Best of the BEST

Greetings ALL <3

Well here I am at temple square. The weather is hot. The square is busy and I'm LOVING it!

My new companion is Sister Dias. She is from Brazil. Sister Dias speaks Portuguese and Spanish I believe. She isn't very confident with her English. Which makes her appear shy and quite. But I can see she is really fun and loves the gospel.  She just got back from her out bound in Georgia. (The sisters that serve on Temple Square get to go to another mission in the USA about a year out. This is usually an English placement in a traditional mission for about three months.)  I didnt actually get to meet her till late Wednesday evening as her flight was cancelled. 

Transfer days are always confusing I hear. Sisters coming and going, new companionships, moving buildings... Its awesome cause we are all in such close proximity of each other that you get to know the sisters you work with really well. You really dont get this kind of opportunity in other missions. 

Wednesday: I stayed with my Zion leaders for the afternoon. We walked around and talked to people until about 3. Then all the new sisters went to Wal-Mart and got our shopping done. I got back to my apartment and unpacked, made the beds and dinner and then Sister Dias arrived extremely tired. We didn't talk much we just wanted to get to bed (The beds are so nice here or I am just really tired by the end of the day and don't care.)

Thursday was kinda crazy too as Sister Dias and I both didn't know what we were doing, I guess when you get back from outbound it takes you awhile to get back into the swing of things. Oh and we didn't have our schedule.... We got that today :) We are in South 1 Zone. So we are on the square or in the TC (teaching center) most of the time. But we do have a few desk jobs a week too.

There are about 200 sisters in the temple square mission and we need each and everyone of them. Its crazy on the square, large tours every hour, youth conferences everyday keeping on top of it can be really hard sometimes. I see Sister John lots on the square. It isn't that big so you get to know all the sisters pretty fast. They are a tight knit group. 

The Sisters that are called here are the best of the BEST. We have to be! We have to be at the top of our game everyday.  We have to be looking good. We go from one lesson to the next with no breaks. Trying to discern the needs of every person without knowing them. Then sending them away without maybe ever seeing them again. Wondering if we helped them at all? We are under the eye of the media, antis, prophets and the public. I have come to respect the sisters in this mission so much. They are all so hard working and cheerful. When we first got here one of the things that our President said was "That we don't complain. We are not a complaining mission. We "Suck it up." I feel so humbled to serve here. This is truly a special place. Some people think the sisters that are called here are the pretty ones. That we just give tours. Wrong! We are missionaries just like all the others wonderful missionaries in the world. But each and everyone of us are called here because God knows we can take the heat. I love this mission. I love serving my God. 

I have already seen so many people lives be blessed from coming to the square. Everyone leaves with the spirit. It is such a blessing to be working in a dedicated place. The spirit is so strong and people can tell that there is something here. I love being able to talk about the temple and have it right there to show people

This is one of my favorite scriptures from The Book of Mormon :)

Alma 26:11-12

 11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not ^aboast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my ^bjoy is full, yea, my heart is brim with ^cjoy, and I will rejoice in my God.
 12 Yea, I know that I am ^anothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will ^bnot boast of myself, but I will ^cboast of my God, for in his ^dstrength I can do all ^ethings; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

Miss you all, 

Stay strong in the faith
Sister Bascom