5/22/17

So! Saturday was the last day of the Idaho Falls Temple Open House, and it's just so bittersweet for it to be over! It was pretty busy that last week, and all of us are just thrilled for the dedication on the 4th of June. I seriously just loved the opportunity of being able to be a part of the open house, despite the business of it, the little amount of time we had in our area, and getting less sleep than normal. I was able to meet so many different people, answer questions, or even just see other's reactions to feeling the Spirit while going through the house of The Lord. Friday morning, all of the sisters got the unique opportunity of going through the Bride's room and the upstairs sealing room with President and Sister Nelson. It was just breathtakingly beautiful, and we also were given some advice and some special thoughts from President Nelson. I just know that families can be together forever! One thing that President Nelson shared was in D&C 82:10- I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise. All of the blessings Heavenly Father wants to give us depend upon our faithfulness, and because I know that I want to be with my family forever, I'm going to always strive to do my best and repent everyday. That morning with all of the sisters and President and Sister Nelson would have to be one of the highlights of my mission. Even though the Temple hasn't been dedicated yet, the Spirit is still so strong inside. We also got to take a few more of our investigators through the tour this week! 

Since it would have been too crazy to have transfers for the sisters during the actual transfer day, President Nelson decided to have a "mini transfer" for all of the sisters right after the open house. Literally every sister in our zone ended up being transferred but Sister Deuel and I! It will be a bit of a change within our zone, but I'm so grateful to be able to be here for sure till June 21st! I know I said the same thing about Sugar City, but I never want to leave the area I'm in right now. It was hard to adjust to serving in Rexburg/BYU-I, but I really am loving it. We had a great lesson with Paige the other night, and she's seeing more and more of her prayers answered, but she just needs more time to know that Heavenly Father is actually her father in heaven, and she's a bit hesitant about telling her family about her decision to be baptized. We ended up pushing her date back a couple of weeks, but she still feels good about this path that she's on now! :)

D&C 8:1-2  "...verily, I say unto you, that assuredly as the Lord liveth, who is your God and your Redeemer, even so surely shall you receive a knowledge of whatsoever things you shall ask in faith, with an honest heart, believing that you shall receive a knowledge concerning the engravings of old records, which are ancient, which contain those parts of my scripture of which has been spoken by the manifestation of my Spirit.

2 Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart."

The Lord's words to Oliver Cowdery, and I have been trying to learn from this a lot myself. Sometimes, I think it can be so hard to recognize promptings or answers from the Spirit, but we really need to just pay attention to both the feelings, and thoughts that we can receive.  

With love,

-Sister Cottrell

  

Pictures: My mission "Sister"! Sister Jones is from the Pocatello Idaho mission (they brought some of the Sisters to help out at the open house), and was also trained by my trainer!

So, some of the wards during the temple open house would take turns packing sack lunches for us during the weeks of the temple open house, and one ward decorated the paper bags :)

Fun fact: the most exotic thing I got to eat while on my mission would have to be elk (no surprise there) and stingray, of all things! 

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5/16/17

So, I know I promised to write more this week, but this is the last week of the Idaho Temple Open House, and then we'll be back to our normal schedule! We are more busy than ever, which is great, but hard after awhile! 

Sorry, I totally ran out of time today. One update is that Paige is getting baptized next week! It's been just simply amazing seeing her grow in recognizing the Spirit and gaining a testimony of her own.

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day! So, really quick, this line in Alma 56:47 really stood out to me, "yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them." I just had a great time being able to Skype my family Sunday, and I'm just so thankful for my dear Mother. Her example of serving a mission really influenced my desire to serve one as well. She helped me form the habit of daily scripture study from a very young age, and because of that I was able to exercise my faith and gain my own testimony of the Book of Mormon and the rest of the holy scriptures. I know that Christ is our Redeemer, and I'm so thankful for that knowledge! 

Love,

-Sister Cottrell 

5/19/17

The temple is just such an incredible opportunity! It is so neat to be able to see just the impact it has on all who end up going through to see it. 

