Christmas Excitement

Words cannot express the amount of things/work that we accomplished this week. 

So here are some pictures instead:

A lost sheep who is no longer lost :)-  I found him a year ago when I was companions with Sister Fingerle

We took the Organ tour Christmas morning!

Following the tour we gathered together as a mission and had a Christmas Devotional and then went and opened presents together!

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YAY...Santa came and visited us :D

We had to buy 30 pizzas the day after Christmas....luckily the Lord provides a way...

He provided Costco...

That's all the fun things that happened this week, I won't bore you with all the meetings and office work. 

However, the Lord really did provide for us this week with our investigators! They are all doing wonderful and all made it to church yesterday and some of them are preparing for baptism now! Yesterday was our day that we prayed to be able to get a hold of every single one of them and they actually ALL answered the phone! (that never happens!) God sure is good!

We also had time this week to go on some exchanges with the Zone Leaders, it was fun, I served with Sister Sonku (South Africa) and Sister O'Dell (Maryland) for the day. Sure learned a lot from them and probably laughed a little bit too much. Then this morning we had a special training with Brother Billings who works in the Missionary Department and is over all the Visitor Centers - we will be going down to the MTC for a special training with the new Visitor Center Directors and Mission Presidents - and he was able to give us a wonderful compliment of telling us that we don't have the 'missionary voice'! This might sound weird, but it's a real thing and we don't like it because, to me at least, everyone who has the voice sounds like a robot. So to anyone who is preparing to serve a mission, don't fall into it! It's not cool.

Okay, well it's short and sweet but we have to run, we are spending most of our preparation day today in meetings. I love you all and hope you had a wonderful Christmas filled with the Spirit of our Savior.

Love you lots!!

XOXOXOXOX

Sister Fluckiger 

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Merry Christmas!

My oh my, this week is Christmas! 

I have loved being a missionary this Christmas season, it's a good thing that the Lord blessed me with two Christmas' because this time around I've had my own testimony deepen of how special this season is. 

The closer it gets to Christmas the busier the square gets and the more fun we have :)

I'll admit though, this week was probably one of the busiest and craziest weeks of my mission. So many things happen that I can't even remember any of them... just kidding haha.

 

Tuesday we spent the majority of the day with the departing sisters. We were able to attend the temple with them and then lunch at Olive Garden. 

Then on Wednesday I was able to pick up my new companion, Sister Rajah from Perth, Australia. And yes she does have a pretty cool accent. 

​We spent most of Wednesday in the mission office with the new sisters. We had 13 wonderful and powerful sisters arrive from the MTC. We met all of them, interviewed them all and then met with President and paired them up with their companions. . Sadly, after getting through Wednesday both President and Sister Poulsen came down with a pretty bad cold, so they have been out of the office for the past few days. So that's been a bit tricky as we needed to plan for our big Mission Leadership Training and Council which happened this morning. This week we also had a stake that volunteered to feed some of our sisters missionaries which is such a blessing for us. We will be going to dinner this week right before Christmas, so it will be really special. 

We also had the blessing of being able to hear from some wonderful people. Brother Michael Wilcox came to our Thursday Relief Society and shared a wonderful message about the first Christmas that happened in the Americas so long ago. Then on Friday, Elder Lynn Robbins came and spoke to us about the difference between doing and becoming. He taught us how we can use our missionary planner as a tool to help us become better disciples of Jesus Christ. it was wonderful! Then on Sunday we were blessed to have Elder Ronald Rasband come to our Sacrament Meeting. It has been such an uplifting week. And I promise with all of these fun perks we still had the time to do lots of missionary work. One lady who Sister Nogueira and I had been teaching, we actually found her one evening wandering the square with her brother who was a member, she shared with us that she has been able to recognize this as truth. She attended church yesterday and has decided that she wants to be baptized. The gospel is true! I'm grateful to be a missionary and to be able to serve the Lord in this way.

I told Sister Rajah and we weren't allowed to get tired over the next few weeks because we just have too many things that we need to do between helping President and our investigators. This week we are going to be having the Christmas Devotional this week and we somehow have to figure out how to hook the sound system up in one of our bigger theaters. So if you want something to pray for, there you go :) me and techy things haven't been the best of friends the last few weeks. We also want to be able to find a lot of time to teach our investigators. Using time wisely is a skill the Lord is trying to teach us right now. I know He will succeed :)

The work continues to move forward, I'm grateful for this Christmas season and for all that I have learned this year. I love you all lots and hope you have a merry merry Christmas! 

XOXOXOX

Sister Fluckiger

The Snow is Falling

G'Day everyone! 

Is anyone counting down for Christmas? I was talking to some kids this week and asked them if they knew how many days left until Christmas...their response- "no, if we keep tract then it will go slower" haha cute kids! The month of December has just flown by though, it's crazy. Salt Lake City is also preparing for Christmas, we woke up this morning to about 6 inches of snow on the ground! Yay! And it continues to fall as we speak. We've been told that it will snow all day today and tomorrow. 

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The snow isn't as untouched as when we found it early this morning but it's still pretty close. It looks like a winter wonderland. 

This morning was transfer conference. It's crazy to think that an entire transfer has already gone by. It's not fair that we only had 5 weeks. So this morning as a mission we all gathered together in the Assembly Hall and were blessed to be able to hear from both Sister and President Poulsen. This is their last transfer here on Temple Square. They will be departing in the middle of January. It's so sad to think about, I love them both so much! I really believe that I was sent to serve on Temple Square because I needed to learn from them. This transfer has been great to be able to spend more time with them and learn from them, not only them but also the entire mission presidency! 

