Transfer 3: Extended Zone: Week 6

Life is good here, Sister Doggett just got her hair cut by a crazy Malasian and I found a new green jacket that just needs a button sewn back on to be pretty close to my favorite tweed jacket I left behind.

This week has been amazing, I forgot how much I love talking to BYU students until they all decided to come onto Temple Square yesterday night with their Wards. I never realized that time was moving on so fast, in my head it is still the week before Thanksgiving. Then of course I discovered the magic that is the Joseph Smith movie, I love the spirit that that movie brings to the people here on Temple Square. We were assigned to contact people who were going to it and it was amazing to have people stop and talk to you rather than you stopping and talking to them. It was amazing.

Take that fun evening and add to it the newfound proficiency I have found in the Beehive House and I've been doing great this week. Hopefully I won't get too distracted by the Transfer conference that is happening on MONDAY. Can you believe it? So many people are coming back and we're getting 27 sisters in from the MTC. There are going to be trainers out the wazoo. Then of course we are starting to teach the people we talk to here on Temple Square and on the phones... which is going to be an exciting experience.

I've not seen many people who I know, but interestingly enough every other Utahn I've met knows where I'm from which is pretty awesome, but odd when they start chatting about the shopping or the beach while forgetting that we're standing outside in FREEZING weather. oops, live and learn I guess. And now I am famous in the mission for Swing dancing because someone had a jazzified version of Go Tell It on the Mountain and I couldn't help myself with the dancing.

That's what a mission is for, right? Trying new things and helping others come closer to Jesus Christ?

Hope this season is wonderful!

Sister Pielstick

Transfer 3: Week 5; Extended Zone

Merry Christmas!

The lights are on and Temple Square is so BUSY. Admittedly it is slow during the day (4 or 5 visitors if we are lucky) but as soon as the lights turn on it is busier than Conference! There are a million visitors expected from now until January. I hope that I can survive the winter here, but there is plenty of exciting news here at Temple Square.

Thanksgiving was nice (a dinner and karaoke with Disney songs and Toy Story 3) and then we had one day to prepare for the lights and the large number of people that come here. We visited with over 50 people in one night. Crazy, right? And there were plenty of people who were willing to share with us their stories of their conversions, their missions, and their families (little kids are cute that way).

I don't have a lot of time for writing today, it's our first P-day in the morning and the time seems to fly faster and the building where we do our e-mail closes early and opens late. But there is exciting news for next transfer... next transfer our mission is making the change to become a finding AND teaching mission. We will be able to find people on Temple Square or on the phones and teach them until they meet with the missionaries. This is crazy because we have just been finding people for the missionaries before this transfer, never keeping track of them so when we sent a referral we never know what happens next. This time we are allowed to teach them and find out if they get baptized as time goes on. I am so excited. It means that we need to work and learn two whole different sets of skills here on Temple Square, but it also means that more people are getting to know the gospel.

I hope that everyone is planning on having a wonderful Christmas season because I am looking forward to the Christmas devotional (we get to see it in person as a whole mission). I wish I had more time, but I have to go and sing in the temple square choir.

Love,

Sister Pielstick

Transfer 3:Week 4; Extended Zone

This week has been crazy... P-day snuck up on me yet again.

Life here at Temple Square is pretty crazy; the grounds crews are working hard to get the lights up in time for next Friday when they turn them all on. There haven't been that many people around, but there have been some fun miracles. There are families that are great member missionaries (they help the missionaries in their area any way they can & people who have friends or family members for us to call) Calling people is probably my favorite part of missionary work right now... I have been able to talk to college football players, mothers, and devoted employees and have a lot of fun getting to know them. I just wish that I could get to know people a little bit better because it's hard at times to get to know someone so well and then just not call them back.

This week has been pretty amazing -as weeks go. Started off with a devoted member missionary who I met while at an art exhibit of Altar paintings at BYU, followed by missionary training in a Historic mansion in Downtown Salt Lake, topped off with a testimony meeting in the Conference Center, and completed with a trip backstage to see the choir loft. Our mission is pretty unique, opportunities to meet people from around the world as well as chances to meet Apostles randomly as you go to your various assignments.

