"For My Yoke is Easy and My Burden is Light"

Hello Hello Hello!

How is everyone? It is so wonderful here at Temple Square! 

 

I just got off the phone with my wonderful investigator "L" from North Carolina! He is so great. He has had such a hard life for a few different reasons and I always worry about him so much.  But we have been praying and fasting for him and guess what! After months of searching he finally got an awesome job!!!!  He owes it all to prayer and he understands that- it's so amazing. He is getting baptized in November. He'll be meeting with the bishop this Sunday and I am just SO HAPPY! I introduced him to Sister Stephen this morning. I am so thankful that I had her on the phone because what she studied in personal study this morning is EXACTLY what he needed at the moment. He was so grateful and amazed at how the Lord is working in his life.

 

I love all of my investigators so much. I just want to hug each of them. I also still have my adorable little 18 year old "A" and he is so sweet! He has been going to church the past few weeks and he absolutely loves it. I am so thankful for the missionaries over there in Des Moines, IA because they treat him like he's their best friend! They talk football with him and help him feel comfortable. That is such an important thing for us as missionaries to do for our investigators!  To get on their level and befriend them! The ward that he is in has really done a great job fellowshipping him as well and I am so thankful. This kid is incredible. His roommates were not the best examples but they were his really good friends.  But he wanted to make good choices so he moved out of his dorm so that he could make sure that he was living righteously and being the best he could be. He is such a good example to me. He is progressing so quickly and his prayers are so sweet. I am so happy that I get to talk to him. This kid has so much faith and trust in God. The first time we met was on mormon.org chat and he said that he wants to do whatever God wants him to do.  I have been able to witness him  gain such a strong relationship with the Savior! 
 

I also have an investigator who lives in Salt Lake City! He is so funny. He is so weird but in a cool way- I guess he is a lot like Rulon. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and he highlights it and everything! He will be going to church this Sunday and staying for all three hours. I am so excited. I met him here at Temple Square a few weeks ago! He moved out to Salt Lake City and wanted to see what this Mormon thing was all about so he came to Temple Square and took a tour hosted by yours truly and Sister Weng.  I talk to him on the phone regularly and he is doing so awesome. He is already being a missionary. He brings his non-member friends to Temple Square and says things like, "What would it mean to you if we had a living prophet on the earth?"  He is so great. He's already asking others inspired questions! 
 

This mission has been really hard but the thing that gets me going are the amazingly wonderful people I get to teach on the phone! I was having a hard day the other day and realized the thing that makes me the most happy is my investigators. I know that Heavenly Father sent these people to me for a reason. They are helping me more than I am helping them!
 

At General Conference, Sister Weng and I were walking outside around the conference center waiting for the session to get out when three awesome Polynesian girls ran up to us and started talking to us. They had just returned from their missions and they were SO funny. I felt like I was just sitting there talking to my best friends. One of them referred one of her best friends to us that has been less active for about 8 years ever since she was 14. I called her the other day and I seriously felt like I was talking to myself just about a year ago! She has been going through a hard time and her parents were divorced as well. We got to talking for awhile and it was one of the best conversations I have ever had. I knew what she was going through because I had felt all of it. She knows in her heart that Heavenly Father is aware of her and she wants to make those steps toward embracing the gospel so she can show her love to Him again. She has been away from the church for a long time now but I know just from talking to her that God has never ever left her- not once. She may not know this but He has truly been there along the way. She is trying to get herself in a better place right now. Sometimes when you're in that state of mind and away from the gospel for so long you just hit a breaking point and it is so hard. I know that God never leaves us EVER.

 

Sometimes on my mission I see everyone, especially investigators, around me so happy and having all of these miracles and I'm just like ok... what about me? What do I need to do to reach that point? I have come to realize that I just trust the Lord's timing. He knows what is best for us. All we need to do is listen and act in faith.
 

