Lauren's Mission So Far!

Seven months left to make the most of my mission that I can!!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDtaQp0MOxQ&feature=youtu.be

Blog, Drink Water, Be Bold and Loving!

This is my last week of training Sister Di Liberto

Sometimes I sit here trying to think about what happened this week that was cool. But lately all I can think about every week is what I have learned!
1. Blog- The impact of my blog reaches far beyond what I had ever expected. This last transfer in came a Sister Olden to Temple Square Mission. She in her own words was "stalking my blog" until she came here. I LOVE her, she is hilarious! I love when people are so open and honest like her. I hope we can be companions before I’m released. I think it was her who said that she wasn't all that excited about her call to the Temple Square Mission until she started reading my weekly letters posted on the blog. She said that the experiences I share helped her become more excited about coming here!! Then, the cutest thing ever happened. This sweet girl Sabrina who has been a member of the Church for almost a year now came to Temple Square with the missionary who baptized her and met us. She seemed shocked and excited all at the same time when she was talking to me. She asked if I have a blog and I said yes. It was one of the most touching moments I've had on my mission! The Spirit was so strong and she told me that reading my blog every week has made her think she might want to go on a mission!! She had been praying to know if that's what she should do because she turns 21 soon. We talked for a little while and I bore my testimony to her about why I decided to serve a mission and what an impact one missionary can make in so many lives. Then we showed her Quentin L. Cook's testimony of Christ video about missionary work. Sabrina said that meeting with us and having this experience was the answer to her prayers. She is now going to serve a mission!! Anyways, it was awesome, the Spirit was so strong.
2. Drink Water- Drinking water is so so very important! I got a bad headache on Sunday. Wow, I will never drink more Diet Coke than I do water ever again! Luckily, Sister Gillette let me sleep in the secret 3rd floor of the South Visitors center. There is plush carpet and couches up there. I guess it used to be the old mission offices. Things have changed.
3. Be Bold and Loving- Perfect love casteth out all fear!(Moroni 8:16). If we really love these people we teach, we will not fear what they will think of us, worry about whether we will offend them, what they say or anything else because we know that what we are telling these people is true! The message of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. We know that all people are children of God, and that He has a plan designed for our ultimate success and happiness. We need to help each person make it back to Him with us. But like in the story of Alma teaching the multitude who were cast out of the synagogues because of their poverty, they were humble and meek, truly penitent! 5 million people a year come to Temple Square and I do not even know the number who call in or the number that we call. There are a lot of people who are not humble and will not listen to our words. We ALWAYS have the power and responsibility to teach by the Spirit and they have their agency to accept it or not. We have no control over their choice. Once we have taught them they are agents unto themselves.
What a good week!

I absolutely love being a missionary!
The gospel is true! 2 Nephi 31:20

Love
Sister Jarv
xoxooxo

Mom's Missionary Countdown Calendar

 

I Learned So Much This Week!!

We had zone conference this week! It was held on two days: my zone went on Tuesday. So all of us went up to the Utah State Capitol and got an insider’s tour! It was so fun to go through the whole building and sit in their fancy chairs! After that each of the zone leaders that were there taught a lesson, and then we were instructed by President and Sister Gillette and the AP's. It was so great! I learned so much and took tons of notes.

Before the conference they had us all study a talk about becoming a consecrated missionary, which means to put all of the things that we naturally want on the altar of sacrifice so that we can serve the Lord wholeheartedly. When we came on our missions we burned the bridges behind us and there is no returning to who we used to be. So incredible. Giving up our pride, disobedience, romantic feelings, fear, sarcasm and negativity is what we signed up for when we became servants of the Lord. We simply cannot let those things be part of who we are anymore. There is too much work to do. But if we still look for the easy way out, we will find it, but the Lords work is not easy. If it is easy, we are not doing His work.

In fact, the training we got at Zone Conference reminded me so much of my favorite missionary talk, by President Lawrence E. Corbridge, “The Fourth Missionary.”  I mentioned it several months ago; it is still so inspirational to me and I study it often.  I try every day to be “The Fourth Missionary.”

The Fourth Missionary
http://www.scribd.com/doc/34660140/The-Fourth-Missionary

“I am guessing that generally speaking, out of 100 missionaries 5 will be the First Missionary, 20 will be the Second, 70 will be the Third Missionary and 5 will be the Fourth Missionary. You can all be the Fourth Missionary. Decide now to be the Fourth Missionary.

The Fourth Missionary lives the law of consecration. There are those who give of their means, their time and talents, and then there are others who give themselves. Sacrifice, it seems to me, is the first - consecration, less common, is the second.

Sacrifice implies doing one thing at the expense of another thing that has equal, or maybe greater, appeal. One bites the bullet and sacrifices his time and talents, his girlfriend, concerts, friends, cars, education, tv, movies, music, and even gum for two years.

The Fourth Missionary understands that, as King Benjamin taught, the Lord is never in our debt. He knows that God always blesses us many times more than the measure of what we give. Jesus said, a hundred times more. "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life." (Matt. 19:29).

