~June 6, 2012~

Hello Everyone!

How are you all doing this week? Well, it has been another great week at Temple Square or should I say the Beehive House! That is my new assignment. I am serving in Brigham Young's home and I think that I am starting to get the hang of bridging all the history to the Gospel. It is not easy let me tell you.  Well, I have a miracle that I want to share with you! So, my companion, Sister Lee from Singapore, and I were walking to the Beehive House after church and there is only us and one man walking down the side walk. He stops us and asks, "are you Mormon?" We looked at each other and said, "yes!".

Then he asked what does Mormon mean? And so we took out the Book of Mormon and explained that Mormon was a prophet who wrote in ancient times. He then asked if he could have one and said that he would like to meet with missionaries!!!!! We, got his information and as we were walking away our mouths were just hanging open! We could not believe how prepared and elect he is! It was truly a miracle to have someone stop us and within 5 min. want to meet with missionaries!

Needless to say we will be teaching him tomorrow night! So, excited! I absolutely love being a missionary and being able to bring the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who don't know where to find it. I know that these things are true and that everyone can know for themselves through sincere prayer. I love my Father in Heaven and I love His Son Jesus Christ, they just make life so much better! Hope you all have a great week!

Love Always,

Sister Armstrong

~June 4, 2012~

Hello Everyone!

How are you doing this week? I hope it has been a week full of miracles and blessings. Well, I have a few miracles to share with you that knocked me right off my chair!

So, it was Tuesday night and we had like 20 min. left on the phones and I thought I would try and call this lady one more time. I had called her right after conference, when her nephew asked us to give her a call, and left a message. Well, she called back and left a message but the computer wasn't working so I still do not know what she was saying. So, since hardly anyone calls back I just felt to keep calling. So, I finally called her for the last time and so called back her nephew and told him I was never able to get a hold of her and asked if he knew anything. Then he said, "Well Sister Armstrong, she got baptized two days ago!" I could not believe my ears and so I asked him to tell me the story. This is what he said, "Well the story goes that she received a voicemail from a sister missionary in Utah and because of that it made her decide to meet with missionaries again and then 5 weeks later she was baptized." I just started crying. I could not believe my ears. Something that I had been doing was leaving messages that were prompted by the Spirit to help them feel the Spirit and teach them something. I never ever thought that it would make that much of a difference!

I finally got to talk to her on the phone and she said that same thing. She is such a sweet lady! She lives in CA and is 55 years old. One thing she did say was that she had decided to watch conference because she had heard about it and at the same time her nephew was giving me her number. Then I called her a week later and told her that I had a message about the Savior Jesus Christ and that was something that she had never studied or believed and so that is what pushed her or prompted her to learn more. I feel so blessed to be in a place where I can witness miracles like that!

Well, the second miracle is that our investigator Ottis from Liberia Africa was supposed to be baptized on the 19th of May and we have not been able to get through to Africa for 3 weeks! Finally yesterday as we were fasting for our investigators and specifically for us to get through to Africa the phone started ringing and he answered. He did get baptized and was so happy! He even said that he would like to see us and we said we would send a picture to his email and then he said,"Well that is could but then I would like to meet you physically" he meant in person. I told him that one day we will meet. It is so great to be a missionary and to bring hope to the lives of others.

Have a great week and know you are loved by your Father in Heaven!

Love,

Sister Armstrong

Sister Armstrong also emailed us:

"I will be serving at the Beehive House this transfer... It is Brigham Young's house. I am not sure how I feel about that but I am sure it will be great. So, that also means that my pday will change to Wednesday! It is so weird to think about because I have always had Monday pday. So, I will get two pdays this week. But, not really because Wednesday is the day the new sisters get here and we need to take them to Walmart and get them moved in and all that good stuff. I am a little nervous but I think it will be great. So, no district leader this transfer because when you train that is all you do since it is not an easy job.

Also, this morning for transfer conference Elder Holland came and spoke to us. Yes an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ was in our very small theatre room with all 150 sisters on Temple Square speaking to us about missionary work. It was so powerful! He told us that it is not going to be easy but why would it be if it wasn't easy for Christ. Then at the end he shook each of our hands and as he looked in my eyes he told me he loved me and thanked me for being there. It was so amazing! Something that I will never forget!"