I know that I met this girl for a reason. I already love her so much. I know that God never forgets us and he knows us individually and personally! He will always answer our questions. For some reason I used to be afraid to pray. I thought I wouldn't receive an answer or wouldn't get the answer I wanted. When we receive answers will know what's right because we are going to feel it!  It's also just nice to communicate with our Father in Heaven because he loves us! He wants to help us and hear from us! It's just like a long distance phone call to our parents. He is always there and His love never changes.

 

One thing I feel impressed to share with all of you is that God loves each of us perfectly and sees us as we can become.  He knows that challenges and trials we face will only help us grow and make us stronger.  Sometimes it is hard to accept though.  One day I was having the worst day.  I felt helpless and inadequate and I just wanted to go back to my apartment and lay down because I didn't know what else to do.  When I get that way I have a hard time sleeping and eating because of all the stress.  But instead of letting it get the best of me I turned to the scriptures for help.  Sometimes that is all we can do.  I love knowing that through the Bible and Book of Mormon, God is truly reaching out to his children.  The scriptures are where I receive the most personal revelation.  Some of the scriptures that help me the most are Matthew 11:28-30 which read:

 

28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

 

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
 

Remember that the Savior has felt everything that you are going through. He knows what you are feeling and for you He did the greatest thing of all- He overcame death! So just lean on Christ. For me, the way I lean on the Savior is through the scriptures. They teach us so much! He knows what to do to comfort you and knows that you can overcome whatever you are suffering from.

 

In Doctrine & Covenants section 121 verse 7 it says "peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment."   We are here to learn and grow and experience hardships that will only make us stronger.  But I promise that if you just put your whole trust into God, He is going to help you through this and you will be lifted up. In Alma 36:3 it says that "whoseover shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day." 

 

Remember that the Lord wants to be there for you and hear from each of you every day.  In Alma 37:37 it says:

"Counsel with Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good."  Remember to include Him in your daily life.  Allow Him to heal you and comfort you.

If I am still having a hard time after praying I just eat cheesecake like Sister Stephen and I are doing in this picture.  We had a really long hard day so we went to Cheesecake Factory and rewarded ourselves with dessert.  Mine is the Oreo one.

My new roommates (besides Sister Stephen) are Sister Bahr from Washington, D.C. and Sister Magidson from Maryland. They are both so great. They are the office assistants. The OA's, Fleet, and the AP's are always placed in the same apartments. The AP's are right next to us and we hang out a lot and just talk about life. Sister Bahr is a lot like me. She is crazy and loves talking about love.  Sister Magidson is more like Sister Stephen, more reserved and shy. Our conversations are really funny because Sister Bahr and I are just loud and outspoken and then our companions are trying to be more reserved over there. I like it. We have a lot of fun. 

As Temple Square sisters we are sent out on speaking assignments in family wards in the Salt Lake City area.  This Sunday I am assigned to speak in a ward in Magna on Strengthening Your Testimony.  Christie, you should come! I am so nervous!

 

Madison, congratulations on your mission call to the Salt Lake City West mission!  You will come to Temple Square a lot with your investigators. We have great spanish speakers here who will teach along side you and your companion.  All the Salt Lake City Sisters and Elders spend a lot of time at Temple Square so I will run in to you a lot.  

 

Speaking of Elders in Salt Lake City, I saw Elder Edwards a couple of days ago.  He has changed so much- in a good way! 

 

Grandma- thanks for the letter! You always make me cry but in a good way.

Christie- thanks for the letter!

Mom, thanks for the letter and package.

It was so good to see Codi! It always makes me happy to see family!

I need letters!  Sister Stephen and I really LOVE letters.  Thanks!

Well, thanks everyone for the love and support. I love you all.

 

Ciao!

Sister Park

New Companion, New Assignment!



Hi Family! How is everyone is doing? I miss ALL of you so so so so much! I have really been missing the twins more than usual because my new companion has little siblings too so we always talk about them.