Not much else to say, as you can tell I've been working this week on being brief and clear. Apparently people are more likely to listen when you don't say much, so I'm trying to talk less and listen more. So far it's led to amazing stories from guests about things from meeting their spouse in South Africa, to escaping the Soviet Union (and a very long conversation with a 9 year old about how to avoid being bitten by a rattle snake) It's funny how many different things can be tied into the gospel. It's pretty amazing to see.

Hope all is well with everyone, as there haven't been as many people visiting from Florida (or BYU, or much of anywhere I've been) from whom I can glean my information.

Regardless, the temple's still here, the gospel's still true and Jesus is still the Christ, so life can't be all that bad. (even if there are snow storms involved.)

Sister Pielstick

Transfer 3: Week 3; Extended Zone

Hello!

There have been a lot of fun things happening around here (Although I am sad that we have had the last of our binary days for this year ... next year are the last possible binary days for this century so look out for them). The Christmas decorations are up and I am looking forward to Thanksgiving where there are going to be tons of people around here for the lights.

When it is cold outside I am grateful to be assigned at the BeeHive house. We are getting a lot of people from the chemical engineering conference and I am thoroughly enjoying myself out here right now... imagine me connecting chemistry to the gospel and learning about proteins used in the study of Alzheimer’s disease... I was just in heaven right then and there. Benam from Persia was really a delight to answer questions, even though we couldn't invite him to learn more about the gospel. He was fascinated by the temple and about our devotion to God... he just didn't think that he would have time to get to know God and study any science.

The members who visit the Beehive house are pretty amazing. I may still feel a little worried around little kids, but I am completely at home with the youth groups that come through. Brigham's conversion story really brings in the spirit; there was one group of girls who were in a show choir (like Glee, one of them said) and they came through and they felt the spirit so strongly when we explained to them about his conversion: how one person's simple testimony converted a man who eventually became a prophet of God. Imagine their surprise when we also answered the one question they had at the beginning of the tour by showing them the room where that the scripture was revealed. It was an amazing experience. I am grateful for their leaders taking the time to make a spiritual experience instead of all of the scavenger hunts that we're seeing as of late. The hunts are fun, but the fun spiritual experiences are what they are going to remember for a lifetime.

So much fun though, remember who you are and what it means to be a missionary. (because everyone really is one)

Sister Pielstick

Transfer 3: Zone Extended: Week 2

Hello!

This week has been crazy, it definitely doesn't seem like it has been a week. Wow! The Beehive House is becoming more powerful as I've finally mastered the history to the point where I am comfortable changing up the facts I share every time I go through the house. History and pioneer stories have a mind of their own sometimes (and hyperactive Utah fans are hilarious BTW). Sometimes I mess things up, but Sister Doggett seems to have an infinite well of patience coming from somewhere. (I haven't found the source, but hopefully she'll teach me how to get that source because I am certainly still as impatient as ever)

We've had a lot of fun member missionaries who came and visited the house. Even though people who live in Utah don't have a lot of friends to invite to meet with the missionaries, they still try their hardest to find ways to serve others. There are also a lot of people here seeking to find out their heritage, which is interesting because President Holmes added the family search center to our mission. This is exciting, also, because our boundaries are small as it is and we definitely appreciate the increase to the area we have to take the guests. It's exciting to see how we'll be able to let people realize that genealogical research builds perfectly to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It makes me a little excited because now I am learning more about how immigrants came into the USA. There are some amazing stories.

Service is the best thing, especially if that service means taking down a haunted village, which we did on Wednesday. With most missions you have to do a certain number of hours of service per week, at Temple Square there are too many of us so we're lucky if we get to do service once every six weeks. We got to take down the haunted pirate ship, it was awesome. Then surprise, surprise we started putting out the Christmas decorations. Which is crazy to me, but for big places things like Christmas decorations are planned as early as May. Eeek! Now that's scary.

We're having fun, and still searching for a pair of attractive AND warm boots for winter because the first lasting snow is expected next week. As much as I'd like to imagine that the warmth of the Holy Ghost can keep me from frostbite here on Temple Square, other sisters have told me that I will, in fact, need to wear boots and gloves to stay warm when the Christmas lights turn on. So much for a Floridian's hope for the warm weather to continue.

