We help there faith to grow up! 3/23/10

So my companion has picked up this new thing to say all the time "grow up" instead of saying becoming better or getting better she says growing up. Example.. "I promise you when you follow the Jesus Christ your faith can grow up". hah I have tried to explain it several times to her, but it is to cute so I just let her say it... hah.

This week was wonderful. I hope that you all enjoy my experiences that I share every week, sometimes I feel that they may sound a lot similar? hah not sure. But I just meet the most incredible people everyday and this is just how my mission is! I don't get to teach the same people or have any investigator's so I find joy in meeting new brother's and sister's who come to the square :)

Saturday evening we just had 45 minutes on the Square after dinner so my companion and I were standing by the flag pole just in front of the Tabernacle, we noticed a couple walk quickly by... probably because it was pretty much snowing. We chased them and began walking with them. They had just arrived and only had about 15 minutes. They were probably in their 50's and from Canada. We took them to the scripture revelation area in the North Visitor's center and began teaching the restoration. They didn't have much to say so we kept on teaching and we got to the Book of Mormon display. My comp and I bore powerful witnesses that if they received this book that it WOULD bless their lives and bring them closer to the Savior, I then invited them to receive one and Gail responded, "Yes! I need that... honey fill out the card!". hah I wish I had a picture of mine and my companions faces at that moment,.. total shock! We were so thrilled and new they had been totally prepared and they were excited to meet the missionaries.

We took 2 men on a tour yesterday from Ohio. One of them had read a ton of Mormon history so he had a lot of questions. This tour was very interesting because we took them places that we usually don't use. We used the Humanitarian center display, living prophet's, and then ended in the conference center. The other man who had never heard anything was soooo interested. While we were teaching he would lean down right in front of us and eat up every word we were saying. He was fascinated especially by the Book of Mormon and totally agreed with it! This man did refer and is excited to learn more from missionaries in Ohio, the other man loved the tour but said he already had a book of Mormon to read at home. Terry (the man who referred) left a wonderful comment on our comment card .."Thank you to sister Watanabe and sister Porter for a spiritual insight into their faith, the dedication and faith is evident, God's presence was with us today". This came from a man who said he wasn't religious! mmm hmm cool.

We had our district meeting yesterday morning. My companion and I went early to prepare and get things ready. I was writing on the board when I turned around and there was President Holmes! hah he decided to join us for our meeting... I suddenly felt so unprepared and nervous.. wow scary. I just had to pray over and over in my heart that I would be led by the spirit to know what to say and share with the sister's. well the meeting went so well as we focused on the Restoration and the key points necessary to share with these people on the Square. I was thrilled the President was so complimentary with me and loved the meeting... wow what a HUGE relief.. but of course that doesn't mean that I don't have so many thing's I still need to improve upon. So much work to do still.

One more story.. we met another couple from Canada on Sunday afternoon, which was the busiest day by far. We quickly explained we could show them around Temple Square and help them out with learning about the history and basic belief of our church. First thing they said was "wo wo wo we are not here to be converted". I just kind of laughed and told them we weren't here to convert them but simply share more about this place (convert them:) My heart was racing as I tried to figure out how I would share the restoration throughout the tour without them knowing!! hah it was so cool though, the spirit helped my companion bridge from the History to simple facts about the church. It was incredible that 25 minutes later they were asking questions about everything and their faces had literally changed. They were especially interested in the Book of Mormon.

I love people and I love the spirit. Heavenly Father knows his children and we are simply his instruments on earth to help him communicate with his children. The power of the Book of Mormon is so real! It truly is the evidence that Christ's church is once again on the earth. Sometimes it is difficult to explain and share a scripture so briefly but the spirit always helps the people to understand and apply it to themselves. Amazing. The power of missionary work is so real and as member's you all NEED to be a part of it!

One thing that I am trying to work on is filling my mind with new knowledge or ideas about the Gospel, missionary work, the atonement, everything! (2 Nephi 32:3) I need this because when we teach I have to have something to pull from, usually it comes from what I have studied that morning or what has been on my mind.

