#5 Norway Here I Come!

Hei Hei!

Drum roll please......I LEAVE FOR NORWAY ON TUESDAY AND I'M SO EXCITED SO I'M NOT EVEN GOING TO BOTHER TRYING TO HIDE ALL THE EXCITEMENT!  

I got all my flight information this past week so I leave the MTC at 10:15am and then my plane doesn't leave here until 2:10pm...I fly from SLC to Amsterdam and then I fly from Amsterdam to Norway..I'm supposed to arrive in Norway at1:27pm on the 27!  I forgot to check the layover time so I don't have a clue how long I'll be waiting but that's the plan!  I'm flying by myself so that will be quite an adventure but I got an e-mail from my mission president telling me what to expect when I arrive.  Him and his wife will be picking me up at the airport and then they will take me to the mission home and I get to take a nap!  Hallelujah!  Then they feed me dinner and I visit with President Hill and then they tell me where I'm going!  Then the next day we talk about finances, visa, all that jazz and then I'll leave early afternoon to my assignment!  He's already told me that my companion is amazing and I'm so incredibly excited...like I seriously can't even put my excitement into words!  That being said I bought a call card so that I can call from the airport...I know you guys will be in different places at those times so I'm just planning on calling your individual cell phones so if you get a call from a random number than please answer because it's probably me!  I'll probably be calling in between 11:30 and 1! Can't wait to talk to you! Also...P-Days in the mission field are Mondays I believe so it may be a little bit until I can write again!

So after I e-mailed you, I went to the Provo Temple and it was the greatest experience ever!  Going to the temple as a missionary is the greatest thing in the world!  I absolutely love it and I get to go again today at 1!  Today will be my last time going to the temple for a while because there is no temple in Norway...still hoping that they're going to announce a temple when I'm over there because how amazing would that be?!  Mission miracles right?!  We taught our investigator Lin the third lesson and then she pounded us with questions about why Nephi had to kill Laban and we tried answering all her questions, but I just ended it with that we can pray to Heavenly Father and address the concerns and to ask Him why it needed to happen and that she would receive an answer.  The rest of the lesson went really well and Elder Janotti invited her to be baptized..and she said that she had doubts and wasn't sure if she was ready so we tried resolving her doubts and taught her about faith and that baptism is a step of faith, but it quickly turned into an argument and all three of us felt the Spirit tell us that we needed to end the lesson so we did and then left.  She now has other missionaries teaching her because she is a TRC investigator and they got switched on Monday.

Sunday

I know I said this last time but...SUNDAYS ARE LITERALLY THE BEST IN THE MTC!  The Spirit is always present at the MTC,but Sundays you can feel the difference. It’s incredible!  Sister Koon and Elder Devouro spoke about recognizing the Spirit and then Brother Pearson (Branch Presidency) spoke about faith...they usually have the departing missionaries speak. I was also studying Norwegian today and I had just read Preach My Gospel like mom said, and let me just say that the gift of tongues is real...even if you already know the language!  I understood so much more than I usually do and it was amazing!  OH!  And in sacrament meeting one of the sisters sang, "Savior, Redeemer of  My Soul" and it's the greatest song ever! Go look it up and listen to it!  One of my favorites!  Later we talked about faith in Relief Society and how baptism applies to the atonement in our district meeting. We had a temple walk and so I'll send those pics and two elders just jumped into the picture and I had no idea who they were...but I met one of them this past week who's name was Elder Fuchs so there's a random story for you!  We went to choir and practiced the songs for the Nashville Tribute Band and it was a blast!  Choir is so much fun...especially when the choir is like 500 missionaries!  After choir we had our Sunday Devotional and we watched "The Character of Christ"...it is PHENOMENAL!  Go look that up to and watch it!  UNBELIEVABLE!  As soon as the devotional was over DAVID A. BEDNAR HIMSELF WALKED IN THE DOOR!  We had an hour of just questions and answers about The Character of Christ and it was AMAZING! When can you have a Q&A with an apostle!?!  Then here's the greatest part...he left an apostolic blessing on us before he left!  The greatest experience ever and I will never forget it! BEST SUNDAY!