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Wednesday my sweet companion, Sister Nogueira, will be departing which is also sad. Five of my mission companions will be finishing their missions this week. Crazy how fast time goes. Temple Square really has become my home away from home and the sisters that I serve with I know with all of my heart are really my sisters. We were buddies up in the pre-mortal life and we knew that we would be blessed to be able to serve together. Each Transfer Conference we get to hear from the departing sisters and we also sing them our mission song to close the meeting. I love my mission but it's not fair that we come from all over the world, makes it harder to be able to see everyone after the mission. President always says "never in your life will you be able to stand with a group of sisters as strong as this and all be united in the same purpose" I know though that as we all return to our different parts of the world we are going to be strengthening the church and preparing more individuals for the blessings of the temple.

We were able to attend Music and the Spoken Word this week (the last week of the transfer they always recognize the sisters who are leaving). We all agreed that the program was one of their best yet, of course that is all our opinion. The spoken word really stood out to me because I feel it's what I've been telling members and guests all day every day since the Christmas lights turned on. -
"Two thousand years ago, a child was born-in a small town, in a small stable, the only place His mother could find to spend the night. The world He entered was full of conflict, in desperate need of peace-not that different, actually, from today's world...He grew from child to man, from grace to grace and brought a message of love and compassion and long-suffering... in the process, He changed the world forever....As we remember His birth and life, may our celebrations take us back to that which is small, quiet, and peaceful. In a world so large, loud and unsettled, we can make this season a welcome change-small, quiet, and peaceful."
The scriptures always tell us to "remember, remember" and it applies to Christmas time too! I spoke to a cute little family this week and I was able to ask the kids why they loved Christmas time. One of the younger kids replied very fast and loud and said "because I love Jesus!" That kid understands! Being a missionary on Temple Square is so special and unique. Everyday I have been blessed to see the hand of God work in somebody's life which results in His hand working more in my life. 

Aside from the snow and the normal missionary routine this week was beyond crazy for us. We were able to participate in two different focus groups with the Missionary Department, one was for a new Temple Square historic guide for missionaries (woot woot) and the other one was for improvements that they are making with our online Teaching Center. Those were both exciting but now we have found ourselves a little more involved than we were expecting. One of the Brothers who works for the MTC and is over our Teaching Center is now having us pilot all the new features, which is fun to see things start to work and progress. That all happened this week. Then on top of that we finished transfer planning with President, and prepared everything for Transfer Conference this morning. Yay! Another week accomplished!

Wednesday I will begin serving with an Aussie :) Sister Rajah from Perth, Australia. She is great! We were actually in the same district last Christmas, crazy to think that the Lord has brought us back together. She is perfect for the calling and I know that she'll be able to help me a lot. I know that we are going to have a lot of adventures together and be able to learn a lot! 

I hope you all are doing well and that you are beginning to feel the special spirit of Christmas.

I love you all!

XOXOXOX

Sister Fluckiger

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Hi Everyone!!

This will probably be a quick and short email. This week seriously has just flown by. Last night as we were planning we were looking back through the past 7 days and we both just feel like we were robbed of some extra time. Did you know that we spend 1/3 of our entire missions sleeping? Can you believe that?! Seriously, what a waste of time. Sister Nogueira and I have decided that we wish we could be vampires..but in a good sense. But really, if we didn't have to sleep we would be so much more effective. We would do all of our office work and planning at night time when everyone else is sleeping, that way we can just spend all day long teaching and testifying. If only that could really happen. 

Some crazy things have happened though this week. We spent most of it with President, Monday and Tuesday we had Zone Leader Reports and then Wednesday we starting Transfer Planning. Crazy to think that that time has already come!

Getting to be with President is a lot of fun, even if we are in meetings all day. He is just so funny :)
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We have been able to spend a lot of time out in the lights though since President usually leaves in the evenings. I love Christmas time on Temple Square, it's magical and filled with the Savior. It's also filled with lots and lots of people. This year has actually been slower than last, at least the weeknights are slower, but the weekends are still packed. Which means we mostly see couples and teenagers. For whatever reason, we both love talking to like 14-15 year old kids. They are just hilarious and then of course we invite all of them to start now to prepare for their missions. We've had a lot of really good spiritual conversations with some really good kids. Every once in a while though, you see or meet kids like this:

​hahaha they plugged their phones into the Christmas lights and then stood there for a good long while just texting. Gotta love it!

I know that this church is true! I know it with all of my heart. We were able to teach on of my recent converts this week, he was baptized about a month ago, and we asked him if he had been able to receive a home teaching assignment. He was so happy and excited to tell us - turns out that he goes home teaching twice a week! He absolutely loves it. He even shared with us the message that he had prepared for his next visit. "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." He is a perfect example of this, and I have been able to learn the importance of it. I love this gospel and I love my Savior. 

Have a Happy Happy week!

XOXOXOXOX

Sister Fluckiger

A Savior is Born!

Snow. Snow. Snow!

Now it's really beginning to look a lot like Christmas! The snow is falling, the lights are on and we are Christmas Caroling :)

I hope everyone was able to have a very special Thanksgiving. We had the blessing of going over and eating with a wonderful family who lives in the Ensign Peak Stake which is located right next door to Temple Square. It was lovely, Sister Nogueira and I went with Sister Brooks (California) and Sister Nevil (Texas). After Thanksgiving Lunch we came back to the square and worked. It was really cold that day but surprisingly there were a good amount of people on the square. 

