Farewell, Temple Square

I can't believe that I am writing to you for the last time as a full-time missionary.  The last year and a half has taught me so much and I don't know how I could possibly summarize my whole experience in one blog post.  The thought of removing my name badge next week makes my heart feel like it is literally breaking.  My name badge has been more than just a piece of identification. It is a reminder that I am His representative--my name and His name on the same plastic square for 18 months.  This hasn't been my mission or my work.  It is His mission and His work and I am so honored that He allowed me to serve Him as a missionary.

 

 

First I will just give a quick update of the last week. The lights are up and the square is packed. It is my favorite time of year here at Temple Square. Christmas brings such a special spirit. We had a lovely Thanksgiving. We celebrated with the Moon Family over in Bountiful. They had a beautiful home and it was so nice to have real home cooked food. Mom, they even made the loaded sweet potatoes like you do so I was very happy! The next night the Christmas lights were turned on. We spent some time with our investigator Ling Ling from China.  She currently lives here and she even took us out to dinner so it was a lot of fun! We have been teaching a lot of people who are originally from China and we are still teaching several from Africa. I will miss these people so much. On Saturday we get to attend our investigator Robbin's baptism! We only met him a few weeks ago but he is so amazing. He has strengthened my faith so much. He also speaks English very well so he understands me when we teach him and that makes me really happy! I am so happy to be able to see that before I go home.

This morning we had a fun zone activity! We went to a special needs school and sang Christmas songs to the students.  The kids were sweethearts and they got so into the songs. I brought a cute little guy up to sing with me and gave him some maracas. He was so adorable and so happy. I wanted to squeeze him!  Then we attended seminary with the kids for a short amount of time and it was the sweetest thing when they sang the hymns and did scripture mastery. I was in HEAVEN this morning.

I have had the best experiences here at Temple Square. Millions of people come to Temple Square each year which means I have been able to meet a lot of Heavenly Father's children in these last 18 months. That is absolutely amazing to me! 

The Temple Square mission motto is "The World is our Mission."  I have talked to people in Nigeria, Liberia, China, Ireland, England, Pakistan and many other countries.  I have met people from all over the world face to face.  I have had the privilege of teaching people from all over the United States.  I was able to serve the beautiful people of Louisiana for four months-- part of me will always be there.  But part of me will always be here at Temple Square too.  This is my home away from home. I feel so blessed to have been able to walk these grounds every day for the last year and a half.  The temple square mission is actually very small compared to others when you compare how many miles it covers.  Our mission is ten square miles yet the testimony I have of the Savior and of his gospel has reached all over the globe.  I have learned that the world is small and we are all God's children.  He cares for each one of us as individuals and wants us to be happy.

While on my mission I have witnessed some really big miracles but mostly a lot of small miracles.  Many days I would be rushing across the square to one location only to be stopped in my tracks as I had a prompting to turn around and talk to a person standing a few feet away. Or I would begin teaching one thing only to feel like I should stop and teach something else instead.  I got to see an elderly woman cry because she was happy when I helped her find a family blanket she had lost.  I had the amazing experience of seeing the pain in a person's eyes disappear as I shared a message of hope about the Savior.  All of these things are small but they are miracles because they are proof that God is there and He is watching out for each of us.  Sometimes being a Temple Square missionary is hard because we have conversations with people and we can look at them and just see how much Heavenly Father loves them.  We can literally feel His love for them. But then they leave and we  never know what happens with them or how they are doing now.  We just need to have faith that we did everything we could in the few moments we had with them and trust in Heavenly Father to take care of the rest in His own time. The scriptures that help me in these moments and that keep me wanting to reach out even when I might not witness the big miracles are in Alma 37:6-7-

"6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

 7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls."