On Wednesday we had transfers! I have a new companion named Sister Stephen and she is from Nebraska! I live with three Americans now! My new assignment is FLEET.  We are the mission vehicle coordinators. It's one of the busiest callings in the mission so today we get to have an all day p-day.  This new assignment is so hard but I am learning so much about cars already.

First let me say that most of the time we drive mini vans so I just want to apologize to everyone I have made fun of for having a mini van- especially Christie and Cammie Udall. I love you.

So basically our whole lives are devoted to these vehicles. We also have to wash and fill up President's car every week. We work beneath the church office building a lot so we get to see the apostles more often on this assignment. We have regular meetings in the church office building with the Church's head vehicle coordinator, Brother Ott. He is in charge of all of the cars in every mission in the entire world. He is so cool and funny and he loves to feed us! We are in charge of passing off all of the sisters so that they can drive.  If any battery dies or anything like that happens then we have to stop what we are doing and go rescue them. We have our own office too so that is kind of cool.

I'm not really sure why Heavenly Father gave me this calling. I drive too fast and then when I'm nervous I drive like 20 under and now I have to teach sisters to drive the speed limit!  I have ran into a few poles and fences in the past and now I have to suspend driving privileges if any of the missionaries do that. I can't even tell you how nervous I am right now!

Right now, Sister Stephen is training me.  I will have this assignment until January 8th so next transfer I will be in charge of fleet and training someone.   I have to drive in the snow!! Heavenly Father is really stretching me right now. I mean seriously. It'll be ok though. I am so nervous but I just have to have faith. It'll be ok.

I am no longer in a trio with Sister Lee and Sister Vargas and I miss them soooo much too. We had some good experiences together and I laughed so much with them. Our last night together was awesome... It was Sister Lee's birthday and she turned 24! She will kill me if she ever finds out I wrote her age, haha.

So we decided that we needed to celebrate by going out to eat.  For some strange reason we chose McDonald's... not my choice.. I was gagging; but it was all meant to be!

We waited in line for about 10 to 15 minutes because I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat because I didn't want any of it. I'm a pain in the butt, I know. So after a while, three business men behind us said, "Sisters! Make a decision, do you want us to pick for you?" They were joking around and laughing about it but they looked really high class and important. Then they cut in front of us in the line and they said, "What do you want, we're paying."  And of course we did the whole "Oh, don't pay for us, we feel bad" thing because we're girls and girls do that (Rulon would never do that).  Since I couldn't decide, they chose for us and bought all three of us Happy Meals. So we started talking to them for a few minutes and found out that one of them has lived in Utah for a long time but he is not a member of the church.  Once we got our Happy Meals we decided to go and invite ourselves to sit down with him. Poor Sister Vargas...she had to be companions with two rowdy Americans who just do things like that.

We sat down with the men and told them a little about ourselves and then got to know them a little too. They work for the government and one of them was a big boss of something (I forgot what it was). They reminded me so much of dad and his friends. They were all sarcastic and just hilarious.

Eating our Happy Meals!

Sister Lee ended up bringing the discussion to religion so we talked to Chris (the non-member) for a little bit about it. He has been to church a few times and he feels like he will join one day but he says it's not his time yet. So I said, "Well, have you read the Book of Mormon?" and he said he has read parts of it. And then I asked him about his relationship with Heavenly Father and if he has ever prayed to know the truth. And then Sister Vargas pulled out Moroni 10:3-5 and had him read it. We were so excited she did that because we all had the feeling to do that! He responded, "I have prayed and I'm not sure that God has given me an answer yet."  He was tough because he just wasn't open to it and really there wasn't much that we could about that. But Aunt Jamie once told me that when all else fails, bear your testimony. So that's exactly what I did. He ended up giving us his card with his number and email on it so we are soooooo calling him. The other two business men have been trying to convert him for years!  So they gave us their cards as well! I'm not a good story teller so I left out a lot of detail but they were AWESOME!  After we finished our Happy Meals they bought us Mexican dessert and put a straw on top of it and pretended it was a candle and made Sister Lee blow it.  They sang "Happy Birthday" to her really loud. It was embarrassing! Nothing major happened from that experience yet but it was great because the spirit was there!