Then, this Friday the Christmas lights turned on! Which means everyone and their kids came to Temple Square! Sister Nogueira and I had so much fun. Teaching the gospel is so fun! Doesn't matter what is going on, we are always able to find joy as we go out onto the square and testify of the Savior. Christmas is a very special time to be a missionary and I am so grateful that I get two Christmas'. Has everyone been able to see the new video: "A Savior is Born"? It's very different from the last videos that the church has put out but I have grown to love it because each time I watch it I am able to feel of the children's testimonies about the Savior. So I'm actually sure that you have all seen this new video - the question is have you actually seen the second video? They made two this year and the second one is the answer to the invitation to "discover why" the Savior was born. You can find the video on Christmas.Mormon.org - it's animated so that's how you can know that it's the right one. I'm excited for all of you to watch it tonight for Family Home Evening and to discuss why the Savior needed to be born. I am so grateful that the Savior was born! That single event in history has changed my life. It has paved the way for everything and everyone. How neat is it that we are able to celebrate Christmas!

Other than the craziness and excitement of having the Christmas lights back on, Sister Nogueira and I have been prepping for some of the Christmas activities that we will be having as a mission and then organizing everything so that with the new year and also a new mission president everything will be clean and we will know what it is. haha, because we have been finding a lot of funny things in our office that has no purpose. It's funny to see what sisters leave behind when they finish their missions.

Other fun things that happened this week: 

​We had to try on sweatshirt per Sister Poulsen's request - we turned it into a photo shoot.

​I got stuck in a microwave box..... haha

Speaking of microwave - we don't have a photo of this but we wished we had one. Last Monday while we were on our Preparation Day, some sisters decided to pop popcorn in the microwave in our office.... ya our microwave might have caught on fire a little bit. When we arrived in the office the next day the entire mission office stunk like burnt popcorn and our microwave was completely black inside haha. So this microwave box came from a new microwave that Elder Moore brought us.

​And here's my companion in the microwave box :)

Then last but not least, Sister Nogueira and I always find so many things to laugh at :) With the lights on there are so many people on the square and sometimes funny things happen. Two days ago we were out on the square contacting families and we decided to head into the South VC to warm up a little bit. Well we were right outside the automatic doors and we could see a big family heading out the doors so we took a step to the side to let them out first. The daughter who was leading the way decided she wanted to jump out as the doors opened but sadly our automatic doors are so slow and lazy and never open when you want them to. So she has a pretty good jogging start and she jumps into the door but instead of the door opening all the way she hits the door with her shoulder and basically falls out the door instead of flying like we are sure she wanted too. I was just shocked to see all of this but my companion just started laughing haha which turned out to be a good thing because this (probably 15ish) girl just laughed too and then walked off like nothing happened.

Christmas time is fun. This week we were blessed with some more time to teach and focus on our investigators - they are all doing great! One of our investigators is 72 years old! She's from the VERY southern part of Georgia and she is just so funny to talk with. We have to go a little bit slower with her but she'll make it. The Lord is helping her :)

And that was my week! Tomorrow we are finishing up Zone Leader Reports, which is where we sit down with President and the zone leaders a zone at a time to discuss the sisters and their needs. Then Wednesday we will begin transfer planning. Crazy to think it's already time for that. 5 week transfers are just too fast - 7days really does make a big difference. 

I love you all and appreciate ya!

Thanks for always reading this silly letters!

XOXOXOXOX

Sister Fluckiger

The Lord Will Provide

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The leaves have finally all fallen off the trees and now we are just waiting for it to snow :) President told us this morning that Wednesday is supposed to be a big snow day. So that should be excited. Sister Nogueira and I broke out our winter coats- they're not used that often. Besides walking to the Square in the morning and walking home at night we usually only get about 1 or 2 hours up on the Square these days. 

However the time that we do get to go up the Lord always provides a miracle! It's been a really neat week to see how He is so aware of our schedules, even when they are as crazy and demanding as ours.

So generally transfers are a period of 6 weeks within the mission. At the end of a transfers there is always a group of sisters who leave because they have completed their missions and then we always get a batch of fresh new missionaries from the MTC. The church doesn't like to send out missionaries the week of Christmas because it's hard to get flights and the end of this 6 week period would actually be the day before Christmas Eve so we are shortening it and instead having a 5 week transfer and then the following transfer will be 7 weeks to make up for it. Having 5 weeks means that we have 7 days less to plan everything for next transfer. So we have been doing our very best to stay on top of the different responsibilities we have and to even get a head if possible. 

So this week we did outbound planning. We calculated how many missionaries we currently have, how many are going home, and how many will be coming from the MTC. We then discussed how many missionaries we need in the mission for Christmas time. From that we come up with how many missionaries we can send to other missions. That was a great! Now we just have to wait until the Zone Leaders have their reports ready for us about the sisters on their zones and then we can start the process of what we call Transfer Planning! Which is basically pairing up all the companionships with President.

Another exciting thing that happened this transfer was Christmas Training! 

We will be getting new schedules this Friday because the lights will be turning on! I seriously am still having a hard time believing that it's been an entire year since the lights were on. Crazy! The square will not be open from 9am - 10pm which means we don't leave the square till 10 and won't get to bed until 11:30pm. This truly is the craziest mission in the world. We are so excited though. We received training on the new Christmas Initiative which will be "A Savior is Born". I testify that a Savior was born and that He lives today! On Friday the new Christmas video will be released and there is actually an invitation at the end to "Discover Why" - then there will also be a second video that is the answer to why the Savior was born. It is so special to know that God has a plan for each of us and at the center of that plan is our Savior Jesus Christ. I hope all of you can Discover the Savior this holiday season. 

