I am grateful God has a plan and we aren't alone 3-25-2015

This week has been full of learning! We have had ups of finding so many new, prepared people, and also downs of cancelled baptism dates. It's amazing how Heavenly Father has a plan for everything and whenever something doesn't work out, he gives you opportunities that help you feel his love. I love missionary work! 

  Friday was one of the best days ever. We were at Welfare Square and it was a pretty slow day compared to the previous weeks.  

  We were starting a tour and 3 people joined in after we'd already started so we didn't really get to chat with them that much. At the end of the tour the guests are allowed to eat the bread, cheese, honey, chocolate milk, jam, butter, peanut butter, etc., that is made there. It's sometimes a struggle to invite people to keep in touch with us because we were just explaining how the cheese is made! haha It just doesn't really flow with the tour. 

  But anyways, Sister Kemple and I just explained that if anyone has further questions, they can come onto mormon.org chat and we would love to answer their questions. 

  The lady who had joined the tour late started asking tons of questions and told us she has some really good friends who are members. She ended up giving us her number and asked if we could teach her which NEVER happens. I shouldn't say never, but it's so rare. Sister Kemple and I were feeling so sad about our investigator who cancelled his baptism date and Heavenly Father gave us a miracle! I love him so much.

  Something that I've really been working to understand is Blacks and the Priesthood. We get soooo many questions regarding this topic on Temple Square and I've tried to research it, but I haven't found that much info. as to why it was implemented or why it was discontinued. 

  I decided last night to just ask my roommate, who is from Ghana, to tell me her take on the issue. She had some amazing insights, I just thought I'd share them. 

  She used the comparison of how God commanded that the gospel should only be preached to the Jews. Why did he exclude the Gentiles for a period of time? Why was England the first place out of the US that LDS missionaries were sent to in the early days of the church? 

  She said: God's ways are not our ways. God's timing is different than our timing. God works in mysterious ways that we don't necessarily understand, but I know he has a plan for our lives and for his gospel to reach all nations. 

  I sometimes wish I could just see the big picture of life/after this life/why certain things go wrong or go right, but the conclusion I've drawn is that I just need to have faith and trust in Him. 

 I am so grateful to know that God does have a plan and that we're not alone in what we're going through. 

  We were talking with a man this week about his struggles with Christianity and he said what he struggles with the most is that we give humanistic characteristics to God. He said he doesn't understand why we refer to him as Father. 

 Sister Kemple and I were talking to one of our friends about his question and why we know that God is the greatest of all, to be all-loving, and the Father of our spirits. Our friend asked if we have a mother (or father if we happened to be a guy). She asked if we look like our mother. We said no because obviously we don't...yet. 

  She used this analogy of us being a child to our mother to explain that it's the most beautiful thing that God allows us to refer to him as the Father of our spirits so we can recognize the divinity within ourselves. Of course, we will never BE our father or our mother, but one day, we can possess all that they possess and love as perfectly as they love. 

  Sorry this email was all over the place but my thoughts are just kind of like that today! Love you all!

Sister Helton

P.S. "Because He Lives" comes out on March 28th!!! All of you watch it :) So short, so powerful.

 #becausehelives

(On mormon.org it explains: Jesus Christ lived. He walked the Holy Land, working miracles and teaching truth. Then, He was crucified. But His death was not the end. Because of His resurrection, we will live again. Because of his sacrifice, we can rise above sin to experience true joy. Join us as we share the good news with the world. Starting on March 28, we'll be introducing a special series of messages centered on the power of the living Christ. 

You can sign up for updates on mormon.org

You can also watch sessions of LDS General Conference (April 4 and 5) on lds.org or on the LDS General Conference You Tube Channel or go LIVE to an LDS chapel. Times are at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. There's also a general all-women's session March 28 at 5 p.m. You will love it!

All things denote there is a God 3-18-2015

This week has been so amazing. I love people. 

  Last Thursday we had Zone Conference. President Poulsen and the APs talked with us and we had basically just a big meeting about missionary work. It was all centered around the atonement of Christ. 

