Playing With Glitter and Dirt

It's been a shorter week due to changing my P-day last week for the temple, so it's kind of funny trying to figure out what to tell yous. 

Wednesday we went to the temple!  I absolutely love being there, and doing what I can to help the work on that side.  While we were traveling there, we found another set of sisters going to the same temple session, which was so much fun!  We have to ride public transport into the temple, which means catching a train into the city, and a bus to take us to the temple.  We missed the bus that we needed to catch, and so we missed our endowment session that we were going to do.  Thankfully the temple was able to get some Initiatory names for all of us to do, which is just as good for us to do.  :)  It made me feel special that the temple workers were willing to find another way that we were able to serve. 

On Friday morning, we went to a member's house to visit with her and her niece, who is always a bundle of energy.  When we got there, the niece had us help her with her craft that she was doing... which was putting glue on paper and dumping heaps of glitter on it.  My black skirt was covered in glitter the rest of the day.  haha :) 

Saturday was full of service opportunities, which I absolutely love doing. :)  We started by helping a member move out of her parent's house, and then we had another Zone Service!  We planted trees again, just at a different park, and they had more things for us to help with.  Service just has a special feeling with it, especially when it's fun like that, and can really help you gain a better perspective on things that you're dealing with.  I'd suggest to anyone who is too bogged down with what they're worrying about to go and find some small service to do.  It'll really help with your perspective of what you're dealing with. 

Aussie Terms: Serv-o (gas station, convenience store, etc.), Brekky (breakfast), and sunnies (Sunglasses.) 

This week I have two thoughts I want to share. Number one: No matter where you are, who you are serving with, who you are called to work with, gain a testimony of your leaders.  They are called of God, and have been given the authority to receive the revelation to guide the group that they are over.  I personally did this before coming on a mission, and my testimony that President Fife has been called of God to guide this mission has been reaffirmed many times.  He has great ideas, and knows exactly what to talk about with each of us individually and in our zones.  With a leader, everything is easier to hear and do, even if it's hard, when you know that he or she is sharing what our Heavenly Father would have them share. 

Number two: the weekly scripture. :)  Alma 37:33:  Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Withstand every temptation of the devil with their faith.  We have been given one of the strongest and most powerful things that there is.  We have our faith, which can withstand every temptation.  Not just some, not all but one, but every one.  If we continually work on building and strengthening our faith, we will be able to break out of every temptation, and it's all because of our Saviour and His Atonement.  Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we are able to break free of anything, and we can gain power that we need to face our days without fear. 

I love you guys, and hope all is well!

Pictures: There's a lady in our ward with Alpacas, which wouldn't let us in her yard.  Super cool!  Then there's a tree that I was planting, and the beautiful temple.  :)

Planting trees

Perth Australia Temple

Guard Alpacas and Sister Perkins

Focus and a Funeral

This week has been an interesting one to say the least, full of events to go to.  On Tuesday, we went to a Relief Society presidency meeting. We asked to be involved in their meetings, and they decided to have a special meeting just about the in-actives and less-actives in our ward.  When we arrived, the whole presidency was in tears, and they told us that a young boy (Alex) in our ward had an accident and was in the hospital.  A little later into the meeting, there was a phone call telling us that the parents had just been told that they would have to decide to take him off of life support on Wednesday.  We all felt that we could better serve if we went to the hospital instead of continuing the meeting, so we ended the meeting and went.  My ward is practically all related to each other, so about half the ward was there, but it was good to be there and comfort as best as we could.

On Wednesday we weren't able to really focus on tracting while we were thinking of the boy and his family, so we went to some of their houses and put paper hearts on their doors.  Thursday morning while we were planning, we got a phone call informing us that there had been a service project to clean the family's home and get it ready for all the funeral events that were going to be held there.  We spent quite a bit of time there helping them, and were able to talk to quite a few people.  We also talked to our bishop while he was there, and he said that he wanted us to be at every event being held over the next couple of days.

Since this family is Polynesian of some sort, they have the culture where there are two family services before the actual funeral, which is a little different. But I think that it's cool that all the family can get up and talk about how Alex had impacted their lives, and stories about him.  Those started Saturday night, and it kind of felt like a testimony meeting.  They sang songs and really shared their love for Alex and his family while they were there.  It only lasted about an hour or so, and then there was food afterwards each night, where we could talk to those who had attended.  The same thing happened on Sunday night, both of which were really well attended, and had many testimonies and Primary songs sung.  The spirit was really cool and strong in those. 

Monday was the funeral, and they asked that us missionaries go to help set up the home for the Hakari (basically food after the funeral).  We showed up at 6:30, and worked solid with those in charge until the funeral, and then returned after the funeral to finalize the preparations for all of the food and seating arrangements.  It was awesome to see all of the family friends gather to help cook, prepare, and serve the food, and I'm glad that I was able to work beside them.  It is really incredible to see not only the family, but all of the ward helping and working together to show their love for Alex.

