First TS companion and daily schedule 9-25-2014

Hi!!!
   Here's a pic of my companion, Sister Isaksen from Norway! This morning we had Relief Society at 7:15 a.m. and today's Pday ... soooo there was no point in really getting ready but I thought you would want to see her!

                           I love her so much! 

   Anyways, Dad asked me to tell you what I do everyday. Now I can actually tell you!  We have a schedule that we were given for the next 6 weeks. This was my day yesterday:
   Wake up 6:30 a.m. and work out (we have a work out vid: Jillian Michael's "Get Ripped in 30"... I'll let you know how it goes ... hahaha). Her voice is the most annoying thing in the world, but I actually was a little sore yesterday so that's good.    
   So then we get ready 7-8 a.m., have personal study 8-9 a.m., companion study 9-10 a.m. and then we have Square Time. 
   Square Time you usually just walk around and talk to people. We have phones, so we usually we get texted to go take a tour. Anyone who comes to the Square can go on a tour whenever they want, which is cool. They're supposed to last like 20 minutes and we take them to 3 different places on the Square - usually the Assembly Hall, the Tabernacle and the Christus - but if they want to know more of how our religion got started, we take them to the South Visitor's Center and show them the "Scriptures and Revelation" exhibit with all the wax prophets, etc.
   I love tours. Motorcoaches are the most fun though! It's when groups of like 30 people schedule in advance to have a tour and we get to use the microphone and portable speaker. So that's what Square Time is, taking tours and talking to people! I love it.

   Then we have like 2-3 hours (broken up throughout the day) of TC Time. TC is the Teaching Center where we get to go on the computers and chat with people who go on mormon.org or call the number on either mormon.org or lds.org. We also schedule lessons to teach people over the phone during that time. We have 6 people we are teaching over the phone right now. It's so awesome! 
   I still have SO much to learn but I'm feeling a lot better about my teaching abilities after this first week. I know it'll just take time to adjust. 

   We also are scheduled to be at desks in both of the visitor centers for an hour each day and we also are at this place called West Gate 4 days a week. West Gate is where ALL the texts get sent out. Like if someone comes onto the Square and wants a tour, we text out like "2 guests, English at West Gate." And then sisters call and say they can come take it! We also record every tour taken each day. It's crazy. We are there for 3 hours 4 days a week but it's good because it's so busy time goes by really fast. 
   Next transfer (every six weeks), maybe I'll be scheduled to go to Welfare Square or the Beehive House. This transfer I'm at West Gate though. Hopefully that made sense..it's kind of confusing. But ya! That's my normal day.
It's busy I love it.

   I GOT TO GO IN THE TUNNELS. They do exist. Not as cool as you would think though ... it's just like offices and a practice room where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir goes. They have a vending machine with ice cream and Hot Pockets, though, which is cool. Not that I can have those. I've accepted the fact that I am lactose intolerant. I might go get some of those pills from Costco, though, so I can have a little ice cream now and then. We get it free at Leatherbee's. It's actually probably a good thing I can't have it. haha.   

  We have met some really amazing people on the Square. It's so amazing to see that God really does prepare people and sends them to Temple Square to receive their answers. I love it so much here. 

   It's crazy how many people from literally all over the world come here. We took a Korean tour. Sister Ha (obviously Korean) led the tour and just translated what we said. It was so funny, because they all wanted to take pictures of me because I was from Washington (I think they thought I was from DC because they kept saying "From the capital! Miss USA") and blonde. Asians are the only ones who want pictures with me. hahaha. I will tell you some stories about people we are teaching next week. I am learning so much from those we teach.

Love you all so much!

-Sister Helton
P.S. Did you know you can still use DearElder and they'll send it to my mission? I just learned that.

Please tell everyone I love them.