 

We never know how far one small act of faith will go... charity never fails.  I am so happy I decided to serve a mission because now I know where I can find true happiness. I am so happy I was called to Temple Square. Heavenly Father really does give us what we need to learn and grow. I have learned so much here. This is where I needed to serve to become converted and to gain a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. My faith was strengthened but it was also tried so many times.  I had people approach me and attack my faith.  I had people chat with me online or call me to tell me horrible things about what I believe.  I had people try to prove me wrong almost every day.  I have been called some very bad names.  There have been times when I had very angry people with hate in their eyes come face to face with me.  It was those times that I had to rely on the Lord and I could literally feel Him by my side standing with me until I was no longer afraid. I never fasted, prayed, and studied so much in my life. I don't know if I would have had to do this if I had served anywhere else. I think Heavenly Father wanted to make sure I would stand strong in the faith or something because these past 18 months have really stretched me; but they have been so sweet at the same time!

I can't imagine my life without my mission. I have learned so much and I know that it is just preparing me for things that I could not have dealt with correctly if I had not served a mission. Out of everything I have learned on my mission the plain and simple truths are what stand out the most.  That God is our loving Heavenly Father who wants us to be happy.  The Gospel has truly been restored through a prophet named Joseph Smith.  And that the atonement of Jesus Christ applies to every one of us no matter who we are or where we have been. If we gain testimonies of those simple truths, life gets a little easier and we become happier.

I am sad that this is my last letter to you all but thank you for everything! I could not have done this without you. I love you!

Signing off from Temple Square,

Sister Park

"Yea, I know that I am nothing"

Hello Family!!!

Is everyone so excited for Thanksgiving! I am! We will be going to a member's home in Bountiful. It is so nice of them to host Sister Ma and I.

This next picture is with Stanley Dickens from New Iberia, LA.  He came to Salt Lake City for the holidays and took me out to lunch!  Sister Weidmann from Switzerland also served her outbound in New Iberia and she came with us.  We also got to take him on a tour. What a special day!


So at the very beginning of the transfer I was on exchanges with Sister Hsu for a short period of time one night. We were at the EF Desk and I met a young man who said he just moved from NYC. He said he had friends who were members of the church so he was interested to see what it was all about. We were talking about the faith and values and I began to teach the Restoration. I had an extremely strong feeling to share the First Vision. As I recited the First Vision, he started to laugh a little bit. I was a little taken back. He said it was sort of bizarre. I just bore my testimony and invited him to learn more. He gave me his email and accepted a Book of Mormon. After we left, I was so hurt! I felt like maybe I could have done better. No one had ever laughed as I recited the First Vision before so I didn't understand. I was a little bit dramatic that night and I went in the bathroom and I cried because I felt like I didn't do a good job. After our shift was over I dragged Sister Hsu throughout the whole entire square to see if we could find him so I could help him to see how important this was! I am the type of person that won't rest until I feel like I've done everything I could do. If I don't do as much as I can then I have a hard time forgiving myself. I am strange, I know. Anyways, we did not find him so I sent him an email. Well, a few days later I finally received a reply from him and it said:

"Hi Sister Park! I’m sorry that it’s taken me so long to respond to you. I’ll explain why my response was so delayed a little later on in this email. First of all, I wanted to thank you. The things you told me in Temple Square really inspired me. I have read the Book of Mormon, prayed about it, and know without any doubt that it is true. Second of all, I need to apologize to you. Not everything that I told you in Temple Square was completely true. I told you that I’m from New York. Well, to be honest, I’ve lived in Utah my whole life and have never stepped foot in New York. I’ve also been a member of the church since I was baptized when I was eight years old. However, I was not completely sure of the truthfulness of the church. I went to Temple Square that night to try to find out better if the church was true. So, I decided to use some of the acting skills I learned in high school (clearly I didn’t do very well because I was wearing a CTR ring when we were speaking) to see how missionaries teach and what they say. So, I walked around Temple Square for about an hour just waiting for the first missionary to talk to me. Eventually, I came across you. I wanted to see how missionaries teach and how I felt as I was taught. While you were telling me about Joseph Smith, I felt something I haven't felt in years; the Holy Ghost. I read the Book of Mormon you gave me in less than 3 weeks. I now know that it and the church as a whole are absolutely true. I do hope you’ll forgive me for telling you a little white lie. I just wanted to see how missionaries work toward non-members. So, the reason that I have taken so long to respond is… That I've been very busy working on my Mission Papers. I decided that I want all people to know of the happiness of the church. I want to thank you for talking to me that night in Temple Square, as I don't know if I would have the faith and knowledge that I now have if we hadn’t spoken that night. Thank you so much for helping me. You’ve done more for my life than you can even imagine. You’ve helped me become completely converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I will be eternally grateful to you for that. You are a truly amazing missionary, and you should know that you have helped to convert someone who is now preparing to go and help others be converted. Thank you so much. Again, I’m sorry for the little lie that I told you. But, hey, it helped me see how things are done and it helped out a lot. All my gratitude, Jacob Yorgason.

