Tuesday Mar 19, 2013
Transfer 6, Week 5: Aloha Oi, Mitt Romney, I'm a Mormon, and D baptizes his Mom

Aloha family and friends!!!

I know you're all wondering - am I going Outbound next transfer? No! But half my class is. I'm staying there at Temple Square and finishing up training Sister O, and going to be here for Conference now! (Yikes! It's that time again already?!) But I'll probably be gone Outbound the next transfer just in time for Mother's Day.... :)

*** BUT my new Pday is Wednesday. So yes. I will be emailing again tomorrow. WRITE ME! Before then :) Love you all. 

 

So the Assembly Hall Music from Around the World Concert we were really working hard to put together was a huge success. Thanks for all those who came! It made it really special too! The Lord is really blessing me as a violinist. It's amazing.

First and foremost, please pray for S. We haven't heard from him since Thursday, so we don't know if he was baptized or not. His family is not supportive so he needs your prayers.

However, something kind of amazing did happen! On Saturday, Sister G from North Carolina was in the Teaching Center and asked how I knew a D. S. I was so shocked. He was baptized in my 2nd transfer if you recall and I haven't been able to reach him since!  Turns out, D and his wife brought his mom to Temple Square and Sister G took them into God's Plan area, and she wanted missionaries, and Sister G told me that yesterday, D went back to California and BAPTIZED his Mom because He's had the Priesthood and he's fully active and it's great. He said to say hi to me when she was on the phone with his mom. They're going to wait until his mom can come with them through the Temple before they get sealed. 

TENDER MERCY. That's so neat.

Other cool thing - guess who emailed us out of the blue? M from Flowermound!!! Yes!! And yes, mom and dad, he's gonna call y'all and would LOVE to have dinner at your house. He went to church in Flower mound on Sunday and the FIRST lady he spoke with there at church happened to house the missionaries there! Miracle - I think yes. So he's gonna get a hold of them and we're going to get this young man all of the blessings God has in store for him!

 

Another cool thing is that we ran into none other than Mitt Romney and his wife and one of his sons. It was pretty crazy. 

And we met Paris, from I'm a Mormon (http://mormon.org/paris) at the food court when we were getting lunch. So it's been a kind of a celebrity-filled day. 

So a scripture I've been thinking about lately is Doctrine &Covenants 58:2-4, where Heavenly Father is reminding the Saints that He has a plan, and don't worry. Blessings will come. It may be hard right now, but it'll all work out.

2 For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.

 3 Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.

 4 For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand.

Hermana J B (from Utah SLC SOUTH Mission) came to Temple Square with her investigator and it was AWESOME! She's a great teacher and it was so neat to be able to lift her investigator together. There were 5 sister missionaries there- ha!!! But somehow we all taught in unity with the Spirit. She'll invite us to the baptism. It'll be neat. She's so prepared!

I'll email you tomorrow some more.

Love y'all tremendously!!

Sister Fisher
 

PS. The zone activity went splendid at the Dinosaur Museum. (except where Sister O's Sprite can had a hole that she put in her purse and didn't find until everything was swimming in Sprite. But even that worked out. No biggie. Even the keys were alright.)  :)

 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Transfer 6, week 4: Emails emails emails!!!, Tennessean, dinosaurs and SPRING!

Hello Friends and Family!

Before the awesome pieces of news, just wanted to send an invite to everyone if you're in the Salt Lake area, to come to the Missionary Department's production featuring my mission: Temple Square Missionaries Cultural Event. It's awesome. The whole Sister Missionary Choir is there, +7 violinists will play, +ukulele and all the Poly Sister's doing a few dances which are exceptional, some Scottish songs, +a Russian number, +Latin number, +all over all different cultures. It's gonna be terrific!  It's this FRIDAY, March 15th, 7:30PM, in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square (the big church that's not the Tabernacle or the Temple). Should be awesome.