Hope this letter finds everyone in good spirits,

Sister Pielstick

Transfer 3; Week 1; Extended Zone

Happy Halloween family! (and friends too!)

Life is pretty slow here on the square (and temperatures are significantly cooler now) but I have good news I am indoors most of next transfer in the Beehive House. I am a little excited because I'll be there for the holiday season, but not when things get really hectic, so that is good. The Beehive House is the historic home of Brigham Young and it is currently under construction: the historians are having a hey-day with the pictures and other paraphernalia in the house and it's a little more interesting to do a tour because you never know when you'll run into a historian or a new item in a room that you've never seen before. It also means that we get to see President Holmes more often as he supervises the work and tries to get things moving along. (Which is nice because he sometimes brings us Lion House rolls and honey butter for our breaks)

My new Companion is Sister Doggett from Orem Utah/Boston, she's a neuroscience graduate who has done studies in Oxford England! Amazing, no? We have fun bridging to the Gospel in the Beehive House, which can be hard to intermingle the history with the basic beliefs. She just got back from her outbound assignment to Ventura, California which was a fun place, apparently. (Obviously I've never been there) She also drives so we're planning a lot of fun activities for P-day including seeing a haunted house put on by a pioneer park today. I'm a little excited. President Holmes was pretty excited about us being companions, which was reassuring when she came in late from the airport so I was companions with 7 people the day of transfers (including some good friends so I was happy). As fun as being with different companionships was, there is nothing like having your real companion and no worries about what she looks like or who she is.

Not many miracles this week, but I got to see Park City, the farthest assignment any sister missionary can have while at Temple Square. It is an amazing place where you can help people come closer to their ancestors and to Christ. It's such a nice place to go and see... I didn't want to be assigned there ever during my mission, but after seeing it (and the town reminds me of St Augustine with snow) I realized that even in a Family History Center, it would be fun.

I am looking forward to learning new things and improving everything this next six weeks. (and to the turning on of the Christmas lights!) Hope all is well with the family and friends.

Love,
Sister Pielstick

Transfer 2: Week 6; Cover Zone

Jumala rakastaa sinua! (Fininish)

Eek! I think that the scariest thing about this Halloween is that I'll be in my third transfer. It feels like yesterday I was at the MTC and about midmorning-ish I was with Sister Inoue... life moves fast around here. I can't imagine what it'll be like when it's Christmas. One of the sisters here told me that they trained in their third transfer; I hope I don't because I hardly know anything. Imagine two of us meandering around the square and trying to figure everything out, just me with a seasoned expert makes me feel like I am swimming in deep waters. Hopefully I'll manage to be afloat before the lights come on on Temple Square.

Things are definitely chillier here. But I am enjoying myself thoroughly, I've been able to explore a lot more of Temple Square because of the lack of guests so it's been rather fun. Also I've met some awesome members who come here regularly (or are here for weddings) who are so amazing at member missionary work. I want to be like them when I get home... to have friends who want to learn more about why we have so much hope. I've been talking to a bunch of people over the phone and it's fun to teach someone who is having a hard time that God loves them and still cares for them no matter what has happened to them or where they are at.

We've also had some people who leave their dogs tied up next to the visitor centers and Sister Newman loves going over and petting them. We had some dog miracles where we got to meet awesome families and people who were also congregating around the dog. We took them to see the Family presentation that the North Visitor center has, it was wonderful because we thought it was a normal family home evening activity and it turns out that they were showing dad around after he decided that after over 10 years of marriage he wanted to meet with the missionaries. He had been searching about it and seeing the blessings it had given his family and decided that he really did want his family to live together forever.

I'm also having fun with Sister Farmer and her companion Sister Mosio, they are a fun group who love to explore with Sister Newman and I. We're going to make sushi tonight for P-day. I hope that we are in the same zone next transfer so we can hang out again. It's going to be a blast as soon as it gets cold. It hasn't snowed yet, which is CRAZY! It's a blessing. And the leaves here are finally turning; I was beginning to think that they'd stay green FOREVER.

Live is good, the gospel is true... and I think that the book of Matthew was written for missionaries.

Love ya.
Sister Pielstick