Week #19

May 19, 2012

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the especially wonderful emails this week!! 

I LOVED talking to you on Sunday!!! That was the highlight of my mission. :) I really, really enjoyed it. Thank you for being so supportive and loving! I feel so lucky to have such a great support system. There are some sisters here that are afraid to go home after their missions because there families completely exiled them when they left. One sister, a couple transfers ago, told us that she literally didn't know what was going to happen to her when she got back, but she knew the Lord would take care of her. It's amazing how much strength and courage these sisters have!! So again, thank you for always being there for me, for writing me each week, and for sharing your testimonies with me. It strengthens mine SO much. I need all the strength I can get! :) I love you all so much!

Mom, thank you for being the best mom in the WORLD!! :) No one measures up to you. You truly are a virtuous woman. I love you so much and hope that I can someday be half the woman you are! :) I love you!!

Also, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CHRISTIE & BROOKS!!! (or should I say, Crooks! ;)) Sounds like you had a great day. :) Every year after this will just get better and better! :)

I had a great week. It was busy, but good. We had a motor coach come yesterday with almost 50 people in it-- it was kind of nerve-racking, but it was super fun. Sister Crookston had never taken a motor coach on tour before, so this was her first time! We ended up only having about 20 minutes, which is not very long... and it is very difficult to get 45 people moving around the square!! 

I saw TIM WRIGHT on Tuesday!!! It was SO much fun to see him!! It was my first time seeing him on the square, too! The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is recording in the Tabernacle right now, so they have been there every night this week, and I decided to get my companion to walk about the Tabernacle during their break, and sure enough we ran right into Tim! :) It was so much fun to see him! He is such a great man. I'm always reminded of what a good person he is when I see him, and how much he did for our family. So glad I finally got to run into him! :)

Wednesday was a crazy day!! We started off the morning going to the Temple, which was, of course, wonderful. I love how peaceful it is in the temple. It is such a wonderful place to think and ponder. I love the temple!! Sister Crookston and I decided to go to the Lion House for her birthday, because her family sent her a gift card to there. :) It was so good! But after about 10 minutes of eating we got a call telling us we were needed at Welfare Square RIGHT then to take youth around for their Mutual activity. Can you say crazy?!!! We literally stuffed our food into a to-go box and left, ha! "Sacrifice brings forth blessings!" :) (That's our motto everyday here. We left our meals on the table several times this week to take a tour, ha. It's crazy, but we see so many blessings from it!) It was so much fun! Those kids were so wonderful. I love the youth so much! We were able to give a tour for a youth conference tour again this morning, with the theme "Called to Serve." It went so well!! We had a whole stake here though, so it was super crazy! 

We talked to one of Sister Crookston's investigators, Wanda. She is from the South, and she is SO awesome!! We taught her yesterday just about the Pre-earth life and the Book of Mormon, and she literally told us, "Oh yeah! I know about the Pre-earth life, we call it the Pre-existence!" ... !!! We were almost speechless, ha ha!! This woman is so prepared, its amazing! We read her 2 Nephi 25:26, explaining the Book of Mormon’s purpose, and she said, "Wow . . . That is so beautiful!" We are hoping and praying that the missionaries get back there soon! They came once but her husband (who is not interested) answered the door and scared them off... but we committed her to come to our church tomorrow, so hopefully she comes!

We have a few baptism dates!!! Kelli-anne from New Jersey is June 2nd, but she just moved back there from North Carolina, so I think it will now be a few weeks after. Gary came back as well and has a date for June 9th! I didn't tell you this, but Gary ran away... literally, he ran away 6 days before he was supposed to get baptized, lol! But he is back now and meeting with the missionaries in his new area, so now worries! :) Mariah is still set for May 26th but we're worried about her smoking problems... We put all of our investigators’ names in the temple. I know those prayers can work!

I've been studying Faith recently due to Brad's encouragement to be more faithful (thanks Brad!). Faith is not just accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior. Faith is a principle of POWER. In Preach my Gospel, it says, "God works by power, but His power is usually exercised in response to faith (see Moroni 10:7). He works according to the faith of His children. Doubt and fear are opposed to faith."

