I love being a missionary. 10-23-2014

I love being a missionary. 

Today is literally the best P-day ever. This morning we only had time on the Square from 11-12, so in my head I was like "Eh, probably not enough time to find a new investigator" then I heard this other voice in my head say, "An hour is definitely enough time," so then I was like, "You're right." So, I was just having this little internal conversation with myself while we were walking. haha. 

Anyway, every time before we go out on the Square, we plan for 3 places we want to go and then pray about it. For this one hour we were going to the Reflection Pool, the Conference Center, and the Assembly Hall. 

We were almost to the Reflection Pool when I see this guy out of the corner of my eye. To Sister Isaksen, I said, "I know that guy from somewhere..." and then we remembered! Two weeks ago we were at the front desk in the South Visitor Center on a Sunday morning and that guy, his two friends, and his aunt and uncle (who aren't really his aunt and uncle, they're related in a really confusing way but he calls them his aunt and uncle) walked in the front door. We talked to them for 15 minutes, but I mostly talked to the guy. I think that's the reason I recognized him, but his name's Henrik and he's from Sweden. 

We were talking to him, his friends and his aunt and uncle (who are Mormon but none of the guys were) and Sister Bomgren (from Sweden) walks by and ended up taking all of them on a really short 20-minute tour! 

So, back to the story: We were at the Reflection Pool and we see him. He had headphones in, so I was a little hesitant to go talk to him, but Sister Isaksen was like "let's go," so we did.

He told us how he ended up staying in Utah a little longer than planned because he's going to a  family reunion his aunt and uncle invited him to go to this weekend. 

He's meeting back up with his friends next week. He didn't have anything to do today so his aunt and uncle told him to just go downtown! He said he actually wanted to see more of Temple Square because the tour was short the first time. He asked us when he could schedule another tour because he said his friends weren't really interested, but he was a little. 

Sister Isaksen said, "We can just take you on one right now!" He said OK and we ended up taking him to the Scriptures and Revelation exhibit because he'd already seen the Assembly Hall, Tabernacle, and Christus - which are like the main sights to see. 

We taught him the Restoration. He had SO many amazing questions. He asked how can you really know that Joseph Smith was a prophet since he was only 14 years old? That's like my all time favorite question because the answer is so simple: Read the Book of Mormon. 

He said he is so scared to read it because if he does and he finds out it is true, it will change everything. 

The spirit was so strong. I can't even remember everything we talked about (mostly because half the convo was in Swedish) but it was seriously a miracle. Like of all the places we could have picked to go for our one small hour on the Square, of all the times he could have been passing through Temple Square (he wasn't even planning on walking through, that's a longer story, but it was basically because of some homeless man he was trying to avoid that he ended up walking through the Square), God put him in our path. 

He is seriously so amazing. He said to us at the very end of our tour that he knows he needs to read the Book of Mormon. I'm so excited to find out how his story ends, I have a feeling it's going to be pretty incredible.

Today is just so good. This week has been awesome too! God is just so present and aware of each one of us. I will never understand how He does it, all I know is He does and that He truly does love and care about every single person on this earth. I am eternally thankful for the hope that my Savior Jesus Christ gives me. Each day we can have the hope of being a little better and coming a little closer to God because of Jesus Christ. The Church is just so true. I'm so thankful I'm on a mission. Love you all and pray for you everyday!

-Sister Helton

PS.  It's interesting how you really can see when people have light in their eyes and when they don't. I love seeing people's eyes change when they feel the spirit. It's like my new favorite thing. 

Missions aren't supposed to be this fun! 10-16-14

This week! Ah! This week has been so good. Lots of learning happening. This week just had a lot of ups and downs, I guess is the best way to put it.

Sister Isaksen and I were talking and she said something that I love so much:

Ether 12:27 (obviously, you all know this one) but it says if men come unto Christ, he will show unto them their weakness that they may become strong.