So awesome piece of news #1:

The First Presidency  just declared in a newsletter to all mission presidents that we’re now allowed to email BOTH family AND FRIENDS!!! And that we have been given more time allotted to do so each week! J Yay!!! 

So what that means is President Gillette has given us two hours to email each week (instead of just 1)…. So basically I’d LOVE to hear from you!!!!  My email is jessica.fisher@myldsmail.net

So I can totally respond now to you!

Awesome piece of news #2:  S  IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!! Yay!!! J The other cool thing is that in our phone call with him on Sunday he actually taught US the Restoration. So neat.  He’s been reading the Book of Mormon during school assemblies and some of the other teachers have been noticing and saying some things (because well, he’s in Tennessee… the Bible belt) so we practiced with him by role playing over the phone what he could say and how he could say it. It was really neat.  We role played questions like:

·         Well why do I need another book of scripture?
·         So didn’t Joseph Smith write it? (Answer- no) So how did he get it then? How do we have it today?
·         Why is it called Mormon?
·         Well how do you know that it’s the word of God?
·         How do you know God will answer my prayers?
·         Well I’ve always wondered why I’m here on earth but I don’t know the answer.
·         What happens after we die?
·         Why did God force us to be here where there’s so much suffering?
·         Why does God allow so much suffering in the world?
·         Why is family so important?
·         How do I find lasting happiness?

(PS some great answers to these questions are found on Preach My Gospel page 107, or here: http://www.lds.org/manual/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service/what-is-the-role-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng)

Questions like that. These are great questions that we can all role play in our families to prepare for the questions that we will receive.  And really, as you role play them, you will feel more prepared for experiences that you will have, and you’ll get all of the awkward out, or the things that weren’t explained simply enough.  Then a family member can help give feedback, like how they would feel if they heard you answer the question that way, or if they understood what you said if they had no gospel background and knew nothing.

I promise you that Heavenly Father sends His prepared people to His prepared messengers. As you practice these things, Heavenly Father will put people who need these questions answered in your path, and you will have the greatest joy by helping them understand Heavenly Father’s great love for them and how Jesus Christ can help them through the challenges we all face in life. And… you will better understand these things for yourself, too, and the Spirit will testify to you again that these things are true!

Next challenge #2:

Here’s a clip from Preach My Gospel as spoken by President Hinckley how a new member feels:
“I challenge you, my brothers and sisters, that if you do not know what it is like, you try to imagine what it is like. It can be terribly lonely. It can be disappointing. It can be frightening. We of this Church are far more different from the world than we are prone to think we are. This woman goes on: “When we as investigators become members of the Church, we are surprised to discover that we have entered into a completely foreign world, a world that has its own traditions, culture, and language. We discover that there is no one person or no one place of reference that we can turn to for guidance in our trip into this new world. At first the trip is exciting, our mistakes even amusing, then it becomes frustrating and eventually, the frustration turns into anger. And it’s at these stages of frustration and anger that we leave. We go back to the world from which we came, where we knew who we were, where we contributed, and where we could speak the language” [Ensign, May 1999, 108].

Please, resolve to be a better member, a better friend, a better child of God, by being a better sister or brother to these children of God who are recent converts of the Church. I have seen it over and over again in the mission field that if they don’t feel the love, personal interest, helping hand, and smile that they felt the first week or two after they joined, they will fall by the wayside.

BE the kind of member that every missionary prays for at night, sometimes with tears on their face, begging Heavenly Father for, to welcome and love, help and lift their recent-convert or not-yet-a-convert. It is VITAL.

Think about it this week of what you can do to help one person in your wards feel more loved and accepted and wanted.

Welp! I love you all. Seriously. Thank you for your letters of encouragement and support. They mean the world.  Each letter (or email) is one of the most valuable things we have each week (besides investigators or friends we are teaching, etc).