  It just never ceases to amaze me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for every single person on this earth. Any aspect of Christ's gospel can resonate with a person and help them feel the love of God. We as missionaries, just have to figure out what portion of his gospel that is and build on it. 

  

  We had a really cool experience this week. Sister Kemple and I had a desk assignment for 1 hour. (We just stand around a desk and can go up to people if they're nearby, but we have to stay around the desk in case people have questions). 

  Anyways, I started talking to this lady and somehow she started telling us about how much she loves drawing/painting. Thennn she was telling us about how when she went to Italy she saw all the beautiful buildings and artwork, etc., there. 

  It was perfect because Sister Kemple lived in Italy for 4 years so they bonded over that and while they were talking I heard this voice in my head say: 

  "She notices the beautiful things of this world." 

  My mind instantly went to one of my all time favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon -  Alma 30:44 when Alma is talking to Korihor. It says:

 "Yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which do move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."

 We shared this verse with her and she told us that she was pretty familiar with the church but that she actually would like to have a Book of Mormon and she ended up giving us her information!

 It was just so cool to me that God really does know each one of His children and He knows what they need. He knows how to show each one of us individually that He loves us. People feel God's love in tons of different ways, and He knows how to perfectly connect with what we, as individuals, need.

 Heavenly Father really is just blessing us with the greatest people ever to teach. Everyday Sister Kemple and I write down a miracle we hope will happen during the day! It was really cool,so on Monday Sister Kemple picked the miracle and she chose "touch the heart of a teen." 

  I never really choose ones like that because I don't like to be specific. I just like to pick ones that are more likely to happen (for example, find a new investigator) hahaha. 

  But anyways, we actually ended up taking this awesome tour with these 3 German students who were traveling all over the U.S. and they actually ended up each taking a copy of the Book of Mormon and giving us their info! It was the best because we totally forgot about the miracle we had set and when we got back to our apartment at night and checked if we had our miracle, we both literally started crying! 

  Such a good day. I love the gospel. 

  Sister Kemple and I have been doing some exploring this week because when you first come on a mission, you have 12 hours you can spend going around Salt Lake City. We call them "explore days."

 This week we went to the Pioneer History Museum. I actually am not that big of a fan of the museum because the one time I went there, one of the volunteers told me that the spirits of pioneers will come back and let the volunteers know if they are not displaying the artifacts correctly. 

  She was dead serious. 

  SO, obviously I never wanted to go there again but I thought Sis. K should have the experience so we went and it was actually super fun! We went with Sister Vasi (a missionary I was in the MTC with) and her trainee. 

  I attached a pic. It's in front of an old firetruck that they restored. The wagon Brigham Young rode in to the Salt Lake Valley for the first time is in the museum, as well! Kind of interesting. 

Anyway, I love you all so much! Miss you!

-Sister Helton 

New companion Sister Kemple 3-11-2015

Hi!

  This week has literally been the best. I saw Ness on Sunday!! Literally the best surprise ever. Also just a side note, I love my new companion, Sister Kemple, sooo much. We have been together for one week. I think I am learning so much more from her than she is from me. haha.

 We have had some miracles this week! So, we have been teaching a guy for about a month and a half now and he was previously studying to be a Catholic priest. He has a master's in Catholic Theology and went to seminary for around 7 years. 

  He came on to chat and we just ended up teaching him over the phone. He's seriously amazing. He's been so diligent at reading the Book of Mormon this past month and he prays every single morning. But when we talked to him a week ago last Monday, he still hadn't received an answer that the Book of Mormon is inspired scripture. We have been praying for him so much this past week and when we called him 2 days ago he shared the coolest experience with us. 

 He said he got a ride to church on Sunday. They ended up being about 45 minutes early to the meeting so he had time to just chat with the member who had given him a ride. They got talking and the member asked him if he's been reading anything lately. Our investigator responded that he's been reading biographies about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.      The member asked him if he's been reading anything else. Our investigator responded, "Well, I mean, I've been reading the word of God, the Book of Mormon." 

