Oct 25, 2016 " Big Friendly Giant"

SO THIS WEEK:

I got a new companion! Her name is Sister Parks, and she is from Oklahoma. This is her last transfer, so this will be the fourth companion that I send home.

Sister Parks is 6 ft/182 cm tall.

 

(That's not me in the picture with her)

Sisters Parks is a Big Friendly Giant. She is the friendliest human being I have ever met. At the beginning of the transfer I had a kajillion questions to ask her, because we have some assignments that are new for me, like serving in the Humanitarian Center. Sister Parks very patiently answered every single one of them, without any frustration or hint of annoyance. Every single person that she talks to seems to be interested in everything she has to say. She is a great missionary because people can just feel the love that she has for them. People accept Book of Mormons from her and accept to continue learning about the church because Sister Parks is magical. 

The Humanitarian Center is a part of the welfare program of the church. It's where all of the items donated to the church are sorted and packed to be shipped to all parts of the world. It's also a place for many people who are in need of job skills to be trained. There is one set of Temple Square missionaries who are assigned to be there one day of the week, so that people who are curious about the Humanitarian efforts of the church can go and learn and take tours with us.

I'm serving there for the first time tomorrow, so more details to follow.

We also had the opportunity to take a group of International missionaries from the Missionary Training Center around Temple Square today. The MTC teacher asked an interesting question today while we were in the Conference Center: "How does your purpose as a missionary relate to the purpose or role of a Prophet?" 

And my companion said, "It's the same." 

That made me think quite a bit. Our missionary purpose is "to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the Restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end." As we listen to the Prophet and apostles and other church leaders speak, we are motivated to change, repent, and improve. Those feelings we feel as we listen to them are the same feelings that our investigators feel when we talk to them. That makes me happy because this last General Conference, I really was humbled and shown many ways that I can change and become better. I was excited to receive those revelations. 

So yeah. That's what happened this week. 

This is the only other thing: