Week 2…What’s new?

 So what did we learn this week? Oh my…lots and lots! 

We ended this week today, (although many would say that Sunday is the first day of the week and we shouldn’t be “ending our week” on this day. Sorry, it just works out better for me this way) and it was a great day. I think I’m going to start here and work backwards. We were able to attend the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast which was wonderful. I’ve watched it many times in tv, but we learned today that it is amazing live and in person. The music from the orchestra and the feeling from the choir create such a 

wonderful overall atmosphere and spiritual moment. It was great. 

Then we went to church. I was asked to help pass the sacrament today. It is a simple thing. Something I have done many times in my life, especially as a young priesthood holder, but today as I was taking the symbols of the Savior’s sacrifice to those who were there to worship Him, I suddenly felt a profound feeling of gratitude from Him for my willingness to serve, even though it may be a small thing. I immediately said in my heart, “No, I am grateful to be able to do this for you”, and I learned that He already knew that, but that He wanted me to know of His love and gratitude for me. Wow, what a wonderful Savior we have. He who creates galaxies upon galaxies and yet knows the feelings of one obscure servant like me.

Yesterday we FINALLY found out where we are being assigned to serve. We have been asked to work in the International Zone in the Family History Center. We will be trained on how to be a resource to people who are searching for their ancestors everywhere in the world except the United States and Canada. We were also given another task, but more on that later. One thing about our assignment there is that we will not be wearing dresses and shirts and ties. It’s business casual only attire and we will get a special lime green name tag with our first names on it, not Sister Phillips and Elder Phillips on it. Pretty wild. We 

learned that they do that because they want us to be more approachable and casual with the patrons that come in, since most of them (about 90%) are not members of the Church, and we want them to feel like we’re there to help them with their search for their ancestors and not to convert them to the Church. So Sister Phillips and I will be doing some shopping to find some more business casual attire to wear, since that isn’t what we brought with us in this mission. :)

From Thursday back through Monday we were in training meetings all day, being taught about the various departments (zones) within on his mission and visiting the different locations where missionaries are assigned to serve. We also learned a lot about using the technology available to us to help people find their ancestors (Family Search) and to communicate with one another (Outlook and SharePoint). Sister Phillips was sooooooo excited for that part of our training….NOT! But she is getting it, and will be a pro by the time we are finished here. Weeeven figured out how to print off a huge poster-sized fan chart of our genealogy (which, by the way, they will do for free for anyone who come in to visit the Family History Center!) 

Most of the missionaries that started with us this week are not very good with technology, but they have a willingness to learn and a love for the work and I know they will be great. We have already made some great friends and we have learned (or maybe we already knew this) that it is easy to get along with and have fun with people who are kind and loving and striving each day to be like their Savior. It just makes it easy to drop barriers and get to know one another, and when you get to know one another you find out very quickly that we are not very different at all.

This isn’t perfectly going backwards in the week, but I wanted to end with this. On Tuesday night night we went with a group of missionaries from our mission to the Bountiful Temple to do some temple work. We both found a name of one of our ancestors to do the endowment for and headed to the temple for the 6:30 session. We arrived and changed into our white temple clothing and joined the rest of those who had come for that session. We were escorted up to the ordinance room and they began the session. For those who have been to the temple you know that there is an ordinance worker who stand at the front to oversee and begin the session. Well here was an ordinance worker there in the room with us, but he was sitting in a chair and he didn’t get up when the session began. We couldn’t figure out what was going on, and then we learned that the endowment presentation has been changed…a lot! It was wonderful we love the new changes, of course we don’t talk about those sacred things much outside of the temple, but I will share that both mom and I felt like he changes were focused on helping the rising generation to more completely understand the temple endowment. In Doctrine and Covenants 1:24 it says, “… these commandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding.” (Italics added by me). God wants us to understand Him, and so now and then He changes the way He speaks to us because we change the way we communicate with each other. We love the changes they have made in the temple presentation and especially the additions that focus on the atonement of Christ. We go to the temple to learn more about Him and we felt like that is exactly what happened to us Tuesday night. 

Be good!

We love you all.

    Mom and Dad