Life In The Rockies!

My new companion Sister Nawrocki

This is so weird! Suddenly a different place and a very different pace! The night before I came to CO I got 2 hours of sleep! So when we go outbound from Temple Square we have to pack all of the stuff we’re not taking with us. I had no idea how much stuff I have accumulated while I’ve been on my mission. Anyways, it was a disaster. Luckily, the sisters I left behind at Temple Square are nice enough to take all of that stuff to storage for me. It was so stressful! So then the next day I fly to CO and they take me to the mission office. It was really interesting because the AP's were like quizzing me on Joseph Smith and the Restoration. Hahaha… And they had asked me if I had ever seen the 12 week program (it’s the training guide for new missionaries that I used when I was training Sister di Liberto). I was like um yeah I definitely have seen that, we study it every day at Temple Square. So it was just funny, haha, but whatever, I guess that’s what they do when a new missionary comes from the MTC, so I can go with it! Originally this mission was scheduled to get a new Sister from the MTC, but she got sick there and needed to go home, so when they had a shortage they called Temple Square and asked if one of the 17 of us that were going outbound could plug in there to fill the gap. Also, the AP’s gave me this HUGE book of policies and guidelines for this mission. In short, it’s very different from Temple Square. So that’s what will be great about outbound, experiencing something new! After I was quizzed by the AP's, my companion came!!! Her name is Sister Nawrocki from upstate New York. She is so cool. She has been on her mission for only 3 months and is "training" me haha.

The next day was really interesting too! I actually had time to unpack and settle in!! Then we had lunch at a member’s house. After that we met up with some other sisters to get frozen yogurt! Then we continued to meet more members in the two wards we’re serving in. We are serving in Ponderosa Ward and the French Creek Ward. They are both so AWESOME! I love everyone we have met. They are all super nice and really excited to do missionary work!

Friday we had Zone Meeting! So I walk in first and there are like 20 elders in there!!!! So awkward hahaha. Then the zone leaders called me up to be the investigator for a role play and they asked me if I had ever done a role play at Temple Square! I took a deep breath and said YES! All the time... haha! It was also my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! So the sisters that we went to get frozen yogurt with the day before brought me these cute balloons with candy inside :) It was so fun! I can’t believe I just have a little over 5 months left! How did this happen?!?!? That night we had dinner at the Ropers, such a cute family! And they are really good at cooking!

We were pretty busy on Saturday meeting with members in the two wards. There is a missionary program here called 5-5-5 that keeps us super busy. Basically, each auxillary is supposed to come up with 5 names or families that we should go teach the missionary lessons to. We have the BEST ward mission leader in the Ponderosa ward, he is so cool and we love his family. They took us out to dinner on Saturday to this Mexican food place called Los Delicioso. It was pretty good. I haven't had good Mexican food in a while.

So each Sunday while I’m here we will go to two wards! And ward council meetings and stuff. It is pretty fun and Sundays go by way fast. I haven't really gone to church meetings in a year! In Temple Square we only have time for sacrament meeting and then we have to hit the Square! And I haven't been in a “family” ward since I was 15 pretty much! It was fun. I met the Persingers-- they are the best family ever! Sister Persinger is a crack up, Sister Nawrocki was like “you are going to be just like her when you grow up!” Haha she is the best! So they had us over for dinner, it was incredible. She has that same huge clock in her house that we got before I came on my mission!! Then we had another dinner appointment at Bishop Allettos house! They have 5 kids and the youngest plays football at BYU! They are a really nice family!

Things are nice here and I have been enjoying the super slow pace!!!

I feel like I'm on vacation sometimes...

LOVE

xoxoxoxo

Sister Jarvie

(minus the American flag and SL temple deco)

My house in Parker

 

Peace Out Temple Square!

Deseret News--"Sister Missionaries react to missionary age announcement"

This week was so crazy getting ready for General Conference! It was so much fun this year! We got thousands of referrals and have our work cut out for us. On Sunday night we had transfer conference and I got called to my outbound; so I am going to Colorado Springs Mission tomorrow for two transfers!!! I’m so excited! I will come back to Temple Square on January 2nd 2013 for my last two transfers!!! I don’t have much else to say right now, and I have tons of things to do before my early morning flight tomorrow. I will write more next week, and I’ll have a new address soon!  Love you all---CTR!

Sister Jarvie

October Conference
 

Last days with Sister Fredrickson!

