Week #29 - March 13th, 2015

HOLA Amigos!

Found In-N-Out!

We had an awesome miracle this week.... we found a cure to Sister Polancos snoring!  I love her so much but seriously could not sleep because she snores so loud.... so we tried medicine and I bought ear plugs and that didn't work, soooo last night we tried nasal strips and a humidifier and it worked!!!!!! AHHHH best sleep ever! 

Alright well it has been a pretty busy week so here I go....

Sister Sughroue & Sister's from her district enjoying In-N-Out!

Friday- (last Pday) We went grocrey shopping and then decided to find in n out.... 1.5 hours later we found it and it was only 12 minutes away, it was so worth it though.

Saturday- We had our first District Meeting! It was awesome, we had a great discussion with all the Sisters involved and learned so much from each other.

Sunday- Church, We were able to get a hold a lot of our investigators and 1 more is on date for the 11th of April! Belgianka is meeting back up with the missionaries and we are hoping she will be able to get a  baptismal date really soon!

Monday- We had Mission Leadership Conference (all of the Zone Leaders, District Leaders) led by President and the AP's. We discussed what we can improve in the mission and received training as new leaders. We established a standard of excellence, of 7 tours a day for each companionship which is a new key indicator for our mission! We have been doing great at it lately! It was 5 hours long.... then we all went to lunch in the Church Office Building.

Tuesday- The missionary Department is working with President Poulsen to see how we can improve our skills to better the experience of the guest here at Temple Square. So they had some District Leaders and Zone Leaders pair up to be shadowed. I was with Sister Tamara from Brazil and President and Sister Poulsen and a lady from the missionary Department Shadowed us on the square. They sat in while we talked with people and we even gave them a tour..... it was so intimidating hahaha. President got in character and decided to ask some of the weird questions people ask us on tours too, It was a funny. Kind of weird/great experience hahaha.

Wednesday- I went on Exchange with Sister Bellais from Tahiti in our District! She is so awesome, we gave a tour in French (made me want to learn it even more)! We were able to learn so much from each other and had a fun time teaching together!  It is inspiring to serve the sisters and see how dedicated they are and hear their testimonies while we teach. I will be on exchanges tomorrow and 3 times next week tooo.... busy busy.

Drinking MATE, a South American drink.
I'm basically Latina Now!

Thursday- We had Zone Conference for most of the day! It was so inspiring/motivating as usual! We received training from different sisters and President Poulsen led a discussion about the Atonement of Christ... It was so amazing. We talked about it from the beginning of Adam and Eve all the way to Judgement and Resurrection.... my note book is full, I can't even begin to type what I learned hahah. I will have to formulate my thoughts and share more in another email.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have on my mission to have a greater understanding of the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. There is not greater calling then being a missionary and helping people seek to apply it and watch their lives change. It is infinite and is the reason we have hope and light in our lives.

Today we are going bowling for P-day!!! It is Sister Tata (Austrailia) Birthday in our district! She is an Office Assistant so we "decorated" her office this morning  with streamers haha.

Que tengan una buena Semana los quiero mucho mucho 

Love, 

Sister Sughroue

Week #28 - March 6th, 2015

Sister Polanco & Sister Sughroue

Hi!!!! It's my new P-day! Well nothing big has happened since monday, except they changed my companion! There ended up being 1 less sister arriving from the MTC so they changed some Companionships the night before. So my new companion is Sister Polanco from Guatemala! So Andrew I love Guatemalans!  She is awesome! She has been out for about a year and is seriously the funniest sister in the mission.... I am not kidding I can't stop laughing. This will be an awesome transfer!

Tomorrow we have our first District Meeting, I am nervous but also really excited. Just praying that I will be able to share with them what they need to hear. I hope we can all learn and support one another. I am excited to go on exchanges with all the Sisters!

Sister Polanco shared this scripture with me yesterday and I absolutely love it! It is 1 Nephi 18:24, "And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance." We will plant all the seeds of faith we can this transfer, I know if we share the restored gospel with everyone we meet on Temple Square the Lord will bless us

Sister Gee came to visit!

with those who are prepared and ready! 