  He said he had no idea how those words even came out of his mouth, but he said when they did he felt a peace he's never felt before. 

  I definitely didn't tell this story exactly like he did but this was probably one of the coolest experiences of my mission. Just to know that when we are truly seeking for an answer, God cannot withhold that answer from us. We can know the mysteries of God. I just love how God answers prayers. He does it in such a variety of ways. 

  He knows His children so well. I think for this situation specifically, our investigator needed to hear himself say that the Book of Mormon is the word of God in order for him to believe it. 

  It has been so beautiful here in SLC. Everyday has been really sunny and SO warm! We are serving at Welfare Square (my other lifelong dream) on Fridays. It's so great because we're having the opportunity to learn about the Welfare program of the church. Another plus is that we get free bread/honey/peanut butter (and for those who can have dairy - cheese and chocolate milk) everyday we are there! 

  I feel like this email is really scattered, but Sister Kemple and I bonded so much over food haha. She showed me that there's a chocolate ice cream made with coconut milk!! We will be so good together. She actually cooks real food which is good for me. She has heaps of recipes and so she's teaching me how to cook fast and have it be healthy/tasty. I love it. 

Love you so much!

Sister Helton 

The first pic is of Sister Kemple and me at Music and the Spoken Word. I also attached a pic of Sister McDaniel and me - both wearing Sister Jones' clothes. hehehe. She gave me a ton of clothes when she left.

Questions of the soul answered 3-4-2015

Ok... hi! (big sigh)

  It is 8:15 p.m. It has been such a long day, but I have my new companion! Her name is Sister Kemple and she's from SEATTLE. So crazy. haha. She's so cool. We had been companions for like 30 minutes and all of a sudden an Italian sister came up to her and they started speaking Italian to each other. 

I was like, "You speak Italian?!" Yes! She lived in Prussia, which is like the funnest thing ever. Just picture 2 little blonde Americans and one speaks fluent Italian. Too fun. 

  I can't believe I have been with Sister Bellais for 6 weeks. I will miss her so much. 

  I think this past week has been a week of questions answered.

  I have had several questions on my mind recently and it is so amazing how God does answer your prayers - no matter how long it takes. 

  My first question has been: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" 

  The second is just a two-part question that is asked so frequently on Temple Square and I was tired of not being able to answer it well: "If you believe that God is the same yesterday, today and forever, how can you possibly believe that God once was as we are?" and also "How can you believe you can attain all God has?" 

  The answer to my first question came this week in district meeting. Our district leader asked Sister Bellais and me to be in charge of the lesson. We did it on "The Role of the Book of Mormon in Conversion."

  In Preach My Gospel, there is a section that discusses how the Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul with references to different verses. Sister Bellais and I printed out the questions with the scripture verses that accompany them. We gave different questions to sisters and invited them to study. 

  We did it too. I randomly grabbed the question "Why does God allow evil and suffering to occur in the world?" The verses that accompany this question are 2 Nephi 2:11,13 & 14. 

  When I read those verses I just felt like this light bulb turned on in my head. I've read these verses before that there must be "opposition in all things," but as I continued reading verses 13 and 14 it just became so clear in my mind that God has a perfect plan. He knows what we need. Even if we don't understand why difficult things have to happen, he does. He created all things and has a purpose behind every opposite that he created. 

  It is the coolest thing ever because this happened on Friday. On the following day, we took a man and woman on a tour. The woman ended up really opening up to us and sharing that she is just unhappy and most days she doesn't want to live. She doesn't understand why she feels the pain she does or why her life hasn't turned out the way she pictured. 

  We were able to share these verses to her and help her feel that she can find peace in the gospel of Jesus Christ and that The Book of Mormon can be a source of light in her life. It never ceases to amaze me how God times everything perfectly. Sometimes he waits MUCH longer than we want to answer our prayers, but he does answer them in his perfect timing.

