Listen. Remember. 4-24-2015

Temple Square on an April day

SO much has happened this week I literally do not know where to start. I feel like a completely different person/missionary. We have had trainings alllll week. Tuesday was MLC and so from 8:30am-1pm we basically just talked about where our mission currently is and where we want it to be. The training was based on Chapter 10 of Preach my Gospel. There was a portion given on listening. 

A quote one of the sisters read to us really stood out to me. It says,

 "Most people don't listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply." 

(It's Stephen R. Covey if you enjoyed that.)

  I just realized that I'm seriously the worst at listening to people!! 

  The trainings we had on Wednesday-Friday have been all about focusing on our purpose as missionaries. They talked a lot about how God's purpose, his work and his glory, is to give each one of his children eternal life. If we are to teach in His way and by His Spirit, that needs to be our purpose as well, regardless of where we serve our mission. 

  It was so eye-opening to think every time we talk to someone, "Did I give them the opportunity to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ in this 30-minute tour?" or "Is this person one step closer to returning back to live with God because of the experience they had on Temple Square or the spirit they felt as we were talking?" 

  I'm so excited to share with my sisters all the training we've gotten because I feel like it is so easy to stick to the traditions here on Temple Square. The missionary department told us that we don't have to talk about the history at all during our tour. I don't know why this came as a shock to all of us, but I think it's because although we are missionaries, people are interested in history so we kind of mesh the gospel and history - which isn't necessarily bad if it's helping someone come unto Christ and receive eternal life. I don't exactly know how to verbalize how I felt while receiving the trainings. In reading over this email, it doesn't seem that incredible/mission-changing, but it was. 

  This week I feel like we've had so many miracles!! Those miracles include meeting people that you know God put in your path for a reason. 

  Today, we were in Guest Services and we got a call saying that there was a girl here to see Sis Kemple and me. So we went upstairs and it was a girl we met at General Conference a few weeks ago who had just got off her mission! She asked if we remembered her and we totally did because we talked to her brother who was really less-active and he had a really cool story. 

  She asked if we remembered her brother. We said yes and she said that after we got through talking to her brother, they went to the car and her brother said, "I feel like we were supposed to talk to those missionaries tonight. I felt something different."

  She said that he hasn't gone to church in years and years. She tried to get him to talk to the missionaries where they live in Provo but she said he wasn't interested. She gave us his number and asked if we would try calling him. Of course we said yes!! 

 I swear my mission on Temple Square is to teach less-actives. They are my favorite. I just love them because teaching is all about helping them remember what they once knew.

 The concept of remembering is so interesting to me. For me, I'm terrible at remembering. I always have these experiences when I know God is so aware of each one of us and that the Gospel is so true and then I have those moments where I feel discouraged and forget!

 I was thinking today about how we can't remember living with God before this life but we feel the Spirit which helps us to remember what God's love feels like. 

  Before my mission, I never understood why it was so important to read our scriptures and pray everyday. The reason we do those things is so we can remember that the Gospel is amazing. We do it so we can never forget that the Book of Mormon is true and adds light into our lives. We do these little things so the Spirit can remind us every single day that God is there, that He has a plan, and that our lives have a purpose. 

  This is my 34th week.

  Also, I just thought I would tell you that an 86-year-old man kissed Sister Kemple and me in front of a ton of guests on Temple Square this week. It was really funny, but also probably the strangest experience of my mission, other than when I crossed paths with the man running through the plaza in a Speedo.

Love you tons!

Sister Helton

Twin from Down Under