With this Christmas Training we were able to assist President in announcing to the mission a new Mission Wide Goal. So far this year we, as a mission, have been able to help 800 of our Brothers and Sisters make the special promise of baptism with our Father. It's truly special to have the knowledge that there are so many more people who have the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ because 200 sisters decided to serve the Lord for 18 months. Our Mission Goal is to continue working our very best, and strengthening our faith in Christ, and be able to help 100 more of our family members home to Him before the end of the year. This is our gift to them and our gift to the Savior.






​President Poulsen invited all the sisters who were willing to work their very hardest and to trust in the Savior completely to sign their name as commitment to the Lord.

You know the Lord's work would continue to move forward even if He didn't have missionaries. However, doing His work through missionaries helps the missionary become converted. I'm grateful I headed the prompting to serve a mission because I have become more converted because of it. The gospel is true!

And the Lord has been able to witness to us many times this week that we aren't doing anything - it's all Him. We really do only have about an hour a day up on the Square and it's usually a desk assignment in one of the visitor centers. He really does know our schedule. He brought us 3 different individuals who had questions and wanted to learn more about the Savior. Even better- they were the ones who walked up to us!

The Lord has people prepared for us, the question is if we have the eyes to see them.

The Church is true and the Book is blue.

Love you all!

XOXOXOX

Sister Fluckiger

I'm Going to Build a Boat!

Hi everyone!

The Mission life just gets crazier and crazier! I know that Heavenly Father does it to me on purpose. Every time I think "I've finally figured this out" or "I've got this down finally" Heavenly Father gives me something else. Gotta love a challenge! :)

So many things happened over the past two weeks though! We had transfers last week which is why I missed a week of emailing. My schedule has changed and in about a week it will change again because we will begin the Christmas schedule! Yay! We walked out of the Church Office Building today and we saw that they have started setting up the nativities. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" here on Temple Square! 

I have a new companion again! She's from Brazil but moved to the States when she was a kid and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia! 

Sister Nogueira - the red head on the right :) We are having so much fun together and we get to teach a bunch of Brazilians! This photo was taken at the Roof (a really great restaurant on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We were able to accompany the departing class to the Temple and then onto lunch with President. Being in the Temple once again was wonderful. President has called me back to serve in the mission office and I'll be there for the rest of my mission and I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve him and to serve with him but I'll admit I was a little hesitant because I knew that it would cut into my teaching and proselyting time. Of course put on top of that the normal feelings of inadequacy - the Temple was a great place to go afterwards to be able to receive some answers. While I was there I read in 1 Nephi about when the Lord called Nephi to build a boat. It blew my mind that Nephi didn't even question...well he did but his question was "where can I go to find the materials to make the tools to build a boat?" What faith he had. I definitely had a change of heart about my new assignment. The Lord truly can do whatever He wants - with Him everything is possible so why wouldn't He be able to use us as His children, despite our weaknesses. 

Speaking of Nephi, this morning we had our Missionary Leadership Council to begin the new transfer and Sister Nogueira and I trained on the difference between achieving and becoming. It was such a wonderful experience for both of us because our goal was to teach only from the Book of Mormon. We accomplished that by reading the story of Nephi and Laman and Lemuel and in the middle of the story we would act out different things about how the different reactions related to how we as missionaries react. It was great! Laman and Lemuel were the perfect example of a missionary who achieved their mission. Actually if you read the story again of when they went to get the brass plates you would see that they would obedient and what the Lord had asked them to do. They weren't happy about it of course but they did it and achieved. It's sad but we sometimes sees that happen within our missions, being a missionary just becomes a checklist of things that we need to do instead of us allowing the mission to help us become more like our Savior. It went really well! The sisters especially liked when we acted out the part where Laman comes back from the first attempt and he's all frazzled because he almost just died - I wish someone would have videoed us :)

If you hadn't figured it out yet, this week was filled with meetings! We've had one every day so far. It's so busy for a few different reasons: the Christmas seasons starts next week, this is only a 5 week transfer, and President is getting ready to finish his mission. It's a good thing that Sister Nogueira and I really like a challenge. 

It's been a huge goal of ours though to still be able to have a good teaching area and we know that the Lord will help us out. We have been able to see a few miracles the past few days that we have been companions.
Something that we have been talking a lot about actually that has helped us set some goals this transfer has been talking about our Father in Heaven's home up in heaven. I shared with my companion how Mom always says that there isn't going to be "any empty chairs at my dinner table". That's what our Father in Heaven wants too! We are focusing on filling more of those chairs as our Christmas gift to Him this year.
One of the ladies that we are teaching I was able to find last week actually. She just called in and told me that her son was baptized into our church a few years back and now she knows that she is ready to learn more and meet with missionaries. How cool is that?! She's a really sweet lady and I know that this is an answer to her son's prayers. 

Another cool miracle happened yesterday while we were in the North Visitor Center - a lady came up to us and simply asked us for a copy of the Book of Mormon. She shared with us how she had talked to some sisters earlier, actually like 2 or 3 sets of missionaries, about it but now she wanted a copy. We were able to teach her more about the Book of Mormon and how it can have an righteous influence on her life. Now we are going to happily teaching her more about the restored gospel! 

Being a missionary is just so fun! Especially in this mission! This week I was able to try Brazilian tea (it's herbal I promise!) It actually wasn't that bad. I think my companion was disappointed because I guess other Americans are really dramatic when they try it for the first time and I wasn't. Oh well, I can check that off the list of things I need to try.

I love you all so much! The Gospel is true and it changes life, it has changed mine for sure!

