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Wednesday, September 3, 2014

I Love to See the Temple (09/01/2014)

Hola!
My last Sunday in Eugene, I got to have dinner at the Bishop's house and they had a plate that said "You Are Special Today" since they knew I was going to be leaving. They are great and the Ward was great. I'm sad to leave it behind, but I know that the other Sisters will do great things with them :)  And I know that I'm down here in Central Point for a good purpose, so I'm excited to get on with new miracles, new experiences and new people to help Heavenly Father bless :)
The woman I helped before to get her patio clean, by scraping, dusting and sweeping for a couple of hours back in Eugene, was getting ready for a garage sale. When we were looking through the boxes we found the sparring gloves. So....ya know I HAD to try them on :) with my second best 'tough face'. You don't want to see the first best ;)   <Mom Note: It's been a few years, but I wonder if she realized that she automatically assumed the sparring stance from her former karate days (although significantly less fierce than she used to be ;)  >
Transfer Day (last week). It was crazy! I, being the procrastinator that I am (don't worry the mission is fixing it), didn't get my packing done 'til midnight the night before I had to leave. We got up at 6am, finished up the last bits of packing, got to the transfer site at 7:30am and left around 8 or 9 something. Seriously I can't even remember what time we left. There were so many missionaries to say goodbye to and I was just exhausted. We drove straight down from Eugene to Medford and arrived at 11:30am or something I think (again that day was such a blur). We just had a rest stop along the way and no drop offs. A lot of missionaries I was with were all going down south <Mom Note: 'south' = southern Oregon and northern California>, so we didn't have to drop people anywhere else....for example, Eagle Point, Medford, Etna (in California), Grants Pass.
So, Central Point is like a flatter version of Binghamton I guess. I'm grateful I got a hand-me-down GPS, otherwise I'd have no idea where I was and how to get anywhere. The streets here are so twisty, with random dead ends and barriers. Eugene had a sort of grid system so it was much easier. Central Point has a lot of fast food restaurants: BK, Taco Bell, McD, Subway, Arby's, BUT NO WENDYS!! How am I to live without a Baconator every couple of weeks?! I think I'll just curl up in a ball in a corner until transfers come around again.
So HECK YEAH! BOOYAH!!! The <Medford> Temple is IN my area! And even better I see it every day since it's right next to my church building! Even better! We get to do temple yard work every Tuesday! And better again! The temple is closed for cleaning for two weeks right now and we get to help clean inside the Celestial room!! This is truly a blessed area and I am soooo happy all the time now with the temple so literally always in sight :)

We work there 2 hours every time. Last time we transplanted 15 or so bushes. It was hard work, but it felt sooo good to just do some more physical work instead of sitting and walking all the time. I also got a bit determined when I saw some blackberry bushes trying to intrude on the temple grounds. Let's just say they won't be coming back anytime soon, at least if I have anything to say about it ;)  <Mom Note: and the Score is....Kiana 1: Blackberry bushes 0....bahahahaha!!! Take that Blackberry bushes! You are no match for my determined daughter!> The older lady we were helping with the temple yard work was very appreciative since she didn't know how she was going to get the blackberry bushes out of there since they were so thick. Glad I learned something from the farm and gardening work over the years :) I removed the Blackberry bushes with a really dull old shovel. I feel bad that Sister Haugen did a bit more of the transplanting, but those Blackberry bushes just simply were NOT supposed to be there so I....removed them :} mwahhahahaha!
Mom, let me just say...You are AWESOME! You truly found something great in your studies of charity. Many of the talks and lessons in training and stuff have been surrounding charity so that's pretty awesome that it's what you were studying. I'll totally be putting this stuff in my own study notes. It's really great how Heavenly Father is keeping us so together :)
Some notes from my last Zone Training Meeting in Eugene earlier in August:
We got to hear from two awesome Elders who will be going home soon.
Elder Kwok talked about having a testimony of your mission; Make sure you personalize it and savor it. Let it change you, "don't go through the mission, let the mission go through you". Work hard and leave some of yourself behind in each area. If we want to be a successful missionary we must love our Savior and learn to recognize and rely wholeheartedly on the Spirit. Doctrine & Covenants 43: verses 34-35 "Hearken ye to these words. Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Treasure these things up in your hearts, and let the solemnities of eternity rest upon your minds. Be sober. Keep all my commandments. Even so, Amen." <-- super great verses about keeping what's important in mind. I love how the teachings of the Gospel are just so simple. "Be sober. Keep my commandments."
Elder Briggs talked about love. In the Book of Mormon, Enos Chapter 1 discusses types of love. Verses 1-4 - love of God, family and himself. Love yourself. Have self-confidence. "Be happy with the effort you give every day." Verses 5-8 - You are ok, now go to work. Verse 9 - You and your faith is solid, now focus and fill others. Pray specifically. Verses 10-13 - Pray often for everyone. "Pray for that love. Love is a gift" <-Elder Kwok comment. Remember--> LOVE is the MOTIVE.
There was a little lesson on sacrifice and they shared some pretty great scriptures. Doctrine & Covenants 59:8, Doctrine & Covenants 97:8-9 (super loved) and Matthew 10:34, 37-39 (always a classic). "We are missionaries called of God. We put Christ first." <--Elder Roy (Zone Leader) comment.
Love you!
Kiana

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