 Love,

Sister Fisher

 

Tuesday, March 05, 2013
Transfer 6, Week 3: Germany, Elder Bednar, and Lemon Pie

Awesome week. S, our Tennessee friend is moving right along!!! Pray for M though. We haven’t heard from him. :(

Here’s S’s testimony in 30 words that he wrote at church this Sunday. It brought chills and tears to us!  "God is our Heavenly Father. He sent his Son, Christ, to die for our sins and revealed the Restored Gospel, ancient scriptures, and the Priesthood to the Prophet Joseph Smith." Amen. That’s all I can say.  He’s so excited to be baptized next week, and wishes he could sooner so that he could go to the Temple with the ward this weekend. But all in good time, S! What an incredible son of God! 

He also gave us some pie recipes from his Mama, and then her phone number so that “we could call her and tell her how it went.” ‘wink’ ‘wink’ J We’re looking forward to making one today so we can report to her how it went tomorrow…. And share some more with her and invite her to his baptism. We’ll see….. :)

We had a neat experience this week with a guy named S. He’s from Germany/Austria. We were just on the desk when he just came in and started talking with us. 

We got on the topic of the Book of Mormon.  It was neat because I got to share the experience of my Opa in Germany first learning about the church and “feeling something that he had never felt before in any other place”. (I hope I got the story right - He was in a movie theater and this other lady next to him laughed at all the same parts he did so they started talking and she invited him to church, and he came and felt something, and kept coming each week and BAM! Read the Book of Mormon and the rest is history…right?) That really touched S. 

He wanted to feel something that he hasn’t felt yet. We gave him a German copy of the Book of Mormon and will call him in the next few days to follow up.  He was really excited to read it on the plane home! It was neat because it was sort of like a homage to the lady who introduced the gospel to Opa, and now I get to do it for another German! Kind of neat!

 

 

 

Another huge part of my week was watching the March CES fireside given by Elder David A. Bednar. It was on faith and the Lord’s will. Go watch that on lds.org if you haven’t. We all need this message. It made me reflect on my mission and life, and what I teach people every day. The message of the gospel is:  Follow God’s plan. It’s the easiest, most fail-proof, guaranteed happiness than anything else in this world. The commandments and believing and doing is the easiest way. We make it more complicated by not following it like we should--- Loving our job, or money, or having more than our neighbor, or vacations more than God, doesn’t bring happiness. The world’s happiness is fleeting because it’s an addiction --- you always have to have more. You are never satisfied. It’s a downward spiral to despair. God’s plan is simple. Love him. Love your neighbor. Love your family and spouse, and you can be with them for eternity. 

He’s given us his son Jesus Christ, and also Prophets and ancient Prophets who help show us how to do this and avoid Satan’s snares. Follow them. They are there because God loves us enough to show us the way. Ignore your fear of the future. That will take care of itself. As long as you follow God’s path for you, you will find joy, you will be the most successful that you can be here, and you will most importantly find the peace that the whole world is seeking and not knowing it--- the peace that comes in confidence before God.  Take an inventory of your life and throw out all the extras- the things that don’t bring happiness. Focus on the things that actually do.

You don’t have to have it all to be happy.  We don’t find joy in the journey, because we don’t need to. Finding means it’s not there and we have to go search for it until we finally do find it. But we don’t need to. It’s already there, all around us. We just need the time and awareness to recognize it. We don’t find it, we make it. We make joy in the journey. As President Uchtdorf says, “The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy.” ( http://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/president-uchtdorf-reminds-sisters-of-five-things-to-forget-not?lang=eng )

2 Nephi 9:51-52 (in the Book of Mormon.  See scriptures on www.lds.org)

“ Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your ^alabor for that which cannot ^bsatisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and ^cfeast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give ^athanks unto his holy name by night. Let your hearts ^brejoice.”

 

I love y’all so much.

 

Sister Fisher

Here's the recipe that we're trying today:

Lemon Ice Box Pie # 2
2 cans (14oz. each) sweetened condensed milk
¾ cup (fresh) lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon peel
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, combine milk, lemon jucie and lemon peel. Mix until just blended. Piur into a 9-inch graham cracker crust . Bake 15 minutes. Cool and refrigerate at least two hours before serving or overnight. Top with whipped cream when serving.