I also no that I am not perfect, but far from perfect. I love the scripture "line upon line, precept upon precept" in 2 Nephi 28:30. I am trying to progress every day so that the lord can build upon my lines! I hope that you are all doing the same. Conference is coming up and gives us the perfect resource to examine ourselves and figure out where we need to go from here... perfect.

love you all! Have a fantabulous week!

-Sister Carly Jo Porter

"We are here to assist our Father in His work and His glory, 'to bring to pass the immortality and the eternal life of man'. You obligation is as serious in your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere" "Let there be cultivated an awareness in every member's heart of his own potential for bringing others to a knowledge of the truth. Let him work at it. Let him pray with great earnestness about it". - President Gordan B. Hinckley.

Missionary work is for you too!

Gotta go gotta go gotta go right now! 3/16/10

Wow!! an incredible week full of such fun experiences. We had even more referral's this week than we have ever had before so our number's keep rising, which means that we are happy happy happy! I love this work!
So some amazing stories this week....

story #1 Becca and Leslie.. we met these 2 ladies at the West Gate and they asked for a tour! They began talking and were excitedly taking pictures of everything and already asking questions. We first brought them to the assembly hall and Leslie said "oh! what is this feeling? I think I'm going to cry". and she did cry throughout the tour! They both felt the spirit right away, I didn't do anything! Isn't that incredible?! Sometimes I forget how strong the spirit is here. These two girls had just met the day before, they both came to SLC to get away from home and to "find themselves". Well.. they found it at Temple Square! Our entire tour they would just keep hugging us and saying that it was amazing and everything was true.. the best was when we took them to the Christus statue. They both just cried and knew that this was were they needed to be. They are so excited to meet missionaries in their own homes so that they could learn more!

story #2 We took the cutest Chinese couple EVER on a tour. They had zero Christian back ground but were very open to everything. They came from China recently to go to grad school in Georgia. I asked them one point if they had ever prayed before and they responded by saying that they didn't know what prayer was. It was so neat to explain so simply the power of prayer, a time when we let our thoughts share how we feel with a higher source, our Heavenly Father. They felt so much peace and were also so excited to learn more. They especially loved that their family could be together forever... something they had never thought of!

story #3 On Sunday we were home for lunch when we got a phone call that we needed to go back to the Square because there were lots of people and not enough sister's. So we left and when we first got there we made our way up to the Christus statue where we found a group of 20 students from a school in Texas and NO sister's in sight. We shared the narration with them and then took them to the other buildings. My favorite was standing in front of the Temple and sharing about our purpose in life and how I especially love going to the temple so I can regain my perspective. I could literally feel the spirit speaking through me, I spake with boldness, love and confidence through the spirit. It was so cool! After my companion shared a powerful witness of the Book of Mormon we invited them to receive one at home and gave them the cards to fill out. Six of them referred!! That is incredible!! One girl afterwards came up to me and said "So you said that you go to the temple to remember your purpose.. well what is our purpose?" Another guy asked "So what do you mean that our families can be together forever?" They were so prepared and so sincere!

The Lord is preparing people for us RIGHT NOW!! Open your eyes to those people around you and let them know what you believe. It is much easier than you think to open your mouths and let the spirit help you know what to say and share. We have the gift of the Holy Ghost, why not put it to use a little bit more?

We also had a few hours to take some tours through the Beehive House last Friday. It was really funny because my companion and I had never served there before! haha she was freaking out and I think I should have been freaking out but I didn't.. we read through the history quickly and then took 4 tours in a row.. it was so busy! Anyway, we took a family of 6 around and they were all adults. They were from the East coast and said that they were very Catholic. At one point I shared a scripture with them about prayer and told them the Brigham Young prayed with his family every night and that our own families should do the same. I then asked "Do you feel that if you prayed together it could help your family?". You would not believe the blank stares that I got! So funny! I just kind of laughed as I told them that I knew it would help their family and I challenged them to begin praying together and for each other.... haha kind of funny!! This is one of the reason's why I love being a missionary, I have the opportunity to really teach families and people that may have never thought of these things before. I can speak boldly and I can promise them blessings if they follow them..

So this week was wonderful! We have 2 weeks left in the transfer and I will continue working to the end. All of the sister's in my district are doing well, they work so hard and they do their best to invite EVERYONE which is what we have been focusing on.