He works according to the faith of His children! That's been a great lesson to me on my mission. We actually become better acquainted with Jesus Christ and His teachings through diligent (steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort) study, prayer, dedicated service (in my case, my missionary work), and obedience to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and His commandments. Obedience to the promptings of the Holy Ghost is still coming... I still struggle to recognize the promptings at times. Sister Crookston and I will have the same thought come to our heads, and neither of us react on it, and we realize it was the Spirit. It's a good thing to learn, even though we've been learning it the hard way. :)

I need to get going now. You are all so wonderful! Thank you for your love and support. Jeff, thank you for both of those emails!! I haven't read them yet, but I know how busy you are... Please don't feel like you have to write me long emails if you don't have time!! Really! I'll keep praying for you and for your big test!

I love you all soooo, so much! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Nat Savage

Week #18

Hi Family!

My new P-day is Saturday! :) It was kind of fun to have another p-day this week. Most sisters miss their p-day when transfers happen, but we were able to have two this week. Congratulations Jeff and Emily on another BEAUTIFUL baby girl!!! Wow, she is seriously gorgeous!! So excited for you two. I wish I could've been there with you! :(

My new companion is Sister Natasha Crookston from Bear Lake, Idaho. She is SO awesome!! Very, very sweet girl. It's fun teaching people on the phone with her, because we refer to ourselves as our first names, so its Natalie and Natasha! :) Cute huh? I love Sis Crookston so much already. She is a wonderful girl! She's only one transfer ahead of me, so this is her first time being Senior comp, but she is doing awesome at it!! :) I feel so blessed to work with a Sister who is so obedient and diligent. It helps the work so much.

I have new roommates, too! They're awesome! Sister Kurutz is from Pismo Beach, CA, and she's training a new sister from Latvia!! And guess who she met in the MTC?!!! The one-and-only Sister Madison Gallacher!!! HA! Can you believe that?!! So awesome. I love how small this world is. Her name is Sister Zommerovska (I think thats right?) She gave me Maddie Gallacher's address so I'll be sending her a letter about this fun discovery! :) What are the odds, right?!

So my new schedule is a little disappointing for Sister Crookston and I, but that's okay! We do the Beehive house tours on Wednesdays for the sisters that have P-day on that day, and then we do 2 Welfare Square van tours a week, but only 2 tours a week... :( but I have to say I LOVE Welfare Square!! And, I actually saw Rick Ebert there when I went yesterday, ha! I just didn't realize it was him.  :)

We took the most AMAZING tour yesterday. We had a lady named Carol, who is investigating the church right now.  She wants to get baptized super bad, but is having some Word of Wisdom issues she has to deal with.  We took her first to the South Visitors Center and then showed her the temple, etc. You can see it in her eyes. She LOVES this gospel so much! It is so amazing to see someone so ready to accept truth. She totally knows when she's feeling the spirit, and can very easily recognize truth when she hears it. SO awesome. :)

We then took her up to the Christus statue in the North Visitors Center and played the narration for her. When we were walking up, I had the impression that I should share a scripture with her from the Book of Mormon when Jesus Christ appears to the people in the Americas in 3 Nephi. It took me a second to think of the scripture, but I FOUND IT!! (I have been helped SO much by the spirit lately with scriptures!! I'm starting to remember them better and better.) After the narration she just cried. Sister Crookston asked her how she felt, and she said "Amazing!" And then I asked her if I could share a scripture with her, and she said yes. 3 Nephi 11:14 says:  "14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may ^athrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may ^bfeel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the ^cGod of Israel, and the God of the whole ^dearth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."

As I started reading it, I began to cry. I could hardly even see the words on the page ha! It was one of the very few times that I have cried on a tour, but the spirit was SO incredibly strong. You could feel it’s thickness in that room.

I love this gospel. I know with all of my heart its true!! One of the best things that I have learned while on my mission is how much the Lord loves all of us, his brothers and sisters. My testimony of the Savior has grown more than I could have ever possibly imagined. I am so thankful for all of you, for your love and support during my mission. I pray for you daily, and think of you often. Read the scriptures. there is nothing in this world that will bring you closer to Jesus Christ than the words of his prophets. I am truly humbled and blessed to be here on a mission. As inadequate as I am, as prideful as I can be, he uses me to be His tool, and an instrument in his hands. 

Alma 29: 9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

Mosiah 23:10 Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his hands in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of his truth.

Scripture for the week: Moroni 7: 48  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love (charity), which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

I love you all. Until next week! 

Sister Savage

Week #17

Hi Fam!!