Hope you all have a great week!

Much Love, 

Sister Sughroue

Week #27 - March 2nd, 2015

My District's badges! (I am the minority!)

Hello!

Well I guess we should start with the news because today we had transfer conference. Sister Sindylkova and I are still companions, New P-day is Friday and I was called to be a District Leader in the South 1 zone! I am so excited to serve and get to know the sisters in my District, I know I can learn so much from them and we can strengthen each others testimonies. We are going to work hard and continue to find all those the Lord has prepared for us to teach and baptize!  We are moving to another apartment complex, to live with the AP's in the "big" apartment, ahaha, because it's the handicap one. We will spend most of our P-day packing, but I am excited because the AP's are awesome and I love them so much!

On Wednesday we received Ipad training from Elder Clarke who is so amazing! He is hilarious and just brings the spirit so powerfully when he speaks.... we didn't even touch an Ipad or talk about how to work them, but soley focused on how we can use them to fulfill our purpose and still be obedient. I

Friends of Sister Sindylkova that texted my mom this picture!

LOVED IT. Everything we learned really will help us not only on our mission but in our future families, the best filter out there is ourselves! My favorite quote we read was, “The gift of the Holy Ghost, if you consent, will guide and protect you and even correct your actions. It is a spiritual voice that comes into the mind as a thought or a feeling put into your heart. … It is not expected that you go through life without making mistakes, but you will not make a major mistake without first being warned by the promptings of the Spirit. This promise applies to all members of the Church.” President Boyd K. Packer.  If we as missionaries are always in tune with the spirit and being obedient then we will have no problem with Ipads. Everything we use them for should be to fulfill our purpose of bringing others unto Christ. We should be getting Ipads with in the next 2 weeks!

O On Wednesday morning before training I took a sister to the Doctors and we saw Sister Kapp, the General Young Womens President in 1984, she came up with the young womens program and theme! So cool she told us all about it and how they presented it to the 1st Presidency!

(Elder) Jordon Smith & Sister Sughroue

Friday,  we went to the Temple! 

Saturday, I ran into Jordan Smith the Elder who baptized Karlie! So good to see him, it was definitely a tender mercy from the Lord because as we started talking we found out that a person he had baptized right before he came home has been struggling lately and that is the same person my companion and I have been helping who called in through mormon.org! No coincidence!  That night   we went to our investigators baptism in Clearfield, UT about 30 min north. Jose got baptized!!! When I was serving in guest services last transfer a member called in and referred him, he came to Temple Square and we gave a tour! He then and got in contact with the Elders and just progressed straight towards baptism. He is so awesome and we have just been there to support him along the way! We are hoping that we will be able to help his family experience the happiness and blessings that come from following Jesus Christ as well!

Sister Sindylkova, JOSE, & Sister Sughroue 

Well I will email again on Friday, double Pday is the best(:

O and I have been out for 6 months!!!! ahhhhh crazy how fast time flies! I feel like I was in the MTC the other day...

Much Love, 

Sister Sughroue

Week #26 - February 23rd, 2015

Sister Sughroue's Zone 

Hello (:

This week was busy and filled with tender mercies from the Lord! I found out that I am not going outbound this next transfer in a week.... so I will be here for conference! It is funny to think when I first got my call I was worried about being in the same square for so long, but I haven't gotten tired of it! I love it, being here and seeing the Temple everyday and always having opportunities to teach and testify about the restored gospel! What more could a missionary ask for.... haha.

Monday- We went hiking Ensign Peak as a district.

Hiking on P-Day

Tuesday- Tours at Welfare Square and we helped in the Bishops storehouse shopping with people when we are not busy with tours.

Wednesday- Tender mercy.... we were in the Visitor Center on the couch's talking to a member about her conversion story when this crazy dude came up and just sat down listening to our conversation... he said he was interested but seemed kind of Anti, and we started to talk with him and answer questions but he was just rude and slightly creepy, luckily this awesome member was there and bore her testimony and helped us out and made us feel a lot more comfortable. So grateful the Lord put her in our path and we were able to be blessed by her testimony and spirit.