This church is true! Love you all!! Have a fabulous week!

-Sister Carly Jo Porter

But the Bible says . . . . 3/9/10

Yay!!!!!!!!!

Another week has flown by FULL of incredible and interesting experiences. For some reason we had a TON of people here this last week who had come to Temple Square for other reason's than to just "look around". I took a few of these people on tour's and would find out about half way through that they had alternative intention's. It begins with them being so kind, interested, and sincere, and then come the questions. Yesterday we took 3 college student's and they began asking the most rediculous question's. They pull out scriptures from the bible and say but the bible says... I would answer kindly and remind them that we are not here to argue. It is the hardest thing because when we answer it is as if it goes in one ear and out the other. After bearing testimony to one girl she responded by saying, "wow I really appreciate that, but I really hope that you can read the bible someday and that you can truly understand who Christ is". WAHHH. I wanted to just fall over. I had shown her some favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon, but she was literally BLIND to them. Anyway, it is not an easy thing to deal with and the spirit leaves immediately when they begin their questions. So, we testify and then let them go on their merry way :)

So after this unique tour yesterday we met Edwin from Rowanda. He was in the Tabernacle and we asked if we could show him around the Square. Each place we took him he would just say "wow, so beautiful.. that's amazing.... that is so true!!" We shared with him about Christ's visit to the American continent in the Book of Mormon and he said, "yes! that makes perfect sense!" hah so he was a MIRACLE for us and really lifted our spirit's. It is incredible to see how the Lord is really preparing people to come to Temple Square. They feel the spirit and we are simply there to help them understand what the feeling is.. so amazing!

My companion and I set some higher goals for this last week and we were amazed at the results. The purpose of having number's is really to measure how hard we are working and how we are improving. This last week we doubled our number of referral's (number of people who accept to recieve the missionaries in their home) and recieved the most we have ever recieved in a week! We are so happy! My whole district was having a hard time with the anti people that were coming to the Square but so many of them saw miracles as well! I am really learning the importance of setting goals and being accountable for them. No matter what stage we are in our lives we are alway's accountable to the Lord for how well we are serving him. That is one of the purposes of prayer! When we let the Lord know each night how well we are doing, then we also are humbled and able to recognize exactly what it is we need to do better, through the spirit. I know that is true!

We went to an early session in the Temple this morning and it was so incredible. I can't even explain how amazing it is for me to have the opportunity to go in this beautiful building after I have testified of it's holiness all week long. I sat in the celestial room and was filled with so much love, peace, and happiness. I think that is a way of the Lord reminding me of his love for me as a missionary here. I am so grateful for the Temple!!

I have had a wonderful time going on exchanges with the sister's in my district a few times a week this transfer. I have learned so much from them and their individuality. It has helped me to see how each sister is needed here for different reason's. A few of the sister's have commented on my ability to bear powerful testimony of the living prophet. I had never recognized that this has been a theme for me lately, of the importance of a living Prophet on the earth today. I love it though and it is so true!!! This is what makes us different from the other religions. We have a living, loving prophet of God! I am so excited to hear from him this conference and feel the power that he has when he speaks. I hope that you can all have question's written down and a prayer in your heart during conference, I promise that you will recieve answer's... IF you are seeking them! Sometime's we wonder why Heavenly Father doesn't answer our prayer's, usually it is because we don't alway's want to listen :)

We met a man the other night around 8:15 in the north visitor's center, usually at this time of night we don't talk with too many people. This man had come to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal andcame in quickly to use the restroom. We began talking with him and asked if we could show him some display's downstairs. He looked a little weirded out and just was like, "uh ya sure I guess so.." For spoke with him for about 20 minutes and invited him several times. My companion told me afterwards "I could see his face changing". He was asking some hard question's so she couldn't understand really, but she noticed his face changing! At the end he said he wanted a Book of Mormon so he could know for himself. It was amazing!

My companion has been having a little bit of a hard time with English. She broke down on sunday and just couldn't stop crying. She can speak very well and answer question's, but she just doesn't understand full conversation's. We have been praying and trying to help her be able to understand more. So now that is the challenge. I feel bad because I am trying to focus on teaching her and taking care of our district, so balancing has been a little bit of a challenge for me. But I just keep praying that as we try our very hardest that the Lord will bless us, and I know that he is!!!