  

 The answer to my second question is kind of small, but it was significant for me. 

  I've been studying this doctrine for a while now because a few of our investigators have questioned this teaching. 

  A quote I absolutely love is something Joseph Smith said: 

"If men do not understand the character of God, they do not understand themselves." 

  I think this is really beautiful for 2 reasons. The first being, you know how when people find God and Jesus Christ, they say they've found meaning in their life, they've found their purpose? 

  This relationship/knowledge/meaning doesn't make life any less challenging, but it increases our capacity to cope with trials. That is because when we understand God, we understand more fully our potential because we understand we've been created by something divine.       

  

 The second reason I love this is because it brought to my memory a verse that has always kind of bothered me. haha 

  When Christ says in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:48: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect," I was always like "Are you serious?"

  If Christ said that, then it's a commandment - but physically impossible. I felt like He was basically setting us up for failure!

  But now I realize that it's so beautiful. 

  Christ is telling us to be like God and telling us that He is the way. Why would Christ tell us to be perfect like our Father if God doesn't intend for us to actually be able to accomplish it and become all that he is? 

  Anyways, I just love being a missionary. 

  I'm SO excited for this transfer! I'll send a pic next week of my new companion:) We both look kind of crazy right now because it's been quite a long day, so we'll take a pic when we're cute. 

I love you so very much. 

Sister Helton

P.S. Sister Isaksen comes back from her 3 months in California tonight!!!! I am dyinggg to see that Norwegian! 

Using technology with purpose 2-25-2015

So, this morning was incredible.

 The Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission has officially had Ipad training! Except it really wasn't about Ipads at all. Elder Clark from the Quorum of the Seventy and Brother Donaldson (he's the mission president in "The District 2" - lol) gave us the training. It was 4 hours long but it literally felt like 25 minutes. I was kind of freaking out at the idea that we are getting Ipads I don't really know why...it just felt weird/wrong in a way to have one on my mission? I don't know. 

 But today I realized that this is all apart of God's plan and that incorporating technology into his work has been His plan all along. The church has developed all these ways to help us, while on our missions, use self-control with technology so when we get off our missions we will have developed habits that will help us for the rest of our lives. The skills that we will be learning on our missions are centered on how to use technology time effectively and be purpose-oriented. 

  Something that the church is doing is they're sending general authorities to every single mission that has Ipads to receive this training. I LOVE how they are explaining the "how" to us. They're not just giving us these tools and saying, "Go use these!" They're explaining how we can most effectively use them.

 They talked a lot about how they want Ipads to become something that is just a part of us. Like a pen that we always carry. They said one of the mistakes they made in the past was focusing on the tool as opposed to our purpose as missionaries. Our purpose is the exact same as it has always been, but the rate at which we will be able to accomplish our purpose is simply accelerating. 

  

 A sister commented and it really stood out to me. She was talking about how it had always bothered her when parents tried to shield their children from the world (which I think to a certain extent you obviously should), but she explained how the gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to strengthen us so we can face the world. 

 I love the verse in Matthew when Christ is eating with the publicans and sinners and the Pharisee asks him why he's eating with these people. 

 Christ explains that he came into the world not to call the righteous to repentance but the sinners. Christ's gospel is all about strengthening those who are weak and helping us change everyday and be a little better. 

 I am so excited to use the technology that God has blessed us with! It won't really change our mission a ton, just because we have so many resources to teach with already on Temple Square, but it will enable us to reach even more people. 

 We are going to become a Facebook mission as well. It's soooo cool how onboard Facebook is with helping the church. I guess the creator of FB (I forget his name)  when he first started the company, started it in a little rented garage. 

 Mormons had previously owned the little house they were renting and so at the top of the doorway in the garage there was a sign that said "Return With Honor." Today, that is their little slogan on their doorways all over the company! Just an interesting little fun fact. haha. 

I think God may have played a role in this? 

Oh, also...everyone in my class reallyyyy thought we were going outbound in March but only like 3 of us are. So, sorry for the false alarm! That's what I get for speculating...haha.