Thursday- Sister Att from the church history department who

Hiking on P-Day

helps with all the churchs historical sights came and told us about Temple Square! She answered all our mythbusters and the weird stories that have been floating around for a while hahaha. You know that Elevator story about how their was a random space left for an elevator and they had no clue  what it would be for because elevators were not invented and it was a miracle.... well yup turns out elevators were actually invented before the temples plans and construction was finished... myth=busted. I was so devastated I love telling that story :(  hahaha we could not stop laughing at all the things we were finding out. I always knew Temple Square was a special place but after hearing her speak it made it even more special! Thinking about how significant every building, the placement, what the saints went through and let alone the fact that this has been the place for saints from all over the world to gather to hear from the Prophets called of God since the 1800's! And all the amazing revelation that was given to prophets here in this square! I could go on forever about it!

Friday- I saw Andrew! We took a lesson/tour with this family of 4! The parents and 2 young boys, they came with the Elders and the bishops family. It was awesome, we focused on Eternal Families and at the End they all accepted baptism! And since I am not going outbound I will be able to go to it in March!

Andrew Pulsipher (cousin) & Sister Sughroue

Saturday- We got a new investigator. My companion made me traditional Czech dinner (meat and potatoes) So Yummy! We also felt it was time to talk with one of our investigators who wasn't really progressing and tell her we couldn't call very much anymore.... it was kind of weird I felt like I was breaking up with someone hahaha. But we knew it was something we needed to do. She has struggled with a relationship with God and we have been really trying to help her with that..... at the End of our talk I invited her to pray as usual, but this time she said YES. miracle. 

Sunday- That Investigator finally decided to go to church after 3 months! Miracle.... YES.  Sometimes as missionaries we need to step away and help them realize it is there choice and they need to work on their personal relationship with God we can't do it for them... the Lord has perfect timing for all of us and prepares all bit by bit until we are ready.


On Wednesday we have Ipad training with the General Authority Elder Clarke! Should be fun I am really excited to see how we can use this technology to hasten the work!

Czech Dinner made by Sister Sindylkova

Hope everyone has a great week! It is starting to get cold here... I knew this warm winter was too good to be true.

Off to Pday and Cafe Rio (:

Much love,

Sister Sughroue

Week #25 - February 16th, 2015

Hiiiiiiii everyone!

Sister Sindylkova  & Sister Sughroue
Matching Valentine's Day Scarves!

Happy Valetines Day!!!
 Temple Square has been a little busier lately with the roots tech conference with and all these gross couples coming to stare at the temple and kiss.... blehhhh. So cliche. The worst is when couples propose right behind Sisters contacting on the square hahahah so awkward for the visitor trying to learn about the restoration when there is a girl screaming and crying behind him because they got engaged lolzzz..

This week was super busy and awesome!

On Tuesday My Companion, Sister Jensen and Sister Guidi went a ward in West Jordan to speak at a young women and relief society activity! We got lost and ended up at another church building and those members sent us in the opposite direction.... of coarse. We finally got there and we ate waffles, the theme was "Don't Waffle on your Testimony!" We focused on bearing testimony and member missionary work, it was awesome! They all wrote their testimonies in Book of Mormons for us to pass out on the Square. Missionary Work is way more successful with members, and as members of the Church this is our duty!  When we pass out these BOM's the members testimony is the first thing the person looks at and it touches their heart.  Sister Hewerd is the RS President who invited us, she and I met my first transfer when she brought Jordan a boy we have been teaching on and off to the square! She is amazing(:

Belgianka and her family are still struggling to be baptized because they can't get to church! But we will find a way, we

Sister Howard & Sister Sughroue
Relief Society Activity

know that Lord will help Belgianka do this. Our investigator Bryan was baptized on Saturday! He is a college student at UVU and is so awesome, my companion taught him alot last transfer. We have been really focusing on teaching and finding those who are prepared this week, it has been a struggle because some of our investigators have just stopped progressing. It is sometimes hard to let go of those who are just not ready but when we trust in the Lord and make room for more people he always provides us with miracles. This week we found 4 new investigators, and some potentials. Which is awesome! Julia is 14 and came with her Mom and Aunt (member). We gave them a tour and taught the first lesson, during the tour we found out her mom was baptized a long time ago but because of some tough trials never really stayed active and now they both are interested in coming to church and making this a part of their life. She is going to read the BOM and is so sweet(: They live by San Diego so we will keep in touch over the phone.

