Another Week Another Wonder
Date
September 17, 2019
Area
Temple Square (South 1 District)
Companion
Sister Amber Sims
Another Week Another Wonder
Hello everyone. Another P-day has arrived. In the craziness and excitement of last week there were some cool things I forget to write about! The first is about one of the senior couples here, the Hastings. They are from Las Vegas (actual Vegas, not Henderson), and Sister Hastings' maiden name is Christensen. Apparently she is related to Don Christensen, but not our Don a different Don. She "descends from the surgeon instead of the jeweler." I know who the jeweler is, but I was a little unfamiliar with who the surgeon was. I'm sure one of you all know. The other thing I wanted to mention was the song "Called to Serve." We do have a third verse on Square and it lists all the places we come from around the world. I love the last line, "See all nations flow unto it, our lovely Temple Square."
Another thing, apparently the Sisters keep record of their family trees. Not real family trees, but training trees. Your "mom" is your trainer and "grandma" is your trailer's trainer. When a sister finds out she is training next transfer she is "expecting" It's very funny obviously. My great grandmother is Sister Emily Christman. No wonder Sister Sims is my trainer! Sister Sims and I also have the same birthday. I am younger by about an hour. Next thing, in case you didn't know, we have church in the Joseph Smith memorial building. It is gorgeous and if you ever come to the square I would recommend seeing it. Last Sunday we sang "I am a child of God" for the closing hymn. As I began singing I heard a multitude of voices singing along in their native tongues. It was so beautiful to hear. I wish everyone could hear the beauty of 200 Sisters singing in harmony.
One more thing I wanted to mention. My district leader is an awesome Sister named Sister Kearns from Texas. I also had an Elder Kearns in the district at the MTC going to Gilbert, Arizona. You guessed it, they are siblings. What a small world that I would have siblings in my first two districts.
Now I can talk about some of the exciting things from this week. It was pouring rain on Wednesday, it just would not stop. Guess I should start getting used to the different weather patterns here. Luckily, we have access to the underground tunnels to move from building to building without getting wet. This week we decided to start a new tradition. We wanted to do something nice in secret to Sisters we think need it. So we went to the store to get cookie dough for a sick sister in our district. As we went to the check out, a member approached us named Susan Peterson. She loving paid for our cookie dough that we were able to make for the Sisters. Our goal is to keep doing this for a set of Sisters every week.
We also had Fleet Training this week. This told us the rules for using the mission vehicles. We have ten Van's that we can sign up for on our P-day. We are allowed to use them for 3 hours each week. Hopefully, within a few weeks I will be able to complete the tests needed to be passed off as a driver. Sister Sims was so excited because in 9 months she has yet to have a companion that could get passed off as a driver. Because of licensing laws in Utah, really the only sisters that can drive are the USA sisters. We'll see in a few weeks.
On Saturday we did exchanges with the assistants to the president. They are very nice and wanted to get to know the seven new sisters and their trainers. This was the only transfer they could do this because next transfer 22 new sisters are coming to the square, followed by a few groups of 30. We also found out that a girl we referred, KJ, is on date to be baptized this week! This could be my second baptism. It's not usually this good, so I'm grateful to the Lord for giving me these blessings at the start of my mission. The last cool thing this week is my first chance at contacting. When we have really big tours of 30-50, one companionship gives the tour, and another companionship, the contactors, help to guide the tour. We contacted for a mandarin tour. Needless to say, I understood nothing being said.
One of the French sisters asked if my family came from Denmark. Apparently the ending "sen" implies Danish descent. The things we learn everyday. Last thing, throughout this week many sisters asked me if I spoke German. I had no idea why. Finally I asked one sister and she said that they might have been stalking my Facebook just a little. They noticed the German comment from my aunt on my profile picture. Maybe I will just have to learn to speak German. I'll think about it.
Over all the mission is enlightening and a lot of fun. Sister Sims showed me this great talk called "Why 1820?" This explains some reasons why God waited until 1820 to restore the church to the world. I will include a link and I would encourage all interested to read it. I love you all so much, and I'm grateful for all the blessings in my life. I think about them each day. Being here and having a living family at the top of the list. See you all next week!
