God is VERY much AWARE of Us!

The Mission went to the Bountiful Temple to see the new media presentation.

Dear Friends and Family

I am excited about transfers. I hope I train but I am willing to also learn for another seasoned missionary. I love exchanges for this reason. I went on an exchange with Sister Finau from Tonga just a few nights ago. She was supper sweet and I loved her boldness she just wanting to get to know people and their families.

OOOHHH funny moment! Sister Finau and I took a chat with a member. This man wanted to know if he had to be married to get into the Celestial Kingdom. I shared with him D&C 76:50-54 I think. :P Anyways it talks about the requirements of the Celestial Kingdom. When we asked why he wanted to know. He said he had prayed to God about dating and had received the answer that he was to remain single for his whole life. After several minutes of explaining the blessings and commandment of having a family we asked him how old he was. Now Sister Finau had mentioned near the beginning of the conversation that we should ask him his age, but I hardly ever do this so we didn't until now: He is 15. Ya, I laughed SO hard when he said this. He was so relieved to find out that it was not wrong for him to not want to date or have a relationship right now as he wasn't even suppose to steady date until after he has served a mission. I feel bad for the poor kid, no wonder his Bishop laughed when he told him his singleness plan. Poor guy. Anyways I have learned my lesson, I will always ask how old a person is now, so I know what aged group I am dealing with over chat....

I have just gotten back from the Bountiful Temple. It was so beautiful!!! I just love going to the temple, before the session started some temple workers came and talked to us about how we can learn more from our temple experience. They shared some amazing scriptures with us, right after the session. I sat down in the Celestial room and looked up those scriptures. Wow were they awesome! The topics are a combination of missionary work and temple work. They go on to talk about the last days and the signs of the time. I love reading about this time, but have tried to not study it as much and stay focused on just the basic principles so I can teach better. 

I feel like Heavenly Father was guiding me, he knew of my deep desire to know about the time we are living in and so he showed me some scriptures that helped answer my questions. I have found he has been doing this a lot. In this months Ensign there is a beautiful talk by Brad Wilcox on grace. One of the main things people come on chat or the square to argue about is that we only need grace. I have been wanting to study works and grace so as to better explain it, but I felt that I would just be "Bible Bashing" and again tried to focus more on doctrine. I hope you will all read this talk and be able to understand grace and works more through it I know I have and I have love how Heavenly Father lead me to that so I understand it more and can know how it better explain it to other. 

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/09/his-grace-is-sufficient?lang=eng

Just these few experiences have really helped me know that my Father is watching me and knows the desires of my heart. I have always been scared to hand my life over to him because I thought he didn't know what I wanted. Now I know that he does, he really really knows me inside and out. It's still hard but I feel more willing and able to give him control over every part of my life, because he knows what I want in my life, but he still knows whats best. So he will give it to me just at the right time, usually after he has pushed me and tried my faith. For ye receive no ^dwitness until after the ^etrial of your faith. I have had this scripture come to my mind a lot this week, and throughout my short mission.

I know that God loves us and he knows what is best, but we have to trust him and ask his help. I have learned that too, God is so loving he really has given us our agency and he will not do anything, he cannot do anything for us, no matter how much he wants to, till we ask his help and guidance. Another reason why I love him more and more each day.

Love you all Sister Bascom

No News is GOOD news

A little excitement on Temple Square in the middle of tourist season.

http://slctemplesquaremission.blogspot.ca/2013/08/chlorine-cloud-chaos.html

Celestial View, Music and Instruction

This week has really flown by (I feel like I have said that before.....). We have our zone activity today! Watching a movie and having pizza again :) Sister Pein (Bein really, that's a long story :P) and I want to make poutine (for those of you who do not know what this is, it is fries with gravy and  fresh cheese on top and is pure Canadian.) this week or next, to bring out our Canadian sides :P She is from Montreal but grew up in Taiwan. She is awesome! Pretty much my favorite person here! She is just a transfer behind me so we will get a lot of time together. Hopefully we will be in a zone or district again next transfer together :D

Oh so last p-day sister Dias, our zone leaders and I all went up to Ensign Peak. It was a hard hike but it was so beautiful up there. Ensign Peak is where Brigham Young envisioned how Salt Lake City should all be laid out and organized. Even though there were a ton of people up there us 4 sisters definitely made a little holy place there. We sat and sang High on a Mountain Top, Come Come Ye Saints and Praise to the Man as we looked over the beautiful Salt Lake City. I hope to visit that place several more times on my mission and many times after.