 (And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. Ether 12;27)

     I had heard this verse, too, a million times but we were talking about it more and thinking about how it says "if men come unto me."
    Sometimes I think to myself, I was a way better person before I came on my mission because I didn't know all the areas I needed to improve on and it would have been so much better to be blissfully ignorant of my inadequacies!
    Not really, but I just love how Sister Isaksen said this. She said, "as we come unto Christ and really try to live our lives in a way He would be proud of, He will make it very clear to us the areas we need to improve upon in our lives."
   If we come unto Him, He will show us what we need to work on. It's only if we are striving to draw closer to Him that we will receive that blessing and that humbling knowledge as to how we need to change our lives and our actions.
    So, even though we struggle, it's God's way of showing us that we are coming closer to Him and becoming better, even if we don't always feel like it. Just a cool little personal epiphany.

   Anyways, this week we have had so many amazing things happen! 
I met this guy named David last Wednesday and he has the coolest story ever. I'll just try to tell it briefly. 
   David is a French chef, he's cooked all over the world. He is superrrr intelligent, too. A year ago he was living somewhere (I don't remember) and he had just decided that he didn't want to be a Jehovah's Witness anymore. He had been a member for 12 years and given conferences all around the U.S. for them and said he studied their religion in-depth and talked himself out of it.   
   So he's praying to find a new church and watching TV and a commercial from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints comes on and gives the number you can call (mormon.org) for a free Book of Mormon. 
   Answer to his prayers? He thought "yes," so he called, talked to a sister here on Temple Square, she sent him a Book Of Mormon, it came, and he read. He liked it. But he didn't think anything more about it and a few months later moved to Arizona - Gilbert/Mesa area and was cooking at a restaurant there. One of the chefs he worked with was Mormon and invited him to the Easter pageant they have at the Temple. 
   He went and started to become really interested in learning more. Thennn a few weeks ago, he decided he wants to move to Salt Lake City to be immersed in Mormon culture (even though there's really not as many Mormons here as you would think) to see if this religion is really what he wants in his life. 
   A week ago Monday he lands in SLC, gets on a bus, comes to Temple Square is thinking in his head, "OK now what?" All of a sudden his phone rings and he looks down, sees it's a 877 number and ignores it. The number calls back right away and he said he noticed it was 877-801 (801 is the area code here) so he answers it and it's Sister Isekia, the sister he talked to 1 YEAR AGO on the phone. 
   She asks him if he ever got the Book of Mormon she sent him!!    
   He says "uh yes, I'm actually in Salt Lake right now on Temple Square" (he had no idea this is where she was) and of course she was like "I'M SERVING ON TEMPLE SQUARE!!" So she runs out and they meet and she's been teaching him everyday and he tells us about the miracles God gives him everyday and he is seriously amazing. 
   Talk about following the spirit and your heart! Such an incredible example to each one of us. He's getting baptized in November. I haven't talked to him since Tuesday but it's just so cool. I love being able to see/experience miracles. God really does give them to us every day if we'll just look for them.

   So... I shook David Archuleta's hand AND made eye contact!! He came and sang/did a Q&A fireside for us on Sunday night. I love serving on Temple Square. Mom, he sang "Glorious" and yes, it was glorious!!! He such a humble person it was really cool to hear him talk about his mission and how it truly changed him.

   Also, the other pics are at a zone activity we had and my district. I feel like missions aren't supposed to be this much fun...
.

Love you all so much!

-Sister Helton

Go see 'Meet the Mormons' & We can find out for ourselves what truth is 10-9-14

Hi!!!

Tons has happened this week but at the same time I feel like P-day was yesterday...it's weird. 

Conference was amazing! I saw so many people that I love so much and it was just exactly what I needed. I haven't gotten to watch all of Conference yet but one of the talks I LOVED was the one by Lynn Robbins called "Which way do you face?" Also President Uchtdorf's talk about testimonies.