XOXOXOX

Sister Fluckiger

The Spirit of the Temple

Hello Everyone!

Today was probably the first day of very cold weather! We haven't had any snow yet but we can see the snow in the mountains...it's coming! 

So far we are surviving. We all have a feeling though that it's going to be a pretty cold winter. The sad part of the cold is that less people come and visit Temple Square. The good part it is that those who do come...must really want to be here :) 

Temple Square is a very special place, yes because of the temple but also because of the different experiences that result from people visiting. It seems to be a place of healing, resolving, and answering. People find a lot and experience a lot within the little 10 acre block where I, luckily, get to spend most of my time. This week was no different. There are many things that I love about being a missionary and it seems the last few weeks I have been asked that question a lot by other missionaries, "what do you like most about your mission?" I would have to say the privilege that it is to be able to witness God working in the lives of others. 

This week we had one particular miracle, we are scheduled to take a Flagpole tour once a week. However, I believe I have mentioned this before, our Tour is scheduled at the same time as the daily Organ Recital. So the odds of us actually having a tour is slim. This week though we were able to meet a really nice guy who was visiting Salt Lake for business. That day was his last day in the city and everyone had told him that he had to visit Temple Square before he flew home. Surprisingly he was very familiar with the church due to growing up with some member friends. He had even attended our church services a few times when he was in High School. As we were talking and teaching it was evident though, when it came to our doctrine, he didn't understand the differences between us and the Catholic church ( the church that he was raised with ). I remember taking him into the Assembly Hall where we taught and explained the Book of Mormon. There is always a certain light come into peoples eye when they get bit by Curious George. :) By the end of the tour we brought it all back to the Book of Mormon and explained how it was the "Keystone" of our religion - it's all or nothing and it's all based on the Book of Mormon. We gave him a copy to read and we have been able to text him over the past days as he has been reading the beginning parts of the Book of Mormon. Angels are always preparing the hearts of the children of God - we just have to have the faith to find them - or the faith that they will find us!

This week we were also able to meet one of the cutest families ever (not as cute as ours though)! We talked to them a few times because we were walking around the square and so were they so we just continued to bump into them. It was a family of 5, the three kids were all under the age of 8. Two boys and then then a darling 2 year old little girl. We ended up taking them to watch the God's Plan presentation. Throughout the presentation the little girl was just so darling with making little comments about the video. At the end we asked what everyone's favorite part was and she looked at us and says very loudly "I just like my family!" Families truly are the best. Afterwards as we were walking down the stairs with this family the little girl looked at me as asked me to hold her hand as we walked down the stairs together. So if you were wondering - in the North Visitor's Center we have 24 stairs :)

Halloween on Temple Square was so fun! The square closed at 5 and as a mission we all had dinner together. They brought us lasagna from Olive Garden! Yes I know we are spoiled! Then following dinner we all walked over to the Temple together and did a session. Probably one of the longest temple sessions I have ever and will ever do but it was wonderful! Temple on Halloween should be a new tradition. Now that it's November though, Sister Juntilla and I don't have a lot of action within the Beehive House - I've probably mentioned that a few times now but that's because it's true! The other day we sat in the Church Office for over an hour waiting for a tour....and during that time we decided to take some selifes with Brother Brigham.

​We look very scary in this photo...but you know back then you had to stand for hours for a photograph to be taken...so we were just trying to put ourselves in that time period. 

I love you all and I love being a missionary! Transfers is next week! I cannot even believe it. Sister Juntilla and I only have 6 more days of being companions. We are celebrating by inviting ourselves to all of the different district activities that our sisters are planning. We aren't technically part of a district and by technically I mean we aren't part of one at all. Which is sad so to make it better we just adopted ourselves into three different districts. It's going to be a great week! 

I love you all and I hope you are already making your list of what you are grateful for in preparation for Thanksgiving! I know that my list is already pretty long!

XOXOXOX

Sister Fluckiger

Halloween on Temple Square

HI Y'all! 

Are you all excited for Halloween? I am! Halloween means that we get fed and we get to attend the Temple! Two of the best things for a missionary (receiving mail is still in the top 5 by the way)!

The square died this past week - it's been sad and I think I'm in denial about it. The week prior there was the Parliament of World Religions being held in Salt Lake which is why it's actually stayed busy for most of October. Now that that is over though we have hit a dead patch before the Holiday Season. 

Sister Juntilla and I are still in the Beehive House and we are still loving it. I was there yesterday morning to open it up with the Senior Couple, the Richardsons (love them dearly) and Elder Richardson took us exploring on the third and forth levels! 

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This was their closet....I don't even think my suitcase could fit in here. 

This morning we also were able to receive another great training from Elder Wilson, he is in the area presidency over us. He came to our Relief Society and taught us more about the Book of Mormon! I just love focusing on that book! It's truly my favorite book - there is just always more that you can learn about it! This mornings focus was on using the Book of Mormon as the tool in conversion that it's supposed to be. When the investigators and members are converted to the book of Mormon and truly know of it's truthfulness then they are prepared for any storm or "mists of darkness" that might come their way. 

We also learned that generally speaking (and this was from a study) people do not understand something until they have heard it 17 times. Which would explain why you have to take English almost every single year until you graduate from High School!

The things you learn when you are serving a mission :)

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This last Sunday Sister Juntilla and I also attended Music and the Spoken Word!

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The work continues to move forward! I can testify that the Lord truly does know what He is doing. We have an investigator that we are currently working with that is now sharing the gospel with his friend! His friend isn't really religious and so our investigator just invited him to pray and now they are planning on going to church together! We are blessed to be able to see so many things everyday that testify of God's plan and of His love for each of His children. 