I love this Gospel, I know it is true with all my heart. I could listen to anti's all day try to tell me otherwise and it wouldn't shake me for a second. (I might want to kick them or something.. but I won't.. 2Nep 28:16) The is the only true church of the face of the whole earth! It is led by Jesus Christ himself THROUGH a living Prophet! It's true! It's true! It's true!!

read the Book of Mormon everyday! okay?

loves- Sister Carly Jo Porter

Alma 26:16 "Therefore, let us aglory, yea, we will bglory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his cmercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. "

Wotishiwa nomai wa Porter shimai des senkyoshi des!!

So last week I put into my companion's planner a sticky that said "TALK MORE!!! " haha and you wouldn't believe how much she is talking more! She is laughing and telling me stories and talking to other sister's. It literally is a miracle, she did not know English when she came! Anyway... I'm so proud.

So last Friday morning we came to the Square at 9AM for our assignment's. We were in the North Visitor's Center when Sister Bank's came in and told us that we needed to take a VIP tour right away! hah I guess that they had forgotten to schedule a tour for the Romanian Ambassador and his wife! So my companion and I were privileged to take them around the square.. along with the 4 body Guard's and church hosting couples :) It was so amazing though! We played the narration for them at the Christus and I felt prompted to ask him how he felt, he told us that he felt very peaceful and that he needs to find what is important in his life and make it more of a priority. So cool!!! My heart was just racing after I asked him and prayed that he wouldn't be offended or something. He was so kind at the end of the tour and thanked us for sharing our light with him! Oh and don't worry... they had a meeting with the First Presidency immediately after our tour :) I almost asked to escort them there.. but withheld myself. hah. It really was such a unique and wonderful experience.

Last Thursday we had our mission tour. Elder Pace of the 70 came and spoke with our mission. He was so incredible! I had the most spiritual experience that I have had since coming on my mission. He spoke to us about sharing the image of Jesus Christ with all the guest's that we meet everyday. He also reminded us that this is no casual message but that we should be overly enthusiastic and excited to share it with everyone whom we meet! My favorite part of his talk was the end when he took us on a journey and at the end he asked us what it will be like to be introduced to our Savior, then for him to introduce us to our Heavenly Father.. then for him to introduce us to our Heavenly Mother. He said that at that moment any doubts concerns or misunderstanding about the beauty of motherhood will vanish away. I had tears just streaking down my face as I thought of what a beautiful incredible moment this will be for each one of us!!!

In D&C 138 Joseph F. Smith shares with the church a vision that he received concerning the Savior's visit to the spirit world. I LOVE this section and it helps remind us that the work is going on there as well!!! Verse 24 it says "Their countenances shone and the radiance from the presence of the Lord rested upon them, and they sang praises unto his holy name". How incredible! I know that we are not in the Lord's presence at this time, but I know that someday we will be introduced to him, I want him to be proud of me and the work I have done on earth. While we are on earth we should follow the counsel given in D&C 101:38 to, "seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life". We have to keep seeking and never lose the sight of him!

Yesterday we took 3 high school girl's on a tour from Phoenix. They were so curious and had so many question's to ask us. At one point I taught them that we knew our Heavenly Father and our Savior before we came to this earth, we knew about this life and the hard trials we would go through, but we also had a hope that we would endure well so that we could return to their presence. One of the girl's then asked, "If he really loved us, why did we have to forget all of these thing's when we came to earth?" I just simply told her that it was now her choice and her opportunity to seek after him and that if she listened to her heart she would know what the truth was. She then said, "yes, I think you are right". At the end of our tour 2 of the girl's filled out the card and wrote .. everything. Meaning they want to know everything.. so good. The Lord had prepared them to hear our message and now they get to meet the missionaries at home! yay!

On Sunday night we had dinner at 7 but instead of leaving at 6:55 we decided to walk up to the Christus one more time. We saw a couple up there taking pictures. I felt that I should simply go and invite them. I asked the man if he wanted to learn more about the things he had seen and felt here, he said "yes, of course" filled out the card, and left. It is amazing to see that as we pray that the Lord is really sending prepared people to us. Miracles.. miracles... miracles.

