Jesus Christ: The Way, the Truth, and the Light!

At welfare square this afternoon. 

The Tabernacle organ...

Some of the organ pipes behind the scenes.

Hello! 

Ahh. Today has been really busy. President Risenmay has changed having Mission Leadership Training from every transfer to every month, so we had it today from 8:30 am-1pm. The APs asked that my companion and I and the office assistants pickup some food they ordered for lunch, so we gladly agreed. It seems like a pretty simple task, right?

So we go to the Jimmy John's sandwich store, which is right across the street from Temple Square. It turned out they didn't have an order for us (long story short, they placed the order with a different Jimmy John's store). Jimmy John's is connected to a bank building, so we went out into a hallway to make some calls. Right next to us was a small sitting area where a homeless man was hanging out. While my companion was on the phone he called over to us and asked if we had a Book of Mormon he could have. We basically said, "Sorry, no we don't, but you're welcome to go over to Temple Square and get one. But he said, "They don't like me very much over there." I was thinking, I wonder why. My companion was still on the phone and I was standing a few yards away from him so I started talking to him. Bad, bad idea.

I asked questions like,"Have you ever read the Book of Mormon?" and "Are you a member of the church?"

"Yes, I was baptized when I was 16....." He went on to say some other things but I didn't really understand what he was saying.

Then he said, "Why don't you hand out food to people? There are so many people like us that need help."

I tried to say that we have programs that help people, but he cut me off and started to get really heated. I didn't really know what to say, but I said, "I don't want to be contentious." He said, "You're the one who started talking to me. Why'd you have to come over here!" Even though he was the one who started talking to us first!

At this point my companion and I just walked away. Ahh. He just wanted things to be handed to him without doing any work for it. Welfare Square provides ways to help these people, but I guess some don't want it badly enough. I later saw a security guard escorting him off of the property. 

Speaking of Welfare Square, we had a district activity this afternoon there. We got to help a little with the food. I cut open boxes of big blocks of cheese to be sliced, and I helped stack hot cocoa boxes. I also helped drink some of their chocolate milk. :) One of the managers gave us a tour around the factory. He showed us how the powdered milk is made and the hot cocoa powder. It was amazing! Just to give a few details, all the food made at welfare square is shipped around the country to go to Bishop's storehouses, and also around the world to help other people in need. I love how organized the church is and how ready and able we are to help others!

This past week the sisters in the mission got to have a tour of the Tabernacle organ! We got to see some of the 11,623 pipes, the air pump, and part of the Mormon Tab office! On a side note, I had a desk assignment this past week in the Tabernacle during Richard Elliot's practice for an organ recital. He played Clair de Lune on the organ! It completely made my day. 

Jumping back to the Mission Leadership Training that we had today, President Risenmay spoke about the atonement of Jesus Christ. He said this wasn't something he was planning to talk about, but he felt that God wanted him to share it. He talked about the time when Jesus Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and that the pain was so awful that he asked the Father to remove the cup. "And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt." (Mark 14:36).

In English, Abba is an intimate term for Heavenly Father. It's a cry from a son to his father. Jesus asked Heavenly Father to take away the pain, but the answer was no. Christ drank of the bitter cup and did not shrink. 

Life is really hard sometimes, but we can overcome anything through Jesus Christ. Do you believe that? I mean really, really believe that? I know that all things are possible through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)  He is the way, the truth, and the light and always. Please try everyday to come to know Him. I know how much it will bless your life. Feeling the love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for you is the most beautiful feeling in the world. It's more precious than anything in the world.

I love you all very much! May God bless and keep you!

Love,

Sister Butler

We were at Jimmy John's earlier today waiting for the order to be ready.

Backstage at the tab.

So we met an elderly couple on the square this week and they said they just finished having lunch with Tadd R. Callister. When we were saying goodbye they said that Tadd bought theses cookies for them, but they wanted us to have them. Haha, so random but awesome!