So we had a very exciting announcement about a very special speaker coming to TS to meet us. You should have been there to hear all the sisters gasps when the president said his name. Hahaha  it was too funny.  So yesterday we had this very special guest come and speak to us for about 45 mins. He had to run to a meeting with the first presidency but promised he would return again because he wanted to shake all our hands. He gave a incredibly uplifting talk about how we stand shoulder to shoulder with him and the rest of the 12 and the first presidency. That we should not think that we can't do this and that if we do just remember he and the other general authorities of the church are standing with us. He spoke to us about the first 12 and how they had to tackle the whole world themselves and how they must have felt. I wish I could have recorded it so I could listen to him again and again. I guess I will just have to read my notes over and over again instead. He was funny and kind, and I can't wait to see him again soon. I only hope he comes before the end of the transfer as Sister Dias was very upset when he had to leave. She really wanted to talk to him and remind him of a promise he had once made to her when she was younger. 

I have really found a passion for learning about the deeper doctrines here. I have always loved learning more about the second coming. I have the best discussions with some of the sisters here :)I want to learn more about our Family History, where we came from, how and why we came to be here, how the gospel has played a part in their lives too. I just have this hunger to know so much now I almost find it hard to believe that I could possibly learn anything else from my mission, I already feel like my cup in running over with knowledge and experience, but I'm sure God has much more in store for me :)

We also got to have Sister Oaks come and speak to us this last week. Her children performed some beautiful pieces of music, including Jenny Oaks on the violin :) 

Hope you all have a great week 

Lots of love
Sister Bascom


Mom note: Don't you LOVE how she left you in suspense on whom the guest speaker was?
Clues: 
Meeting with First Presidency.
Shoulder to Shoulder him and the rest of the Quorum of 12 and the First Presidency.
Other General Authorities are standing with them.

Answer from her letter to the family:
Elder Holland

So jealous. Don't you wish you could just sit at his feet for 45 minutes.

75,000 and counting

Since President Monson's announcement that changed the ages for missionary service. We have seen a huge increase in the amount of young women that have chosen to serve missions.

When Lani entered the MTC at the end of April there was just under 62,000 missionaries through out the world. This week we now have 75,000 missionaries willing to serve in the communities they are assigned to.

These young people are some of the best youth the world has to offer. They leave their families, educations and cell phones behind for 18-24 months and support themselves financially for this time. For those whom are wondering what missionaries do check this out: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-missionary-life

SPECIAL Guests

This week has really flown by (I feel like I have said that before.....). We have our zone activity today! Watching a movie and having pizza again :) Sister Pein (Bein really, that's a long story :P) and I want to make poutine (for those of you who do not know what this is, it is fries with gravy and  fresh cheese on top and is pure Canadian.) this week or next, to bring out our Canadian sides :P She is from Montreal but grew up in Taiwan. She is awesome! Pretty much my favorite person here! She is just a transfer behind me so we will get a lot of time together. Hopefully we will be in a zone or district again next transfer together :D

Oh so last p-day sister Dias, our zone leaders and I all went up to Ensign Peak. It was a hard hike but it was so beautiful up there. Ensign Peak is where Brigham Young envisioned how Salt Lake City should all be laid out and organized. Even though there were a ton of people up there us 4 sisters definitely made a little holy place there. We sat and sang High on a Mountain Top, Come Come Ye Saints and Praise to the Man as we looked over the beautiful Salt Lake City. I hope to visit that place several more times on my mission and many times after.