So all my Valentines came to find me on the Square! I am sure you have all already seen the pictures! I saw Cassandra in t

Mauri Rivera, Sister Sughroue
& Jaqcuelyn Jacobsen

he morning and then in the afternoon I ran into Briar!!!!! I hadn't seen her since she left on her mission! It was good to see her, she is beautiful as ever and Leslie and Her have always been such great examples to me. While I was hugging Briar..... Jaqcuelyn and Mauri walked in.....hahahahaha. I must be serving in utah or something. So great to see them! We laughed and cried hahaha. Jacquelyn is going to do great things in Sydney and that was our Final goodbye till then!

Sister Sughroue &
Cassandra Clermont

I just love the work I am doing and the people I meet everyday. Even though they may be complete strangers I love them, because we are all brothers and Sisters. And as disciples of Jesus Christ when we are filled with the spirit of the Lord it is easy to love everyone around you despite your differences. This is something I definitely am learning on my mission through many different experiences. I have learned to love others and remember that we all chose to come to the earth and follow Jesus Christ, that we are great in the eyes of God, and it is our job to help each other return safely home.

Sister Sughroue &
Briar Morgan

Hope you all have an awesome week!  

Grandma and Grandpa thanks for the Valentines package and chocolate! <3

Mom the Girl Scout Cookies were a big hit.... and the American Sisters thank you.

MUCH LOVE, 

Sister Sughroue

Week #24 - February 9th, 2015

Hello (:

Sister Sughroue & Sister Sindlykova

Hope everyone had a great week! It has been pretty warm here lately.... hopefully we will not get snow, but I probably just jinxed it. ooops. It was a pretty eventful week with lots of fun stuff!

Tuesday: Welfare Square... lots of tours and cheese and chocolate milk. so that was fun.

Wednesday: Dad and Terri came for a visit! We went on a tour around Temple Square and then went to the roof for dinner. It was soooo goood! The best meal I have had on my mission thats for sure! hahaha. It was really good to see them and

Sister Sughroue, Dad & Terri

show them what my mission is like because its so different!

Thursday: We had an awesome Lesson with our investigator Liz and President Loos (he is in the mission presidency) as a member present. She is catholic and he was a very devote catholic before he joined the church so he helped answer a lot of her questions concerning the restoration of the Church! Our investigator Joseph met with us on the square and told us he decided to stop smoking all together after we had a big talk last week about how the spirit can not be with us if we are taking part in harmful things.... and because he has such a strong desire to feel the spirit he quit! And we got a new investigator!

Friday: We were able to teach Belgianka and Alice (79 years old) and really sincerely wants to learn about the church but has bad health.

Saturday: In the morning we had 2 youth conference programs back to back each session had about 80 youth. We do the living Christ Program and where they all read the document, write their testimonies on the back and we invite a few to come up and share along with us missionaries share ours. It is such a spiritual experience, and the youth of the church are so amazing and have such strong testimonies! We focus on our personal relationship with the savior and how we can come closer to him. 

Sister Sughroue, Karina & Lela Hill

    Then I went on Exchange with my district leader that day, Sister Chen from Taiwain which worked out perfectly because we gave a tour to a group of Chinese exchange students from BYU that Karina and Lela Hill brought! It was fun to see them and had a great tour (: We sang I am a child of God for them in English/ Chinese in the  Tabernacle.