I hope everyone is doing well. :)  Last p-day we went bowling with a lot of the sisters in my zone-- it was SO much fun!! And we were even able to wear pants in public!! Ha! Only for bowling and the zoo can we do that, which is pretty fun. :) Sister Crookston and I are excited to have a p-day that's more relaxing today. :) It’s her birthday today!!! We took her sister and her sister’s fiance on a tour today too. Her sister's fiance isn't a member of the church, but he is getting baptized next week, so it was fun to help him realize that this choice is the right one for him. It was a good experience.

I am totally in love with Welfare Square!! It is such a great venue. So cool to see all that our fast offerings go to! It is truly an inspired program. We only get to take 2 tours a week there, but we're loving it. Its a great opportunity. Of course, that also means that I get to learn & get familiar with 2 new scripts (Welfare Square and the Beehive house).... Ha ha. Let's just say it is a little bit overwhelming!! But it has been a great experience. The first couple of times on a tour I basically just bore my testimony about what Sister Crookston was saying.  But I've been able to pick up a few things here and there, especially at the Beehive house. We are there on Wednesdays for literally 8 hours straight giving tours, so I pretty much am forced to pick up on the script quick! :) It's nice for us as missionaries having a script, because we can basically tell them as much or as little as possible... I've learned a LOT about the Beehive house. Something in particular that I learned, I will share in my personal letter to mom. :) You'll love it fam!! It seriously makes the Beehive House such a special, and almost sacred place. I feel much more blessed now than I did before to be able to work there once a week.

I'll tell you one thing... the Beehive House is SUCH a hard venue to work at!!! And honestly, the members are usually the worst. They always come in and completely kill the spirit by asking how many wives Brigham Young had, or how many children he and Mary Ann had together compared to Lucy Decker. It can be very frustrating. This is a special place that these people are coming to. This is literally where 3 prophets of God have lived. Brigham sacrificed SO much!! He wasn't just the prophet of the church, he was the governor of Utah, director of Indian Affairs, and he had his family that he had to take care of. Despite all of this, he still had his family gather in a room together every night at 6:30 pm and read the scriptures, sing hymns, and learn more about Jesus Christ together.  After learning so much about Brigham Young’s life and the sacrifices he made, I have developed a much deeper love and respect for him. He was a great man and servant of the Lord.

This week has been a little bit tough. Long Su and his family met with missionaries once, but his wife and kids started to go to another church for a couple weeks and decided they liked it. (They never went to one of our services.) Long Su told us that it didn't make sense to him to go to a different church than his family was going to, so he decided to just go with this church for now and stop investigating ours. We asked him if he had been able to read the Book of Mormon at all, and he said no. I was completely devastated. I don't think I've ever felt so much sadness during the mission. I actually cried! (That doesn't happen to often!) But then it got worse. Just Thursday, we called Melinda to see how she was doing and if she was getting excited for her baptism (scheduled for May 14th), and she told us that she had stopped meeting with the missionaries and had canceled her date. We kept asking her why, but she just kept saying "I just don't believe it. I don't believe that prophets exist. I don't believe that they have authority... I'm just going to go to the church I grew up with and read the Bible." Sister Crookston and I (mainly me) tried to explain to her why prophets are so important, especially that they have that authority directly from God to run his church and receive revelation for us, but it wasn't working. We weren't listening to her real concern, what really was happening. We talked for a long time after that about what just happened. Sis Crookston and I realized that the spirit was telling both of us to be quiet and LISTEN to her, but ignored those promptings. I felt so horrible after, I literally felt sick to my stomach. I knew that the Holy Ghost was trying to help Sister Crookston and I out, but we weren't listening. We weren't letting him guide. I didn't have enough humility to hear the spirit's soft whispering.

I learned a huge lesson that day. It truly is the spirit that speaks to people, not us. That's the only way we can help others is through the Holy Ghost. That is the only way they can feel what we are saying is true. But we also need LOVE! These investigators NEED to feel loved by us. We realized after that she probably didn't feel love from us at all while we were talking to her. We didn't even take the time to consider her side, how she was feeling about all this. I think Melinda was feeling overwhelmed with everything and just completely gave up trying to understand. Love is so, so important for these people to feel from us. There's no reason for them to listen to us if we don't love them. The Savior showed us this example, and truly, "We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19) Please pray for me to have humility and love for the people that Sister Crookston and I teach on the square and on the phone. I think humility and love will help me be a much more effective missionary.

Well family, I love you lots. Thank you for the emails and prayers. I really do feel them daily! Christie, if you are able to come up, don't come on my p-day because I for sure won't see you. :) I won't really be on the square, ha.

Love you all so much!

Sister Savage