It wasn't me that helped this young man at all.  I am so happy to be a servant of the Lord and he chooses to use me to reach one of his children, what a privilege!

Alma 26:12: "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

The point of this story is that I am so thankful for the spirit. Temple Square can be a little bit difficult because us sisters have such a short amount of time to really listen to the spirit and say what the guests really need to hear. It doesn't matter if they are members or not. When I received that email I felt such a big peaceful feeling. I realized that we sisters don't really know the good that we do. I just hope the sisters know what an impact they are making. I think Temple Square is the best mission in the world. I am biased.  

I can't believe my mission is almost over.  Here is a picture of all the sisters who are departing next transfer.


Departing Sisters!

Oh! Very exciting news! One of our investigators, Ken, was baptized on Sunday at stake conference. It wasn't even planned! It just happened because he was ready! He lives in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission!  Elder Tate baptized him.  We are so happy for him and he is so happy as well. I just love how much the Gospel of Jesus Christ can affect us if we let it. The church is true. No doubt!

Sister Park

His Love is Infinite

Hello Everyone!
 

This week has been awesome but I don't remember what happened really because it was so busy.  It is getting so cold here, sometimes I think I will die but we are getting ready for Christmas. We had our Christmas training on Thursday and we went over how to handle "lost children" and all that other good stuff. They turn on the lights every once in awhile to test them out and it is just going to be so gorgeous.

Sister Ma and I are doing wonderful! Tonight we are going to have a "Hot Pot" party. It is an Asian tradition. You boil really hot water and put seasoning in it and then you put food in it and it cooks really fast and then.. you eat it. So we will do that with our other Asian friends.

We are still teaching the lovely people in Africa! We taught Phemy from Nigeria today and he is the sweetest. The people over there are so humble and they have so much faith. They teach me more than we could ever teach them.  I love my people. I don't know if I can go home because I will miss my Africans too much.  It just stresses me out.  I got a Liberia flag name tag since I am teaching the Liberians right now.

Oh! One more exciting thing: The other night I met an RM that used to go and visit Grandpa Park every week when he served in Ephrata! It was so cool because he loved Grandpa so much. He said he saw all of his antiques and guns and his collections. It made me so happy. He said Grandpa has the sweetest heart. I love you Grandpa!

Last night we attended the play "The Savior of the World" and it was so good! I loved it because it reminded me of all that the Savior has done for us. I think I take it for granted sometimes.  But I just love the Savior so much! If it wasn't for Him, I would never be here at Temple Square. He truly does live and he loves all of us so much that He died for us. Since I have come on my mission the Sacrament has meant much more to me then ever before. If we include Jesus Christ in our daily lives we will find that sense of peace and direction that we all want. It is simple but we tend to make it difficult.  Our part is really not that had though!  He performed the hardest task for all of us by suffering for our sins and pain because his love is infinite!

Ok gotta run!