Oh, I actually do have news!!! I totally forgot. I've seen Elder David Bednar TWICE this week. On Friday night, Sis Isaksen and I were starting the Joseph Smith Movie like we do every week and in the audience we spy him sitting with his fam. So, after the movie was over we have to stand by the exit doors and say "bye" and "thank you" to everyone for coming. He walked right past me and looked me right in the eyes and said thank you, didn't shake my hand though, but still, we made eye contact which is pretty good. Thennnn on Monday we did a little bit of Explore Day. (If you're a new sister you get 12 hours of exploring around SLC and getting to know the resources we have more fully on Temple Square because there is so much to see!) 
So, we went to the Humanitarian Center to have a tour. We walk in the doors and Elder Bednar is just standing right there chatting with the lady at the front desk! I was like 5 feet away from him but no eye contact this time nor a handshake. It's OK though. I'm convinced I'll see him again and maybe he'll recognize me haha... probs not. We just figured if he had time to shake our hand, he would've ya know?

Oooo another cool thing, I got to watch "Meet the Mormons!" Seriously, everyone go see it.  After it's not theaters, we'll start playing it on Temple Square in the theaters here which is so cool. I just loved it because it was not preachy at all. It was just so inspiring and uplifting. Literally every single person should see it because it just makes you feel good and makes you want to be good.

Something that I've really loved about this week is the new people we are teaching. We are teaching them because they called in to mormon.org. People truly change their lives to join our church and I feel so humbled to have the opportunity to watch them make that change and see it bless them.

Something that I've really been thinking about this week is the idea of truth. It blows my mind to think about that fact that we can find out for ourselves what truth is. We don't have to rely on any person to tell us what it is. We just have to ask God and he'll tell us. It is so simple and I feel like I make it so complicated sometimes.
 I've been focusing on reading the Book of Mormon in my morning studies and I love this scripture, it's 2 Nephi 32:4-5. It says: 

"Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark. For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do."

I love that soooo much because it is so simple. God wants to tell us all things. He really does. Like why would He not? We're here on earth to come unto Him and follow Christ's example. If we don't understand something, it's not because He hasn't told us or doesn't want to tell us, it's because we're not asking, or we're not acting. I don't know why I always complicate things! The gospel of Jesus Christ is so dang simple. I love it. I'm so happy I'm on a mission. Love you so much!

-Sister Helton

October 2014 General Conference

 Sister Isaksen got to patiently meet some of my best friends and family who came to sessions of October General Conference. It was a busy weekend, but I was so happy to see familiar faces. 

Sky Wolfe

Denise Burnett

Andrea Nelson

Front row from left, Andrea Nelson, me, Daniel Nelson, Michael Nelson
Back row from left, Uncle Jared Nelson, Uncle Roland Nelson, Spencer Nelson, Jared Nelson

Elder John Delong and Denise Burnett

Brig and Laurissa Memmott came to Temple Square last week

When You Look, God is Everywhere. 10-2-2014

There is so much to tell ya.  This week has been incredible. 
It's amazing how, when you look, God is everywhere. 
I'll just tell you a few quick 'lil stories about this week!

Monday, Sister Isaksen and I got a call to take a Norwegian tour. When we got to the place we were meeting the people, it was one of our investigators! Sister Isaksen has been teaching Iselin for the last couple of months because she came here as an exchange student and started going to church because her host family was LDS. But she lives 6 hours away from a church building in Norway so we've been talking to her over the phone. We had no idea she was going to be here!! Her little sister was with her too and it was so amazing to be able to take them to the Christus and we showed them the movie God's plan for families. It was such a good way to start our week.

Then Tuesday, we were just at one of the desks on the Square and this lady asked us to take a picture of her. So we did. Then we started talking to her and found out she's from California and then we started talking to her more about the Church. She just kept saying over and over how she felt like God led her here, like she needed to be here for some reason (obviously it was perfect because we were like uhh, we know why you needed to be here!!) So we got all her info and taught her about the Restoration. Come to find out her ex-husband was a member. She's amazing. Her name's Cynthia.