Sometimes I wonder.. some people, especially here in Utah, have been around the truth for so long and I know that they have felt the spirit at times in their lives so why doesn't Heavenly Father just make them recognize it!  He could but he doesn't because we have our agency and whether or not we are open to feeling his spirit is all up to us.  We all have our own individual experiences with unique timing.  We can't always comprehend how Heavenly Father works and why he makes things work out the way they do- (Mosiah 4:9 one of the best scriptures). It was such a good experience though!

Last night, Sister Stephen and I were planning our week and we were talking about a less active member that she has been working with for a couple weeks. We were discussing ways that we could help him and then all of a sudden in the middle of our discussion he texted us and said "Hi Sisters!" It was so cool. We asked him what is the best time we could give him a call and he said right then! So we did! We just visited with him and then we felt impressed to remind him of his testimony and of the experiences that he had on his own mission. He thought about them for a few minutes and then started crying. He remembered some of the experiences when the spirit just took over and he truly helped people. He said "I can't believe I let myself get here. I had such good experiences and I brought such great people into the gospel and now I am here." We reminded him that its not too late! Heavenly Father's hand is in his life right now reminding him of these things and bringing the spirit into his life. He decided that he needed to change. We were able to commit him to church this Sunday and it works perfect because he has a friend who has a missionary farewell on Sunday! The spirit was so strong during our conversation. All three of us were crying on the phone.

That experience was exactly what I needed. Earlier I was having a hard day and sort of felt like I was abandoned in a way.  But my conversation with him reminded me that Heavenly Father is always there. He really is. I have been praying a lot and last night I realized how aware Heavenly Father is of me- of all of us!  Think about that!  He is right there! When I think about it, it's ridiculous that I was feeling otherwise because nothing could be further from the truth! His love never ever changes even when we think we don't deserve it.

I have been stressed about this new calling. I said a prayer last week and asked Him if He could help me be better for this next transfer.  And then when I was called to Fleet I was like "Oh my gosh! Now even more of my weaknesses are going to show and this transfer is going to be a disaster!"  But then I remembered that I was called to serve in this mission and I was chosen for this calling for a reason. (By the way, Fleet might seem easy but I already want to pull out my hair and crawl in a cave.)   But this new calling may just make me stronger. We have to meet with President and the AP's a lot to discuss any issues with the cars and I HATE getting people in trouble so I am seriously so nervous for what's ahead. But I can do it because Heavenly Father is right there- always! One thing I have to be better about is trusting. If I just have faith and trust then it will all be ok and I think that is one of the reasons I have this calling.

Love, Sister Park

Hola!

Hola Familia!

 

Hermana Park is in the casa! I know that was dumb (Christie) but I am now doing Spanish and English tours.  My temporary companions are from Spain and California and speak Spanish.  I am with Hermana Vargas es de Espana and Sister Lee from California! On Monday I get a new permanent companion so by then it might be a whole new language!  I will keep you posted on my next P-Day (whenever that is).  By the way Dad.. Sister Vargas from Spain said you are a very good man for introducing me and Kendall to Queso Fresco and she wants to know where you go to buy it in the states.

 

I'm loving all these different cultures I get to interact with but I miss my Weng Jieme! It's so weird being without her and now I don't get to hang out with the Asians as much because my new companions and I are always busy doing other things.  I'm loving the Spanish tours and I get to take more English tours now than before. The Spanish people are SO nice,  I want to go visit Spain!  They have the cutest accents ever. I also have so much fun being companions with Sister Lee because since we are both American we get along great and we always laugh and have fun! 