 I can't believe the transfer is almost done and next Wednesday I will have a new companion! Don't know what I'll do without Sister Bellais. We're praying we will stay together but even if we don't, we're sisters forever anyways. 

 Love you all so much! The pics this week are just from announcing after Music and the Spoken Word last Sunday. 

xoxo,

Sister Helton

                                         Announcing after "Music and The Spoken Word"

Why I'm a Mormon 2-18-2015

Clothing at the LDS Humanitarian Center - distributed around the world!

This week has been so busy! With President's Day here and the weather being crazy nice, the Square has been so alive. We have been praying so much that we will be able to find people to teach, and this week we had some amazing tours. 

  Sister Bellais took her second tour in French ever and she did amazing! Her first companion spoke Mandarin and even though you wouldn't think there would be tons of Mandarin-speaking tourists on the Square year 'round, there are. So, she hadn't ever really gotten to practice giving tours in French! I decided I need to learn a language when I get home...I think knowing multiple languages makes you more intelligent. 

  Anyway, the temple is finally open again! It has been closed for cleaning the past 2 months. We were so blessed to be able to go this morning. I've just have had a lot on my mind lately and it's so amazing to be able to just feel peace. 

  People always ask us during tours, "Why are you a Mormon?" I've thought a lot about it. I think what it comes down to for me is just a clarity in my life that I can't find anywhere else and peace. There is so much going on around us alllll the time but by living Christ's gospel, you truly can have peace.

 So we did something new this week! Sister Bellais was chatting with some people in the Tabernacle and I was talking to some different people and she came up to me and was like, "Let's go sing." I was like, "Sorry, what??" She was like, "these people want to hear us sing!" So we went up to the front of the Tabernacle (like where the choir sings) and just sang "I Am a Child of God" with all our hearts haha. The high notes were a tad pitchy, but Sister Bellais sang in French and I just tried to sing as quietly as possible in English. It was a memory I will never forget! But probably will never do again...the choir sings much better so I'll leave it to them ;) 

  I love being a missionary on Temple Square, but I was dreading Valentine's Day. Mainly because Temple Square, I swear, is a magnet for people who are in love/want to be publicly affectionate BUT, we actually had a really great night. The sweetest man named Brother Mason gave us each a box of chocolates and shared his testimony with us which made our night. 

  I just love people. Every person has such a beautiful story and different reasons for their faith. Something I really admire about Sister Bellais is that she really listens to people. She truly listens. It is a gift. 

I miss you all! Love you with all my heart.

Sister Helton

PS. Pics from Humanitarian Center:) and the last one is of Sister Clark from Ukraine on her birthday

Sister Clark (Ukraine) with a birthday sundae

Understanding repentance & Christ 2-11-2015

Aloha fam! 

Picturing you on the island in your swimmies right now makes me a tad jealous, but it's PDay so that's kind of like a vacation...haha 

  Anyways, this week has been so great. After I emailed last Pday, we went to Costco to get some goodies and we ran into Mario and Suzette, my favorite people! They took us to Cheesecake Factory for dinner so that was the best way to end our Pday.  

  Thursday was awesome too because I got to meet with President Poulsen. He's meeting with all the sisters in the mission this week and is such an inspired man. I learned so much in just 15 minutes!

  Friday was Humanitarian Center and we took the sweetest 2 ladies on a tour. Sister Bellais gets really bad headaches and has been wanting to go buy some essential oil and the lady we took on the tour smelled like lavendar DoTerra oil so Sister Bellais asked her where she got her oil and she actually ended up being someone who sells it! She gave some to us for FREE. People are way too nice to missionaries in Utah. That oil is pricey... She gave us a book/her card in case we want any more so that was actually an answer to a prayer. I always feel so bad when she gets headaches and there's really nothing I can do to help her. 

