To begin, today is Halloween. Which means that the Square closes at 5:00. Tonight we will be having dinner with our whole mission in the church office building and then we are all going to a session at the Salt Lake Temple! I am still amazed that this Temple can hold all 200 some odd sisters. This will be a great P-day!
Tuesday was my last full day in San Antonio, and we spent the day doing departing activities. We began with making a scrapbook page of pictures from our mission, had lunch and then had the famous marriage talk. Every transfer President and Sister Slaughter always talk about marriage and dating to the departing class, so lucky Sister Armendariz and I got to go as well. We took our notes, and then tucked them away for the next 4-6 months. Definitely shed some good insights though! After that we all went to the Temple, and boy was that amazing. I had been to the San Antonio Temple once before, but being in the celestial room full of missionaries was a powerful experience. There is nothing like being in the Temple!
After the Temple we went to the Slaughter House (mission home) and had a f.e.a.s.t. It was some of the most glorious food I had ever beheld. Honey baked ham, cheese potatoes, green bean casserole, creamed corn, rolls, and my favorite: Cheesecake. Cheesecake truly is the key to my heart. I could eat it all day long. And I did! I ate my piece and finished off 2 other pieces. Yumm yumm yummmm! We then said our goodbyes and went off to bed before we woke up bright and early to catch the plane! We flew back to Salt Lake with about 20 other missionaries that just finished their missions. Some of which I served very close with. Sister Armendariz were the head of the pack, and we headed down the escalators first. Immediately we see about 200 people at the bottom with banners and costumes and balloons. They all pointed to us and said.. "Missionaries! They're coming!" We stepped through the crowd to the sisters who picked us up in the back. We immediately hear a loud booming cheer come from the crowd behind us; the missionaries had arrived. All four of our busted out in tears watching all of these missionaries return home to their families. I await that day, but until then I will do as I did in the air port and press forward.
After a trip to taco bell, we made it back to the Square! I was greeted by every passing Sister with open arms! You never feel more loved than when you come back from outbound. I was reunited with some of my bestest friends; Sister Ferguson, Sister Gee, Sister Yeung, Sister Asay, Sister Christensen, Sister Richardson, Sister Jones, and countless others. I love all of the amazing sisters here. When I saw my Temple Square trainee, Sister Rangel, we busted into tears again! She has grown SO much since I have been gone, and I am so beyond proud of her. Still as saucy as ever. Shortly after, I met my new companion! Sister Brooks; ironic right? Everyone looks as my name tag and says "Ah, Sister Brooke" well everyone loves to practice saying our names together "Sister Brocks and Sister Brook, oh wait no, Sister Brock and Sister Brooks!" It's definitely a tongue twister. She is in her 3rd transfer and she is from California. She is one of the most Christlike people I know, she is very soft spoken, but when she does speak it is
powerful. I love her so much already! This transfer is going to be great, I am serving as a district leader, and we are serving in West Gate! Which is a super fun assignment. We will be in the booth just inside the west gate that is in charge of all the tours on Temple Square. We also have some really fun sister in our district, from Fiji, South Africa, Latvia and somewhere in the US! We have our first District Meeting tomorrow, and I will be giving a training on doctrine, principle and application; how important it is to use all 3 when teaching.
Yesterday we called one of the investigators that Sister Brooks has been working with, her name is Alli. She is one of the most prepared people I have met in my entire life. She meets with the missionaries 3 times a week, goes to devotionals, has family home evening, and stays up to the wee hours of the night reading her scriptures. Her husband joined her and her 3 kids at church this last Sunday and is talking about being baptized as well! She is getting baptized on the 8th of November. Very excited for her. I was also able to get in contact with one of my recent converts; Scott. He has been a member for about 9 months now, and has prepared over 2,000 names for the temple, of which he has personally done 500 of their baptisms. He goes to the Temple weekly and is close to finishing reading the whole quad! I can't express the joy that I felt as I was hearing this. Him and his wife are preparing to be sealed in the Temple on
, one year from his baptism. This is what we are here for, to help families receive all the saving ordinances. To not only be baptized, but to help them enter the Temple and be sealed as a family unit for all eternity. I am so excited for Scott and his family!
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