Sister Park

There are No Coincidences

Hello Everyone! It is getting so cold here!  I hope y'all are staying nice and warm! Things are going really good for the North 1 Zone! We have been so blessed. The sisters in the zone are amazing and they are such hard workers. We are more than halfway to reaching our baptismal goal this transfer. We have seen so many miracles lately. I love Sister Ma and I am learning a lot from her. There is always something to learn and work on even if you are in your last transfer.  I am very thankful for her.

I just gained a strong testimony of not giving up hope on investigators even when we have dropped them for one reason or another.  So a year ago I was in my third transfer and a lady called in looking for her Bishop's number. I just assumed she was a less active member so I kept her number and tried to contact her a few times after that but I was never able to get a hold of her. Well the other night I was prompted to look through some of my dropped contacts and decided to start calling a few of them. I called about ten people and no one answered. Then I got to Stephenie's name and I was about to delete her from the list.  I thought about it for a minute and received a prompting that I should call her. So I just dialed her and expected the line not to go through but it did and she answered. So I started talking to her and told her who I was and she told me that it was so weird that I called her because she has been feeling like she needs to go back to church lately. She got divorced last year and has been depressed. She keeps her Grandpa's scriptures right next to her bed and has been looking through them. We talked about her going to church on Sunday and then I brought up General Conference so she went on lds.org to look it up. For some reason it told her she couldn't log in without a record number. She said, "I don't think I have a membership record number." So I replied and told her that every baptized member of the church has one and she can ask the Bishopric or the ward clerk on Sunday. The she said, "Well, I have never been baptized. I was always waiting for my Grandpa to baptize me but he never made it to Rhode Island." She has been going to the church for years but fell less active when she got older. Her mom was baptized but stopped going when she was young. I asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she started crying and said yes! We had a good conversation and she was just crying because she said that it was not coincidence that I called her.  And I know that to be true because there are no coincidences!  Now she is planning to be baptized and is meeting with the missionaries. She already knows the church is true and is going to invite her boyfriend to learn about it from us. He is very open. I guess the point of the story is I learned that it is so important to never forget about the people we "drop". Heavenly Father will prepare them for the Gospel and they will accept it in their own time and in their own way. I am so thankful for the Holy Ghost and I know that we could never do this work without the spirit. I know this Gospel is true and it is the happiest way to live. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have it.  Remember that in order to really know whether it is true we must seek it out ourselves. Our own testimony is much stronger than relying on others.  It doesn't matter how good the missionary is or how good the Sunday School teacher is.  We must know of the truthfulness of this gospel on our own and through confirmation of the spirit. 

Moroni 10:5 "And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

Love you lots!

Sister Park

Six New Investigators!

Language Announcing after Music and The Spoken Word

 

I have had one of the greatest weeks of my whole mission. It was so good that I almost walked into President's office on Monday and asked to extend. I thought and prayed about it and my answer was "no" because I have a boy waiting for me at home...Jagger, my eight year old brother.

 

It was so great though and I just love missionary work so much. I don't even know where to begin. Let's first start with some of the wonderful people that I am teaching in Africa! I called President Harmon (branch pres in Liberia) and he asked me to teach four more people over there.  They have been coming to church for a couple of Sundays now. They are awesome and so humble. One of the ladies I teach is named Pressure Kuweh and she told me today that she loves the Book of Mormon and carries it with her everywhere.  She said she is so grateful to have the word of God. It's a miracle to her!  I have also started to teach a man named Phemy and he lives in Nigeria. He heard about the Book of Mormon on TV and wants to know more. He already wants to be baptized and is going to email us some of his friends and family to start teaching. He is the sweetest!