  Saturday I had probably the most spiritual experience of my whole mission. In my interview with President last Thursday, he advised me to spend 20 min in Preach my Gospel (PMG) each day, 20 min in the Book of Mormon, and 20 min in the Bible. I was super determined to finish the New Testament by Easter so I was a little disappointed, but I decided to do what he advised. MIRACLES literally arise when you follow inspired leaders. 

  So, I opened PMG Saturday morning and where I had left off in my last study sesh was in Lesson 4 about the commandments. 

  I wasn't really feeling like studying the commandments because I felt like I already knew them, but I decided to do it.

  So I was reading along and one of the scriptures it asks us to read is Enos 1:1-12. I have also read these verses multiple times on my mission so I didn't really feel like reading them again, but for some reason, I did. 

  I was reading verses 4-8 and something stood out to me in those verses I had never realized before. So, Enos is pouring out his heart to the Lord for forgiveness. He says "his soul hungered" and he prays all day and all night. 

  In verse 5, in the midst of Enos's prayers, a voice says to him, "Enos, thy sins are forgiven."  Right there I realized that when we pour out our hearts to God and want to repent, he instantly forgives us. 

  Verse 6-8, I recognized myself. Enos doubts God. I picturing him thinking, "Can it really be that simple?" Verse 6 Enos says, "I knew God could not lie, therefore, my guilt was swept away." 

  The moment Enos believes in Christ's promises, that he can be healed and cleansed from his sins, the repentance process is complete. 

  The hardest part about repentance is forgiving ourselves. The minute we have the desire to change, God forgives. But, we of course have to do our part and stop sinning. We also, have to believe that Christ's Atonement can heal us. In that moment, our guilt can be swept away. 

  In verse 7, Enos asks God, "How is it done?" God tells him, "According to thy faith." When I first read all these verses, I interpreted it as, God forgives Enos because he has enough faith. No, no! Enos is healed according to his faith because he believes in Jesus's power to cleanse him and to wipe away his guilt. 

  Anyways, the cool part about allll this is that later in the day on Saturday, a less-active member we teach just randomly came to the Square. So, we of course sat and chatted with her for a bit. In the middle of talking to her, I just really felt like I needed to share my personal study with her. So I explained to her what I just explained above.

  It was crazy. She said that the night before she had been reading those exact verses in Enos and had had a friend interpret them for her. She said it was an amazing experience for her, but she struggled with the faith aspect of it because she feels like she never has enough faith to receive Christ's Atonement. 

  Her friend interpreted these verses like I always had - that it is by our faith that Christ forgives us, when really it is according to our belief in Him that we actually allow his free and infinite Atonement to work in us and change us. Anyways it was so cool. It was just such an affirming experience that this is God's work. He directs everything. He is in everything. Those new thoughts about Enos chapter 1 were in no way my own. God wanted to tell this woman whom we teach that she IS forgiven. She just needs to believe in Christ's atoning power and in his ability to cleanse her. 

  I love being a missionary! Temple Square is such a special place. 

  Yesterday, Sister Bellais and I went to get some Chinese food at the food court in City Creek and these 2 ladies in line in front of us bought our food. They left super fast before we even knew they bought our food and so we didn't get to say thank you. 

So, if either of them ever stumble across my blog: Thank You so much from Sister Helton and Sister Bellais! You made our day!

All my love,

Sister Helton

This is a pic of my zone this transfer!

                            Sister Andrea Andrus visited me Monday and brought me a Valentine                            

                                       A couple of old pictures that Sister Jones just gave me

                 
                            Tawnee Tidd's recent visit

PS. My days are really fun. Too fun. Sister Bellais and I are really starting to understand how one another works and so our tours are getting better and better. She's doing so well on her English. She is seriously the sweetest. She told me last week "Sister Helton, every time you talk during a tour, I pray and pray and pray for you in my head that you will say what God wants you to say. Every time, I feel the spirit so strongly." She is literally AN ANGEL. She's helping me be better and be less focused on myself and use my prayers not only for me, but for my companion since we are together in everything and need to be united. It has worked wonders! I love her.