So on Sunday we had a very exciting announcement about a very special speaker coming to TS to meet us. You should have been there to hear all the sisters gasps when the president said his name. Hahaha  it was too funny.  So yesterday we had this very special guest come and speak to us for about 45 mins. He had to run to a meeting with the first presidency but promised he would return again because he wanted to shake all our hands.
He gave a incredibly uplifting talk about how we stand shoulder to shoulder with him and the rest of the 12 and the first presidency. That we should not think that we can't do this and that if we do just remember he and the other general authorities of the church are standing with us. He spoke to us about the first 12 and how they had to tackle the whole world themselves and how they must have felt. I wish I could have recorded it so I could listen to him again and again. I guess I will just have to read my notes over and over again instead. He was funny and kind, and I can't wait to see him again soon. I only hope he comes before the end of the transfer as Sister Dias was very upset when he had to leave. She really wanted to talk to him and remind him of a promise he had once made to her when she was younger.

We also got to have Sister Oaks come and speak to us this last week. Her children p some beautiful pieces of music, including Jenny Oaks on the violin :) 

Hope you all have a great week 

Lots of love
Sister Bascom

Mom note: Don't you LOVE how she left you in suspense on whom the guest speaker was?
Clues: 
Meeting with First Presidency.
Shoulder to Shoulder him and the rest of the Quorum of 12 and the First Presidency.
Other General Authorities are standing with them.

Answer from her letter to the family:
Elder Holland

Jeffery Holland

Your BEST!

Dear ________

This has been a great week!! Soo much has happened and I'm loving my mission more and more!

Well to start I will just mention that my grandparents have been reunited together in heaven close to their 50th wedding anniversary. They have a beautiful love story, very romantic in fact. They met many years a go on a beach while my grandfather was serving in the navy. They wrote each other back and forth for many years till they were able to be married. They loved each other deeply, even as I little child I could see that. I am sad that I wont see them for awhile. I am happy to know that they are together again and no longer suffering here.

I only hope I can have a love story like their's someday :)

I am very excited as my investigator who I have been working with since the beginning of my mission has finally said he believes The Book of Mormon is true!!!! Probably the highlight of my week. :)

I have definitely felt like a planter this week. So many people have come through the Beehive House this week and I knew they felt something. I know that they will someday accept the missionaries and be reminded of their experience here in Salt Lake. Maybe they will even think about that little 19 yr old girl in the Beehive house who first told them about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, even just for a moment.

I have also learned this week that I can't expect other sisters to work at my level, or me at theirs. That we all have different levels of work and we are all doing our best. I have also learned that I talk and walk very fast. Sometimes even at the same time :P Its great because this week I have been asking for God to show me my weaknesses and he defiantly is. Before I didn't really understand Ether 12:6 but as I have seen the places I need to work on I have been so thankful for its guidance. I now look at my trials as a blessing, a chance to grow. I know this life isn't going to be easy. That isn't the purpose of this life. This is a time of test and trails. I actually lie in bed some nights just thinking of what trials the Lord might send me and how I would deal with that. 

I know I'm weird..... Hope you will all still accept me. I know I am far from perfect. I could spend hours listing my faults, but I love the Lord and want to do his will, I am trying to give myself to him and it is a lot hard then I thought. So if you have any suggestions I would be happy for them, that is one thing I have learned to love as well, corrective criticism. I think my biggest goal right now is to become humble. Thats defiantly something I feel I need to work one. I depend on my own knowledge way to much.

