Week #13 - November 24th, 2014

NI HAO!  (Hello in Mandarin, I am pretty much fluent now ;)

This is the last slow week on the square!!!!!! The lights turn on the day after Thanksgiving and then it will be packed... Our schedule completely changes too, with different assignments! So excited! Everyone come and see the lights, bring some friends and feel the spirit... it is a great missionary opportunity (; Because of the Busy schedule our Pday will change from 1-9 to 10-6. So all of us can be on the square at night. 

Sister Hansen & Sister Sughroue in the call center

On Wednesday we got to go see the play Savior of the World as a zone! It was amazing. They invited our mission to see it so we could then share with everyone else what it was about! It tells the story of when Christ was born and his resurrection. The spirit was so strong, if you get a chance go see it! It reminds us the true meaning of Christmas. 

Clayton Christensen came to speak to us in relief Society on Thursday. He gave an amazing talk on how Democracy can only function when religion is the basis, because people voluntary choose to obey laws because God will judge us. He told us how important our work here on Temple Square is, with Sisters and visitors from all over the World it is critical that they know they have the freedom to believe in God. It makes me so sad that people do not know that they have a loving Heavenly Father, and he has a perfect plan for us. Our belief in God motivates us to become better and make good choices because we want to return with him again. 

Saturday we got to skype Sun Jia's baptism in Brazil! Awesome! 

So Thanksgiving is coming up and we get to go to a families house in the Bountiful Stake for dinner! Yayyyyyy! Dinner at a families home.... this is really exciting for us Temple Square Sisters, because we cook all of our meals and never get to be at a families home. A home made meal is way better than my cooking... I just can't wait for the pie.  So grateful the faithful  members volunteered to do this! I was reading a talk from President Uchtdorf this week titled, "Grateful in any circumstances". Sometimes we may feel that there is nothing to be grateful for when we are faced with lifes challenges but, we always have something we can be grateful for! You do not need to make a list of things because it doesn't matter how many are on there... it is the attitude of gratitude. When we express our gratitude to God through prayer we are acting in faith.  President Uchtdorf said, "Being grateful in our circumstances is an act of faith in God. It requires that we trust God and hope for things we may not see but which are true.... True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will." I love this and know it to be true, I would go on and on, but I would invite you all to read the talk for yourselves! 

Thankful Tom the Turkey in Sister Sughroue's apartment

Instead of making a list of things I am grateful for I would like to share with you my testimony, because this Gospel is why I have been so blessed in my life. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, that he came to the earth to fulfill God's plan for all of us. That through him we can repent and become clean again. Because of Christ we can have hope and Light in our lives. I know the power of the atonement is real, I have seen it work in my life and in the lives of people all around me on my mission. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and contains the fullness of the everlasting Gospel, Joseph Smith was a true prophet called of God. I know we are children of a loving Heavenly Father who knows each of us individually he hears and answers our prayers. You are never alone and are never too far gone to change, he wants you to live him again.  I know this is the Lord's work, and I am humbled and grateful to be an instrument in his hands to share what I know with all my brothers and Sisters! 

I hope you all have an great-ful week! Much love! (:

Love, 

Sister Sughroue

P.S. Mom thanks for Thankful Tom... we hung him up and stuck all his feathers on (:

Week #12 - November 17th, 2014

Hi Friendsssssss. Just another great week here on Temple Square. Teaching and testifying all day everyday and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love sharing the gospel and every time I share it, my testimony becomes stronger. Our investigators are are continuing to move forward towards baptism (: , and we are praying to find more people to help because the square has slown down. We have a baptism this week! Sun Jia is Chinese but lives in Brazil, she speaks English too, so we have been teaching her over the phone and will be able to skype her baptism on Saturday! She is so great, and has a strong desire to be baptized and live the Gospel. Her husband is catholic and does not support her at all, but she told us that no matter what she wants to join this church because she knows its true! 

Tuesday: We were at the Humanitarian Center  eating lunch in the cafeteria and Kerri Nielsen just walks right up to me and gives me a hug! Her cousin Kathy works at the front office there and she came to visit her. Such a small world, especially in Utah. haha

Sister Nielsen (Sister Sighroue's 1st Young Women's President) & Sister Sughroue

Wednesday: We gave a tour too two ladies we met a walmart a while ago and they brought there non member family! It was great, the son wanted to learn more and gave us contact info so we will hopefully be teaching him!

Thursday: Humanitarian Center... gave a tour to a member family. We taught a lot online, phone calls and chat. There are some very interesting people who call in... like I really have no clue why people just call in to troll. Do they not have anything better to do with their  time? But I do appreciate it because they strengthen my testimony and make me realize how the Gospel makes us all so happy! 