Deseret News Article--"A Front Row Seat to a Huge Cultural Shift"
In the Whirled: When the
sister missionaries go marching in

Sister missionaries react to the news that new sisters can enter the mission field at the age of 19 that was shared at the Saturday morning session of general conference. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

By Tiffany Gee Lewis , For the Deseret News

Published: Wednesday, Oct. 10 2012 5:00 a.m. MDT

As a 19-year-old sophomore at Brigham Young University, I roomed with a group of strong, intelligent women. We had watched virtually the entire male half of our freshman cohort leave to serve as Mormon missionaries. We women had the same ambition — most of us had plans to serve a mission — but because it wasn’t our time, we saw the world a different way. We took off to study abroad: in the Middle East, England, Mexico and Russia.

In that group of 12 women, nearly all of us studied in a foreign country, but only one of us made it on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it wasn't me, even though I had worn future-missionary as a title since I was 8 years old. Life circumstances took me on a different course.

But I would have served, and so would most of that sophomore group, if we could have gone at 19.

That, in a word, is why the change in the minimum age for missionary service, just announced at LDS general conference, is nothing short of monumental. It may well usher in an era of the sister missionary in a way we don’t fully comprehend. Not only are we about to see a flood of sister missionaries, but we are going to have front-row seats to an enormous cultural shift in the church.

The change for women goes hand-in-hand with the alterations being made to the youth programs, which put more onus on the youths to teach, testify and carry the church forward. I see this change not as a marginalization of elder missionaries, but as a terrific strengthening of both genders.

Imagine, for instance, a seminary class of high school seniors. They are talking about their upcoming plans, their goals for the future. They are all talking about missions, not as something they might do in four years if life circumstances go their way, but as a tangible choice in the near future. Think of the strength of a proselytizing army that includes nearly an equal number of men and women, and what that will do for the church.

You can pick a returned sister missionary out of a crowd, because usually they’re standing at the head of it. In the past three wards I’ve been in, I do believe every Relief Society president served a mission. That might be coincidence, but I think it speaks to the power of a mission for “fast-tracking” one’s understanding of the church and the full scope of its mission in the world. Of course, a mission is not required for LDS women, but there’s no doubt that full-time service, at that early age, is an invaluable test of character and leadership — a refining, soul-stretching experience that’s hard to replicate any other way.

I've noticed a stereotype in our culture that men are the knowledge-bearing scriptorians and women are the service-oriented saints. But, as Elder Neal A. Maxwell has noted, “We need more women who are gospel scholars and more men who are Christians.”

Because of the dual role to both serve others and study the scriptures intensively, a mission molds men and women to be both saints and scriptorians.

Beyond this, the change in minimum age for missionary service is going to have enormous cultural implications for the church, in terms of dating, education and life plans. Women who go on missions at 21 face the real-life concern of coming home to find the marriage pool has thinned considerably, or that they have to put a nearly completed education on hold. Now those concerns can be alleviated.

Is every young woman going to serve a mission? No. Nor should they feel that obligation.

But the truth is there are thousands of young women who want to serve, and will follow that call. After all, they’ve been singing “I Hope They Call Me on a Mission” right along with the boys since they were 3 years old.

That hope, quite suddenly and remarkably, can be realized much sooner.

Tiffany Gee Lewis lives in St. Paul, Minn., and is the mother of four boys. She blogs at thetiffanywindow.wordpress.com. Her email is tiffanyelewis@gmail.com 

 



Are You Ready For Some Conference??

Exploring the Tabernacle
 

The Tabernacle Organ

We are getting excited for General Conference! Only a few more days until it starts and it will be so busy here! And I cannot believe that it is October already! It seems like it was just April Conference!

Well last week was so much fun! On Thursday we had a Pipe Organ tour of the Tabernacle and the Conference Center! It was so cool, we got to go inside the organ and walk around the pipes and learn about how things work! It was really interesting to see all of that, especially since I will probably never get that opportunity again. I even got to sit at the organ and pretend I was playing!

Last week we had our zone activity. We went bowling at President Seppi’s Country Club and then back to his house to watch Beauty and the Beast! While we were there I did Sister Shamanga's makeup. She is from Zambia; it was so much fun! She is going home next week so I gave her some of my stuff to take back with her! I really will miss her. I have also been helping her twist her hair and think I might move to Zambia and work in the salon doing cool stuff to hair haha just kidding. I will visit though!