I love you all dearly! 

Happy Halloween!

XOXOXO

Sister Fluckiger

P.S. Cows can drink 35 gallons of water a day! Holy Cow :)

Revelation about Revelation

Hello Family and Friends! 

So I hear that is isn't cooling down yet for you back home? I'm sort of sorry but also not so sorry. You know how you always want what you don't have? Well summer-time in Salt Lake City is officially gone and it's beginning to get very cold. This morning we had the early Beehive shift so we were able to sit in the Prophet's very old and very cold house for a few hours. I love Brother Brigham and his home but I am grateful more for modern-day heating systems :)

​Us in the Beehive :D

Well today has already been a glorious day! This morning we were blessed with the privilege to be with and hear from Elder Holland. It was wonderful! It still being the "Keystone Transfer" with our focus on the Book of Mormon, Elder Holland was able to teach us today about the Book of Mormon and how it truly is the Keystone of our religion. I love the Book of Mormon and  I'm learning more and more about it each day over the course of my mission and I know that that will continue over the course of my life. Being able to hear Elder Holland's testimony of the Book of Mormon was a testimony builder - it opened my eyes to more ways of how the Book of Mormon is that foundation to everything that we believe in. Really it comes down to the fact that everything within the Book of Mormon and even revolving around the Book of Mormon is about revelation. "The Book of Mormon is revelation about revelation!" That's why it's the Keystone because it testifies to us that God still speaks to Prophets. Together we read 1 Nephi 1 and we talked about the story of Lehi that is within those first 20 versus. If you look closely you'll see that the story of Lehi and the story of Joseph Smith are pretty much the same. And if you compare the stories of the Old Testament Prophets you'll also see that they are the same as Joseph Smith - it's because God is the same. He will always speak to His children individually and through His chosen Prophet. How wonderful it is that we live at this time. It just makes me so happy! :) 

The other days this week we did a lot of work! "Work, work, work - there is no satisfactory substitute especially in missionary work!" We were able to finish exchanges with the District Leaders this week, I was able to serve a day with Sister Burke from Australia and Sister Lai from Australia/Hong Kong. Both are amazing sisters and we were able to see some cool miracles together. Sister Juntilla also were able to have some wonderful experiences on the days that we were able to be together. We were able to take one tour in particular that touched the both of us. It was the Flagpole (I'll admit not many people take this tour because it is the same time as the organ recital and everyone wants to hear the organ). Two members of the church joined our tour and we were happy to take them around. One was a returned missionary from Sweden a few years back and the other a recent convert who joined the church in Sweden. As we went around the square we were able to learn of their story and it was quite unique and very heart-warming for us Visitor Center missionaries. Turned out that the RM met the RC in Sweden 4 years prior to his decision to join the church. He was the first missionary to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon. Even though he accepted the Book of Mormon, he wasn't ready to actually start investigating the church. So this RC stored the Book of Mormon safely on his self where it stayed for a good 2-3 years. Occasionally he would pick it up and read parts of it but nothing every stuck. Then one day he picks it up again and decides he needs to learn more about Joseph Smith - so he does which leads him to be in touch with the missionaries again and this time he is ready to start actually investigating the church. This time around he is able to gain a truthfulness of the Book of Mormon which soon leads to his decision to be baptized. After his baptism he remembers this Elder who gave him the Book of Mormon and he decides to go through all of this work to track him down! Took him awhile - he made a lot of different phone calls to some different missionaries and even the mission office - but he found him! And this week they both came to Temple Square to share that story with us. How sweet is the work of the Lord. 

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Last Preparation Day we had our Zone Activity! It turned our wonderful! We had a Family Home Evening at the park. Sister Juntilla and I planned a little program, we had dinner, a spiritual thought, and then some games. The overall focus of the night was on a scripture found in the book of Matthew:

Matthew 4:19-20
19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

 20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

So each of our games we were able to bridge to something that we need to leave behind as missionaries. 

​This is us playing Missionary Tag! The entire evening turned out to be great! At the end we did a closing activity that helped the sisters realize that as daughter of God we aren't actually that different. The spirit was strong and at the end we were able to have a short testimony meeting so we could all shared what we learned. As children of God each of us has such great potential - no matter our where in the world we come from or what our story is. It's great to be able to serve with such valiant missionaries. 

I love you all and I truly know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is led by the Lord and if we are a part of it - and if we are living it - we will be guided safely, and together back to our Heavenly Home. 

XOXOXOX

Sister Fluckiger

2 Nephi 9:51

Magandang Hapon!!

(Good Afternoon in Tagalog!)

Temple Square lost it's flowers! It's so sad!! On Saturday they ripped up all of the flowers and today they are planting all of the Tulip bulbs. Summer time is now officially over. It's quite depressing. Now we just need to Christmas lights to turn on to make up for the empty flower beds.

Besides having the flowers ripped up and thrown away, a lot of good things happened this week! We survived last week of all early morning meetings which means that we were able to exercise again this week - Yay! Exercise really does make a difference! Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when He gave us the Word of Wisdom. Sister Juntilla and I are training for our Mission's 5k coming up next Saturday. President wants us to be "fit for the kingdom" so "more used can we be" (Hymn #131) it's been great! So this week we have been blessed with lots of more energy and the ability to focus on our different responsibilities. It took me about a year but I now have a testimony of daily exercise.

