September 14, 2015

We got to go to the temple! Again. When Sister P and I asked President Gardner if we could go to the temple instead of the game last week, we didn't realize that our zone temple trip was scheduled for the week after. So we got to go 2 weeks in a row! That was really nice. Except now we don't get to go back for 12 weeks.  I hope we survive.

But we had this really cool experience at the temple! After the session we were all sitting and I grabbed some scriptures and opened up randomly and read this verse that I knew Sister Peters would like so I beckoned her over and showed her and she really loved it and then I looked down the page and saw another verse that had to do with something we had been talking about a couple three days ago so I pointed it out and said "Hey this answers your other question," but I don't know why I worded it like that because she hadn't asked me anything, but then she looked at me and was super shocked and she was like, "How did you know? I was literally just praying to Heavenly Father about that!" So that was really cool.

Here's a lovely picture of my awkward zone. The Elkhorn elders are not in this picture because they are very awkward and decided to leave as we were taking a group picture. We told them to come back, but they just threw peace signs over their shoulders and kept walking. Yup, those are our elders.

And then Saturday we got to do this ward project of scraping and painting a house! That was really fun. We got to wear the Helping Hands vests!

​temple selfie!

isn't it pretty?​

​and the sky. It's been a while.

Quote of the Week: "Faith is believing that although we do not understand all things, He does. Faith is knowing that although our power is limited, His is not. Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on Him."

That's from a really cool talk called "But if Not." Here's a link. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/04/but-if-not?lang=eng

Second quote of the week: "It is better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent."

And that's all I have for this week.

~Sister Temp

Well we've officially moved in to our member housing! That's always good. So here in my new official address that you can send stuff to. 2327 South 191st St, Omaha, NE 68130

​It's a pretty nice house. I got my wall put back up! Here's a lovely mirror that shows me taking a picture of it.

We got to go to the LIVE BYU football fireside the night before the big BYU vs. Huskers game. So that was awesome. They did it at our stake center even though the game is happening in Lincoln so we totally lucked out. I was originally gonna root for Huskers because this is Nebraska and it's practically required if you live here, but the fireside changed my mind. The football players are so awesome. And I totally got a couple of their autographs. And then BYU miraculously won the football game at like the last second or something like that (I wouldn't know cuz I didn't watch it) and we were super happy for a second and then we realized that now we can't go tracting for a while because everyone in Nebraska will hate us. But most Husker fans are actually pretty gracious losers so it's not that bad. We haven't had anything thrown at us. Yet. 

Here's a picture of their bus!

Sister Peters and I got to go to the temple on Saturday instead of the football game and it was . . . amazing. I really love going to the temple and feeling the peace of being in God's house. I don't get why missionaries aren't required to go to the temple all the time because we definitely need it. I'm just so glad I got to go. Thank goodness I got transferred to Omaha so we could have that option. If we were too far away (like in York) he said he would've told us no.

The ward is really growing on me. It was weird being in a ward instead of a branch at first and I didn't like it because there were too many people, but now that we're actually getting to know all the people, I kinda like it. Except the elders in our ward are being difficult. They barely talk to us! They don't even say hi. We have to drag any information out of them. So our goal before we leave is to get them to open up enough to greet us someday instead of ignoring us.

Helpful hint: DON'T pray to appreciate the sacrament more. Our mission president told us to make sure our Sabbath is focused more on the sacrament than on getting investigators to church, so I prayed to appreciate it more. And then we only got half the sacrament. On Sunday, the deacons got us the bread but somehow missed our row when they were passing the water. There were only like 5 of us in the row but we stood up and were waving our hands but none of the young men noticed and the bishopric were all too deep in thought to pay attention. So we only got to take the bread. But when we talked to the bishop afterwards, he said that the official rule is "even half is good enough." So it's fine, I just feel so incomplete.  

The bishop is so awesome. He's super inspired. Sister Peters and I had a pretty rough week last week (she got some really not so fun news from home and actually got to talk to her family (which is never good) and being in a new area is just tough in general) and then after church on Sunday the bishop texted us and asked us to come over to his house and he didn't say why so we were a little skeptical about what he wanted. When we got there he fed us cinnamon rolls and ice cream, and then he told us that in church that morning he had been watching us during sacrament meeting and he could tell that we had had a rough week so he thought he would invite us over and give us a break. That was amazing. He's so in tune with the Spirit. He gave us really powerful priesthood blessings too.

​Sister Peters and I found a tooooon of hair crimpers that previous sisters have left here. so we decided to use them one day.

Quote of the week: "Just because God is smiling on someone else doesn't mean He is frowning on you."

Second Quote: "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."

~Sister Temp

August 31, 2015

Well, I'm still in Elkhorn. This is so weird. Yesterday we saw a hot air balloon and it made me think of the York balloon.

We had zone conference last Wednesday and it was the best thing EVER. I love zone conference. President Gardner finally told us we could listen to real music! I can't believe I lasted over 6 months with only motab. But now that that's gone, I feel soooo much better. Tender mercy for making me move to a new area.

We got the weirdest news ever at zone conference too. So like a month ago President Gardner asked us to memorize these 12 scriptures he had sent us and he said if we did there would be a prize. I was expecting candy or something. But then he told us that whoever memorized all 12 would be allowed to go to a members home and watch the BYU vs Huskers game. Hahaha really? Sister Peters and I thought that was so weird. We were kind of excited at first but then we were like, "Actually, I'm not that into football." So after zone conference we went to President Gardner and asked him if instead of watching the game we could go to the temple  AND HE SAID YES! So Sister Peters and I get to go to the temple this Friday! We're so excited. She hasn't been to the temple since she served in Council Bluffs like almost a year ago and I haven't been since the MTC, so we're both really happy.

I never really told you anything about Sister Peters. Maybe that's because I had only known her for like 3 days the last time I emailed. She's from Texas and she's like the most humble person ever. She's a vegetarian, which is kind of sad because people will tell us they're gonna make roast or something and then they're like, oh wait we'll just have salad instead. But this is good for me because I'm going to learn to eat healthier. I made that a goal for this transfer while I was still in York, so naturally the Lord put me with a vegetarian. She goes home at the same time as Sister Brunner in December, so I'll probably be with her for the next 3 transfers until she dies.

If you need something to read, I read this amazing talk by Brad Wilcox the other day called His Grace is Sufficient. Actually, even if you don't need something to read, read it anyway. I'll even put a link here so you have no excuse. https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/brad-wilcox_his-grace-is-sufficient/

We met with the bishop yesterday and he's awesome. He told us that when he became bishop 3 years ago, he made a ward goal: That their entire ward would be translated. Which is kind of a ridiculous goal when you first hear it, but if you think about it, shouldn't that be everyone's goal? Striving to be good enough to be translated? We thought that was really cool. And he told us this awesome quote which is like my new favorite quote ever.

Quote of the week: "Goals are stars to steer ourselves by, not sticks to beat ourselves with."

I've always hated goals because I never reach them and then I feel guilty and it makes me give up, but the point of a goal isn't to reach it or fail, it's just to steer yourself in the right direction. As long as you're moving in the right direction, then your goal is a success, whether or not you actually reach it. And that kind of goes along with the talk I was talking about earlier, so go read it.

And here's another quote of the week because I really like this one too. "Fear is unworthy of a child of God."

That is all.

~Sister Temp