I don't even know where to begin. Our conference bingo was a success for our zone. Many companionships got a bingo blackout including Sister Vach and myself. To complete our bingo card we shared Jeremiah 4: 19-20 and bridged it to the gospel (don't ask how, it all happened so fast), we sang "How firm a foundation" to one of the members we spoke with, we had to tell our most embarrassing moment so I told about the time I got a goose egg on my head because I ran into a pole just after I got my first cell phone, after a few attempts we successfully started a conversation with "My Brigham Young was a tall man", we challenged an engaged couple to do couples inventory, we finally got a referral from a redhead, and we did many more missionary-like things to further our missionary purpose and fill out the bingo card. Goooood times.
I loved seeing so many friendly faces from Southern Alberta, Idaho and a few from Ottawa. Seeing so many friends seemed normal at the time but it's a strange memory now that everyone's gone again. I think Sister Vach got jealous of my canadian flag. It attracted so many of my canadian people. We'd walk anywhere and hear, "Canada! Where you from?" "Yeach Canada!" or "Canada, what part?" Sister Vach started yelling, "America!" every time that happened.
Let's go back to the fact that I'm so tired! Actually I'm relatively normal now because I slept in til 10:00 today though I didneed help staying on my feet on Saturday night. We were on our feet literally all day. My back got so desperate to sit that I started doing anything I could to rest. I discussed this with some of my fellow square sisters and realized the geniousness of talking to people outside and sitting down with them in contacts. What a fool, I had been! Sister Vach and I got to attend the last session of Conference on Sunday and I was just happy to sit down. My exhaustion got the best of me in the last half of the session but the first half, when I was conscious, was amazing! My general conference prayers were answered almost immediately when Elder Holland spoke. I just sat there in the auditorium so tired but so filled with happiness. The concerns of my investigators were running through my head as the Church authorities doctrinally attacked Satan. I can't wait to use those talks in teaching now.
I feel like this conference, Sister Vach and I somehow found the only non-members who came to Temple Square. A security guy motioned us over to talk to Nick, a truck driver who parked his truck and walked 9 miles to Temple Square. He only had 30 minutes to spend with us so we showed him/taught him what he needed. He's a super nice guy who found Jesus during his short time spent in jail. Now he's a gospel loving young father and husband. He had met missionaries years ago in the park and they gave him a Book of Mormon after they agreed to disagree. He promised his mom that he would come see the Temple in Utah because she was so impressed with it when she visited Salt Lake a long time ago. We taught him more about the Book of Mormon. I think the Conference Spirit in the air made me feel like I could be super bold with Nick. I told him that there is more than the faith that he currently has. We taught him that there is a prophet on the earth today. He said that he agrees and then I butted in and told him that the only true prophet called by God is Thomas S. Monson. He said that it's possible. The short tour ended quickly after Nick rejected our teachings. He just wanted to make sure that we knew Christ is our Savior and then he wished us well. My heart broke. The Spirit was on our side and I feel like we did a good job of laying the true gospel in front of him for him to take and he straight up said no.
Last night after the last session of conference, the square was in peaceful chaos. We went in the basement of the North visitor center, talked to a few people and then we found Stacie who was silently crying. We asked her how she was doing and she remarked how beautiful everything is. She was reading about the Church's welfare program and she noticed that the square was filled with good people who believe in Jesus Christ. Stacie was pretty much an open book with us right away. She told us that she feels broken because she is recently divorced and now she's reading about how families can be together forever and that was making her feel ashamed of her divorce. She was in town just for a few days and had spent a lot of time at a work conference with some members of the Church. She had a lot of really good concerns so we taught her about how the the gospel of Jesus Christ, found in the Bible AND Book of Mormon can resolve her concerns. She told us that she feels week so we read Ether 12:27 with her. Her other concern was about not adding to the Bible/the gospel of Christ. We solved that concern easily since we get it from people everyday. THIS IS THE SAME GOSPEL. IT'S NOT DIFFERENT, YOU CAN JUST READ MORE ABOUT IT IN THE BoM! Though we spent a nice 30 minutes together, Stacie still didn't want us to call her so we gave her a Book of Mormon to read and we got her email. I told her at the end of the tour that the Church is full of divorced people who find comfort in the gospel and each other. I told her that her family can still be eternal. Hopefully she'll believe that soon enough.
Tonight, we're having a Mexican fiesta with some kind of surprise entertainment. Maybe we'll watch a Disney movie, maybe we'll meet someone famous. Both are good.
My body hurts.
LOVE, SISTER KYLE from Canada
No comments:
Post a Comment