"I am called of God. My authority is above that of kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my master and He has chosen me to represent Him--to stand in His place, to say and do what He Himself would say and do if He personally were ministering to the very people to whom He has sent me. My voice is His voice, and my acts are His acts; my doctrine is His doctrine.My Commission is to do what He wants done; To say what He wants said; to be a living modern witness in word and in deed of the divinity of his great and marvelous Latter-day work. How great is my calling!"
-Bruce R. McConkie

Friday, January 22, 2010

:-)

HI!!!!

First of all, Mom, I can’t believe your subject title was burrrrr. Ha! You’re killing me! 60 degrees is like a tropical paradise!

Today has started off so well because we had zone conference from 9-1 and now its p-day! For zone conference we were split into three groups and Sister Obrien and I lead a discussion on sharing the Book of Mormon as a powerful testament of Jesus Christ to resolve people’s concerns. It was an hour long and we had to do it 3 times so I was kind of stressed but it turned out WONDERFUL! Each time was a little different and the Spirit was so strong and I learned a lot; there are some amazing Sisters in the mission.

On Sunday, Sister O’Brien and I were walking back to the square from lunch and we stopped to talk to a man who was on his way out. We talked to him for a bit and found out that he was from Haiti and served his mission there, in his home country, about fifteen years ago. He had come to Temple Square to feel the Spirit and receive comfort. Sister Obrien shared with him her favorite scripture Alma 26:37-

“Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.”

His eyes filled with tears and he said, “I do not know if my family is alive. But I do know that my mom is 82 and has the gospel and has lived a good life. I don’t know if it will be in this life or the next, but I know I will see her again.” Even though he had pain in his eyes, I could still see the kind of hope and peace he carried because of the gospel and his faith in Jesus Christ. This experience really helped me to see a more eternal perspective of what is really important. I pray for his family.

This week I took my first VIP tour. VIP tours are interesting because they are with a Church Hosting couple and we have to talk a little bit more about pioneer history and not so much about the restoration and we can’t invite them to meet with missionaries at the end like usual…. as you can imagine this was very painful and difficult for me to. The man we took was a Colonel in the military about to go to Afghanistan and he brought his family to Temple Square the day before he was leaving. He was from Brooklyn and his wife was from the Bronx and I told them about how much I loved going to church with my sister in the Bronx and they were so happy to hear about it! We ended the tour at the Christus and the Colonel’s mother’s eyes filled with tears and she said, “Wow, I feel something here. I can’t explain.” She put her hands over her heart and said, “It’s like He is here with me. I feel something so peaceful” It was a wonderful moment as she so beautifully described what it feels like to feel the Holy Spirit.

Sister O'Brien and I have seen a lot of miracles in the last week but we noticed our sisters were feeling rather discouraged, so we decided we didn't want to have the miracles, we want our sisters to. So we prayed to know where to go to find people and to know which Sisters we could ask to take them on a tour instead of us. The Lord set things up PERFECTLY for us over and over again this week. For example we'd say "3pm we are going to walk to the North and find people for Sister Katterfeld and Ponsoda to take on a tour and we'll bring them inside and meet the sisters in the NVC." And it happens just that smoothly!! This happened over and over again with many different companionships. And the best thing is when the sisters come back and tell us about their wonderful experiences.

The Lord has given me so much and I want others to feel the same joy I feel. And I get to do it all day long! Its awesome! I love you all so much and feel close to you as I pray for you.
Love, Maegan

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