Then, right after Cynthia, this couple walked in the door and said: "We have to tell you two our story!" They both joined the church a year ago, December, and the whole reason they joined the church is because the woman heard Elder Uchtdorf and President Monson's talks on the Saturday morning session of last October Conference. She said she heard them speak at her friend's house on TV and went home that night, talked to her husband, and they were baptized 2 weeks later. But, she said lately they've been really struggling. At first she said everyone was so welcoming and friendly but now that they've been members for a while, people have kind of forgotten about them (member missionary work is VITAL!) but here's where her story gets CRAZY. So, her and her husband came to the Square and were walking around and decided that they wanted to watch "God's Plan for Families." They were in the North Visitor's Center, told their background story to the sisters that were going to play the movie for them (how Elder Uchtdorf's talk is why they converted), and then went upstairs to watch the movie. Two minutes later (right as the movie was
starting), a sister runs upstairs and is like: "Elder Uchtdorf is downstairs, he just walked in!!!!" So, the lady (her name was Ellen) got to go downstairs and tell Uchtdorf her story and he hugged her 3 times and it was just amazing. She said she'd been praying and praying to know if this Church really is where she needed to be and she got her answer. No apostles EVER come into the Vistitor Centers so it really was a miracle.

Last story. Yesterday we took the most amazing tour I've ever been a part of. We had these 2 German atheists in it. It was me, Sister Isaksen, and one of my favorite people, Sister Lytle. We were in a trio for a few hours. Anyways, it was the 2 Germans and 2 other couples. I don't really know how to describe the tour other than it was incredible. So, the point of taking tours is to, yes, tell people about the history of Temple Square and all the buildings but really, it's all about the Spirit. We use the facts about the buildings to bridge to Gospel truths that everyone can relate to. Like the Tabernacle for example. When were at the Tabernacle it's a perfect way to talk about how we have a living, modern-day prophet who speaks to us because (obvi) the Tabernacle was the first conference center ever built. 
Back to my story, the last place we took them to on the tour was the Christus. The spirit was so strong. At the end of the tour we said: "You know, if any of you would like a Book of Mormon, we would love to give you one." No one really said anything, so we were just like "thank you so much for coming to Temple Square." THEN the Germans started talking to us and the other people who were a part of the tour walked away and we were just in the middle of chatting about nothing spiritual anymore and one of them was like, "Could I actually maybe get a copy of that book?" We were like YES. 
So we walked downstairs to a desk to get one and one of the couples who were on our tour were at the desk talking to other sisters GETTING A BOOK OF MORMON. Then like 2 minutes later THE OTHER COUPLE comes and asks for a Book of Mormon.
I think what I've learned most this week is that I don't have to know all the facts and every little detail about the church. When you testify of what you know to be true, it's a trillion times more powerful than any logical answer you can give someone.

I just want to share with you my fav scripture. It's Alma 5:7:

 "Behold he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, they were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word."

It goes on, but that's the part I love. The gospel of Jesus Christ changes people's hearts. I feel so blessed and humbled to be a tiny part of God's incredible work here on earth. He changes people's hearts. His Spirit is so strong and I am so happy to be where I am right now.

Love you all and miss you tons.
xoxoxo,
Sister Helton

PS. I really am so happy and loving it here so much. I can barely wait for conference! I'll be at the Sunday morning sesh. I will read Libbie's blog (lifeofaconvert.blogspot.com). It's crazy because I've been thinking about her this week. I put her name on the prayer roll. I got to go the Salt Lake Temple!! It was beautiful. I loved it so much.

The pic is of me in front of the Lion House holding a slip of paper because I passed off on giving tours! I got a free meal. It was goooood. I am now an official missionary on Temple Square - haha. It's been freezing down here!