Monday

We had service this morning and Sister Temakei and I had to sweep all 8 bathrooms, sweep all the stairs in the entire building, vacuum all the landings, and clean the windows, and sweep the outside BY OURSELVES!  That was insane and we were hustling to get everything done but we finished! Hallelujah!  Then we went to go and teach our new investigator, Kylee...yes that is actually her name and she spells it the same way and she's like me in a way so we get along great!  She said the closing prayer and accepted everything we taught her about the Restoration!  Then we taught Diane (our teacher role play) about the Plan of Salvation and she committed to read 2 Nephi 2 and it was great!  Then I got your package!  The wonderful package with all of those treats..I'm pretty sure that was inspiration because the food here is getting worse and worse so those cookies have been a life saver!  Thanks for following the Spirit!  Then I also got a letter from Quinn which was so fun!  Handwritten letters are like gold!  

Tuesday

We had TRC with Kylee again today and we were going to teach her the Plan of Salvation...before we even began teaching her she already starts talking about how she thinks we all have a purpose in this life and how there is more to life than just working and being a busy bee...I almost wanted her to just teach it to me!  It was an incredible lesson!  Then we went to choir practice so we could sing in the MTC choir for the Tuesday Devotional and it was so awesome!  There were probably 600 missionaries in the choir and we sang Sweet Hour of Prayer and it was amazing!  Then Don R. Clarke from the Seventy spoke and he talked about how to become effective missionaries! He had said that the happiest missionaries are the ones that love others more than themselves and that we need to be happy always, content never.  We should never think that we have done enough, or that we've worked hard enough...always stretch yourselves and work hard because the Lord will make up the difference...ALWAYS!

Wednesday

We were studying as a companionship this morning and we saw our investigator Kylee and talked to her for a little while and then talked to another TRC investigator that we had never seen before!  Then we talked in class about inviting people to come to church and that was the commitment that we wanted Kylee to make as we went and taught her today!  I have never been so excited in my life to tell someone about church!  I could feel the Spirit just running through my entire body..I felt like I was on a cloud!  We taught her the third lesson about faith, repentance, baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost and then invited her to think about baptism because we felt that she wasn't ready for that invitation and we weren't prompted to ask her...so we started teaching her about church and she committed to going and said she was excited!  Ahh missionary work is the greatest!  Later that day we taught Olivia for like 10 minutes because the Elders went over time, but we get along super well and taught her that God loves her and we love her already!  She's the greatest and has a sincere desire to learn!  

Thursday

Today we had in-field orientation which is where you learn about the doctrine of Christ some more, goals and planning, finding people and then working with members!  I learned so many new things that I can apply when I get to the mission field!  One of the biggest take away was to not let other people's doubts hold you down...others tell you that you might only have 3 baptisms, or that you won't have any..and although I'm in a hard mission I have faith and I trust that God has prepared people for baptism and all I have to do is let Him lead me to them!  Everyone talks about numbers...but another thing that I learned is that although there is so much focus on numbers...they're all people and they all have a name and God knows each one of them individually so why only help 1 when you can help 50? It was a 9 hour meeting so it was pretty long but it was good!  Then we had class with Sister Bain and it was the greatest class I have had in my entire MTC experience!  We studied from the Book of Mormon as a District and then talked about teaching people and not lessons...Sister Bain talked about her mission president and how the key to teaching the gospel is to love...if you want people to come unto Christ you have to love...the gospel is love.  The Spirit was so strong..and then we did role play with our teacher. We had 8 minutes so Sister Temakei and I decided to just teach that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and it was the greatest lesson ever!  We all felt the Spirit so strong and we were both getting teary eyed and Sister Temakei said that she could tell that the Spirit was speaking through me...I could feel it too!  It was amazing!  We were both so excited and felt the Spirit so strongly that we were shaking!  I wanted to go tell every single soul that God loves them and that He provided a plan for us to be happy!  God's love is REAL!  If you haven't felt it...then pray!  It is so real it almost feels tangible!  By far one of the greatest experiences of my life...that's why I'm on a mission!  It's to let other people feel that love and to share the gospel that brings it!  AMAZING!

Friday

Today...writing e-mails, going to the temple later today and that's about it...but this past week me and my companion have been reading the Book of Mormon together and discussing it as we read and I just want you all to know that the Book of Mormon is the greatest book in the entire world and that is has so much power!  There is POWER in that book and I KNOW that it is true!  It testifies of Christ, His life, His ministry, His life, His tender mercies, HIM!  I have never developed so much love for the Book of Mormon in my life and I'm incredibly grateful that my mission has showed me that!  

