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