Zone Conference and randomness, etc

So this week we have had Zone Conference. It's been a bit different this time, because in stead of having everything all at once, or even over two days, it's been over the better part of a week or two.

Each group which consisted of a portion of our zone and another, was taught by 2 sets of Zone leaders, President Holmes, and the Assistants. Each teaching was about an hour long, which totaled to about 4 hours. Each one was tailored to a specific subject that all came together and helped us improve in missionary work, and having them spread out helped us to implement what we learned throughout the week, instead of doing it all at once, and then forgetting most of it. There was a day or two in between so it soaked in better.

The last day of Zone Conference was a temple marathon! We were able to do Baptisms, Initiatories, and a Session, some people were also able to do Sealings, it just depended on what they had for each companionship. We could only do 3 of the 4 things in the time we had. It was really nice to end that on an extra spiritual note!

The last two days have been pretty exciting, with the temple, and then later that day we recieved someone who wants to be taught! We were able to teach him and his wife today, and they are both excited to learn more! This has been a process for them for the last 12-15 years, and they finally decided that this is something that they need to do. We are so excited for them!

On a different subject, I am giving my talk on Sunday. The topic is, "We must discipline our Thoughts and Purify our Hearts" so I've been thinking about that a lot recently. I've been listening to Zone Conference, and trying to find things to add to my talk, and started writing /compiling it this morning, and will hopefully finish today, as it's the only day I truely have time until sunday.

I'll try and type up what I say next week so you all don't miss out too much ;)

Also on Monday we had our first Chat Zone FHE, which was a blast! We played a game that was basically Cranium, and we all had a blast while we ate psudo-mexican food, and had a spiritual thought. That's what the picture is of. The sisters converging to the table that contains the food! YAY food!

Other than those things, this week has been pretty uneventful. Sister Carlisle and I are still just as crazy as ever... and so are our roommates. Sometimes the craziness is a little more than needed, but it all works our right??

I love you all and I look forward to hearing from you all soon!

Be good! And Happy!

Lots of love!

~Sister Sarah

Pix!

1- Infamous Roommate picture!

2&3 service at heratage park

4- One of the reasons I love Africa = missionaries contacted 4 of our investigators!

5&6 Heratage park service again! Tis fun stuffs!

7 a pic my compy took of the tulips with the Tabernacle peeking in the background!

Enjoy!

Chat Zone Picture

This is the zone I'm in now, and the picture was taken last transfer, so I'm not in it, but it's fun!

Where to begin...

Hmm... so this week is kind of crazy! In a good way!


I've been getting used to my new zone, which is a lot of fun! We have been teaching a lot of different people and they love what we have to share. One of them even wants to make a Youtube video about the things we've been teaching her she likes it so much! Crazy!

We have many people come and ask lots of questions. Some of them really want to learn more, some of them... well- don't. One person came and said right out that they wanted to debate, and we explained- kindly but firmly- that we don't debate. He tried for a little, but we were straight forward with him.

On Saturday I had my first ASL contact this transfer. I had to send my pager to the pager doctor again (For some odd reason it didn't like accidentally being dropped in my glass of water... hmm...) and so I didn't recieve the page. Thankfully for him and the other sisters, I was in the same room, so the sisters got my attention as soon as I was done talking to someone and we were able to chat in ASL. He asked me to interpret the Map for him, so I did (the one in the North Visitor's Center that shows Jerusalem at Christ's time.) I did, and it was nice to be able to hear it all the way through. He really appreciated it and even thought of someone for me to contact on the videophone!

Sunday we had a lot of time to talk to people online, and not a lot to talk to people on the square, but it's amazing how God prepares people when you have little time to talk to them, we've seen many miracles, especially of people saying they want to learn more, even about things that we barely brushed on, like the book of Mormon.

Several of the people that we teach have been contacted by the missionaries in their area now, so we turn the teaching over to them when that happens! It's so great to see the changes in people now, especially since I have experience from being outbound. I really love seeing the difference in people, those who are really ready to hear about the gospel, and those who really aren't! I am amazed at the joy I feel when I hear someone else getting so excited about the gospel and what we have to teach them.