Sister Sughroue's District

The producer, director and an actor from the  "Savior of the World" show came to talk to us in Relief Society. They shared with us the main message and gospel principles the show includes. This show has been put on in Salt Lake City for many years and shows the birth and life of our Savior Jesus Christ. The Church uses this show as a way to share our beliefs with everyone in the community and remind everyone the true meaning of Christmas. As missionaries on Temple Square we get the privilege of this being another tool for us to use to help teach others. On some nights we will be assigned to contact before and after the show by the theater and say the opening and closing prayer.  Our mission was given tickets for us to give to people we meet on the square or investigators. This is such a blessing! We will be able to take our investigators to this show, where they can feel the spirit and learn more about their Savior Jesus Christ. We get to go as a zone this Wednesday to watch! 

Friday: My companion and I taught in our District Meeting! We taught about companionship unity and the importance of bold baptismal invitations and using time wisely. Our recent convert Eman came to visit us on the Square. She is awesome! We talked with her and invited her to think about serving a mission!

Saturday: We found out at 10:15 that the Elders from the SLC mission called to invite us to baptism that started at 11, because they forgot until that morning.  My companion helped teach the guy when the  Elders brought him to Temple Square. So we ran to get in the car and go but the address they gave us was just 2 roads and not an actual spot.. My sense of direction is horrible and apparently so is every other Sister's serving at Temple Square. There was 4 of us trying to navigate, it was only 15 min away but took us over an hour to find the church. We got there when it was over but got to say congrats. Sam is the guy who got baptized, he is from San Clemente, 21 and knows some people from the TVHS baseball team. Small world again, O utah.  We pulled over and asked for directions twice... how many Sister missionaries does it take to not get lost? I wouldn't know because we get lost everytime.... ahahahah. 

Sam's Baptism! We finally made, late, but we made it!

GUESS WHAT! I tried chicken feet..... yes a lot of the sisters here eat it. It's international mission ahaha.There are alot of  tendons and bones and the texture is like rubber. It is really healthy for you though and it was better than I expected, not saying it is like my new favorite food or anything.  (I will include a video).

 I realized that trying chicken feet is alot like our investigators trying the Gospel, it might look strange and maybe scary to try but once you do you realize that it isn't so bad after all. All the tendons and bones are like the commandments,  to some they do not look that appealing but they keep us spiritually and physically healthy. And we can pray for the strength to do both.... hahaha. Feel free to try chicken feet so you can experience what I mean, they sell it at Walmart! 

I hope everyone has a good week! Thanks for all the letters and support! 

Love, 

Sister Sughroue

SISTER SUGHROUE TRIED TO SEND THE VIDEO AND IT DIDN'T WORK! SHE WILL TRY TO SEND IT AGAIN NEXT WEEK!

Week #11 - November 10th, 2014

Hello everyone!

 Serving at a visitor center you sometimes commonly get referred to as a tour guide. This week a group of people asked if we would were the tour guides, my companion replied, "We are tour guides to help people return to God" they looked confused and then we all laughed. When this happens  we tell them we are missionaries and then the tour is a lot more spiritual then they expect, the resources we have here are great tools to invite the spirit and teach others about the gospel! 

Sister Poznanski (who served in Tyler's mission for 6 weeks waiting for her VISA) & Sister Sughroue

Or the best is when people say,  "sooooo are you all like nuns???"  hahahahaha NO.


It  has been a little slower than usual because its getting colder.... but it is about to get super busy as soon as the lights turn on. You can tell who is a native utah because they are still in just short sleeve shirts and then there is me with my layers, coat and scarf.... hahaha people can guess that I am from California. Humanitarian center has had no tours lately so we have had alot of online teaching and contacting time which is great!
We have three investigators on date for baptism this transfer, so we will meet our goal! I love goals.
We found 4 new investigators this week!  We are still finding people to teach, there is always someone you just have to look and follow the spirit!

One of those new investigators of ours is Tom from the UK. Tom came on to mormon.org chat Saturday night, he said he ran into some missionaries on the street and it made him want to know more. I asked if I could give him a call right away and he accepted. We talked a little bit about church and how he would go the next day, and talked to him about the Book of Mormon and how God put him in the path of those two missionaries in the UK!We followed up the next day to see how his first time at church went, and he loved it!!!! I called him with a member present (yes we do those over the phone) who is an RM and he helped our lesson, they became best friends over the phone. Members are vital to missionary work!!!! We taught him the Restoration and have another appointment with him this week. He is just soaking everything in and is on track for baptism. It is amazing how God has slowly prepared him over time and now he is so ready!

They always find a way back.... we met this Young man named Christopher on the Square about a month ago, he referred and we could never get a hold of him so we had to drop him. This week guest services told us that he called in looking for us because he got all our messages. When we called him he said that he lost his Book of Mormon and wanted to learn more for himself instead of what everyone keeps telling him!!! We will be teaching him more this week!