Other than that, Sister Perkins and I sang Nearer My God to Thee in Sacrament meeting, which was super cool, considering all that was going on with the funeral and all.  We used the tune from the older hymn book, which still has the same words, but the rhythm and the notes are different in some places.  It was cool that even though we picked the song a few weeks earlier it really fit with what everyone needed to hear. 

Aussie Terms (Sort of):  Hakari (Food after a funeral service. Kind of like a wedding feast), Whanau (Maori for family), and Jumper (Jacket, hoodie, etc.)

Scripture this week is Mosiah 18:30:  And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.

Where is our focus?  Are we seeing things in a positive light, or are we changing things to be negative?  Everything that happens can be seen in a positive light, and when we focus on the knowledge of our Redeemer, it all becomes easier to see.  With Him as our focus, we can see things as more beautiful, blessed, and worth singing about.  If you notice that you aren't laughing too much, or seeing things negatively, change your perspective and watch as it changes the way you experience life. 

Love you all!

Pictures: We had Sister's P-day last week, and so we went to a park next to the beach.  We're not allowed on the beach, so we could only get so close to the sand....  :) 

Sister Marostica (Colorado), Sister Burridge (Aussie), and Sister Talbot!

The Book of Mormon Can Speak for Itself

It seems like this week just flew by, and I hope that you feel the same about it.  This week we had Zone Conference, which I absolutely loved.  The days leading up to Zone Conference was like the days leading up to Christmas, or another big holiday.  :)  It was full of excited anticipation as we thought of what counsel we would hear, and the training that we would practice on.  :)  One of the things that we've been asked to do is to show up early so that we have time to study and review our past conference notes.  It really helps us be settled in and ready to learn by the time that we actually start.  We focused on keeping the spirit with us, the Book of Mormon, and specific prayers. 

As we work on keeping the spirit with us, missionary work becomes easier because we don't have to worry about convincing them.  The Spirit will do that for us, all we have to do is invite Him in.  Teaching others about the Book of Mormon is interesting as well, because the best teaching that they can get is by reading it and feeling of the power they experience.  We don't need to add words, the Book of Mormon can speak for itself.  And the specific prayers counsel is making sure that we aren't just generally asking for things in our prayers.  If we want a specific answer, we need to pray specifically.  We might not be answered in the way that we are expecting, but we can get an answer to a specific question like "Is the Book of Mormon true?" or "Is the Prophet called of God?"  We can receive revelation to gain the answers to our questions. 

Something else that we were able to do this week was zone service!  It was a community event planting trees in a park.  They probably planted over 100 trees, and our entire zone was there to help out!  It really felt good to have service to do, it just lifts your spirits when you lose yourself like that.  Afterwards, there was a sausage sizzle for those who helped, which really opened up the opportunity for us as a zone to talk to the people around us.  We talked to a girl who does like every service event she hears about on Facebook, I guess it's pretty common on her feed.  :) 

Aussie terms:  Trolley (Shopping cart), star jumps (jumping jacks) and Petrol (Gas, like for a car.) 

The power of Girl's camp:  This weekend our ward had Girl's camp, and even though we didn't go or stop by, we know that it really effected the girls that attended because you could see it in the way they interacted with one another in Church yesterday.  The daughter of one of our investigators went, even though she wasn't interested in the church.  She made a ton of friends, and was actually keen to hear more about the church afterwards.  Even if someone isn't a member, please reach out to them this (summer for you guys) winter.  You never know what kind of impact it will have on them as they learn and feel the spirit there.  For all of you who are planning camp, keep going, you're doing great!  I absolutely love all my memories of camp, and know that those that I was with can say the same. 

Scripture of the week:  Mosiah 10:10. "And it came to pass that we did go up to battle against the Lamanites; and I, even I, in my old age, did go up to battle against the Lamanites. And it came to pass that we did go up in the strength of the Lord to battle."  This is talking about bringing the strength of the Lord with us into battle.  We aren't fighting physical battles, but every battle we face, no matter how different it is to those around us, can be won with the right strength getting us through.  Afraid of something?  Bring the right strength with you.  Struggling with something that takes a lot of effort? Bring the strength of the Lord to help you win the battles that you are facing.  Our Saviour has felt everything that we are going through.  He is the best strength, companion, and protector to have with us.  I invite you to pick a battle this week, and pray specifically for help with it.  Then fight with all your heart, might, mind and strength.  You'll go far. 

Love you all, have a great week! 

Zone Conference

Chatting in the corner

Spiritual Sunscreen

So this week has been really wet, and so it's been pretty interesting to be out in the rain.    We just bundle up, put our shoulders to the wheel, and push along.  It's been about every other day with rain, but we've been able to talk to some really cool people while we've been about.  One guy was in his garage when we were walking by, and after a minute or two of talking to him, he invited us to stand in the garage with him to avoid the storm.  He has read the bible, but wasn't religious at all, so when we offered him the Book of Mormon to read, he seemed really interested in what it had to say. 