Pictures include:
Our Chapel in the JS memorial building
Me at the Salt Lake City Planetarium
The temple from the 10th floor of JSM
Tornado machine from planetarium
Mandarin Tour
Staircase to Heaven (in assembly hall, we always tell them in goes to heaven, it actually goes to the attic)
Why 1820? (Can be found in the highlights section)
Another thing, apparently the Sisters keep record of their family trees. Not real family trees, but training trees. Your "mom" is your trainer and "grandma" is your trailer's trainer. When a sister finds out she is training next transfer she is "expecting" It's very funny obviously. My great grandmother is Sister Emily Christman. No wonder Sister Sims is my trainer! Sister Sims and I also have the same birthday. I am younger by about an hour. Next thing, in case you didn't know, we have church in the Joseph Smith memorial building. It is gorgeous and if you ever come to the square I would recommend seeing it. Last Sunday we sang "I am a child of God" for the closing hymn. As I began singing I heard a multitude of voices singing along in their native tongues. It was so beautiful to hear. I wish everyone could hear the beauty of 200 Sisters singing in harmony.
One more thing I wanted to mention. My district leader is an awesome Sister named Sister Kearns from Texas. I also had an Elder Kearns in the district at the MTC going to Gilbert, Arizona. You guessed it, they are siblings. What a small world that I would have siblings in my first two districts.
Now I can talk about some of the exciting things from this week. It was pouring rain on Wednesday, it just would not stop. Guess I should start getting used to the different weather patterns here. Luckily, we have access to the underground tunnels to move from building to building without getting wet. This week we decided to start a new tradition. We wanted to do something nice in secret to Sisters we think need it. So we went to the store to get cookie dough for a sick sister in our district. As we went to the check out, a member approached us named Susan Peterson. She loving paid for our cookie dough that we were able to make for the Sisters. Our goal is to keep doing this for a set of Sisters every week.
We also had Fleet Training this week. This told us the rules for using the mission vehicles. We have ten Van's that we can sign up for on our P-day. We are allowed to use them for 3 hours each week. Hopefully, within a few weeks I will be able to complete the tests needed to be passed off as a driver. Sister Sims was so excited because in 9 months she has yet to have a companion that could get passed off as a driver. Because of licensing laws in Utah, really the only sisters that can drive are the USA sisters. We'll see in a few weeks.
On Saturday we did exchanges with the assistants to the president. They are very nice and wanted to get to know the seven new sisters and their trainers. This was the only transfer they could do this because next transfer 22 new sisters are coming to the square, followed by a few groups of 30. We also found out that a girl we referred, KJ, is on date to be baptized this week! This could be my second baptism. It's not usually this good, so I'm grateful to the Lord for giving me these blessings at the start of my mission. The last cool thing this week is my first chance at contacting. When we have really big tours of 30-50, one companionship gives the tour, and another companionship, the contactors, help to guide the tour. We contacted for a mandarin tour. Needless to say, I understood nothing being said.
One of the French sisters asked if my family came from Denmark. Apparently the ending "sen" implies Danish descent. The things we learn everyday. Last thing, throughout this week many sisters asked me if I spoke German. I had no idea why. Finally I asked one sister and she said that they might have been stalking my Facebook just a little. They noticed the German comment from my aunt on my profile picture. Maybe I will just have to learn to speak German. I'll think about it.
Over all the mission is enlightening and a lot of fun. Sister Sims showed me this great talk called "Why 1820?" This explains some reasons why God waited until 1820 to restore the church to the world. I will include a link and I would encourage all interested to read it. I love you all so much, and I'm grateful for all the blessings in my life. I think about them each day. Being here and having a living family at the top of the list. See you all next week!
Pictures include:
Our Chapel in the JS memorial building
Me at the Salt Lake City Planetarium
The temple from the 10th floor of JSM
Tornado machine from planetarium
Mandarin Tour
Staircase to Heaven (in assembly hall, we always tell them in goes to heaven, it actually goes to the attic)
Why 1820? (Can be found in the highlights section)
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