This past week and a half have been packed full of goodness!! I'll try to cover it all in the short amount of time I have.
First, General Conference. Can I get an amen?! I think the general theme of the conference was member missionary work, and really, the time is NOW! Go out there and let people use their agency to choose for themselves if they want to accept the Gospel! It is not our job to choose for them. I went into conference looking for everything that applies to missionary work, and you know what? Everything did. EVERYTHING! But I'd have to say that my favorite part about general conference was when the sister mentioned that "You know you are teaching by the Spirit when you learn something from what you said." I love that. I have seen that countless times here in the MTC. Even when we are simply doing role plays (which we do 90% of the time) you can really feel the spirit so strongly. I have come to really love TRC's, the investigators are all so awesome! You truly feel so much love for them for how little you know about them! I know that as you love and serve others, they will feel of God's love and be more open to the spirit.
We have devotionals every Sunday and Tuesday night here. And guess who was this last Sunday night... that's right VOCAL POINT! It was so fun and spiritual. They shared little 5 min devotionals in between each song, but my favorite one talked about how it doesn't matter how "your clothes my fit" or in other words how your area/companions/everything fits with you, all that matters is the "name on your crest for who you represent". We as missionaries are representatives of Jesus Christ. How cool is that? Often times in class we talk about "If Jesus was your companion, how would He teach?" We also watch a lot of Bible videos and watch how he teaches others. But something really stuck out to me as a missionary. I'm not a teacher, I'm a preacher. I preach the word, but the Spirit teaches the word. Without the Spirit, you cannot be truly converted to the Gospel.
There are some instances where my mind wanders to something it probably shouldn't, not bad necessarily, but definitely something I shouldn't be thinking about on my mission. And I can literally physically feel the Spirit remove itself from me. And that's scary! The spirit is ESSENTIAL!
So we started visitors center training this past Wednesday and we started off with a hurrah! We went to the Square for a few hours and got the "Visitors experience" so we got to go to the little videos and everything. It was so fun! It is amazing how strong the spirit is there. I feel so blessed to be able to serve my mission at a place where the spirit is always present and is SO strong! In typical lessons, it is the first priority, to get the spirit present. How did I get so blessed? Something that we talked about that really stuck out to me was that a lot of people think Temple Square sisters are glorified tour guides... hey even I thought that before I got here! But really we are giving lessons in disguise. Tours=lessons. Our purpose as missionaries is to help people come unto Christ, and that doesn't change just because I'm at Temple Square.
This week in VC (Visitors center) training we started doing online teaching. WOWZERS! I never thought I'd love it so much. We get to do the actual Mormon.org chat here in the MTC, so we're talking to real people with real life problems. It is so great to see how the Gospel can bless their lives, and as I have been focusing on teaching people, not lessons, then they see how the gospel is going to help them in their struggles and frustrations of this life and the next! We have only started doing the mormon.org chat right now, but I heard that we are probably going to be doing facebook proselyting as well in the field. According to our teachers, we will spend just under half our day on the computer teaching. How cool is that?! To be able to teach people ALL over the world, who in some cases, wouldn't be able to hear the gospel otherwise. I have had the opportunity to teach people thus far in London, Haiti, and New York!
Tomorrow we get the opportunity to go to Temple Square and do splits with the Sisters there! So tomorrow is my first day feeling like an actual missionary. I will get to give tours/lessons and just share my testimony with people. I think that's one of the coolest things about my mission, sometimes all they have time for is testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I, as a representative of Jesus Christ, have the ability to promise blessings to people, how awesome is that? And I promise each and everyone of you that as you come closer to Christ, you will feel more happiness and blessings than you ever thought possible. I have seen it in my own life and in my investigators, it is true. The Gospel is true! And the Lord truly does love you, he WANTS to bless you, just come unto Christ. Read your scriptures, say your prayers, UTILIZE the atonement in your life! You WILL feel the blessings from Heaven in your life.
I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is centered around the Atonement. And I really didn't truly understand the atonement before I got here, yes I understood repenting and forgiveness, but there's WAY more to it than that. Using the atonement means making a change in your life. It means turning away from sin and turning toward God! It means to constantly be evaluating yourself and seeing how you can become more like the Savior, and then doing it! The atonement is needed in each and every one of our lives, because everyone needs to change. Everyone needs to become more like the Savior. I have a strong testimony of the atonement and how it can change someone. I have seen it slightly in my life these past 2ish years, but more than ever in these past 2 weeks. I have so much I need to change, and I hope in these next 17 months I can become the missionary my Father in Heaven wants me to me. I challenge you all to read 2nd Nephi 31, and look for what the Gospel of Jesus Christ IS! (aka the doctrine of Christ) Just like someone said in our devotional last Tuesday, "The atonement is not part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it IS the Gospel of Jesus Christ!" I love that. The atonement is the only way we are going to return to live with our Heavenly Father again, so learn it, live it and love it!!!
Keep being awesome and continue to do the things that will bring you unto Christ, because that's what brings happiness.
I can't say enough that this is truly the church Christ established on the Earth, restored in these latter days to the fullness of the Gospel! It's true!!
Love you all,
Sister Brock
(Happy belated birthday dad, and happy birthday Micah!! Garrett, I want to hear how your internship in Texas is going, so write meee!!)
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