My challenge for this week is to love!  Pray for charity, look for ways to serve, feel God's love for you but more importantly feel God's love for His children!  There will be blessings that comes and miracles that are manifested!  God's love is the greatest power, the greatest convert, and there is nothing in the world that comes even close to the happiness that it brings!  Share it!  

That was the longest e-mail in the entire world but I needed to tell you about all of it...also I got the coolest shirt ever that has a map of Norway and says my mission and I'll send pictures!  

Love you all so so much and miss you!  Please please write e-mails!  

I'll let you know new addresses and things when I get to Norway!

Pictures:

1.Kylee and Sister Temakei at the Provo temple

2. Kylee with Sis.Buchanan, Gowans and Vermeeren all going to France

3. Them with some random elders

4. The sisters in her zone

5. Kylee with her roommates....she said they're "hilarious and they have a blast together."

6. Their shoes:)

7. Kylee by the map

8. Kylee in her "snazzy" shirt!

#4 God is good

Hei Hei!  

First of all I got both of the packages that you sent!  Thank you very much for sending those and thank you for including all the treats and letters!  Those letters were exactly what I needed to hear that day so thank you thank you!  The Elders absolutely LOVED their hats!  They all put them on immediately and walked around pretending to be gangster in their suit coats! They're all wearing them today and I have pictures that I will be sending!  They all told me to tell you thank you and that you are the nicest person in the world...some are writing letters to you that I will send or e-mail later and others are sending Dad personal e-mails!  

This week was phenomenal and I just absolutely love being a missionary! (Kylee’s dad wanted to do something nice for the boys that are being so, so nice to Kylee. So he bought them all a hat…a team from the state they are going to be serving in)

Saturday

We practiced teaching the Restoration in a specific time limit and if someone was on the bus and was getting off at the next stop and we only have 2 minutes to teach the Restoration, what would we say?  It was so much fun and we got it down to 30 seconds! It definitely helped me learning what order to teach it in and the main points for each one! I'm still working on my Norwegian and all the gospel lingo, but it's coming and I know the Lord will help me make up the rest as I continue to study!  Funny Story for the Day:  Elder Jeong was always telling me how much he "loved" my last name and how everything is either lovely or not lovely so we were going back to our residence after zone prayer and he yelled down the hall and said, "Bye Sister Lovely" and then immediately covered his face and repeated that that wasn't what he ment but we all got a good laugh out of it!

Sunday

TODAY WAS THE BEST SUNDAY EVER!  It was awesome!  We had sacrament meeting and I didn't get called on to speak, so that was exciting, but the other speakers were awesome. The senior missionaries were talking about how our investigators will thank us and how we will become an important part of their lives so of course I was crying, but welcome to missionary work!  Crying just comes with it...it's like a package deal!  But one of the things that he said was, "It isn't luck that you are a member of the church, it is not by chance that you are on a mission" and I thought that was so cool and really struck me!  We then went on a temple walk and I will send you pictures from that as well!  Then we went to choir practice and there are probably 700 missionaries all singing at once so no one can even tell that I can’t sing to save my life!  But we found out the Nashville Tribute Band is coming on July 24th and we'll be singing back up for them so that's exciting!  Afterwards we had a devotional about charity and that was phenomenal!  It was given by the MTC Administrator here and it was really good!  I learned a lot and charity is definitely one attribute that I'm constantly striving towards!  Then we had "movie time' so we decided to go watch a talk by Elder Holland and then Sister Kim and I had to go to the bathroom so we left...but then we walked back into what we thought was the right room and it was a different movie, different seating and we couldn't see our companions and so then we kept walking into different rooms but the majority of the movies had been switched so we didn't even find them until the end!  Sister Kim and I were laughing so hard so that was quite the experience...still a clutz as usual! :)

Monday

Today I had my first TRC appointment and I teach with Elder Janotti and Elder Aybar and we taught him (Theo) about the Plan of Salvation and the Spirit was so strong in the entire lesson!  It was so cool to actually be able to teach a real lesson instead of just role play and it's helping me learn and grow as a missionary!  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE TRC!  Later we went to dinner and guess what they had?! CHICK FIL A!!  I was so happy I thought I was going to cry!  It was like eating a piece of heaven!  Later I  had my second TRC appointment and we taught her (Lin) about the Restoration...she thinks everything sounds cool and great but isnt sure if she believes it is true so we're working with her on building her testimony and teaching her how to receive answers through prayer!  Sister Casalino was leaving on Tuesday and she still had all this money on her card so we went to the vending machine and bought just about everything in there and had a little going away party!