Friday, Sister Deuel, Sister Ganbold, Sister Taperseria and I went to Booth at BYU-I with President Nelson, Sister Nelson, and President/Sister Vickery! The reason why they went was because two brotheren from the Mission Department in Salt Lake were sent by assignment, from the Mission Department Council (the one with President Oaks as the head of the council) to see what we do at booth, and if it's something that they would like to start at BYU Provo and Hawaii. Sister Ganbold and I even spend some time fixing up the flyers we pass out and added some new things. They were both super nice, and asked us a ton of questions! They first just asked if we felt that it was time effective, and if we were okay just teaching the first few discussions and then passing the investigators on to other missionaries. The questions the brothers from the mission department asked really made me think. One thing that they asked was how we got to the point where we were okay that we didn't get any "numbers" ourselves from the lessons we teach over skype. They said that some missionaries would see what we're doing as "poaching" or that they wouldn't want to teach someone that's not in their area. I think for me that when I first came out, I was hoping to be able to have "fruits" from my labors and have baptisms. Even though I have had some, I've learned more and more that I can't be prideful in anyway. This is about others, not ourselves, and now I'm just thrilled someone wants to be baptized, even if I'm not "their missionary." If my role is to plant seeds, that's still making a difference. I think that's one thing that I've had to learn and am still learning to do- to put my pride on the sacrifice altar and to be more consecrated. 

Also, we were in a trio this week with Sister Brinkerhoff, because her companion just finished her mission! Transfers are not until tomorrow, so we got an awesome week with the perfectly wonderful and sweet Sister Brinkerhoff! Oh! Transfers- nothing has changed, but after the temple open house President Nelson told us that there will be a "mini transfer," so I'm safe for just a bit longer!

Just know that things are going good! I'll update on our investigators next week!!

Love,

-Sister Cottrell 

Pictures: e-mailing at a FHC in a church building, because the normal FHC by the library is not open this early!

-So I forgot to mention that Seirra was baptized a few weeks ago in CA! We got to teach her three times, up to her having the desire to take upon her the covenant of baptism. She changed so much in just such a short amount of time! The sisters who we passed Seirra over to sent us her baptism picture :)

-We moved our beds into the living room so we could fit all three beds together! 

5/2/17

So many blessings come from working at the temple, it's been wonderful! I love it when we are stationed at the Visitors' Center, and when people have the opportunity to ask us questions. I've been asked everything from Angel Moroni, if church leaders are paid, to just asking about temples in general. There are a lot more non-members in Idaho Falls, that's for sure!

We don't get as many self referrals from the temple open house as we anticipated, (they have comment cards that people can choose to fill out, and part of it is the option to learn more and have missionaries visit. We probably receive on average 5 or 6 each day, one of them just the other day even had someone saying that they have made the decision to be baptized! We found another investigator this week, and we have been so busy that we lately have literally been running from appointment to appointment, and have been keeping lessons really short in order to see everyone we need to. We also have received a few referrals ourselves this week, and that's been a blessing in itself! We also have a new investigator this week, who's actually the husband of one of our recent converts! He shocked us by coming to one of the new member lessons, and told us that the church has just been on his mind a lot, and that at night when he can't sleep, the Book of Mormon just keeps coming to mind, so he's been reading it. He told us that he just can't stop thinking about it, and feels good. So he's ready to meet with us, and just wants to go at a slow pace. But we are really excited for him! :)

In the war chapters in Alma, I've noticed a lot more recently just how many trials they all have, and yet, despite the death and afflictions, a lot of the people were faithful and true. 

Alma 49:30  "Yea, and there was continual peace among them, and exceedingly great prosperity in the church because of their heed and diligence which they gave unto the word of God, which was declared unto them by Helaman, and Shiblon, and Corianton, and Ammon and his brethren, yea, and by all those who had been ordained by the holy order of God, being baptized unto repentance, and sent forth to preach among the people."

Despite all of the service Helaman, Shiblon, Corianton, and especially Ammon have given, they still went about declaring the gospel. I just know that all of us, no matter what trials we are facing, will find peace and happiness and we service others and forget ourselves. I know that this church is true! I love you all, and know that we each have a role to play here on earth, even when we feel that we are overwhelmed with whatever we're facing.

-Sister Cottrell

Pictures: Sorry, some of them aren't really very professional!