For the missionary who understands the benefit of this bargain, there is nothing of equal or greater appeal than to do the Lord's will. Everything pales by comparison. There is for him, therefore, really no sacrifice, no choice, only free will, intelligent giving, only consecration. One who consecrates, gives himself. In addition to giving his time, means and abilities, he gives himself, his heart, his mind, his will. He gives himself.

The Fourth Missionary is the only one who can lose himself in the work, because he forgets his own concerns, he lets go of what he wants. When he lets go he then is free to think of others. He is the only one who does not count the cost. He doesn't itemize and total all that he has left behind to serve a mission. He does not count the cost. He forgets about it. He forgets himself. He loses himself.

The Fourth Missionary does not so aspire to become a "great" missionary; rather he aspires to be a "servant". He knows that "greatness" implies his performance in relation to others. He knows that the critical measure is his conduct in relation to his own abilities and in comparison to his past performance. While he fully understands and does not resent the need for statistics, numbers and measurements, he is not motivated by the praise or recognition of men. He is motivated by his desire to give himself and all that he is and has, to the Lord and to his work, however, that may compare with others. He knows that Jesus taught his disciples who at times
aspired to the honors of men, that "whosoever will be great among you...shall be servant of all."

Unlike the Third Missionary, the Fourth Missionary profits immeasurably from his mission. Unlike the Third, the good that the Fourth Missionary does benefits him greatly.

Unlike the Third, he is changed.”

 

 

Yes, I work and pray every day that I might be The Fourth Missionary…

Apparently there have been a lot of sisters getting sick lately. SO on Monday night President Gillette announced that for this week only, we would have “all day” pday's! Yay!  Normally in the Temple Square Mission we work all morning and have the rest of the day off when it’s our pday.  So this will be a nice long restful day!

Everything else is going well. The Square is still the same as it has been for the last 10 months. The temple is open again! So many weddings this week; busy Square!

LOVE

Sister Jarvie

     

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Sister Lauren Jarvie

sisterlaurenjarvie.blogspot.com

UT- SLC Temple Square

50 N. West Temple St. Rm. BSVC

Salt Lake City, UT 84150

The Busy Summer Rolls On!

Hello!

I am so happy to hear from home that all the stake youth were happy and safe on the Trek this time! I’ve heard nothing but great things from my EFY kids who went!! They did so many fun things and it sounds like all the leaders were so mellow this time! That can bring such a strong spirit and allow testimonies to really grow! I am so sensitive to the teenagers and their tender testimonies now after working at EFY and talking to them here on Temple Square. I would love to try a trek again sometime. I really have so much respect for the pioneers! We read and tell their stories all the time. What an incredible sacrifice. Wow. Whenever I think about them I am truly humbled by what they have done for us.  I especially love this statement by President Heber J. Grant, when he was dedicating the cemetery at Winter Quarters: "It has been referred to as the tragedy of Winter Quarters, but there was no tragedy here, for tragedy spells defeat and disaster. This was the victory of Winter Quarters, for here was faith and hope and charity raised to their loftiest pinnacles, while greed and selfishness were brought low. There are times and places in the life of every nation when great spiritual heights are reached, when courage becomes a living thing, when faith in God stands as the granite mountain wall firm and immovable, while hardships, want, hunger, sickness, sorrow and death beat down to crush. Winter Quarters was such a time and place for the Mormon people."  Yes, I love the pioneers...

 I’m sorry but this is all I have to say haha I am sitting here trying to think of what happened this week. Our investigators are advancing nicely, and we are so busy on the square with tons of tourists!! Every day is something new and exciting! Everything is rolling forward and it always will be, because we are engaged in the work of building the kingdom of God! I am so happy that I am here and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else right now.

xoxox

Sister Jarves

Temple Square Mission Girl's Camp!

Well, Temple Square Mission Girl’s Camp last weekend was so fun! We had it at the Brighton Girl’s Camp up by the ski resorts. It was really great. We had 4 different activities including a zip line! That one took forever because they had to untangle it just enough each time for someone else to do it again haha. I didn't do it because all the other international sisters that haven’t zip-lined really wanted to go.

On Sunday we went on exchanges with Sister Au-Yeung and Sister Intriago. It was cool to take so many Spanish speaking visitors around. I never realized how many come to Temple Square! Wow it is probably such a busy summer for the Spanish language sisters! We get quite a few Italians but not one after the other. So awesome.

This transfer is going by really fast. I only have 5 transfers left on my mission! President Gillette hasn't given me any clues about what I will be doing next transfer except that Sister Di Liberto and I won't be companions anymore, since she’ll be done training.

Not too much new goin' on here. Our incredible investigator is still progressing. I couldn't be more happy about that!

Xoxoxox

Sister Jarvie

PS- Someone write me a letter!

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UT- SLC Temple Square

50 N. West Temple St. Rm. BSVC

Salt Lake City, UT 84150