Sunday: Dad and Tyler came to our ward with 200 sisters... hahahah. People weren't sure if they were my family or investigators. Everyone kept saying how much Tyler and

Sister Sughroue & Tyler Sughroue

I look alike, and now we have a bunch that want to marry into the family hahahah. Sundays sacrament meeting was one of the best we have had! The Chinese Sisters all did a musical number and sang Army of Helaman the spirit was so strong and  everyone cried..... Then president announced that we will become an Ipad mission by the end of this month!!!!! So awesome! Every missionary will have an ipad(:

   

 We went to music and the spoken word after! 

Later that day we were walking by the flag pole and my comp stopped to talk to this man named Matt, we had a really great conversation with him about God and how he loves us, the restoration and Temples! We took him around and got to teach him a lot in just one tour! He got a BOM and will be reading it. He is awesome and is another new investigator!

Sister Sughroue & Sister Smith

Sister Sughroue
Sister Rajah - Australia
Sister Sindylkova - Czech Rep.
Sister Rasheed  - Pakistan!

This week my companion and I worked really hard to reach the goals we set at the beginning of the week. Before we set goals we pray about it and know this is what the Lord has in store for us this week if we work hard and are diligent in finding! We were able to accomplish our goals as we prayed for opportunities to do so through out the week.... the Lord helped us cross paths and get in contact with sincere people this week! I feel so blessed to be able to help these people we have met on the square and over the phone develop a personal relationship with the Savior. It is amazing the difference we see in people when they experience Gods love for themselves.

Belgianka our investigator told us this was her favorite scripture this week mine too! 

Sister Sughroue, Sister Chen & Chinese
Exchange students from BYU

Alma 38:2 " And now, Sister Sughroue , I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end."

Hope you all have a great week <3

Much Love, 

Sister Sughroue

Week #23 - February 2nd, 2015

Dear Family and Friends, 

        

       Well it has been just another great week! Sister Sindylkova and are working really hard, and I love her so much! We

Sister Leavitt & Sister Sughroue

have a great time together and she is just an awesome companion! This was just a weird week with lots of unexpected things happening to our investigators but the Lord is by their side constantly and has provided a way, even though it is not what we had planned the Lords plan always ends up being so much better  (: haha

So Belgianka and her family (they live in Ireland) were not able to make it to church the past week because of a cultural celebration with family.... their baptismal date is now pushed back 2 weeks. But she and her siblings are still determined to be baptised and they are growing stronger testimonies and faith everyday. We were a bit concerned about her parents because they don't speak english they don't understand everything when the missionaries come over and it causes confusion and we were not sure if they completely supported their kids. We were blessed in finding a Romanian Member Present who could call over the phone with us to speak with her parents. He was able to answer all their questions and concerns. After the lesson they were completely supportive and plan on going to church with their kids next week! We found out they love the Church and are so happy their kids found God. Member presents are the best.... The French sisters have been using Tyler to help teach some investigators over the phone and they are so grateful! 

Last night we had an interesting experience, it was 5:30, so we had 30 min until we had to go eat dinner. There was a tour waiting for a while so we decided that we could give a 30 min tour. We ended up taking a Mother and daughter and the fiance of the daughter. The mom and daughter are very less active and the fiance is from Turkey and he is not a member. It was a very interesting group and we could tell the Mom looked very uncomfortable and something was a little off.  We took them on a great tour with where the spirit was very present and we taught the restoration down in the scripture and revelation area. The Non-member ended up being very receptive and wanted to learn more, he referred and we went to go get him a Book of Mormon. When we came back the daughter had explained that her Mom was going through a hard time and suffering mentally from some things... she asked if there was anyway she could get a blessing. We of coarse said yes! But then when we went to find someone we were worried that the senior couples had already gone home because it was so late. As we walked over to make a phone call we caught Elder Bradshaw (one of the full-time senior missionaries here) as he was walking out the door to the north visitor Center, such a miracle! He came and talked with the family and we found out a lot more about their situation and struggles. It was very apparent the mother had deep psych problems and the daughter had a very rough past. Elder Bradshaw ended up giving the mother and daughter both blessings. They left Temple Square changed from when they came, they had experienced the undeniable power of the priesthood. We hopefully will be meeting with them on the square later this week to teach the fiance from turkey. I am just so grateful for the priesthood, and the worthy men who hold it. I know that it was a tender mercy from the Lord that we were able to catch Elder Bradshaw and that the family was greatly impacted from the spirit they felt at Temple Square.