Tuesday

Today we had our next lesson with Theo in TRC and we asked him if he had read the Book of Mormon because we invited him to read it last time, and he hadnt so that was a little frustrating, but we taught him about the Restoration and invited him to read 3 Nephi 17 and then as the lesson continued we invited him to pray to close our lesson, and he waited and then said that he didn't want to because he didn't feel comfortable, so I said it, but we were all a little discouraged after that lesson.  But our teacher prayed for each of us individually before we ended class after TRC and that lifted our spirits!  I literally have the greatest teachers in the entire world! I also memorized the First Vision, Baptismal Invitations in English and am working on it in Norwegian!  I have the first part of it!  Or at least I think I do! Today was the day that I got my packages and then we had our Tuesday Devotional with Bruce C. Hafen from the Seventy and he talked about how we need to "Cowboy Up!" in our missionary work and then began talking about how we need to come to know Christ!  It was the best devotional ever!  He then talked about the pioneers and then quoted them and said, "We came to know Him in our extremities.  The price we had to pay was a privilege" and that's exactly how missionary work is!  I invite you to think about how you can come to know Christ and what price you would be willing to pay to know Him.  Maybe it's extra study time, or paying a little bit more in fast offering, or taking time to serve:)

Wednesday

WEEK MARK!  Sister Casalino is gone and Sister Rupper got transferred to the French District and I GOT A COMPANION!  I'm no longer a solo sister!  My companions name is Sister Temakei and she is going to Guam!  We get along great and its been a lot of fun having someone I get to hang out with all day and someone to do companion study with!  I also had TRC with Theo and HE READ 3 NEPHI 17  and then asked specific questions and referred to specific verses which means that he not only read but pondered!  He also said the closing prayer at the end of the lesson and prayed when he was at home!  I was so excited and happy I could barely contain it all!  There is no greater happiness than seeing someone come closer to Christ!  I then taught Diane (my teacher) about the Restoration by myself and I kept feeling prompted to ask her to be baptized so I did and she said she would!!  I was still so excited about it even thought it's in role play but role play or not our whole purpose as missionaries is to invite people to come unto Christ!  I then moved rooms later today so now I'm with 4 other sisters (Sister Koon, Sister Temakei, Sister Yoshida, and Sister Sigaran) we all get along really well and we have so much fun and our constantly laughing!  Its a blast!  We also got the new missionaries in our zone and there are 12 of them!  There are 6 elders and 3 sisters so we're trying to get to know them, they're a little quiet,  but they'll come around!  That's what a mission will do to you!  You talk to anyone and everyone!  I meet new people every single day. They become my friends at the end of our conversation and we say hi whenever we see each other in the MTC!  I just love it here!  Oh and Elder Perreira says he is going to give his hat to his son when he goes on a mission so that it can become a tradition!

Thursday

We practiced teaching the Restoration in our mission languages with our district so I heard it taught in Spanish, Portuguese and German!  It was so cool!  Sister Temakei and I also made goals for the next day. Each day in our planning we decided we wanted to serve someone and we thought about the new missionaries but we weren’t sure, but then Brother Pearson (Branch Presidency) told our zone to embrace them and love them so we are now thinking of a way to serve them today since we have extra time on our p-day. INSPIRATION!  (Best Two Years Reference...just laugh)  

Today we are going to the Provo Temple because it is finally open! Oh and since I'm a missionary and every member a missionary I want to invite you all to do something this week!  I've learned a lot about the Book of Mormon this week and how it is key to not only teaching, but to gaining our own testimony and knowing how to learn and continually progress and essentially endure to the end.  So I would invite you all to really study the Book of Mormon this week...start with a prayer and then study for however long (10 minutes, one chapter, 2 pages, etc.) and then ask yourself how what you read applies to your own life and then make a goal for the day and then record how it blessed your life!  I promise that you will be blessed by our Heavenly Father and that you will learn and grow quicker than you ever thought possible!  You will gain a greater testimony of the Book of Mormon!  And then of course...SHARE!  Share your testimony about the Book of Mormon however you would like to do it!  But let people know what it means to you!   I love it here and missionary work is the greatest thing in the entire world!  Love you lots and miss you guys a ton!  I pray for you all every day! Send e-mails and letters!  

