Mission Moments

What an amazing few weeks we have had. In the short time we have been serving as missionaries, we have gained an incredible appreciation for Temple Square, missionary service, young sister missionaries, the Gospel, leaders, and our ancestors who were so dedicated and sacrificed so much. There has not been a day that we have not had a gospel discussion with people from all over the world. Most of the people who come want to know who we are and how the Church came to be. Some have never heard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But the one common thread we hear is "What is it that makes you people so happy?" Most are genuinely interested, but once in a while there are people who get somewhat agitated, like a man from Germany who walked away from his wife yesterday because she said she would like to go on a tour with the sister missionaries. Our main responsibility is to encourage the visitors to go on a tour . When they do that, they not only learn about the history of the buildings, but a little about the Church as well. Of course, once they are with the sister missionaries, the spirit does the work.


We have had such interesting conversations with visitors. I talked to a couple from Germany on Saturday, they were not familiar with our religion and they were so intrigued with what they had seen and felt. I saw them again on Monday, and they had spent their time seeing every video and building here. They had so many questions for which they were finding answers. They of course filled out a referral for the missionaries to visit and bring a Book of Mormon when they get back to Germany. I only wish we would be able to follow them for the rest of the story........


Tuesday we had the opportunity to have a backstage tour of the conference center. This picture is on top of the conference center with several of the sister missionaries


This morning we went with some of the other senior missionaries and a few sister missionaries to Little Cottonwood Canyon where the rock for the Salt Lake Temple was quarried. It was so interesting as our presenter told us how the rock was quarried, transported, and eventually used in the building.
This is as we were searching the rockbed for our own stones.
It is unbelieveable how the temple was built. As you can see, our days are not all work. However, the hours on our feet are long, but we are slowly adjusting. We are loving our mission!

We had a great surprise last Saturday. Mitch called to say he was at our house in St. Anthony and wondered what we needed him to get while he was there. They were planning on coming down in a couple weeks and he said it would be easier for him to get the stuff while he was there, rather than make another trip to get it. I gave him a big list to gather. About four hours later Wayne hears a knock on the door and opened it. He didn't see anyone, but then he looked down and there was Alexa and Tanner! Mitch, Cari, Natalie and Justin were around the corner. We were so excited to see them. We miss our Grandkids so much (of course we miss their parents too) but it made our day. It was so fun to see them even if their visit was short. That is one of the blessings of serving here - our kids get to visit!