This week we gave a tour to a older lady with special needs, named Pam. Pam didn't really know where she was, but she was waiting to meet someone and they asked if we could show her around. We took her to the Tabernacle last and sat down, she was telling us about her life and her cat, twiggy, sounds like an awesome cat.  We simply explained prophets and then I started to talk about prayer, and how she can talk to God and he loves her. I felt prompted to ask her to pray, we taught her and then she gave a short simple prayer that was probably 30 seconds long. She had tears coming down her face, she said "There is water in my eyes!" hahah. But she said she felt so happy, I know that God heard her pray, he was so happy to hear from her, because she is his daughter. And he wants to hear from all his children! I got teary eyed because I knew she felt the spirit, and that she knew she was praying to her Heavenly Father who loves her so much. She promised us she would say a prayer everyday. I am so grateful for this experience with Pam, it reminded me how powerful prayer is, even though she gave a very simple one.

Tanner Johnson, Sister Sughroue, Sister Ye's peace sign (she was on the phone), & Taylor Anne Johnson

This weekend we went on 24 hour exchanges with our District Leader Sister Nakamatsu from Japan. I was with her companion on Friday, Sister Radamasson from Madagascar. We would always have people guess where she is from by looking at her flag and when no one could I would just sing, "I like to move it move it!" Then they got it right away! hahaha.

I got to see the Johnsons this week! It was so great they surprised me! Love them so much(:

Thanks for all the support and love!(:

Love, 

Sister Sughroue

P.S. Love God with all your might, mind, and strength! (Moroni 10: 32)

Week #10 - November 3rd, 2014

Sister Ye & Sister Sughroue sporting are matching headbands from Aunt Dana!

Dressing Festive for Halloween (I really wanted to dress-up like Emma Smith!)

So, in my second transfer time flies.... Serious the days are long, the weeks are super fast. Well we started serving in the Humanitarian Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I love it for a few reasons, 1. FREE FOOD, we get to eat lunch in the cafeteria there and they have they BYU chocolate milk.... its unlimited so I take full advantage. 2. I have learned so much about all the projects and the service the church does all over the world... It motivates me to serve everyone around me by doing small things. 3. The people that work there are hired by the Church to become self reliant. They are all immigrants or refugees from different religions and countries, they spend 4 hours working and 4 hours in English class. They do this so they can then be placed into a real job eventually. 4. The Spirit there is so strong, when everyone does a small thing it can make a big difference... It is modeled after the example of our Savior and how he served everyone.

On Halloween we went to the Church Office building for dinner then to the Temple as a whole mission. I totally wanted to dress up as Emma Smith to give tours..... but mission rules, so it was a no go. 

Halloween Fun!

Reunited! with my brother, Tyler Sughroue just home form his mission in France!

Oh, my companion caught on to me saying "cool beans" and it is so funny because she doesn't get why I say it and now she keeps saying it in her cute little Asian way. ahahaha. Oh, Hot Rod. 

On Saturday I probably got the BEST SURPRISE EVER! I was standing at the Christus and we were talking to a group of people and then all of a sudden I randomly looked around and saw TYLER!!!!!!! I just started crying but I had to finish talking to those people, and they were confused as to why I was getting emotional all of sudden...they probably thought I felt the Spirit super strong or something... hahaha. So I had to wait a few minutes before I could run over and hug him!!!! Oh my gosh I probably looked ridiculous because I couldn't stop smiling but I had tears.... and people were wondering why I was hugging a boy.... ahahaha it's my brother!!!!! I got the package of goodies, Thanks mom (; hahaha! And then we were able to go eat dinner at City Creek for a little bit! It was so awesome to see him, last time we were together he was a missionary and now the roles have switched. I am so lucky to have him as my example! All the Sisters kept talking about how much we look alike, and how we are the boy and girl version of each other...now some sisters are more friendly then usual now that they know I have a big brother. ahahahaha.  It was also fun to have Jamey Hughes and Kassidy Walker join us! (:

This week I have truly gained a testimony that Heavenly Father knows whose Spirits can touch whose. It is hard not to get sad when your investigators drop you or they are not progressing, but this week I know that those people were placed in my life to teach me lessons. From the experiences I have had and the people I have met, I have learned love, patience and compassion. These are all so simple, I didn't realize how bad I was at these until I got on my mission, but I am starting to understand the true meaning of all of these. Wise words from Sister Tiritilli (who I absolutely love soooo much), " Heavenly

Thanks Aunt DiAnn, Uncle Ben and Girls for the Minky and pictures!

Father is aware of who he places in our path (investigators, family, friends, companions) and whose path he allows us to be placed in." I am so grateful for every one and all our past and recent investigators I have learned something from everyone of them, and I know that is why God put them in my path. As a missionary I have the ability and opportunity to help them come unto Christ, but they also help me without realizing it. I am so grateful for my calling! I love all my brothers and sisters and want them to know their divine worth and the plan God has for all of his children! 

Thanks Aunt Dana & Uncle Matt & Family for the leaves and General Conference Quotes!)

I hope everyone is enjoying life, I am learning to live in the present, and to appreciate everyday and the experiences that come along with it whether they make me laugh or cry ahahah. It is our choice to be Happy!!!! Life is goood, real gooood. I love you all, stay sweet!

Sister Sughroue