I can't believe that I even forgot to put this in my e-mail!  But I LEAVE FOR NORWAY ON JULY 26TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Anyway I'm pumped but I'm enjoying my time here at the MTC while I have it!

 Pictures:

1. The elders and their hats

2. Kylee and her companion, Sister Temakei

3. Her old roommates and the sisters that adopted her for the week

4. Kylee with her class...and her district

#3 They call me ALOFA!

Hei Hei!

I'm just going to start from the beginning because these past two days have been so busy and I go to bed exhausted every day but it's a good exhausted!  So after you guys dropped me off, I talked about the host that took me to my room and that I would only be here for 3 weeks.  The travel service lady is supposed to be contacting me at the end of this week or at the very beginning of next to tell me if President Hill is ready for me to come since it is an off transfer. I will let you know when I figure that out!  Immediately after I got here I met my District and I'm in the district with other missionaries that are advanced in their mission language.  I'm the only sister in my district because I'm the only sister missionary that is going to Norway that already knows the language..that being said I don't have a companion.  I'm what they call a "solo" sister which means that I just have to be with another sister missionary or two elders so my district takes good care of me!  They're all like my older brothers and we have a lot of fun in our classes!  I do have two roommates that are sort of like companions but we usually have a completely different schedules, so sometimes I only see them in the morning and then when we go back to our residency hall at the end of the day.  Their names are Sister Casalino (going to Milan Italy) and Sister Rupper (going to Paris France) they are so sweet and super nice and we all get along pretty well!  My district is 6 other elders and myself.  Elder Janotti is from Brazil and is going to Morristown New Jersey and speaking Portuguese..He is one of the Zone Leaders.  Elder Aybar is from the Dominican Republic and is going to Morristown New Jersey and is speaking Spanish..He is also one of our Zone Leaders.  Elder Periera is from Brazil and is going to Nampa Idaho and is speaking English.  Elder Kempener is from Germany and is going to Salt Lake City East and speaking English and he is our district leader.  Elder Escalera is from Puerto Rico and is going to San Antonio Texas and speaking Spanish and then Elder Hunt is from Samoa and is going to Alaska to speak Samoan!  I didn't even know they have people who spoke Samoan up there!  There's a little bit of a language barrier between us all but it's not too bad!  I'm the only American in there and my branch is filled with people who already know their languages too...I'm the only blonde in the branch!  So that's fun!  Anyway, so I met them the first day and then we had an orientation for all the new missionaries, and we sang Called to Serve and it was AMAZING!  It was awesome sitting in a room full of missionaries and singing that song!  Our MTC President and his wife introduced themselves and then gave a couple of short messages. Later that evening we went to a class called People and Your Purpose and it is a class of missionaries (probably 40) where we had 3 investigators come in and we taught them as a class and that was my favorite part of the day!  It was awesome!  I was sitting with two other sister missionaries that had adopted me for the day before I got my solo sticker!  The next morning we had class with our teacher Sister Blain about weekly planning and then we went to a workshop about our purpose and it was a really good class!  The key to inviting people to Christ is to love them and if you love them then the Spirit works through you!  After lunch we had our 3 hour class and we had to prepare a lesson for our investigator (Teacher Role Play) Diane.  Since I am a solo sister, I have to teach by myself the whole time I'm at the MTC, which stresses me out a little, but it'll make me a better teacher in the long run!  I'm learning all the Preach My Gospel lessons in English and then it's up to me to learn them in Norwegian since I already know the language...that's how this whole advanced language system works.  I asked if I could do role play so that I could teach in Norwegian in a little bit and they said they would work on finding one for me.  Anyway, so I did personal study, companion study (by myself) and then planned this lesson and so we met our investigator and got to teach her for 10 minutes...tonight is the full lesson.  So I went in and started talking and then I got talking about my lesson and my mind went blank.  I couldn't remember what I was going to say, where to start, and then I just focused on how my whole purpose was to invite her to Christ and I could feel Heavenly Father's love for her...and as soon as I started thinking about that the Spirit took control over the conversation and words starting flowing faster than I even had time to think!  The Spirit is amazing and you truly cannot teach without it!  At dinner that day I met two senior missionary couples and one couple had a sister and her husband that are missionaries in Bergen and then the other couple, he served his mission in Norway and served with President Hill!  He wrote down a note that he wanted me to give them when I got there and people to say hi to if I saw them!  Then I met my Branch Presidency later in the evening and all the Branch Presidency's wives gave me hugs and told me how excited they were that I was here!  The Lord truly knows about each little need, even if you are unaware of them yourself.  I was assigned to be the Online Coordinator and I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to be coordinating quite yet but I'll figure it out!  I'm supposed to be training new districts on online rules and what to do during P-Days when writing e-mails.  Anyway...funny stories!  So Elder Hunt (Samoa) thinks that my last name is too common because you can use it in sentences so he decided to call me Sister Alofa (Love in Samoan) so that is what he refers to me as!  I now respond to Sister Love and Sister Alofa!  Also, because I'm a solo sister I don't have a companion… so when my name was just on the board by itself he says, "Um..Sister Love's companion is the Spirit!" So the Spirit got written next to my name and as soon as I was done teaching he said, "Did your companion help you?"  Oh, and Elder Pereira folded a heart out of paper to represent that there was a Sister Love in the District.  Also, earlier in class yesterday we were singing "Lord, I would Follow Thee" and one of the words is beacon and as soon as we sang it all the elder were laughing so when the song was over I said, "You were all thinking about bacon huh?" and everyone just erupted into laughter!  It was pretty funny!  

