It's in the Eyes

Hello everyone!

We had another fantastic week here in the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission! We met a lot of wonderful people and the weather has been gorgeous! We're certainly so blessed to be here.

1. Sambo got baptized last Saturday! Finally!!! He told us that everything was great - except that the water was freezing! The water heater didn't work, and he said it was so so cold - he thought that after they immersed him that his life had ended. We laughed and said in a way it did... now you're starting a new life with Jesus Christ at your side! But luckily he did survive the freezing baptism haha. (Keep in mind Sambo is 75+ years old) 

2. Austin is getting baptized tomorrow! A month or so ago, Amanda was baptized - we had met her on Temple Square and then worked with her Elders to continue teaching her. She has a son named Austin, and he's 10! He loved listening to the missionaries and he loved going to church, so the missionaries kept teaching him, and he's decided to be baptized too. And he will be baptized tomorrow! We're Skyping in to watch that one again, we're super excited!

3. We had so many great contacts with people this week, we met so many cool people! I definitely think that because we spend a lot of time in the office helping the mission and the missionary department, that the Lord really sanctifies our time spent on Square and online. Here's a funny story: Wednesday, we were in the Tabernacle and these two men came in. They were here for a conference, and I started talking to one and my companion started talking to the other. I don't know much of what was going on with my companions conversation, but with mine at least it was really awesome! He was asking a lot of questions about the church and I was talking to him about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was going so well - when all of a sudden I see security come hurrying in and next thing I know, security has taken over my contact and is talking to my new friend! I was so confused - then my companion nudges me and says hey we need to go now. What in the world was going on??? A few minutes later we said we'd leave, and then invited our two new friends to come with us to the family history library. They had really wanted to see it - security looked surprised, and a little concerned - but let us go. Soo weird! Come to find out the following had happened...

We have different signals in our mission that we can use when we need security. One of them is tapping on or playing excessively with our nametags. So what had happened was that the next sisters had come into the Tabernacle for their shift, and saw my companion tapping on her name tag.. she had been saying she was a missionary, but what these sisters thought was she was trying to communicate that we were in trouble and needed help. So they called security and said "they're touching their nametags"! Security came in and thought that "they're" meant the two men... they thought these guys were touching our nametags and were being weird and that we were in distress and needed out! So security came... and we were really confused until we learned later what had happened. Haha it's fine though, all is well and we love security. They keep us so safe, and we're so blessed.

4. We met a man who speaks 7 languages! He's from South Carolina, and we did not expect him to whip 7 languages out of his back pocket. We heard him speak Mandarin, French, Spanish, and English.. to sisters from those countries! Everyone was impressed. He's really cool, and we're excited to teach him! He asked us what made us choose "the Mormon" versus any other church. We talked to him for a while, and he just told us that he felt something different here than in the other religions he had been to visit previously. He said he saw a lot of corruption in other places and in other churches he had visited, but that here he could see "something in your eyes" that is different and is bright and is good. He said he could really tell that we knew what we believed, and that we genuinely believed it was true. He's super kind, and we love him already.

I really know that this gospel is true and that it blesses and improves lives. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and that because of Him as our mediator, God is able to be just and merciful. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and although I don't understand or know everything, I feel in my heart that the rest will come and I learn more every day. I love that God is loving. 

I hope you all have a great week!

--Sister Black

Courtney Dawn Black <courtney.black@myldsmail.net>

Let the Good Times Roll

Hello everyone!!

I don't have a whole lot of new information since I just sent an email on Monday, but with the transfer I got a new PDay so you can be expecting my emails on Fridays now!

1. We have a very loved investigator who is also what we call an "eternigator" meaning they've been investigating the church for forever with no end in sight. His name is Sambo, and he's originally from Cambodia but lives in the States now. He's so sweet, and we really love him. He's been studying the church since 2007 and he came onto mormon.org in Sister Aguilar (my trainers) first transfer. When Sister Aguilar went outbound, she gave Sambo to me and I've been working with him ever since. To make a long story short, Sambo has made some awesome changes and had some amazing experiences and he's getting baptized tomorrow! We're super happy for him, we have been waiting for him to be baptized for what feels like forever and it's so cool to see him so happy about the choice that he made. We're going to watch it tomorrow via Facebook and we're so excited for him. 