Saturday we all got to go to the Relief Society General Broadcast! It was great! On the way in there were "Relief Society" ladies handing out little packs of tissues to everyone crossing the street going into the meeting. It was so sweet! Just in case we would cry!! So then other people were warning us that there is ANTI MORMON stuff packed INSIDE OF THE TISSUES! Hahahaha wow! The work these people go through in order to "shake our testimony". It actually is very sad and pathetic that they would spend so much time and money to do this whole thing! Talk about a wolf in sheep’s clothing... The best part is that the scripture the anti's used on their card "Come unto me all that are burdened and heavy laden"...was the SAME SCRIPTURE someone in the Relief Society presidency used in her talk!! It was awesome!

 

Anyways great week! There will be more to say next week I’m sure! I’m wondering if I’ll go outbound next Wednesday.  We will have a mission conference Sunday after General Conference and that’s when I’ll find out. Only four transfers left on my mission, can you believe it? 

Love

Sister Jarvie!

Enjoy General Conference!

Mom's Missionary Calendar!
 

 



Companions With Sister Call!!

Sister Call and Sister Jarvie

So much to report on this week! Last Wednesday was really really fun. So in the morning we had a whole training meeting all about the Tabernacle Organ. Of course after every meeting we have in the morning, 1/3 of the mission goes to Nauvoo Cafe for breakfast. After that we had to go creep around the North Visitors center because Sister Lauren CALL was going to be there for training from the MTC! One of the sisters told me they were all at the Christus so I grabbed my camera and we slowly went up the ramp. I turned my flash off and got some tabloid shots!

Spying on Sister Call during her first training day!

Wednesday and Thursday night we were super busy with the Hospitality Bus Tours, and they went great!

Saturday we got called to MTC contact! Yaya that means Sister Call’s coming! So at 4pm we were at the Conference Center waiting to meet them, and they handed out a little picture to each of us and then to the MTC sisters of who they would be paired with for training. So when they got there I motioned to Sister Call to show me her picture. I saw which one it was and quick switched mine with the sister sitting next to me who had the matching picture—a picture of Sister Call!!! So Sister Call and I were companions for the night! Yaaaaay! It was great. Seriously, Sister Call is going to be such a good missionary. She is such a hard worker and is so determined. She leaves tomorrow I think for Independence! Training that night was great. First, we got an anti and his girlfriend (way to pick a real winner...). Then we got called for a tour and it was such a miracle!!! Really! Everything we said to him he would just be so shocked in a good way! It was so cool and I’m so glad that Sister Call got to have that experience while here at Temple Square! So he wants to learn more and stay in touch with us and meet with missionaries! I gave the referral to Sister Call so she will have someone to teach when she gets to her mission. She will do a great job too. I’m not worried at all. I can’t wait to go to the Church history places after my mission. It's so weird that it’s only 6 months until I will be able to go to Independence and maybe see her too. She will still have a year left after my mission! Wow!

It was so special to be best friends for our whole lives and then to serve the Lord as missionaries and have the chance to be companions for a day! Wow it really is such a blessing. Both of us have come so far. There is no greater work than missionary work! It is fun to think that starting with Carley Clayton setting the example, Lauren and I have served missions! There is no other time we have as members of the Church to completely devote everything we are to the service of God and gathering Israel. Only 6 months left for me. What a time warp!

Lifelong friends, now full-time missionaries!

Lauren Jarvie and Lauren Call in 1994

On Sunday we got to watch the Brigham City Temple dedication!!! I honestly can’t remember the Newport Temple Dedication. The last one I can remember going to, I think I was like 10 or something. So it was really great. Originally, we were all set up to watch it underneath the Tabernacle but the sound wasn't working. So we all walked over to the Assembly Hall with the Holladay YSA WARD! Ahhhhhh! It was so weird! Hahahha

Yesterday we met a couple of great people! First a couple from Belgium! They were so sincerely interested in the gospel. Which is usually few and far between with Europeans so it was very cool! We will call them this week and hopefully be able to send a Book of Mormon with the missionaries.

Then we met Victor Lund Bradley! The cutest old man ever! He had a Pearl Harbor veteran’s hat on! It said USS Mugford or something. He was born in 1919 and is 93 now! He started telling us all these stories! His great grandfather George Washington Bradley, was the first bishop in Moroni, Utah (for 18 years) and he had stories about when Brigham Young would come over for dinner. Hahah so cute! He keeps a picture of his wife in his shirt pocket. One side is of her probably soon before she passed away and the other picture was of her from like the 1940's during their honeymoon in a little 40's swimsuit. Straight off of beach blanket bingo or Gidget hahah

Today we will have our Zone Activity at President Seppi’s house!!!!!! A half day of R&R then it’s back to our daily 9 to 9 of teaching, contacting, and watching the Lord work miracles on The Square! So grateful to be here!

