went to the small model of the Temple in the south visitor centre and found 4 kids and their dad. I noticed their layered shirts and bermuda shorts so I assumed that they were members of the Church. So we started teaching them about the temple as if they were members. All five of them were so in love with the beauty of the temple. We found out that they are moving to SLC next month from a small town in Virginia and they know very little about the Church. They were perfect. We taught them about eternal families and then asked the dad if he would like to learn more. He said yes. We panicked. Usually when people say yes to learning more, it's beacause I asked them 5 times already and they want to get rid of me. We didn't know what to do right away since the family is moving but we decided to send the Virginia missionaries to them right away. I also told them that we could have missionaries help them move because I know that's what elders are good for. We are SO EXCITED for them to be taught. Hopefully the missionaries in Virginia will contact them once they get back to Virginia, otherwise we will teach them over the phone. My only worry is if the mom isn't as open as the rest of her family. So for now, we pray hard for that special family. And then in the last hour of our square time that day, we took a french tour. eeghlhgggbuodrbhgjklhzdf! (that's the sound of me being scared) It went alright. I do believe I had some heavenly help with that one. The couple from Belgium was super nice and super non-religious. I was able to teach them everything I wanted to so that was a miracle, itself. We ended at the statue of Christ and Sister Jardine bore her testimony of Christ that through him everything is possible. The frenchies didn't seem to understand so I clarified that oui, tout est possible avec Jésus Christ. They looked at me weird but hopefully it got them thinking. Then they told us how nice we were and shook our hands. The man didn't have a complete right hand so we basically held hands (my right, his left) to end our friendship. Weird... I wasn't smart enough to use my left hand.
And finally, IT'S MOTOR COACH SEASON. Translation: bus loads of foreign people come to temple square for missionary-guided tours. We have zillions of people come from China everyday so our mandarin/cantonese sisters are the MVPs of the mission. We give all these groups complimentary copies of the Book of Mormon since they can't get them in mainland China. It's amazing to see how the Lord reaches out to His children even when it seems impossible.
Sister Jardine and I got to take a busload of 45 on a tour. Since it was a large group, we had two other sisters help manage things while we brought them around. I was so ready to feel like Dan Jones, one of the best missionaries of all time. I was ready to stand in front of that large group, lift up my Book of Mormon and testify. Our tour was a little less picture perfect. Everyone on our bus was from the U.K. and were not very receptive. Of anything really. It started out fine but we quickly learned that it was going to be a tough crowd. We taught the restoration in the tabernacle and most people were surprised to know that we read the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon. We ended our tour at the Christus statue and that's where my head started pounding. We testified of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. One man asked if ours was a universal religion, meaning: is it for everyone? Yes! I got so excited and took the chance that he gave me to invite everyone again to read the Book of Mormon and pray to find the truth. Then he specifically asked why all of the New/Old Testament paintings only show white people. Ughhgh... It would be a crowd of white europeans to ask that question. I would have told them, pshh.. I don't know.. ask the artists. But we were saved by Sister King one of our helper Sisters who studied art in college. She told them that most of the art of Christ comes from European countries and that was their own view of Christ's time. Also, why would they have people of different races when all of these people originated from the same place? Sweet. Then I had a sweet couple ask me about the death penalty. What the, where did that come from? She told me that they use the death penalty in Utah. So I told her that I was canadian and amercians are terrible people. Just kidding. I love Americans but I can't control their laws. I'll leave that to Mitt. We then gave them all referral cards but they did not like that. We were surprised that they were so against even holding the cards in their hands. In the end, they all thanked us for a job well done and congratulated us on our kind service. I felt like we did our best but came out of it feeling defeated. It was 33 degrees that day and my head was buring from the pressure of the group. I'll still take every chance I get to testify to a big group.
Now my goal is to learn mandarin so that I can experience nice people in a big group.
The Church is true.
I love you all! Write me more because I'm greedy. I'm going typewriter shopping today so that I can respond faster to letters. You're welcome.
-SISTER KATIE KYLE
Also, I'm sad I missed out on Josh's phatty boom bladdy birthday party. Bye!
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