Sister Takeshige at Temple Square: Aug 3, 2016 "Sunshiny Week(s)"

Hello world! It's been a while. Our P-day switched from Thursday to Tuesday, so that's why I disappeared last week. My new companion is Sister Newlin from North Carolina. She is tiny and fast. Like a mouse. And she is adorable. She speed walks like there's no tomorrow. Taking Mandarin Motorcoaches (Temple Square slang for big group tours with tour companies) with her is a blast. Sister Newlin's first companion was a Spanish speaker, so the kinds of tours and lessons they had were completely different, but Sister Newlin has learned quick! Even though she can't speak Mandarin, we teach together and with wonderful balance. :)

Having a good companion really pays. Even though we were a little lost in the beginning, we learned quickly how to work together and now it feels like most of the tours we give, our guests are happy, and they leave with a clear understanding of what Temple Square is, what our church is, and what we believe. Even though there are no missionaries in Mainland China, at the end of our tour so many of them want to learn more, and they say to us, "We have been looking for religion and I want to read this Book of Mormon."

Many people call us the seed planting mission, since we never again see many of the people we meet and teach on Temple Square. But I feel like all of these wonderful people we meet already have seeds of faith. They've already come a long ways! I would even say that they have sprouted and started budding and we're just the little bit of sunshine and water to help them bloom in their understanding of exactly who God is. It's wonderful to be able to serve in such a way. It's exciting and I never want to do anything else. (The other day somebody on the square said to me "wow, you only have like half a year left! You're almost done!" and I almost slapped him)

The Pioneer Day Parade last week