2. Transfer day was crazy - I absolutely love the office though. We work a lot with our mission President and it's super fun to get to know him better. Something I love though is that even though we do a lot of office things, we set a goal this transfer to remember that the most important calling that we have is that of a missionary. The people around us and the people that we're teaching are so much more important than the numbers or the graphs. I'm super excited for what we're doing and learning about in the office, but I'm even more excited to keep growing as a missionary and as a teacher this transfer.

3. My companion! Her name is Sister Mikulecky and she's from California. She's also so so kind. She's really hard working and we have basically the same sense of humor - long story short, we feel like we're hilarious even though no one else does. So we have a lot of fun, it's also really cool for me because she's my first native English speaking companion. It's really nice haha. I'm going to learn so much from her this transfer, about the office things but also about the missionary and the life things. 

I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He loves us. I know that we are all so precious to Him and that we are so loved and so valued. I've only got 2 talks in General Conference that I haven't seen, but my favorite so far was by a man named Massimo De Feo who talked about pure love. I really know that if we reach out to others with love and kindness, that we will find not only more friends but also more faith. Our faith grows as we do what Christ would do, and He loves us so much more than He loves Himself.  I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week! 

--Sister Black

The Office

Hello Everyone!!

This week was great! So many wonderful things happened, and I have exciting news!

1. I'm the new OA! That stands for Office Assistant. I don't know a whole lot of what that will entail, but from what I've been told by past OA's it has a lot to do with numbers and the missionary department. So I'm excited! We share an office, a car, a brain, and a room with the AP's (Assistants to the President) and it's going to be an awesome experience. My speculation on my mission future is as follows: this transfer I'll be trained as the OA, next transfer I will train the new OA, and then I will go outbound. But that's just what I think :) My PDay is being changed to Fridays, and my new companion is Sister Mikulecky! She's from northern California! I'm getting my first American companion!! I'm really excited :)

2. Andrea! Andrea is from Guatemala and she was a self referral through mormon.org. She's so prepared, we've been teaching her, and this week we sent her to the local missionaries. Her missionaries are awesome too, we are going to call her tomorrow and teach her about the Plan of Salvation, and the Elders should be seeing her this week. She's such a prepared person, and she's so kind. Sister Aguilar (my trainer) is jealous because I get all the Guatemalans haha. 

3. Guilermo (also from Guatemala) got confirmed! We were getting a little nervous since he was baptized before conference and he missed the church the next week, but he made it yesterday and got confirmed! So we're really excited for him. He has such a sweet spirit and he's going to be such a strong member of his branch. We really love him.

As the transfer comes to a close, it's crazy to me that I'm now starting my 6th transfer and that I will soon hit my half way point - I'm not ready! I really know that God loves us and is mindful of us in all of our struggles and shortcomings, and that heavens help is just a prayer away. I think what I love most about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we know that we are loved by God and that His ultimate goal for us is to bring us back to live with Him after this life. We are so loved, and we are of infinite worth to our God, I think that's why He sent Jesus Christ here. He knew we would need a Savior, so He sacrificed His Son. And Christ sacrificed Himself for us. We are so loved.

Also, I love you too :) Talk to you Friday!

--Sister Black

The Other Side of Heaven

Hello everyone!

We had a fun week!

1. Service project! We went to This is the Place Heritage Park and helped them clean up some of their ditches. They'd filled up and gotten gross from fall and winter, and they needed some help so we went over there and pulled out our shovels and rakes and went to work! It was actually really fun. By the end of it we were covered in mud, but we could see the difference we had made and knew we had been help to them out. We even made friends with some of the goats and the geese around the park! 

2. Last week after Zone and General Conference was over, President showed us The Other Side of Heaven on our Pday. We are all really excited since John and Jean Groberg are actually coming to Relief Society with us on Thursday to talk about it. Sister Ioane especially loved it, even though Tonga isn't the same as Kiribati it all looked really familiar to her and she enjoyed seeing a bit of "home". Here on Temple Square I feel like I'm in a little piece of heaven on earth. Here in the shadow of the temple surrounded by the beautiful historical buildings built by the faith of the pioneers I can really feel a piece of heaven. I love the people that come here to visit us and I really enjoying talking with them and hearing the perspectives and experiences of so many different people from so many different cultures and languages. I think Temple Square might really be the other side of heaven.