 I'll admit for most of this week it felt like Sister Juntilla and I just ran all over the place trying to get everything done while also taking care of some sisters and then making time for our investigators, but the Lord always lengthens your days. At least that is what I have experienced. This week we had our Zone Training Meeting and so we spent a lot of time in preparation for that. We focused on using the Book of Mormon in our teaching and helping the sisters understand what their purpose is as missionaries. It turned out to be a great meeting and the sisters were able to participate a lot. We actually did a Role Play using some of the sisters real investigators and their situations and, as a zone, were able to find some scriptures from the Book of Mormon that the sisters could use next time they taught them. It was really successful and we found out that the scriptures that we came up with was able to help some of the investigators! The Spirit is just so good to us!

Just like any good missionary when we're not teaching or helping the sisters we are teaching and helping our investigators and the people we meet on the square! The Lord really does take care of your investigators when you are taking care of his other children. A lot of our investigators this week were able to get in contact with the local missionaries which is always answer to prayer! And then all of our Filipino investigators were able to listen to Conference this last weekend (they watch is a week later because of the time difference)! The blessings just keep coming. Today actually we were really worried that we wouldn't have any square time before our p-day starts because of how long our to-do list was but we ended up having exactly 30 min and we were able to take a texted out tour in that amount of time. It was this super cute family that was on vacation and wanted to spend the day exploring Salt Lake City. We ended up focusing the tour on what our church services are like and also eternal families. We found out that the mother grew up Catholic but left the church because of some unanswered questions and some differences in how she viewed Christianity. As we were sitting in the Assembly hall explaining church she shared with us that she loved all the different programs that we had and how the church service was ran. We really do have a unique Sunday Services compared to other churches. We have the privilege of being able to hear from everyone and to hear how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has played a role in their own life and with their family. She really liked that. After being in the Assembly Hall we walked over the see the Temple Model and were able to teach about Eternal Families. We all were able to feel the spirit as we testified and shared different experiences on how special it is to know that our families will be eternal. It was just overall a wonderful and converting tour for everyone. As the mom was filling out her contact information for us to stay in touch and teach more she looked up at us as said "Wait a second, are you going to be calling me everyday?" and then she laughed :)

It's just been a great week! Time really does fly when you're having fun! Yesterday we started exchanges with our District Leaders and we will finish up this weekend. So yesterday I was able to serve with Sister Bellais from Tahiti! She showed me a picture of her backyard....yep I am really jealous. And then this weekend I will be with Sister Lai from Australia and then Sister Burke who is also from Australia. All these wonderful sisters who get to live on an island, it's going to be great!

I love you all dearly! I hope you are getting yourself ready for Christmas :) Because we are!

XOXOXOXOX

Sister Fluckiger

Scattering Sunshine and Miracles!

Hello Family!

Did you all enjoy Conference weekend? I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't believe it's over - it just flew by way to fast. This entire week has just come and gone but so much has happened and Sister Juntilla and I were able to see many miracles happen.

One of the miracles that I was able to witness just made my entire week. So more than 8 months ago I was on exchanges with my district leader and we had an amazing experience where we met a less active up by the Christus. He was going through a very hard time and his faith had grown week over the course of many years. We were able to testify to him about God's love and the power that the atonement can have in our lives. I remember the spirit testifying to me of the truthfulness of what we shared and I dearly wanted to be able to help this man. He allowed us to stay in touch with him and we invited him to do some different things. I was able to teach him once over the phone but then I received my call to Georgia and I asked my companion, who was Sister Fingerle at the time, to stay in touch with him and to help him find his faith again. Well the rest of the story goes I went outbound had tons of fun, came back and trained and have been busy ever since. Things were s busy that I mostly forgot about the investigators and less actives that I had been teaching before I left because I knew that I had given them to great missionaries and now I was just focused on finding more of God's children. This Conference weekend I served a few hours in the Beehive each day and this man that I had met so long ago walked in to meet with some sisters that I was serving with at the time. I'll admit, I didn't recognize him at all. The man I met was very depressed and questioned whether or not he was loved. The man who came into the Beehive house was beaming brightly with the Light of Christ. I'll admit, I didn't recognize him at first but he remembered me and as soon as he said my name I remembered. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father allowed me that sweet opportunity to see him again, even though I didn't participate a lot in his teaching it was a testimony building experience for me to see that the gospel of Jesus Christ truly does change people. It allows us to be more like our Savior. No matter what our story is or where we come from, I know that Christ can make us better. 

Isaiah 64:8

Outside of the Beehive the Square was packed with people from all over the world who came to listen to the Prophet speak. Sister Juntilla and I had a blast!

Each morning we met in the basement together as a mission to have a prayer together and to hear a spiritual though from President before we went out to work. Oh and we also had breakfast together :) Other than that though, the entire day was spent outside around the beautiful temple. Saturday morning it was pretty cloudy and we were so SAD! We wanted tons of people to be on the square and we knew that no one would come with their blankets and picnic baskets if it was raining. Sister Juntilla and I were able to attend the SaturdayMorning session and so we said a prayer asking that by the time the first session was over the sun would come out and warm up Temple Square for the wonderful members. The morning session was wonderful and we were both very uplifted and as we walked outside the sun was warm and bright! We know that God always answers our prayers, even when they are small and have to do with the weather :)

Temple Square was packed all day long and we were able to meet a lot of members and hear about their stories and testimonies. The church might be small in comparison to the world but it sure is strong! As we were walking around during one of the sessions I caught myself pondering a lot of different experiences that I have had over the course of my mission so far (there's a lot!). This transfer President has invited all of us to focus on the Book of Mormon, to strengthen our testimonies of it so we can better help members and nonmembers gain a witness of the Book of Mormon, because only the Book of Mormon can be an anchor that never fails. He is calling it the "Keystone" Transfer. As I was able to see countless families all sitting reverently listening to God's Prophets and Apostles speak the spirit was able to reaffirm to me the truthfulness of this restored church. I love it and I love the Book of Mormon! It just all fits so nicely together.