So far today Sister Rupper and I went and exercised in the gym on the bikes and ellipticals because Sister Casalino had to visit the Italian consulate today!  So now we're waiting for our laundry to be done!  I love it here and it's truly impossible to be anything but happy at the MTC!  OH!  I also saw Elder Dalton (Miranda's friend) the first day and we were in the same class when we taught the investigators as a group and I saw Elder Fisher basically every day during meal time!

Love you all so much and miss you!!!

                                         

                                     

                                       

                                      

                                    

# 2 Day 1 MTC!

This is Kylee's mom. I will be doing her mission blog while she is out serving in Norway.
Today, July 6th 2016, was a very sad but at the same time exciting day for all of us. Kylee was finally going to the MTC!! A day that she has been looking forward to for years!! We stopped by Chick-fil-A on the way down to Provo so Kylee could get one last chicken sandwich/fries/Dr.Pepper:))
We decided this morning that we wouldn't cry so much and make it harder than it already was...but that didn't last very long:) We managed to take some pictures before we left...we were all doing ok...until Kylee said good-bye to Buster:( it was heartbreaking:( and of course when we dropped her off at the MTC, we just lost it:( Thank goodness for sunglasses!:))
On the way home from the MTC we got a message from her....


"I ALREADY LOVE IT HERE!  My hosts were so nice and made me feel at home at the MTC already!  They showed me my room and I got the bed right behind the door, bottom bunk just like Dad said and there are already two missionaries in there so I'm excited to meet them!  I'm only going to be in the MTC for 3 weeks instead of 6 weeks...they have to ask permission from President Hill because it's not a normal transfer but they don't think it's going to be a problem.  I'm in the advanced class and my P-Days will be on Fridays!
I'm happy and I'm ready to learn!  Love you so much!"

We love this girl so very, very much and couldn't be prouder of her! I know she will be ok...and that she will do Amazing things in Norway!

Her P-Days will be on Fridays! I know she would LOVE to hear from all of you!
Her e-mail address is kylee.love@myldsmail.net