Yesterday I had a training with my district about the RC or Referral Center. We talked about using the spirit during this time to share the message of the Gospel with these people who we call. It is very very hard because we may be there for 3 hours and only 6 people answer the phone. Sometimes these people have been called many many times so they get mad and yell at us on the phone.. hah. We always try though to share a message and bring the spirit to them. It is amazing that as we do this, people's heart's are softened and they want to know more about it! I was so excited because our referral's we received in the RC doubled yesterday evening!! hah all the sister's were so excited!!

So everything is going well. The Square is beginning to pick up and get a little more busy. We are anxiously anticipating SPRING!! It is still pretty cold but whenever the sun is out we take our heavy coats off and just love it! The flowers are just beginning to blossom as well... so exciting!

I LOVE my mission!-
- Loves- Sister Porter

3 Nephi 17:7- "for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy".

oh p.s. I got to announce in English last sunday after the Tab Choir! It was fun!!

Born and raisened in Utah? 2/16/10

Hey everyone!!

So everyday I try to teach my companion new phrases to use when getting to know the people that we meet, my favorite by far was.... "So were your born and raisened in Utah?" of course meaning born and raised. Sooooo funny, I about died laughing while walking up to the Christus statue.

We receive new assignment's yesterday! I am thrilled to be staying with my companion for another transfer, same apartment, same roommates, same zone :) So it's good! But one change is that I was made District Leader! haha ya I know.. weird huh? As district leader I am over 11 sister's and we have district meeting's once a week, assignment's to cover, pretty much a lot of responsibility! I am so excited! I was very shocked, but of course I know that with the Lord's help I will be able to teach and be a good example to these amazing Sister's.
Oh and some of you may be thinking that this is a little different... this is the only mission in the whole world where we have sister's as District leader's, zone leader's, and ap's. It's pretty cool!!! Best mission eva!

We had many wonderful experiences once again this last week. We took a man Flavio from Brazil on a tour. He started asking questions right away and explained to us that he never believed his Catholic religion and always felt that he was missing something. After telling him how much Heavenly Father loves him and is ready to bless him with so much, he said "I'm afraid it's too late, I have already made so many bad choices" I just smiled and told him heck no it's not too late!! It was so cool, we were able to give him a Book of Mormon to read on his flight home and he is anxious to meet with the missionaries back in Brazil. After teaching him about Faith and showing him a short clip I asked him how he felt he said, "You know I don't really know what Faith is, but as you were reading I felt something new and warm inside." wahhhhhh so cool!

We also took a couple and their granddaughter from Texas around the square. They were Christian and were sooo kind. The girl was 14 yrs old and she had so many questions. She asked about what we believe, and why she hadn't heard about the BofM before, and how she can read more about the prophet's... It was so cute to see so much curiosity. It was even cooler as I watched her grandparent's as we answered her question's. They just watched and listened carefully and I could almost see the spirit touching them, especially the grandpa! It was so neat. I am so excited for them to learn more.

It is hard to explain what my mission is like because it is so unique. But I can say that every single morning I feel so ready and excited to share the good news of the Gospel. These people that come to Temple Square all need something in their lives, I hope to be able to bring the spirit into their heart's so they can find it. It is very hard sometimes to come to love these people so quickly and then to say bye to them, but I know that the Lord loves them and he will help them!!

I have been thinking a lot about the scripture Alma 5:14.. "have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" I hope that we are all aware that we have to constantly be changing. This process to become like our Savior is never-ending. BUT the point is not to be discouraged but to have HOPE in the power of the Atonement "Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise". (Moroni 7:41).

So I guess my message today is to have hope. Do not be like my friend Flavio and think that it is too late to change, it is never too late! Neither should we ever feel that we are done changing. If we are not changing ourselves every day then the question you should ask yourself is what are you missing, right?

I love the Gospel, I love my Savior, I know Joseph Smith was called of God to restore the only true church on the earth. This message is so important. It is easier than you think to share this simple message with people you meet everyday.