During the weekend of Conference because of the craziness we were not given any time to be on the phones to call our investigators. So we prayed that we would be able to get a hold of all our investigators before the weekend - and we did! We were able to witness two miracles. One is with an investigator that Sister Hara and I found on chat, he just came online and was interested in going to church and so he did. Well about two weeks ago we gave him the phone number for the missionaries and invited him to call them and set up an appointment with them. We called him this week and he has had great experiences with the missionaries and with the Book of Mormon. He is now reading about 5 chapters every night before he goes to bed. He told us that his goal is to finish the Book of Mormon before he gets baptized :) Heavenly Father is really good at preparing the hearts of His children. 

Our other investigator who had a great week is from the Philippines and is in a similar situation. In the Philippines they watch conference a week later because of the time difference so he is really excited and told us that he wouldn't miss it!

The sunshine is slowly fading away as we are transitioning into fall. More and more Christmas lights are being put up each day and now that Conference is over, Christmas should just be around the corner! 

I love you all so very much! Thank you for reading these letters :)

XOXOXOX

Sister Fluckiger 

Secrets on Temple Square

Hello Everybody who actually reads these letters... :)

The days continue to pass by way faster than I can even imagine. I feel like it was just yesterday that Sister Hara and I became companions. Crazy.

Lots has happened this week. I was able to attend the Women's session of General Conference and it was great. I love being able to be in the Conference Center with the wonderful and inspired leaders of our church. We were also given the opportunity again to attend Elder Scott's funeral that was help in the Tabernacle. That too was a wonderful experience - being able to hear the testimonies of others that the Lord still calls Prophets and Apostles. This weekend is going to be an exciting weekend as people come from all over the world to hear the word of God spoken through the mouth of the Prophets. It's going to be awesome! One of the most exciting weekends on Temple Square!

Speaking of conference, this week Sister Hara and I have been working on a Top Secret project for the assistants to help prepare the sisters for this Conference Weekend. Tomorrow we have Relief Society and the lesson will be a "Pump-Up for Conference". It's going to be great! We actually had some of the senior couples going around on the square asking and filming members what their expectations are for us this conference weekend. It's been a crazy week putting everything today but today we had our last song practice (yes we will be singing as part as our training) and it's going to be great. We are putting on an entire show for the sisters tomorrow. You know in a weird way this mission is exactly like Girl's Camp when we are not on the square - we just do the same quirky things. In a way though our outcomes are different. The outcome we want for this meeting is to have the sisters understand the role that members play in regards to missionary work. They play a huge role and we want to be able to help them understand how they can help the members do their own missionary work. We as members need to be helped and uplifted just as much as any other guest that walks onto Temple Square. 

I love General Conference and I love being a missionary during this time because the Lord allows us to witness so many miracles, not just with the members that come but also with the random guests that come to Temple Square just to figure out what all the commotion is about. The Lord always has a way to lead His children home, whether it's from having missionaries knocking on doors or by having all the streets in Salt Lake City backed up because everyone is trying to attend Conference - there is just always a way.

Another exciting thing happened this week and that was transfers! Monday morning we met at 7am outside the Church History Museum ( the square was closed due to the Funeral so we weren't allowed to us it like we normally do ) and our new companions and assignments were announced. We then met we inside the museum in a theater that they had to hear from President and the departing sisters. While President was talking with us he mentioned that he wanted the mission to focus on the Book of Mormon in this new transfer. He attended a Mission President's Seminar a few weeks ago and they talked a lot about making sure our investigators and converts are converted to the Book of Mormon. Well the only way to make sure that happens is if the missionaries are converted. I'm excited because I recently just finished the Book of Mormon and I'm excited to start it over again with the mission. This is the "Keystone Transfer". I've always been determined to make sure that all my investigators are reading from the Book of Mormon because really everything can be solved within those pages. It's the 'one size fits all' idea - the Book of Mormon, when read with the Spirit, truly can solve, uplift, heal, and mend any problem or situation that we might find ourselves in.

Speaking of investigators I am currently teaching one of the sweetest mothers. She has been to church a few times and is now meeting often with the local missionaries and is loving what they are sharing with her. They gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon but she soon asked for more and now each member of her family, even her sister and her family, all have their own individual copy of the Book of Mormon. 

I love serving where I am. I may not completely understand the purposes of the Lord but I know that I was sent to serve here on Temple Square for many different reasons and it's been great! We have the opportunity to talk with just so many people and to help them understand a little bit more and experience what the love of God is. We also get to testify to them that God still speaks to His children. On Monday Sister Hara and I took a tour of about 20 different individuals and were able to testify of Prophets and explain General Conference. Many of them had lots of questions and a few even wanted to know how they could participate in or watch General Conference. What a blessing that General Conference is broadcast, it just allows so many more people to listen in and gain a witness from the Spirit that God has a Prophet on the earth today.
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Oh and I did get a new companion.... isn't she great :) Her name is Sister Juntilla...can you guess where she is from?

She is from the Philippines! We have both been serving for a good amount of time and have been able to serve pretty closely together actually. We were roommates for 3 months while I was with Sister Sommerfeldt. I am so excited to be serving with her this transfer and we are assigned to the Beehive. Yay!

I love doing what I'm doing and I'm grateful for all of your support and prayers in our behalf.

Love you all!

XOXOXOX

Sister Fluckige