 

I'm learning so much from both of my new companions. Usually missionaries don't have good experiences being in a trio but we are having a blast so far! I find out who my new companion is on Monday morning and I'm hoping I get an Australian because I met a couple of Australian guys (or mates as they call themselves) the other night on the Square. I told them to put some shrimp on the Bar-B in my best accent and they told me I really needed to work on sounding like an Australian.
 

My newest investigator who shall remain nameless- I will just call him Iowa because that's where he lives- is doing amazing. He called me and said that he watched General Conference and he loved it. He said that Elder Holland's talk was exactly what he needed to hear. He has been reading his Book of Mormon every day lately and this Sunday he is going to church with the local missionaries.

The way we found each other is truly a miracle. He is 18 and a freshman in college. His parents are Lutheran and are not happy that he is talking to me so he has really been struggling. But he has been searching for truth for a long time. He said that he has been on a constant search for his true identity since he was young. Not long ago, he was on the internet and something prompted him to go to mormon.org and look around. He did just that and found a link for chat and that's when he connected with me. He reminds me so much of Joseph Smith when he was younger. He said that he has been searching for the truth for a very long time and now he finally understands God's love for him. In our last conversation he said he knows that he is finally in the right place and he wants to be baptized. We haven't set a date yet but I think we will soon.
 

Conference was Fantastic! It was so great to see all my beautiful friends. I wish I could have spent more time talking to all of them but it was so awesome to get to see everyone!

General Conference from this perspective is a whole new world. It's like Mormon Disneyland. Thousands upon thousands of people were there hoping to have an amazing experience. It was incredible!  I interacted with so many different people and I grew to really love the members of this church.  I loved hearing their unique stories and backgrounds.  It is amazing that every single member has their own personal conversion story. Some of us don't experience true conversion until later in life but you can really see something special in those people who have truly converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

One thing I came to realize when I was out and about on Temple Square during conference is that the Savior truly does love every single person on this earth.  The Savior shows his love for us in big ways and little ways but he does love us and is constantly trying to reach out to each of us.   I met people who traveled all the way from Australia and England and Ecuador just so that they could hear our Prophet, Apostles, and amazing church leaders speak and testify of our Savior and Father in Heaven.  So many of the people who were there made great sacrifices just to attend one session of conference.  It was a privilege to spend time with these people and answer their questions.

So here is my own personal experience that I got from conference. First of all, I'll just be honest and say that I do not like asking members for referrals. I hate to admit it but I am a people pleaser. I don't like to annoy or bother anyone so in the beginning of my mission, I was not working as hard as I could have to get referrals.  In just the first couple hours on Saturday, some of the sisters had up to 20 referrals already and I only had about 3 or 4 (which I was very happy about) but I just thought this mission was crazy for thinking we could get 4000 referrals this general conference- that was our mission goal. So I was being prideful and I set a personal goal for about 10. I knew how important it was but I just didn't have faith that I could get very many I guess.  On Saturday morning we were out on the Square talking to everyone.  Then on Saturday afternoon we were able to go watch the session in the conference center.  The talks in that session were the best!  Each talk spoke to me in a way that I needed personally but the one that spoke to me the most was Elder Ballard's. In his talk he said something along the lines of "Make the decision to do what Jesus Christ has asked us to do." Then it hit me! The Savior has asked us to feed his sheep! I knew then and there that I was called to this mission to help others come closer to Christ! 10 people wasn't enough! It is so important that we invite everyone because we are ALL sons and daughters of God and we ALL need to return to him again one day. We need to spread his message to everyone- to those members who are struggling, less active members, and the people who have not had a chance to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Since General Conference I have wanted to become a better missionary. The answer I received from Elder Ballard wasn't exactly the revelation I was looking for but it was exactly what I needed. I never paid close attention to General Conference in the past and I regret it. I could have received so many answers if I would have just realized that I was being given the opportunity to listen to someone who has been called by God to speak to us; but now I realize it and I love it!