#1 Farewell talk

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters!  Although I have previously moved out of the ward, I was asked if I would come back and give a farewell considering this is where I have spent the past 4 years, but more importantly where I started my mission papers and received my mission call.  I have been called to serve in the Norway Oslo Mission and I report to the Provo MTC July 6th.  That's only 23 days from now but who's counting!  I can't even begin to describe how excited I am to preach the gospel to the people of Norway and tell them about all the happiness that lies in it!
I have been asked to speak on Elder Quentin L. Cook's most recent general conference talk titled, "See Yourself in the Temple."  So to begin my talk, I want you to start thinking of everything that you believe that the temple stands for or symbolizes.  Some words or phrases that you may be thinking of is a beacon of light, safehaven, hope, love of God, etc.  So how do we begin to exemplify these truths and attributes and do as Elder Cook quoted in his talk, "Establish the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of our membership."  As I pondered this, I came up with three simple words that would not only lead us to the temple, but would continually bring us back.  See, Seek, and Serve.
First, See Yourself in the Temple.  When I was 13 years old, I had the opportunity to visit the Young Women General President at the time, Sister Elaine S. Dalton, with my family and a close friend.  After settling in her office for a little while, she pointed out a sculpture that stood on her desk whose name is Kristina.  This sculpture was a replica of the original sculpture that stands on a pier in Copenhagen, Denmark.  The sculpture is positioned so that she is looking out over the sea towards Zion.  She had made the decision to join the church and travel with her family to Utah.  While on the journey, Kristina's only brother passed away along with a few others.  Kristina now stands to represent the 20,000 Danish Latter-Day Saints that traveled to America.  Although it certainly wasn't an easy path, she didn't waiver in her choice to stand for what was right.  Because she kept her eyes towards Zion, she was able to pass through the roadblocks that she had standing in her way.  Soon after Sister Dalton had told us this story, she took me to a large window overlooking the Salt Lake Temple.  She let me look at it in silence for a minute and then she said, "Promise me that you won't let anyone or anything stop you from getting there."  So what does it mean to see yourself in the temple?  It means to live like you would as if you've already been within its walls. It means to make the commitment that you will be at the temple, in the temple and of the temple.  Likewise with Kristina and Zion, she lived as if she had already been to Zion.  She didn't need to get there before she realized what she needed to do and who she needed to become.  Neither do we, our Heavenly Father will prepare and shape us if only we give our best effort.  As Elder Gary E. Stevenson said, "You are never lost when you can see the temple."  But along with that, you are never lost if you can see yourself in the temple.
Next, Seek for the Temple.  When I was a Mia Maid in Young Women's we had planned for all of us and our moms to walk from Saratoga Springs to the Mount Tiimpanogos Temple.  The distance between these two points is 12.8 miles and it is estimated to take 25 to get there in a car.  So, we were prepared for it to take a while.  My mom and I had good running shoes, water, and granola bars and then we were off.  We began walking.  We had a pretty good pace and before we knew it we were down on Lehi Main Street.  By this time we were getting a little tired and started snacking on our granola bars, but we kept up our pace and kept on walking.  After a little bit more walking we passed into American Fork and were soon in a neighborhood.  We thought we knew where we were going, but quickly discovered that we were lost and had turned down the wrong road.  We would walk to the end of the road and look for the Angel Moroni.  We would then walk to what we thought would get us closer, and the looked for the Angel Moroni once again.  We repeated these steps until we found ourselves at the bottom of a large hill.  We began walking up the hill and the blisters I didn't know were there earlier were making their presence known.  I wasn't sure I would be finishing the temple walk with both shoes on, but sure enough we kept on trudging along and finally made it.  Now, the reason I tell you this is because we need to be prepared to make our trek to the temple.  We may not need water and granola bars to get there, but we need to live as directed in Ephesians 6: 11-18
"11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done it all, to stand
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."
We live in the middle of a battle field and we're going to get our blisters and wounds.  But we can't afford to sit down and take a break, or to simply slow down.  We need to seek.  But we need to seek with diligence, with perseverance, and with faith.  Seek to get to the temple, seek to visit often.  President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "I know your lives are busy.  I know you have much to do.  But I make a promise that if you will go to the house of the Lord, you will be blessed. Life will be better for you."
Last, we need to Serve in the Temple.  Quentin L. Cook exhorts us to continually strive to become Saviors on Mount Zion.  Now, what does that exactly mean?  In D&C 86:11 it reads,
"11 Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel."
Now we may be asking ourselves whom we are to be Saviors to?  In D&C 125;15 it states,
"15 And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers-that they without us cannot be made perfect-neither can we without our dead be made perfect."