Peace & Blessings

xoxoxo

Sister Jarvie

Tours and Teaching, Teaching and Tours!

I saw Sister Lindsay Wright's Mom on pday!

Top of FormGreat Week!! We met this guy on chat a couple weeks ago and he had been meeting with missionaries before he moved to a new place. He recently had a few friends report to the MTC for their missions. He wanted us to help him get in touch with the missionaries where he lives now! So we sent out the referral and called him a couple days later and he was already going to have lunch with them! So, so awesome. We talked to him again a couple days ago and he wants to be baptized! Wow so prepared!

We met the nicest ladies a few days ago! They were both in town for a conference that was held here. One of them lived in Newport Beach for a while and knows my Aunt Ann!!! How random is that?! Anyways, they were seriously so nice and we really enjoyed the time we got to take them around the Conference Center. I hope they enjoyed the rest of their time in Salt Lake!

Earlier that day we took 4 Polish people on a tour. One of them was the guide and pretty much had to translate everything we said. Well, to say the least, he was obviously not a member of the Church. So it was kind of funny saying things then having him translate because who knows what he was saying to them.. haha And on top of that he was really creepy. He kept asking us about when were done, what we do at the end of the day and if we had a boyfriend. We were like OK, anyways... Gotta love it.

We are totally loving Hospitality Bus Tours right now. Sister Moore says that we are the best they have at doing these! Probably just because we love to talk a lot and make people laugh! The most important thing with each group we get is to make the tour guide happy! If they have a good experience with us, they will come again! So Sister Fredrickson and I always go out of our way to do everything possible we can to make it the best night! Every Thursday night there is a Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal that is a super big deal! Thousands of people come. Last Thursday, our tour group got out of the Lion House and near the Tabernacle at about 7:57pm. There were already hundreds of people in line. They were going to have to wait forever and maybe not get in at all. So I said ok you stay here I will go see what I can do. So I run off to find one of the hosts to talk to. In the mean time Sister Fredrickson is entertaining the group and they are praying that I can make something happen. The first people I go to I tell them I've got a VIP group waiting here and we need to know which door to go into. They told me door 18. So I rushed over to the group said door 18 and they all started running towards me! So we get over there at like 8pm right on time! And then they get shuffled into the Tabernacle with VIP seating. PHEW!!!!! It was so awesome! We are pretty much famous after that!

On Sunday we went on exchanges with the Zone leaders. I was with Sister Shamanga from Zambia. She is SO COOL! She was teaching me different words to say in Chebu? Or whatever language she speaks there..ATI?!

SUMMER IS OVER! It is starting to get cold here and the winter scarves are comin’ out of the box! It’s fun! Also, along with that we get TWO 8 o'clock dinners a week and ONE whole hour for dinner each night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG I wanted to cry I was so thankful! Sitting in one place for a whole hour???? So awesome!

Tomorrow morning is going to be fun! The whole mission will have a special behind the scenes tour of the Tabernacle!!! All thanks to President Seppi! And also thanks to him because after General Conference we will be able to clean the Salt Lake Temple as our service!
Also, Sister Lauren Call comes tomorrow and Saturday for training on Temple Square before she leaves for Independence next week!!  I can't wait to see her!!  All those years of being friends, who ever thought we would serve together as missionaries for a couple of days?!?!  I love her so much and I am so happy and grateful we are both having this awesome experience!!!

LOVE

Sista Jarv
CTR

Sister Platt and Sister Jarvie

A Week in the Life!

My awesome new companion Sister Fredrickson is in the back!

We had leadership training this week! Pretty fun this time because I wasn’t freaking out about how I will be training during the transfer! A little more relaxed. So the meeting was in one of the banquet rooms of the Lion House. I was with Sister Beller (Montana) and Sister Pickrel (Arizona), they are so much fun! I love Sister Beller because she is obsessed with Diet Coke! So during our 7 minute break we ran downstairs to the Lion House Pantry and got a Diet coke for ourselves and President and Sister Gillette!

The next day we were on exchanges because the other half of the leaders were having their meeting. I was with Sister Lin (Taiwan) and she went to BYUH! Then we saw Brianna Hobbins!! Wow! SO GOOD to see her! She’s just always SO happy! There is never a time when I don't see her smiling, it's so contagious and awesome. Anyways, she said she would be coming back at conference so that will be fun! Hopefully I can find her among the millions of people who will be here!