So I'm pretty sure I have the best mission is the world and I think you will think the same in a minute when I explain. Well we get to go to the Salt Lake temple once a transfer on our p-days.The last p-day of this transfer all the sisters will get to go to the Bountiful temple!!! I'm so excited this will be the 7th temple I have gone to :) Oh and our President said he doesn't want us wandering around the Square looking like "zombies" any more. We are really being run off our feet with all the people on the square and the extra hours we are having to put in. I guess last summer half the sisters were sick and in wheel chairs. So that is why we have a lot more sisters on square this year. We are now being give full p-days till the end of the transfer (3 p-days)! So ya I have the best mission. :P

Sister Dias and I have both been trying our best to stay focused this week, that has been our companion goal, and probably will be till the end of the transfer. My companion goes home at the end of this transfer and yesterday we had a finish strong meeting where the sisters talk about what they would do to stay strong till the end of their mission. We hear some inspirational presentations from our President and AP(assistant to the president.). We watched a clip from one of my favorite movies "Facing the Giants". I like the part where the coach pushes his player to his absolute best and as I watched that I though about the coach being our Father in Heaven telling us that same thing "You promised me your best! Your Best! Don't give up on me! You promised me your best! Don't stop till you have nothing left, I know it hurts, but you don't give up. Its all heart from here. You promised me your best!" I will never forget these words and every time I feel like giving up I pray that I will remember them: "You promised me your best" And I did. I promised my best on my mission and here on earth.  I promised I would give Heavenly Father everything and I will. I will give all that I have.

Thank you for all your prayers 

I love you all and pray for you as well 

All my love Sister Bascom :D

Salmon at the Lions House

Photos from Brighton Girls Camp

Sister Dias and Bascom Sporting the 2013 TS2 Mission T's

 

In This All TOGETHER

Mission T shirts the back says
Temple Square Mission All Nations Shall Flow Unto It

A mission is an emotional roller coaster. It is! One day is awesome, everyone refers (Wants to know more.). You feel awesome and you want to do this all day every day. Other days you get nothing but hatters, your late for everything, your companion and you aren't getting along... So you feel so beaten up at the end of the day. Well lately its been more of A than B things have been going well. The only haters I have talked to recently are over chat and they are easy to say good bye to. ;)

I have one baptism coming up at the end of the month! The first one I feel comfortable to call my own. Sarah came on chat wanting to know how to join the church. Her BF is leaving on a mission soon and they have been reading The Book of Mormon together. She realizes this is something that she wants. :D She is supper sweet and very excited. She lives 5 mins from a new chapel in NY. I am supper excited for her. This experience is really what I need to help be feel confident with my other investigators.

Lani found an totem pole in Utah. 

Saturday we had a mission activity and we went to Brighton Girls Camp for either the morning or afternoon (Have to leave the square manned). We went on a ropes course and zip line. My favorite was when we did life line. I have done it once before when I was younger. This one wasn't as developed. You are blind folded and are taken to a rope. You have to find your way to the end. When you get there we were welcomed home. They connected everything to the gospel. I look at this simulation like this earth life: We are given a little instruction and then left to fend for ourselves. We meet people along the way that are just like us, lost and confused. There were different ropes i.e. different choices that we had to make. It was so sweet and wonderful to finally be welcomed home. I think my favorite part was at the end. We were still blind folded and sitting down holding the sister's hand next to us.  I sat and thought about my experience. I thought how we really are in this all together. I thought how important it is that we help one another. At the end we want to be holding the ones we love. It was a great experience and I hope I can go again next year :)

Sister Bascom and Sister Briggs
Sist Briggs and Lani were in the same tour training group in the MTC
Sister Briggs is from Washington State so she is almost Canadian.

I have been spending a lot of time with my zone leaders Sister Davis and Sister Zomerosca. They are both amazing girls. They are both going home in the next couple of transfers.  I want to  spend as much time as possible with the both of them. We have been going on many exchanges with them because sister Z and I are in choir together. We have had a lot of practices with performances this week. We performed yesterday for the CES broadcast and we will perform again this afternoon we are singing 2 extra songs today. So glad I get the chance to sing every week, music truly invites the spirit.

Sisters in the Choir that performed for the CES Broadcast.

Thats all for this week

Love you all! Thanks for your prayers, letters and emails. They lift my spirits :)

Sister Bascom