About 2 years ago, my family took a vacation to Southern California which is where my dad is originally from.  Adding to that, my dad is a convert to the church so finding genealogy records from my dad's side of the family can be difficult at times, so as part of our family vacation we were going to go to a cemetery down in Englewood where my great grandparents had been buried in order to find birth dates, locations, etc.  When we arrived at the cemetery we found information that we had been looking for for years plus a couple of other family members that we didn't know were buried in the same cemetery.  We had finally added another piece to the puzzle but now we were stuck on the next generation.  We had not the slightest clue of birth dates, locations, death dates, or anything else that might've been able to help us find my great great grandparents.  Time went on and I didn't think much of it until I had been reading a talk by Richard G. Scott about family history work.  I had the impression that I should work on my family history, I brushed it off at first thinking about all the papers and the binder I would have to pull out and kep on reading instead.  I then received the impression again so I got up and started looking.  I tried searching for my great great grandparents even though I had no information that could possibly be a starting point.  I starting adding and subtracting death years and simply trying to find a number I could start with.  After a little while of searching with what information I could come up with, I finally found him.  I had found my great great grandpa.  I was very excited to say the least but after a lit bit of clicking, I found my great great grandma and all their children, which led to their children's children and son on.  We had been looking for this information for years, and because of a simple prompting I was led to more family member that I ever thought I would be able to find.  So serve in the temple and serve for the temple.  Whether it be performing ordinances for family names you have found or indexing names or following a small prompting, do them!  You will be blessed beyond measure as you bring our brothers and sisters who have passed on, to Christ.  Elder Cook said, "Occasionally in the temple the veil between us and those on the other side becomes very thin.  We get additional assistance in our efforts to be saviors on Mount Zion."  How could we possibly push aside this great call when we have our ancestors not only cheering for us on the other side but offering all the help they can give?  We have a responsibility to not only complete the ordinances for ourselves, but to complete those ordinances for anyone and everyone who has passed on.  We are the Lord's hands here on earth and just like M. Russell Ballard said, "It is impossible to fail when you do your best when you are on the Lord's errand."
I want to close my talk with a poem that has been read in two farewells of my close friends.
I had been in that hole for a very long time-
In the dark and the damp, in the cold and the slime.
The shaft was above me, I saw it quite clear,
But there's no way I could reach it from here.
I could not remember the world way up there,
So I lost every hope and gave in to despair.
I knew nothing but darkness, the floor, and the wall.
Then from off in the distance, I heard someone call
"Get up!  Get ready!  There's nothing the matter!
Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder!"
This was a thought that had not crossed my mind,
But I started to stack all the stones I could find.
When I ran out of stones, then old sticks were my goal.
I soon had a ladder that stood very tall,
And I thought, "I'll soon leave this place once and for all!"
I climbed up the ladder, but soon had to stop,
For my ladder stopped short, some ten feet from the top.
I went back down the ladder and felt all around,
But there were no more boulders nor sticks to be found
I sat down in the darkness and started to cry
I'd done all that I could do and I gave my best try
But in spite of my work, in this hole I must die.
And all I could do was to sit and think, "Why?"
Was my ladder too short?  Was my hole much too deep?
Then from way up on high came a voice, "Do not weep."
And then faith, hope, and love entered into my chest
As the voice calmly told me that I'd done my best.
He said, " You have worked very hard, and your labor's been rough,
But the ladder you've built is at last all enough.
So do not despair, there is reason to hope,
Just climb up on your ladder, "I'll throw down my rope."
I climbed up the ladder, then climbed up the cord
When I got to the top of it there stood the Lord
I'd never been happier, my struggle was done
I blinked in the brightness that came from the Son.
I fell to the ground as His feet I did kiss
I cried, "Lord, can I ever repay Thee for this?"
He looked all about.  There were holes in the ground.
They and people inside were seen all around.
There were thousands of holes that were damp, dark, and deep
Then the Lord looked at me and He said, "Feed my sheep."
And He went on His way to save other lost souls.
So I got right to work, calling down to the holes,
"Get up! Get ready! There's nothing the matter!
Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder!"
It was now my calling to spread the good word,
The most glorious message that man ever heard,
That there is one who is coming to save one and all,
And we need to be ready when He gives the call.
He'll put us all out of the holes that we're in
And save all our souls from the cold death and from sin
So do not lose faith, there is reason to hope.
Just climb up the ladder; He'll throw down His rope.

It is our turn to spread this gospel-through temple work.  Spread this gospel to all of those around you, but do not forget about those who went before you.  Many of them are stuck in a deep hole in the ground and they're waiting for you to rescue them.  Do not let them stay in darkness, show them the light.
It is now my turn to go and spread this glorious message to the people of Norway.  A piece of my heart already lies there and with the people.  This gospel has blessed my life in more ways than I can count and I'm incredibly grateful that I have a chance to be a missionary and to be on the Lord's errand.  The people of Norway need me and I'm ready to rescue.