I loved the whole experience I was able to have this past weekend at Conference. There was only one problem. When I get nervous I start talking like I am from Chicago! Whether I am talking to someone in person or over the phone.. it just happens and I sound like the Godfather. So that happened a lot during conference and I seriously need some help so if anyone has advice on how to get rid of that I could really use the help.

Aunt Kim and the Merrill Family- Thanks so much for the package and letters!

Aunt Rita- thank you for the General Conference survival package.  It was awesome!

-Sister Macy Park

New P-Day = Quick Update!

Me and Sister Weng getting ready to face the general conference crowds Sunday morning.

I have a new P-day for this week so I will give a full report on Thursday. I only have a few minutes today because I have to run some errands with the AP's and my zone leader.  So here is a quick update...

 

General Conference is over and I feel like my body is going to break! We were on the square from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. for the past two days. There were so many people.. I could not believe my eyes. It was so much fun though! Sister Weng and I were able to attend the second session on Saturday! Who watched it? I hope everyone was able to watch that session because it was so uplifting! So what did everyone think of Elder Holland's talk? It was incredible. I love him!  He always tackles those topics that most people don't typically speak on or may not know how to address... I felt like his message was what a lot of people needed to hear right now, especially a lot of missionaries.

It was so amazing to be able to be at General Conference and watch the talks in person.  I just love all of the wonderful members who came from all different places just so that they could hear the prophet's message!

While the Saturday morning and Sunday sessions were going on Sister Weng and I were at the Square visiting with investigators and members of the church.  I met an awesome man from Africa who loved his experience here and asked me to contact several of his friends back home and share the gospel with them.

Most of the church members seem annoyed with the Temple Square missionaries because they are so hesitant to give us referrals.  But everyone needs to know that the Temple Square mission is truly inspired by Heavely Father.  We serve an important purpose in the Lord's missionary work and as you heard during the General Conference talks, missionary work needs to progress!  As a missionary, it is so intimidating to ask for referrals but it is what we are asked to do and the referrals we get lead to so many baptisms.  We are here representing Jesus Christ and his work is so important so when you come to visit Temple Square, remember that and be good to the sisters who come up and talk to you. :)
 

We knew the weekend would be busy and no one was sure if we would have time to eat anything besides breakfast and we were all concerned about having the energy to keep going.  But one of the counselers in our mission presidency, President Seppi, has an AMAZING ward! They sacrificed their time to cook and provide us with all three meals for the whole weekend so that we could hurry and grab our food and go! The food was great and since I am really emotional all the time these days, I cried every time I got some food because it meant so much to see all the effort they were putting into taking care of us.  It made us feel so appreciated.  It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for us!

We met some incredible people! I had great conversations with people from all walks of life and I loved getting to know them and hearing their testimonies and conversion stories! What an incredible weekend to be serving at Temple Square!

Today is a very sad day because it's my last day to serve with Sister Weng. She goes back to Missouri tomorrow morning to finish her mission.  Then in February she goes home to Taiwan.  I feel like I am losing a sister.  But the good news is she was accepted into BYU and will be returning to Provo next fall.  She promised to come to Temple Square and see me.  She is an amazing person! She has taught me so much. She is tough and loving all at the same time and I'm so happy that I was able to serve with her. I hope I have another Mandarin speaking companion next transfer because I still have so much chinese to learn. I saw her packing this morning and just started crying because it feels like just yesterday that I came here and she was helping me unpack. Were were quiet in front of each other in the beginning but now we are like best friends! I am excited to have a new companion and experience new things but I just don't want to say goodbye to Sister Weng.

Until the next transfer conference, I will be in a trio with my roommates Sister Lee from California, and Sister Vargas from Spain. I will also get a new P-day at that time so when I find out what day it is I will let you know!

I have to go, sorry it's so short!  I will have more time on Thursday!

Sister Park