Hi!
So, the Christmas lights have officially turned off on
Temple Square and the slow season is settling in. But this week really did come
to an end in an amazing way.
Seriously, the only other time in my mission where
people have just walked up to us on Temple Square, asked for a Book of Mormon,
and accepted to be baptized was when I trained Sister Kemple. Heavenly Father
has sent us the most amazing people to teach the gospel to this week.
For
starters, my companion is AMAZING. She has been finding tons of Brazilians to
teach and this week she committed 2 of them to be baptized at the beginning of
February and they accepted!
We had a really cool experience last night. Two nights ago we were just about to finish our night. As we
were about to go downstairs, I saw this lady just standing by herself looking at
one of the exhibits.
I rarely feel super prompted to talk to people but for
some reason I just knew we needed to speak with her, so I go up to her and was
like, "Hi! How are you?" She looked at me really confused and than
looked at Sister Almeida and goes, "Oi!" It took me like 5 complete
seconds to realize she didn't speak English, she spoke Portuguese. haha
She and Sister Almeida started talking and she motioned for us to walk with her and
meet her family. As we talked to her family, we learned that her son served a
mission like 5 years ago but none of the rest of his family were members. They
had just come up to SLC to visit him.
We didn't have very much time so we asked
if they wanted to come back to Temple Square the next day (Sunday) so we could
take them on a tour of everything. They said yes and we got their number and
they came back last night.
Their family is
reallyyy strong Catholic and so it was so hard for them to understand why their
son would change his religion. It kind of broke my heart, too, because you could
tell that his family really wanted to be supportive but didn't know how to because what he believes is true seemed so different from what they believed.
I'm just so grateful we were able to take them on a tour because by the end,
the dad told us he loved us and shared an amazing story about why he believes
in God. There was just such a feeling of mutual understanding and love. His
sister actually took a Book of Mormon and asked us to call her this week.
I
don't know what will happen with their family but I am so grateful that they
were able to come to Temple Square and ask the questions they had and
understand more that the message we share is Christ.
I think family
relationships can get really hard with different religions but I know with my
whole heart that when you show love to one another, it doesn't matter the
differences because having Christ-like charity (love) changes everything.
I am so grateful for the opportunity each morning to study
the scriptures.
Sometimes, I have doctrinal questions that I don't know where
to find the answers to and then, months later, I randomly find the answer!!
I'm
grateful, that even when I forget the questions I have, Heavenly Father
remembers them and enlightens my mind as I study.
Like 3 months ago,
Sister Linares and I took a couple on a tour and we were explaining the
Restoration to them.
We mentioned the scripture in John 10:16 where Christ
talks about his other sheep that will hear his voice and there will be one fold
and one shepherd.
We explained that Christ's "other sheep"
were the people in the Americas at the time because they literally hear his
voice as he ministered to them.
She disagreed and said that scripture is in
reference to the Gentiles and used the example of the woman at the well from
the New Testament.
Honestly, I can't remember what we said to her. I think
Sister Linares with all her scriptural knowledge clarified so she understood
but I didn't really understand fully.
Anyways, as I was studying a few days I
ago I was reading 3 Nephi 15 where Christ tells the Nephites that they are his
other sheep
and it reminded me of the question I had!!
As I continued to read
and reverted back to the story of the woman at the well, I realized the woman
at the well was a Samaritan and at the time of Christ, Samaritans and Jews did
not get along, and that's why it was so significant that Christ reached out to
her. This woman wasn't a Gentile though because the apostles preached in
Samaria prior to Peter receiving the revelation that God is no respecter of
persons (Acts 1:8, Acts 8:4).
I don't know if this even made sense but I'm
really grateful to know that no matter what question I have, whether
today,
tomorrow, or in 50 years,
I will eventually find an answer.
The key is just to
keep studying and not give up
because the answers are there.
Ok, last thing. With all the craziness of Christmas, we have
different assignments than the rest of the year. One of them being
"Christus" and "Theater 5."
When people leave the
presentation at the statue of Christ, we are waiting at the theater to show
them a 3-minute video about Jesus Christ. Some people want to watch and some
don't.
The upstairs of the North Visitors' Center is like a big circle and so
sometimes, people walk around like 3 times in a row because they don't want to
watch the video but they don't know where the stairs are so they just follow
the crowd to where they think an exit is and then end up circling around a
million times not knowing how to get back downstairs.
I think I've been
asked in the past month and a half at least 100 times where the stairs are.
Last week, I realized that there are literally 3 different "Exit"
signs that are green and illuminated on the wall that people never see.
Maybe
I've just spent too much time standing outside the theater thinking, but I
realized it's such a big part of our nature as humans to think we're going to
right way and then get totally lost because we don't pay attention to the signs
or we just follow the crowd because we assume everyone else knows where they're
going or we're just distracted by the people we're with.
God has shown us the
way to walk and we will stay on the right path by following the Savior.
He will
give us answers as we look up, and most of the time the answers are already
right there in front of us.
I'm so grateful for the scriptures that are the map
God has laid out for me and for the knowledge that if I do have questions, he
will answer my prayers.
Love you so much! I can't believe it's 2016 already. Have
the best week.
Sister Helton
Check out Carly in The Church News (Jan. 1, 2016). http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865644588/Winter-attractions-abound-at-Church-headquarters.html?pg=all
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| Picture top right - Carly and Sister Gabrielly Almeida in The Church News Jan. 1, 2016 |
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