Saturday we made an early morning teaching appointment so that we could push back all of our studies to avoid being out on the Square because there is this really creepy guy that has been searching for us all week. When we first talked to him he said he would be coming back on Saturday... Anyways, we heard security told him to get lost after he allegedly proposed to a sister here... Gotta love the SQ.

In the afternoon we saw RIQUE! I heard she was going to come here that day but we were just so busy with teaching appointments that we couldn’t be on the square. So we were talking to her for a long time, she gave me tons of pictures and found out that she knows a lot of the same people Sister Fredrickson is friends with! Pretty cool! She’s so great! I really cannot wait to be BFFs again after my mission! I’m not sure LA is the place for me, but we'll see haha!

We met a great lady while at the computers one day and she wanted us to call her back and teach her! She went to church on Sunday and took the sacrament for the first time in 50 years! She said it was so spiritual that it “felt like the water was spiked with something!” hahaha It was her first time going to an LDS church and she really liked it. She is a little apprehensive about missionaries coming to her home so we have been teaching her over the phone. She is so sweet and she has so much faith. We talked to her a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and we asked her to pray about what we had explained and she said she already believed all of it! But that she would still pray about it. She is so wonderful.

We had some great conversations with people this week! I really feel the Spirit working so strong in this companionship. We have been finding new investigators each week and have regular teaching appointments with them. It is great!

It is so incredible how much President and Sister Gillette really care about all of the sisters here.

 

LOVE

Sister Jarvie!

ps- I hope everyone is getting ready for Conference!

Check out our mission shirt!

 



I Am So Happy About This Transfer!!

Zone Conference at the State Capitol

Day 12 or something without a pday, Oh my goodness we are so excited that today is here! Transfers were last week and I really wanted to go outbound! But I have a new companion and now I do not want to leave!!! I love her so much she is the best! Before they were going to announce my new companion Sister Au-Yeung said “she is one of the prettiest sisters in this mission...SISTER FREDRICKSON!” I was super nervous to be her companion because she is so pretty and cool haha. So then I found out we both felt the same way about each other so it’s perfect! She is in her 3rd transfer and is from Silverdale Washington. She’s hilarious.

I was also called to serve as a District Leader this transfer. So I think this transfer is going to be too much fun! From day one of Sister Fredrickson and I being together as companions we have had the craziest things happen! First of all, our assignment this transfer is to be part of the Temple Square Hospitality Bus Tours committee! Omg, I love it. Basically, we take a huge group of people on a short tour of Temple Square and then out to eat at the Roof, the Garden, or the Lion House! The Church found out that bus companies taking cross-country sightseeing tours were all stopping to eat at the nice restaurants the Church owns in downtown Salt Lake City, and not stepping foot on Temple Square or meeting any missionaries!! So now we greet them when their bus arrives, show them all around the Square, share history with them and answer any questions they have. We are not allowed to invite them or teach them about the Church, but that can’t stop the Spirit! It is great! When we talk with them, we try to “show them the gospel” by making them feel loved and special, and have fun! I love it! The people are so nice and so fun to spend time with! There is such a great spirit on the Square and I KNOW they can feel it too! So we do that on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and those two days are INSANE! So I’m glad we have pday on Tuesday right before all that hits!

On Thursday we met this guy who honestly thinks he is God...And Jesus too apparently, because he has the wound marks on his hands feet and sides... Really really super creepy. Anyways, so security came to rescue us after talking to this guy for a few minutes. He still comes every day though. (Any other details about this will be expounded upon after my mission.) I feel bad for Sister Fredrickson because she said she never met any creepers or Anti's before she became companions with me! I don't know what it is!

So this past week and a half was so much fun! I am really excited to be in Hospitality Bus Tours!! Oh, I forgot to mention that each time we have a tour with them we get a free meal at the Lion House! I am so thankful!!! I am so happy about this transfer! There are so many things that we want to accomplish and that have already been happening.

We have been helping this homeless guy who comes onto the square all the time. He has been going to Church and has read the Book of Mormon 11 times! We got him a new Book of Mormon today that is hard cover and got his name engraved into it!

We have had SO many miracles already and we are just getting started.

My ongoing investigators are all doing great.

I love being a missionary so much!

LOVE YOU!

xoxooxox

Sister Jarvie

CTR