3. Amanda's son Austin is getting baptized on the 21st and we're really excited for him! Amanda has two kids, Austin is the only one old enough to be baptized but Blake is close behind. It's been amazing to see the effect that the gospel has on family relationships. I really know that because of Jesus Christ we are able to heal broken bonds and be united with those we love forever. I feel like in the game of life, God gave us our families to work together as teams to make it back home. I certainly love my family, and feel blessed to be a part of their team.

That's about it for this week - we met quite a few crazies! Last night we even got a security escort home! We are so safe and taken care of here, it's wonderful. I'm almost caught up with conference, I'll definitely be done by the end of this week. Transfers are coming and it's crazy to think that I won't be with Sister Ioane for very much longer, but I'm excited to start a new chapter and for change. That's certainly a blessing here, even though our companions get transferred I'll still see them every day!

I love you all!

--Sister Black

Happy Conference!!

Hello everyone!!

This week was so amazing, we had so many great experiences and overall a really uplifting week. Also, the flowers look so gorgeous - they were beautiful during conference, but this morning as we walked around we decided the angels must have been in the gardens last night because they look even better today!

1. Guillermo got baptized! Guillermo is from Guatemala and has been living in the area for a long time, but hadn't ever come to Temple Square. One day he came, and realized he was missing something in his life. We got to teach him, in Spanish!, and he was baptized on Thursday! It was such a sweet baptism, and it was so great to get to go and to see him make that promise with God. He has such a sweet spirit and is so willing to do whatever it is that God asks Him to do. We sure love him. Also, a member in his ward named Brother Morales brought us two pizzas on Friday... we're so blessed <3

2. Zone Conference was this week! We had it on Wednesday, a lot of changes to the way we do missionary work were announced and it was really an inspiring conference. I was the official pianist and accompanied the hymns, the musical number, and an impromptu performance thanks to President. It was really fun, and we held our conference in the Lion House which is a part of the home of the prophet Brigham Young. Such a cool experience to be in the home of a prophet of God and to be there as missionaries. We are putting more emphasis now on Jesus Christ, it's a change that's been long coming and I'm grateful it's finally here. After all, it is Him that we represent!

3. General Conference was this weekend!! I haven't seen all the sessions yet, so I can't really say I had a favorite talk yet but I hope to see them all this week if we have time. But I was blessed enough to get to attend the Sunday Afternoon session of conference, and it was so amazing! We got to watch the Solemn Assembly on Saturday morning, and I felt such a sweet spirit when we got to stand up and sustain President Nelson as the President of the church. I felt for myself that day that he really is the man that God has chosen to lead His people in this time, and I love the sweet knowledge that we have that there is a prophet on Earth today to lead and to guide us.

4. During conference, there were thousands and thousands of people here on Temple Square - so it was super fun for us! One of my favorite things to do was to go and find returned missionaries and ask them to teach us the first lesson, the Restoration. But with a bit of twist - we asked them to teach it to us backwards! We did this quite a few times and each time was so different, but I loved them all the same. My favorite was when we found these two recently returned missionaries who had served in Argentina, and they taught me in Spanish. They did such a great job and the Spirit was so strong, at the end I asked them what they had learned - they told me of how it made them realize two things, the first that God is a God of order, and second, that they are so grateful to have a living prophet. We talked about how we are really so blessed to have a prophet and to know God's plan for us here, and about how there are people all around us who still don't know about the glorious restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's such a powerful message of hope and deliverance, and we all felt the Spirit so strongly as we talked about being involved in the work of the Lord. It was wonderful, I love serving on Temple Square.

I think that's about it for this week! It was such a wonderful week, full of the Spirit and miracles. I think it's no accident that those two things come together though. I love serving here as a missionary and I love being involved in the work of the Lord. It's really a great blessing that we have here, and I love Temple Square.

--Sister Black