Week #11

Aloha!!!

Hello my loves! Don't worry, I'm not dead. I got transferred!! I am no longer serving in the Beehive House which is bittersweet. Now my assignment is to be at West Gate on the Square, and my companion is still Sister Daniilakis!! (Horray!! I kept worrying that she was jinxing us when saying that she bet we would still be together because they rarely separate comps when training, which by the way happened to someone else in my class. Her trainer got sent outbound!) That also means that for the next 6 weeks my P-Day will be on Saturday.

So, West Gate. What that means is that I sit in the office that is right next to West Gate. There is only one other companionship besides us, and we rotate shifts in the day. (Sometimes we get covered by Zone Leaders when we have lunch.) Whenever someone requests a tour in English or in another language (We had Korean, Portuguese, Thai, Tagalog and German today just to name a few) we arrange it. We send group texts and call sisters to make it happen. If there are any questions about the surrounding area or Temple Square itself, we answer them. That is a little hard because I have only been here six weeks and don't know the layout outside of Temple Square yet, so it's a little intimidating. It is SO fun and I love it! The sisters here on the square are hesitant about this assignment because of how demanding it is and busy, but I love it! I am so grateful for the jobs that I had before I came on my mission that prepared me to be computer and phone savvy, it's a huge blessing!

I also got passed off as a driver last week, which is awesome because we were in dire need. That also meant that I was qualified to be an airport sister, which means that I and my comp went to the airport and greeted sisters when they got off the plane from outbound and helped them with their luggage and connected them with drivers or drove them ourselves. It was a very long day that started at 4:55 am and ended at 10pm. We got forgotten twice, a poor sister was coming from Maryland and her ride never came and our ride when the night was through forgot us, and we'd still be there but luckily they came through in the end! :) I love being a missionary. When I first arrived here, there were a lot of people that weren't very nice to us because we were missionaries, but since then I have had many encounters that people have been nice to us for the exact same reason. People at the airport would just come up and talk to us with no introduction, it was very fun. I actually got to greet a Sister Mauvis Lautiki, she was ward conductor before I received a calling that included that position in 20th ward at BYU Hawaii. I saw her when I came for conference in April 2011 and told her I was going to serve a mission. She said, "Oh! maybe you'll serve here!" Little did she know....:) She had no idea I was here until she saw me. It was very fun. And there is yet another Sister here on her mission from that ward. I think we're at about 8 sisters from that ward or in my other ward 1st ward at Hawaii serving here. I'm going to write my Bishop today and let him know that he definitely did something right for there to be so many missionaries. And it goes to show how important it is to always be nice to people if it's any motivation, you never know what's going to happen.

And on that note, I have to say that there are many people who need their mothers to come and wash their mouths out with soap to clean up their language. Only problem is, I'm not sure the world has enough soap for that task! :) It's fun to get inbound calls, they are the best and the....best. Because then you have crazy stories to tell about how people come on saying that they have demons telling them what to do, and that we need to save our souls. It's great! Because then you can turn the conversation around and kill them with kindness and help change their perception about the church. And you also get to giggle at some of the prank calls, I worry about some people becuase they must not have alot to say their vocabulary being so limited to foul language. :) And the intelligence of what they say make you wonder if they have ever tried breathing underwater. :)

I had a crazy inbound call, some people from India who "spoke English" called in. My comp was laughing at me as I patiently tried to understand them, it took about 30 minutes to try and get an email. I don't know where they learned their English, but they were pronoucning the alphabet wrong and I was trying to follow them but they started numbering the alphabet like "4th letter" and I would say " 'kay. " as in "all right, next letter" and they'd go "No no! 4th letter alphabet D!" It took me a while to figure out why they were saying that. At the end of the call I just hang up and we laughed and laughed. Good news is that I transferred them to someone that speaks Hindi here, and she is now teaching them.

I also have had some people sightings, those that most people may know or not know. I saw Robert D. Hales in the parking garage, and he was in a wheelchair and dropped something. I rushed up to help him and pick it up and when I recognized him, I froze. Like a deer in the headlights. Missionaries are not supposed to approach the General Authorities so I stood there, unsure of what to do, but the security guard that was pushing him picked it up and helped him. We smiled at each other, and I continued sad and embarassed that I couldn't help him. I also saw Jeffrey R. Holland across the square receving a tour, and I was giving an acoustic demonstration in the Tabernacle to Pres. Gordon B. Hinckely's son, but I couldn't see him because my contacts don't let me see things clearly anymore. (That has made some funny experiences here on the square, let me tell you! People recognize me and rush up and I stand there debating to run or embrace because I don't know who they are! :D) I also saw Ermelinde Serge (?) I'm not sure if that's correct, I wrote her name in my other planner. I was coming out of Beehive house and I saw her, she was wearing neon pink shoes and I called after her that I loved them and that started conversation. I told her where I was from and she said, "Oh I know some people from spokane, but I bet you don't know them. It's a big city." I asked her to give me a try,...turns out she was referring to the Brown family! Brother Brown converted her family on his mission to France, and she was here visiting! Small world! So we talked about Kyle and Kendra for a bit, and then parted ways. I also got to see Sister Mulloy and Jason Guffey! Heather Guffey-Lake's brother! It was a fun encounter, it was great to put the face with the name I've heard so much about.

Mom, don't worry about pictures. I'd love them, but know how it is with trolls. I hope you find the camera very soon! I can't wait to see Mitzyn. I talk about him and Delilah all the time. My new President and Wife like to make alot of analogies with horses, so I think about them oft. And another reason why Temple Square is the perfect mission for me is that they have carriage rides for hire with the tourists. The drivers and my companion are very nice and let me get my horse fix and pet them and talk to them. There is a part of my heart that can only be warmed with horses, I'm so glad that Heavenly Father made this possible for along with countless other ways that He has blessed me.

My prayers are with Rik. Thank you Mom for telling me about the fast, but I don't think I can participate. The white handbook says not to participate in fasts from home if I remember correctly, I'll double check but I'm pretty sure. Please keep me updated on his health. I pray for him and the family often and use his example when I speak with guests.

And Mom, I also wanted to tell you something. I was talking to a woman on the square who was telling me about her parenting methods (meaning advice she gives to her kids ie. "I hope you learn from her being mean to you, because now you know how it feels and not only can you empathize with others who feel that way, but you won't do it to others.") I told her that she reminded me alot of you, and when she said that she hoped that was a good thing, I told her it was the highest compliment I could give her. Thank you for all you do. I love you very much. I will respond to your email when I write you today.

We get to go to Walmart today! We haven't gone since January 1st week, and I'm excited fro new food! I've eaten more things with hot sauce which I have recently become addicted to than in my entire life. I had oatmeal, leftover alfredo noodles from a box my comp made, and kettle popcorn for breakfast all covered with tabasco sauce. (Not the popcorn) Yummy! Who said you can't eat crazy things on Temple Square? (Oh yeah, I also tried raw salmon with wasabi and soy sauce, it's good!)

Something I have thought alot oabout this week is obedience. PMG teaches us that obedience is the first law of heaven. I have reflected on how this has impacted my life as I invite you all to do so. When we obey the Lord's commandments through it's multiple sources, we are blessed. We may not always recognize it when it happens, or it may not come soon, but we have that promise from our Father in Heaven because He wants to bless us. He loves us, and is waiting for us to to our part so that He gets to do His. I know that God loves us, and I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and I'm so grateful that we have antoher prophet today, Pres. Monson, to lead and guide us.

I love you!

Love Forever and Always,

Sister Eden Marie