Sister Sindylkova and are continuing to work hard to find more people to teach! The Square has picked up a little bit lately! 

Sister Sughroue & Sister Sindylkova

The Picture is of Sister Leavitt and I. We go on exchange in the mornings during the week while our comps are in English class! Love her!

Love you all Have a good week! 

-Sister Sughroue

This next part is for the Rancho California Ward to the youth who asked questions about missions! I am so happy to answer all these! Thank you for writing about yourselves, glad to hear the sun is still shining and everyone is doing good in Temecula!

·         What is one of your most memorable/ best experience so far?

          -Nick 18 year old from the Ukraine came onto mormon.org chat for some simple questions... called him taught him about the Book of Mormon and invited him to go to church the next sunday. He started to meet with the missionaries in the Ukraine and we continued to teach him... he was baptized about 6 weeks later and is now a worthy aaronic and melchizedek priesthood holder! 

·         Have you run into any "unfriendly" people so far?

           -This one made me laugh... we run into Anti's all the time.... they make me laugh and I am grateful because they strengthen my testimony! They are friends of other faiths and we love them, because we are all brothers and sisters!

·         What was the most frightening thing that you have experienced on your mission?

             -Well I like to think I am in the safest mission ever, we have security guards and  cameras constantly patrolling Temple Square. So probably me slipping on ice during Christmas time. Michael Price can probably has a better answer to that one. 

·         What's the most exciting thing that has happened to you on your mission?

        -Watching my investigators be baptized and come into the fold of God! Words can not describe how special it is to watch someone progress from the first contact to baptism! and O David Archeletta came to our mission for a fireside! 

·         What is the hardest thing to teach on your mission to your investigators?

               -Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.... For some reason people have a really hard time making church a priority over the super bowl and birthday parties 

·         How did you prepare mentally and physically for your mission even a year ahead?

               -Seminary is a great preparation for waking up early! Take full advantage of it!

·         How has the mission changed?

            -Everything is constantly changing every 6 weeks in my mission, new companion new assignments.

·         What has been the worst thing you have had to eat?

        -Chicken Feet.... with toe nails still on. 

·         How do you think you have grown or what changes have you made in your life?

           - I am focused on making all my goals and priorities in life aligned with the Lords will, I know if I follow his plan for me that's when I will be the happiest. I feel that I have become more spiritually mature and am constantly desiring to grow. 

·         What would you say to a YM or YW that is not sure if they should go on a mission or not?  

           -Go with Nike.... just do it. Make your decision and pray for the comfort and reassurance! Sometimes the Lord needs you to take a giant leap of faith! It is the best 2 years for your life. 

·         What has been the hardest thing so far on your mission?

         -Going through the Refiners fire.... on Temple Square we meet all sorts of people. People come here to argue with the church and ask all sorts of questions from every angle. At first it was hard because I didn't know all the answers, but I put my trust in the Lord. I have come to gain a stronger testimony from all the adversity. 

·         What is your favorite food?

           -Lion house rolls right up the street! The Sisters get them for free...shhhhh (;

·         What was your best spiritual experience?

        -I really can't pick one, but my companion and I had the experience of meeting a special needs women on the square and taught her how to pray to God for the first time in her life. Tears came down her face as she said the most simple prayer, the spirit was so strong and I knew that Heavenly Father heard her! And she felt his love and comfort in that moment. 

·         Who has been your favorite character you've met on the mission so far?

There are a ton of funny stories but one is when my companion and I were walking through the square and just simply said hi to this man who was all by himself, he immediately threw his hands in the air and started to scream "I have already been saved" over and over as he quickly walked away.. we just could not help but laugh. 

Sister Sughroue