Love you all!!! - Sister Carly Jo Porter


oh p.s. 2 sister's were called yesterday to serve in boston for their outbound! Sister Tandiman and Sister Thornton. Both are amazing and they will LOVE Boston for me!!!

I Am turning Asian!!! 2/23/10

I think maybe I was supposed to be born as an Asian? I LOVE Asian culture's with a passsssssssion. I am continuing to love my time with my cute companion from Japan, she is vonderful :)

Another wonderful week has come and gone. I think to say that I have had feeling's of inadequacy is an understatement ....:) It's okay though! I am doing great now. It just took me a few day's to understand how I can fulfill my responsibility as a district leader. I have simply been called to help these sister's understand how to serve, to love them, and to carry out what the President wants for the mission, more so what the Lord wants for each of us. We had our district meeting yesterday morning and it went soooo well! These Sister's are all amazing and we are going to learn a lot from each other this transfer.

So many good experiences this week! I would like to tell you a little bit about Michael Jolly. We met him taking Lot's of pictures in the North Visitor's center when he told us that he was just "touring", which usually means that they don't want to talk to us. We found him about 20 minutes later in the basement taking more pictures and I felt inclined to ask him why. He said well I am a Christian and my wife couldn't come, she would love these pictures. He then said "I'm can't believe you don't have any pictures of Joe Smith? I thought that you worshipped him?" This is something that we hear often at Temple Square and I LOVE it! This opens the gate for us to bear witness that we are centered on Jesus Christ and this is his true church on earth. So we began walking with him and explaining the Restoration and what we believe. He had Lot's of question's and kept on asking more. We then took him to a display of the Book of Mormon and my companion just started talking about prayer. He said he had never prayed before because he felt that God was far beyond us.. My companion testified to him that he could pray and had tears running down her face. He was silent for about a minute and none of us said anything. He then said "Thank you for sharing your heart with me.. I think.. think that I might try to pray". He really appreciated her testimony and the spirit that touched him. We then saw him about an hour later taking pictures outside of the Temple and he looked at her again and said "yes, I am going to pray, because of what you told me". SOOO COOL! Anyway.. I really liked Michael.

Yesterday we had tour after tour from people who were coming in and literally asking us for tour's which does not happen very often! Usually we just ask people if they would like to "walk around the square with us" because they get scared if we mention a tour. All of these people were so amazing and so prepared. Our mission has really been enforcing to pray throughout the day that the Lord will send prepared people here and I have literally seen a difference in the kind of people that come here. The power of prayer is so real!

I'm grateful for the Gospel. I am so grateful that the Lord knows each of us so individually that he gives us calling's and assignment's to strengthen us and shape us into better people. I promise you that the Lord knows you! If you have a calling or assignment that you don't understand then get on your knee's and ask Heavenly Father! We have to humble ourselves sometimes:) But I promise that it work's and that the Lord is waiting for us to come to him, so he can help us!

I forgot to tell about my experience a few week's ago when we sang for the Jewish Rabbi that came! I sang Consider the Lillies during their catered lunch hour. It was neat to see that when we I stood to sing that everyone simply stopped eating and discussing so they could listen. 2 other sister's sang as well. The Rabbi came to us afterward and told us that he felt something special and that we were simply beautiful angel's uplifting his day... so it was good :)

I was also called as the Organist for this transfer! Every Sunday morning we meet in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building chapel for our meeting at 7:30 AM. It is all the sister's and couples serving at TMSQ with our Mission Presidency presiding. We always have wonderful meeting's! haha I really don't know how to play the Organ but I am managing it okay. My companion and I were practicing the other day when the TMSQ organ tuner came in, so he gave me the rundown on everything and let me see behind the organ pipes! 4500 pipes! So cool!

I love the Gospel, I love my Savior Jesus Christ, and love the Book of Mormon. I strongly believe that the day we stop reading the Book of Mormon is the day we begin distancing ourselves from the Savior. That is scary! Soo... never stop reading, it will protect us and give us the guidance we need at this time!

We are all part of the greatest work on earth! I love you all!

-Love Sister Carly Jo Porter

"For the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all his promises shall be fulfilled"- Mormon 8:22