It's that time of the year again! The Tabernacle Choir is recording once more. Or at least half of it. The men are doing a CD. I don't know all the songs, but from the snippits I hear as I'm walking (quietly) by sounds great! Unfortunately, it also makes it difficult for guests who have planned to come to see the tabernacle specifically. Thankfully after this week it will be over.

There is also a new display going up in Temple View, I don't know anything about it except it's supposed to be really neat when they finish.

They also remoddled parts of the Beehive house to make it look even more like it's supposed to (make the clerks office look like a clerks office, and Brigham young's office like his office.) I haven't seen it yet, since I'm not on the square much, or any where else, but it sounds cool!

My companion is about as weird, random, crazy and so on as I am. So we get along just fine! I mentioned, I think, that her name is Sister Carlisle, and that we've been in the same zone and district several times before. It's fun being with someone I know and get along with, especially since we're so close in "age" on the mission. She's just one Transfer "younger" than me.

any way, hope all is well in the 4 quarters of the earth!.. or at least of the United States!

Love you all!

Be happy and good and stuff!

Love ~

Sister of a Durtschi of a Sarah Sort!

New Zone, New Companion, Less sun, and same room

I think that about summs it up :D


I'm in a new zone. It's kind of weird. I've never been in this zone before. I've been in Extended the most (3 transfers), Cover the second(2), South once, and now I'm in a zone that wasn't even a zone before I went outbound. It's called Chat. Chat is a zone where we talk with people online/on the phone and teach them, just like we would outbound. Except we don't see them face to face or get to sit with them at church, etc. I was able to talk with two of our investigators for the first time this morning, and they're both amazing! SO ready, but they live in South Africa and there is a Train strike t here, and it's extremely difficult for them to get to church. They haven't been able to get there, yet, but they're doing everything they can to. Our finding is downstairs on computers talking to people who come on mormon.org or call to talk to a missionary.

It's really fun! We get ALL sorts there. Every kind of person goes there, from the very interested, to the argumentative, thankfully we have something that helps us if they're being vulger, or wasting our time, and so on.

So I'm teaching people again, but I still have time to contact on the square, and so far we have had a lot of miracles. We got our first referral yesterday, just from walking outside, and talking to someone who was on his way in, and taking him around. I'm still getting used to not being on the square as much, and being in chat, as it's only my second day there and it's p-day. I'm learning a LOT from my companion.

My companion is Sister Carlisle from Virginia/most places in the US/Born in Brazil. We've been around each other a lot on the mission, which was why I was somewhat surprised when we found out we'd be companions. This is only the second time I've been companions with someone I know well from the mission, the first time was with sister Fellmann. It's been a lot of fun so far! We communicate well, and I don't think we'll have an awkward week. We may have to work through things, but that's normal. We won't have a hard time talking, so that's nice :D.

Sister Droege (The sister I Trained) came back to Temple Square yesterday. I was SO excited! Still am! I haven't seen her in 4 transfers... about 5 months? I think?

I was in the hallway between the kitchen and the lounge downstairs in the South when I saw her come through the door. She saw me and screamed, I saw her and screamed, and we ran towards each other and gave each other a huge hug.

Sister Packer, one of the sisters, commented that she could hear that we saw each other on Temple Square all the way at the apartments. I laughed when she said that. We were just so excited to see each other!

It's so good to have the outbound sisters back, it's like a part of temple square was missing and now it's back.

Speaking of outbound, there are none going out this transfer. Because of changes in the mission, President has decided that during the busiest months, he wouldn't send sisters out. I'm guessing that he won't send anyone outbound next transfer either, but you never know, God does what he wants, and President listens to him, thank goodness.


I love you all SO much!

You're amazing!

LOVE!

~Sister Sarah

Pictures Again!

temple

my roommies

temple

my district

Exciting, no?

So I figured out where my camera cord is. In my camera case! Whoda thunk??

Any ways, so now you get to see pictures from MY camera :D Exciting, no?

last first etc

Today's the last p-day of the transfer, and I won't find out until monday what's going on. I feel pretty calm because I'm not going outbound for sure, but at the same time I want to know what's going on for my second to last transfer, even though that feels really really really weird. There are some things that I miss, but at the same time I'm really glad I'm a missionary right now :)


There are so many miracles, I may not get to many of them especially since I'm so out of it currently. :)

On sunday I talked to a man on the phone and he said something that I found profound- "There are too many members and not enough disciples." He was talking about christian just in general. I think it's true in a lot of ways. Amazing how things are like that.

