Salt Lake Temple Square Mission

January 19, 2014

President and Sister Gillette

This was a week when we said goodbye to the Gillettes and hello to the Poulsens.  On Tuesday night we had a very special farewell dinner for the Gillettes.  It was held in the Jade Room in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  We tried to surprise them but they were onto us.  But, little did they realize, that all their colleagues for the past two years would be there.  The food was fabulous, the decorations great and fun was had by all.  After the dinner, we put them in a carriage that went around the temple.  At each gate the sisters sang to them, “Called to Serve.”  At the North Gate the final number was, “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.”  It was a terrific sendoff for them.  The Poulsens arrived on Friday and gave some wonderful introductory talks to the sisters.  We can tell that their style will be different from the Gillettes, but we look forward to the change.

President and Sister Gillette in a carriage

Rabbi Abraham

Our big new this week is that we had an opportunity to teach a Rabbi the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  His name is Abraham and he comes from New York.  Originally he was born in Israel and then migrated to the USA.  He is a very complex and interesting man well versed in the scriptures.  His main purpose in visiting Salt Lake City was to be baptized, see the Prophet and write for the Church.  We had to slow him down a bit and make sure he understood the doctrines of the Gospel.  So for five days we went through Preach My Gospel taking him to all the displays that are available to us on Temple Square.  He is a talker so hours were spent with him.  Tomorrow he goes home but he wants to return here to be baptized and live.  Needless to say, this was an experience of a lifetime.  We will talk to him weekly in New York, see how he is progressing and work with the local mission leader there.  He seems to embrace all the tenants of the Church and we are looking forward to his potential baptism.

Another wonderful event happened this week because we were able to go to Cesar’s Patriarchal Blessing.  His blessing consisted of everything we knew would be revealed about him.  He is going to be a great member of the Church and influence many.  What a joy it is for us to be part of these special events in his life.  We feel like proud parents!

We were able to teach Tressa this week.  Her circumstance has not changed so we really need to be bold on the repentance issue.  We may go up to Pocatello again as she goes to Sacrament Meeting and talk to her face-to-face.  Our other investigator, Jason, was unable to meet us again this week, but we have hopes of seeing him next Saturday.  Because he has no car, it is difficult for him to maneuver around.

Amazed at the Church Conference Center

We are amazed by these last nine months that we have been on Temple Square and the opportunities that have been afforded to us.  Even though we are exhausted most of the time, we wouldn’t trade a minute of our time here.  The Lord has truly blessed us greatly with opportunities to teach and testify.