 You can try it along with us too! 

(Readers:  If you would like a free copy of The Book of Mormon that Jessica refers often to, just request one on www.mormon.org or ask one of your Mormon friends for one.)

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 
Transfer 6, Week 2: Awesome things
 
Hi Family and Friends! 

We had an incredible thing happen. A few actually.

So our friend S, the Baptist from Tennessee from last week who quit drinking coffee and started reading the Book of Mormon?! ....

 I'll just insert the clip of text from our teaching report:

"So we talked with S tonight and MAN is he on fire!!! He’s been reading the Book of Mormon (and we texted him a scripture from Mosiah 4, and he said “That’s where I am in the Book of Mormon right now!!!!” .  So cool!)

Anyway, and he said that the Book of Mormon should be titled, "A testament of Jesus Christ" or "THE testament of Jesus Christ" because he thought it talks more about Christ THAN THE BIBLE DOES! (We love and use the Bible equally, of course, though.)  But he happened to be reading the Book of Mormon during school and his PE teacher came in and told him he shouldn't read it- haha! And he said, "Why?" And she didn't have a good answer.  He met with missionaries on Monday night. The missionaries talked about baptism and he thought it was great, too. And he will be going to church on Sunday, even though he lives 45 minutes from the nearest ward, and will stay for the full 3 hours, and wants to wear a white shirt and tie to “look like the missionaries do”.

 

He has been steadfast with quitting coffee!!! The first day, he had a huge headache, but on the second day- nothing. Hasn't had coffee since Sunday! He said that he feels like coffee might have actually affected his sleep patterns, and maybe it gets him a kick in the morning but he has a big low the rest of the day. Since he’s quit coffee this week, he feels clarity. His outlook of the day is different. He feels like he gets a better rested night sleep. Say, "I'm not tired throughout the day."

We asked about how avoiding profanity has been. He said “Changing bad thoughts and bad words have been harder. I've really been watching as I've talked, typed, chatted, texted. It's been something I've had to think about. Has there been a change? Yes. By not writing it, I'm not saying it.”

He says, “Through all of these changes, I feel very ready to just live a good life, very ready to just be in constant communication. I don’t want to just stop reading and studying, but continue always to lead a righteous life and serve a purpose of God and do whatever I can to build His Kingdom and upon the earth.” It’s cool that he said this because our plans were to teach him about Enduring to the End. So neat that he fulfilled our plans without us trying to teach about it!  He thinks that Enduring to the End is the best concept of the Church. There are so many people that are just satisfied with being 'saved already' but are they doing terrible things each weekend. This is what's being taught those people, by saying you can do whatever you want because they think that by "grace you are saved" already, and this is what is being produced, so what is being taught then?"  (Faith without works is dead, as it says in the Bible.)

He's incredible. He will be baptized March 15th. (Another cool thing is that he gave us his friend who told him he should look into our

church.  The friend is an atheist- but believes the Mormons would have to be the most 'true' of Christianity, to call and be taught by... So should be exciting!)

Another cool thing, was we have been focusing on planning this week...Planning for miracles and having the faith that, like the Brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon, the Lord will consecrate our plans, or "touch those stones/rocks" we bring before Him (our not miraculous plans thought of by our minds) and make them miraculous.  As we diligently follow our plans, set those goals of not "how many people we want to teach", but instead, committing to the Lord how many people we will be accountible for teaching that day, and follow what plans we have in the day, that He will send those who need what we have planned to share.  IT WORKS. 