The 4th of July came and went without too much fuss... It was rather odd to want to celebrate something that doesn't matter to Australia... I wore red, white and blue for it, and sang the Star Spangled Banner for companion study. :)  I might be in another country, but I still can celebrate in little ways.  What's one of your favourite ways to celebrate the fourth?

On the first Saturday of each transfer, we get together as sisters of the zone, and study together.  It's really cool to be able to get together with everyone and meet those who are new to the zone.  We got two new goldens to the area!  We talked about what we had learnt so far on our missions, and all of the advice that was given was really cool.  We talked about how our Home base should always be the Saviour, that we should chill out and be comfortable with the work, and that we should make sure that we're 'enjoying to the end' instead of 'enduring to the end.'  It was really good advice to hear. 

Shout out to my mission, who made it into the June Ensign!  It talks about Elder and Sister Millar about Self reliance and being prepared for education after our missions. 

Aussie terms:  Jelly ( Jell-O.), learnt (learned), and Tablet (My name, but not... quite there... Sister Tablet) :)

The Scripture this week is Mosiah 4:2. 

"And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men."

 I love the way that it talks about applying the atoning blood of Christ.  I've put a focus on the Atonement of Jesus Christ this week, and this scripture helped me think of it at a different angle.  I've been working on learning how to better use it in my life, and how I can apply it to me.  I thought of it like this:  It's like sunscreen.  We can use sunscreen before we're burnt to help prevent us from burning.  If we are burnt, we can apply it to prevent it from getting worse.  The same can be said about the Atonement and sins.  We can apply it to help us repent of our sins, and improve our lives that way.  Repenting doesn't even have to be from sinning.  If we have a desire to change something about our lives, the change is a way of repenting. :) We can also apply this 'sunscreen' before we sin, in order to help us grow strong and avoid sin.  It can be used in both ways.  I'd invite everyone to read that scripture and to think of ways that you can apply this 'spiritual sunscreen' into your life. 

Have a great week!

Pictures: All the sisters in my zone, and Sister Severson, who is one of the new goldens!

Sister Hollee Talbot

 Sister Talbot and Sister Severson

Temple!!!

It's always interesting when we move a P-day one week, and then have it back on Monday the following week.  It throws me off as to what day it is. 

I got to go to the PERTH TEMPLE!!!  Oh my goodness, after such a long time of being away, it just felt like I was coming home again.  I love the feeling that is inside the temple.  No matter how much of the spirit you feel outside of the temple, it's always stronger inside the temple.  To all of those who hold current temple recommends: I encourage you to go this week, and spend some time just pondering things that you feel you are struggling with while you're in there.  It will make a world of difference, I promise.  It reminds me of the Reno temple, which was cool, because I thought of my Grandma and Grandpa Talbot while we were there.

One of the fun things that happened there is that we ran into my Trainer's Trainer!  So we took a three generation photo while we had the chance!  Her name is Sister Ricks, and she just finished her mission this week. :) 

Also!  It's been really cold here this week, (like 14 degrees Celsius, 57 F. I know, I'm a wuss now.)  :)  And it's been raining solid since Friday, which makes it even colder at night.  At one point while we were tracting on Saturday, one person told us we have more faith than sense.  We just laughed and said that we hope so! 

I just finished my first transfer.  Can you believe that?  Time flies while you're on a mission, because I don't think it feels like I've been here that long yet.  So as we did weekly planning this week, we made our normal weekly goals, but we also made goals for the transfer.  It's great to have a larger view of a whole transfer instead of just the little weekly one.  It's almost like a New Year every six weeks!  And you can evaluate and see what works, what doesn't, and how to make those changes in your life.  :) I love that Sister Perkins helps me see that and encourages me in those goals.  She is an amazing trainer, I'm really lucky that I have her for 6 more weeks! 

Aussie terms:  Overtake (like passing in a car), Jandals (funny word for sandals), and Chilly bin (a Cooler.) 

As for the scripture this week: Enos 1:2, and 7.  

2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.

7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?

This scripture is talked about a lot when it comes to prayer, because it is very powerful in showing that it needs to be an earnest prayer in assisting us in obtaining that remission of our sins.  But I would also point out that our actions, including prayer, must happen before we can receive that remission.  If there is something that we need to stop doing, stop it.  If it's something that we haven't been doing, do it.  :)  Prayer is open communication with our Heavenly Father! As we pray to Him, we will be able to strengthen our Faith, and as we exercise that faith, it will bring us to that remission of our sins.  It doesn't matter how small the sin is, I'd encourage you to do it. 

Love you all! 

  

Sister Hollee Talbot

Sister Perkins and Sister Talbot

Sister Ricks, Sister Perkins, and Sister Talbot

Perth Australia Temple

Her cousin, Olivia Nordhoff, sent her a letter!