Also on sunday we took two guys around and they both referred. It was pretty neat that they wanted to learn more.

I was at welfare square a lot this week and met someone named Brittani Nicholas from the Hollister 1st ward. She doesn't live there now, but she recognized my name and mentioned other people that I knew from hollister. Kind of crazy. Does any one remember much about her? She's about the same age as David.

We lost a couple of our japanese sisters. Some of them came here instead of Hawaii, because there was too many in Hawaii, but then they wanted two of them back. It was sad... one of them was a sister that I had helped take around Welfare square the second time.

Today we had an ASL tour with a guy who was still learning sign language. He lost his hearing over time, so he's deaf but didn't start learning ASL until recently.

Now we're taking a Tagalog tour since no one else is responding :)

LOVE

My ability to speak English is fading

At least that's what it seems. You would think on an english mission, it wouldn't suffer, but no... I have-apparently- a knack of picking up accents and ways of phrasing things... even if it's incorrect. Like this morning, I couldn't see my district leader and a meeting was about to start, "Where she is?" said I. Then realized what I said. Perhaps I'll need help to speak properly when I go back home ;)


So last sunday we were able to go to Music and the Spoken word for the first time since I've been back because sister Talines and I weren't announcing in Tagalog or ASL. It was pretty neat because the orchistra was playing, and President Monson was there (I could kind of see him through the fake cherry tree.) and -to my companion's delight- David Archuleta. She was excited that he was there, I was more excited that the prophet was there, so we each got something that we liked.

That same day I ran into someone who gave me a quote from his mission. His mission president told him, "We're sending you to a new area- the world. Your assignment is to give at least one referral to the missionaries per month." I thought that was a neat way to look at it, so I wrote it down so I could remember it.

I also met someone who was a missionary in the San Jose mission! He was the first person I met from that mission, so it was pretty fun. He remembered a lot of t he people that I grew up with like the Greens and Grahams and Woodruffs. He just got off his mission a year or two ago so it was neat to hear that they were still in Greenfield.

This week I took my second tour at Welfare square... well my second time taking a sister who spoke Japanese, and never had given a tour at Welfare square to welfare square. It was kind of funny. The zone leaders paged me and asked me to take her there again, like I had the other. The poor sister was nervous, but I think she did well, because she gave her best, and that's all God asks her to do. I tried to encourage her after, and hopefully it helped.

I also learned a Russian phrase- Ya tibya lublue. Which means- I love you. Lots of things we learn daily.

Wednesday we planned more specifically and saw many miracles. It was neat to be able to see God's hand in things. We also got to go to Welfare Square again, but this time it was my companion's first time giving a tour. We had a huge group of young men and women from Orem and actually had a few of them give us some people we could call. It was really nice.

And now to answer a few questions... I honestly do not know when I'll be calling. I have no clue, because we now plan our entire schedule ourselves. We don't have a little slip of paper telling us when to take lunch and dinner, we just have... well our planners, and a request that we don't do the same time every day, etc. It's crazy, but good how far this mission has come. If you let me know when you all are available, I'll ask my companion if we can plan to have lunch or dinner during the time that would work best for every one :)

We found out about us being able to do our own schedule (completely, including when we go to the call center -- we just sign up at the begining of the week so we know when it's going to be full.)on Tuesday Evening. It was crazy. Our district leader paged us and we went and talked with her for a moment, and that's when she informed us. It was fast and a little crazy, but in a nice way. This mission has changed completely from the way it was when I first arrived. I love it! I'm glad the change has been gradual, but every change has been good. It still amazes me though. It went from a mission where you couldn't move from one spot for an hour, or more, until your replacements came, to us being able to move wherever we want, within our area, and go according to the spirit. Thank goodness.


Oh, Laila from david's ward in CA says Hi. I met her and her family randomly on the square, so I thought I might pass it on :)

Today was pretty neat, we met a couple of guys who were originally from India and took them around. They reminded me of my old investigator- Rajen. They were quiet, and seemed like they weren't interested, but in the end both wanted to learn more. It was amazing :).

Any way, I love ya all!! Be happy and stuff!! :D


Love sister of a sarah of a durtschi sort.