 

On Thursday, we planned for 10-11am, focusing on the question of the soul --  "Why do bad things happen to good people"  --  and sharing 1 Peter 1:7, and 2 Nephi 2:2- all about how God will consecrate our trials for our gain and benefit.  We talked with a lady who was still bitter her husband left her, and she really needed what we shared. Also in that hour, we talked with a teary sister who has wayward children, and we were able to testify and share those scriptures and the message we had prepared- and it was exactly what she needed too! (and of course we hugged her a few times too.) Aww.

God loves His children so much.  If only we, "His hands" were more courageous, willing and sensitive to His Spirit to do those things He needs us to. Pray for those opportunities, the courage to act, the sensitivity to listen and ability to do.

 So we're kind of spoiled in our mission, too. We have cool people come speak to us!  The 1st counselor of the Relief Society General Presidency came and spoke to us. That was cool too.  Then our Mission President surprised us AGAIN (he loves doing that), and Elder Hinckley of the seventy and his wife spoke to us at church on Sunday.  Glad we were there early that morning.  It was incredible. He talked about the Sacrament and about God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost--- the most important doctrine, and the most unique that we have.  The nature of who God is.

It's so true. If God isn't our father and doesn't love us, why would we come here in the first place? Why would there be a plan? Jesus Christ wouldn't have to be a part of the plan, and there would be no need for a restoration or commandments or even this earth life.  BUT God loves us so much. And wanted us to come here for a little 'internship' on earth, to learn and grow. And there is a plan, there is a path shown by Christ, and dictated by a Prophet today, and all the prophets on the earth, and God does what us to come back and live with Him as part of His family. So cool.

But anyway.... that's not the story I wanted to share.  The story is about Elder Richard G. Hinckley (yes, he is the son of the late President Gordon B Hinckley) who went on a trip with the then 95 year old President Hinckley, who was the Prophet at that time.  President Hinckley felt he didn't need to bring anyone along to help him in his 11 day travel around the world, but the Brethern asked that he would need to, so he invited his son Richard G. Hinckley to come with him.  But just as they crossed over Alaska, about to land in Russia, Elder Richard Hinckley's eye was hit with something in the airplane (I dont remember exactly what happened... think it was hit by an exercise band) and everything to Richard's sight went dark. He said they turned around and landed in Anchorage Alaska and went into the hospital.  When President Hinckley realized there was nothing else he could do for his son, and Richard's wife was there and the doctors and such, Pres. Hinckley then said goodbye and continued on his 11 day trip, dedicating buildings and speaking to the children of God around the world (at 95 years old!). But he called every single day to check on his son, Richard, though, no matter where he was in the world. 

At the end of the 11 days, Elder Richard Hinckley would be going into surgery, and President Hinckley told him he  unfortunately would miss the operation by a few hours and wouldn't be able to make it.  But just as Elder Richard Hinckley had predicted (by the nature of the man who was his father, and also the Prophet of God at the time), there was a phone call right before they started surgery, that told the doctors to stop and everyone to pause because the Prophet would be flying in to give Elder Richard Hinckley and the Doctors a blessing. President Hinckley had gotten up around 3:00am that morning, just so that he could make it there to give his son, Richard, and the doctors a blessing.

 I just really liked that story.  It shows the character President Hinckley had.  There is a work to do. There are sacrifices to be made. There are people to lift, and bless and help. We are God's hands. We are here to do His work. Let's do it. There are too many things we are associated with in our lives that "have no life" as Mormon described the time and day that we live in, as Christ showed it to Him to know what to put in the Book of Mormon that we would need. Those things that don't matter, that waste the precious time we have here on earth, that don't fulfill us.

Mormon, in the Book of Mormon, says of our time:

"37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?

39 Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?"

 

Well as Elder Holland talked about in his talk in General Conference, "“If ye love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus said. So, we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before."

 
I love y'all. Keep going forward with the good that you do.  Minimize the things that you do that "have no life".  Go through all your activities and priorities and throw out the "time fillers" and "time wasters".

As my Grandpa Fisher would say "If you are not coming closer to Christ and bringing someone else along, you're wasting your time and the Lord's time."

 
Sister Fisher