 

Then on Sunday, Sister Ma and I were able to receive six new investigators on the square and also through inbound calls. It is funny how you start to see all of the miracles at the very end of the mission but it motivates us even more. We were walking around on the square the other day and Sister Ma thought she saw some Chinese people so we walked over to talk to them. They ended up not being Asian but we were still going to talk to them until a young man walked by us and we both felt that we needed to talk to him. We said hello to him at the same time! His name was _____ and he was here for a medical residency interview at U of U. He is not a member but growing up his neighbors were missionaries over in Minnesota! We asked him how he feels about Salt Lake City and about the church. One of his friends served a mission. We extended an invitation to him to learn more and he said, "Yeah, actually I do want to learn more." Then Sister Ma jumped in and invited him to be baptized! He smiled and said, "If I find out this is true, then yes." We have been texting him and his interview at U of U went great so he will move here in a few weeks. We have an appointment and we are going to teach him the Restoration. He is golden!

So today was P-Day and it was filled with even more miracles! We went to Asian Market and we met a couple from Taiwan that just moved here. They are not members but they are related to a member present that Sister Ma uses a lot to teach lessons! She invited them to learn more and they said yes. We will call them this week. After that we went to Costco. Sister Ma saw a Chinese couple eating so she went over to contact them while I bought us hot dogs. We were within sight and sound, don't worry. While I was waiting in line I started talking to this Native American man. Since we are surrounded by Indian reservations in AZ I always think that they are my people for some reason. He was really nice. He is originally from Arizona about an hour away from my home. He moved to SLC to be close to family. When his brother and sister moved here they both joined the church. They both have invited him to be baptized but he just wasn't sure if it was for him. So I invited him to come and eat with us and he did. We had a great conversation. He knows a lot about the church. We invited him to learn more and he agreed. We will call him on Saturday night. He is also planning on attending church with us on Sunday morning. He was laughing at us because he said we are really persistent but he is willing to give it a shot. Hopefully he comes to church with us and then we will get him going to his ward over where he lives.

 

P-day with Sister Ma!

It has been such a good week! I am so excited to see what else Heavenly Father has in store for the rest of the transfer. I am sooo happy. I don't see any point in coming home to be honest. I love you all so very much and hope things are going okay... Remember, God loves you and has a plan for you!
 
Sister Park





Pray then Act

Brother and Sister Frost ended their mission today.  I will miss them!

Hello! Today was Transfer Day. Sister Taito and I are no longer companions. It went by so fast.  I am training a new Zone Leader named Sister Ma and she is from Taiwan. I am so happy because I began my mission with a sister from Taiwan and now I get to end my mission with a sister from Taiwan! We are already having so much fun together. I am in the same zone and in the same apartment. Life is so good over here at Temple Square. Thanks everyone for the amazing letters. I will send my letters to you when I get some stamps. I promise!

So let me tell you about my week. Let's start with the first eventful thing. I ate chicken feet. It was good but the texture was weird. They were drenched in teriyaki sauce. Sister Taito forced me to eat it and then President Poulsen walked in and saw and he told me I was admirable in his eyes because I ate chicken feet. So I guess if you want to be admired, eat chicken feet. I have a video so you can watch it when I get home. I gagged.

 

Chicken Feet!

So we are teaching some more lovely people in Liberia that are getting baptized in a couple of weeks. Their names are Dennis and Konah and I love them both so much! They speak Swahili and a little English. The language barrier is a struggle but Heavenly Father helps so much. I am so happy that even though the missionaries were shipped out we are still able to teach them through technology.

 

My lovely sisters!  Left to right, Sister Taito from Fiji,
Sister Sonku from South Africa, Sister Rhodes, and Sister Bailey

Today Sister Ma and I were walking through the square and we saw these two gentlemen standing over by the Reflection Pool. We went and talked to them and found out that they were curious about the Book of Mormon and why we need it. I love that question because I love the Book of Mormon so much. We bore our testimony of how the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One of them lives by Adam-ondi-Ahman (can't spell) in Missouri and loves going there. We invited them to learn more and they both said yes. The Book of Mormon is so true. We will call them on Tuesday to begin teaching them. 

This transfer is going to be a good one. I just want to be 100,000% focused this transfer since it is my last. We made a goal to give everything to the Lord and to really strive to help the sisters in our zone.  We know that we can accomplish this by dedicating all our time to serving Him.

 

If we truly give ourselves to the Savior and use the atonement in our lives then all of the unfair things in life will be taken care of. Not that they all will disappear but we will know how to handle them much better. My goal is to walk with the Savior everyday. He is my bestest friend. I remember being 11 and I was having a really hard time but I decided to act as if the Savior was standing with me as I went throughout the week and I felt this overwhelming peace and warmth. It was the best feeling I have ever had and that is when I found out that Christ lives and He is there. Even when I wasn't doing everything I should have been doing He never ever left. I remember that everyday as I walk through the square and talk to the thousands of people I get to meet each week.  I can see all the pain in their eyes and that life hasn't been fair to them but I can also see that the Savior loves them so much.  He is at the door knocking.  It is up to us to let Him in.

 

Heavenly Father will guide us throughout our lives.  When we don't know what to do we just need to pray and listen to the spirit. And then ACT. When we act that's how we find out if it is the right or wrong thing to do.  Pray, act, and have faith and you will be guided as you go.

I love you all so much. Keep doing everything you can to be a missionary because we have such wonderful news that we can't keep to ourselves. I love that Heavenly Father truly does have a way for us to come back even if we think it's not possible. The atonement is so real. Love ya!

Sister Park

The Macro Plan

My current roommates. 

 

 

 

Bula Vinaka! I hope that everyone had a FANTASTIC week! I have had a great week but I don't really remember what happened! It has been such an amazing and FAST transfer and I can't believe that it is already coming to an end. Sister Taito and I want to stay together but we'll see what happens. 

 

SO last time I think I told you about our new investigator that we got because he loves David Archuleta's song "Glorious". Well.... He is getting baptized November 22nd! He is so so happy. He has been meeting with the missionaries over there in Massachusetts and loves it SO much! He was extremely prepared.

 

We are still teaching the lovely family in Liberia and they will be baptized next month. It is so sad what is happening over there in some parts of Africa. I feel bad for some of the missionaries that had to be sent out because I bet they really miss their investigators and the places they served. I am just happy that we can continue to teach these people over the phone.  It is such a blessing.

Great news! Okay lets be honest.. Russian people are a little stubborn and it is very rare that they get baptized. Well, Sister Bryuzgina just had two Russian baptisms! I am so happy for her. She is such a powerful missionary. It is such a blessing that we can teach these people from all over the world.

I am just so thankful to be out here serving a mission! We meet so many wonderful people with so many amazing stories.

 

I am learning a lot while I am out here.  Not only about teaching the gospel but many life skills as well and one of those is goal setting and how important it is to set goals for ourselves. President Poulsen has given us a plan to work off of called "The Macro Plan".  First we list our "desired outcomes". Then we write our "present situation", then the "imperatives" aka what we must do and last we list our action steps or how we are going to do it specifically. It has helped me a lot because I know what I want to do with my last transfer and also how I am going to help my investigators. I will send you one so you can do it mom. It will improve your life. A goal unwritten is only a wish. Heavenly Father wants us to achieve our goals and it is important that we are accountable to the Lord in all we do.

Elder Don Clarke of the Seventy came to our mission and told us to study chapter 8 from Preach My Gospel and apply it to our lives. If we do everything it says we reach our goals but most of all be happy. I invite everyone to study Preach My gospel chapter 8 and set goals for yourselves. Tell the Lord what your goals are and ask him to help you achieve them every night when you say your prayers. I promise you that you will find direction in your life and you will be a happier and a more successful person. Sometimes we set goals but we are not even accountable or don't even think about them... that does not take us anywhere. I have seen a change in my mission as I have set goals for myself.  Family, make a macro plan for yourself.  My Mom has the document if you want it.

I hope everyone is doing well. I miss yall a whole bunch! You all are such good examples to me.

I Love You!

 

Sister Macy Park