~May 28, 2012~

Hello Everyone!!

How are you all doing? Well, this has been another great week here at Temple Square! So, on Saturday it was pouring down rain and yet there were tons of people here! So, by 1 pm we had taken 4 tours and had a scheduled tour later that night! That is craziness! So, in the first four hours of the day we had taught 8 people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Unfortunately none of them agreed to learn more... yet.

Well, on Sunday my companion and I were exhausted! But, again there were lots of people here and we had another group that wanted to be taken around. Two were members and two were not. By the end of the "walking lesson" one of them had referred to meet with missionaries! And then we went back to the teaching center and found another new investigator who had been interested in the church for a long time! He lives in Florida and is going to college. He already committed to going to church and asked us about institute and about opportunities for service projects! This guy is so great! So, I just loved seeing how the Lord blessed us for all our hard work the day before!

I know that this church is truly Christ's church restored again on the earth and that it can bring so much happiness to our lives! This is where we can find true happiness! Well, I hope you all have a great week!

Love Always,

Sister Armstrong

Sister Armstrong also emailed us this, "Oh and dad had asked me about the hospitality tours that I have been assigned this transfer and we finally got to take one, because all the ones that we were assigned to had been cancelled because there weren't enough people. Well, anyone it was Saturday night and we took them on a Garden tour and the lady who gives that tour did not show up for the first 10 min so we had to start the tour. Do we know anything about flowers? NO! So we just started making stuff up and they were all dying laughing!

When we had run out of things to tell them the Garden tour lady arrived and finished the tour. Then we took them to dinner and gave them a free CD of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir- which they all loved. Then we took them on a tour of the Beehive house (Brigham Young's house). Have we ever been assigned there? No! Have we ever given a tour there? No!

So, we had been studying a little and whatever we couldn't remember we just filled in with jokes and stories of the pioneers and they loved it! All in all we did a pretty good job because they all left happy! We of course could not teach them anything about the gospel but it turned out that they asked questions anyway. We can't wait for our next one!"



Sister Armstrong's Wall of Pictures on Mission

~May 21, 2012~

Hello Everyone,

How are you all doing this week? I hope that you have had a great week! Well, I want to share a miracle or two with you. Sister Brickley and I feel so blessed to have had so many miracles this week so I don't even know which one to share. We had at least one everyday!

Well, something great that happened was that our investigator Marcie and her daughter Echo were baptized and confirmed!!! They are amazing and are so happy to be members of the true church of Christ. She even sent us a picture and she is so beautiful! She is so happy to have found the gospel.

Also, yesterday morning we were going to take one person who only spoke English out of huge group that spoke Mandarin and we actually ended up with 20 English speakers! Well, so we just went with it and took them around for about 35 min. In the end we showed them a Mormon message video (what matters most) and then we invited them to learn more and half of them said YES!!! Holy miracle! We could not believe it!

We had to adjust and go with what we were not expecting and the Lord blessed us with a miracle. I love this work and have never been happier. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity and privilege to teach about the Savior each and everyday! Well, have a great week and keep smiling because the Lord loves you!

Love Always,

Sister Armstrong

Announcing on Mother's Day



Sister Armstrong and Companion at Red Robin (for birthday root beer shake)

~May 14, 2012~

Everyone!

How are you all doing this week? I don't have much time at all but I wanted to share with you a little miracle that happened to me this week. Well, of course you all know that it was Mother's Day this week. Well, in our mission we get to call home for about 5 min before Mother's Day to set up an appt.

Well I just felt like I should call on Tuesday at around 4 pm my time. Well, turns out that it was only a ten minutes after my little brother was born!!! I was so excited to be a part of that day! I know that Heavenly Father is real and so is the Spirit. He know that I wanted to be apart of that day even though I was going to be here and so I received the prompting to call at exactly the right time!

This is just one miracle that I witnessed this week but I will have to tell you later because we have to leave soon. I love you all and hope you know that God loves you and is watching out for you! Oh and we just got a picture in the mail today of our investigator Taylor who got baptized last week! So awesome! Have a great week!

Love Always,

Sister Armstrong

~May 7, 2012~

Hello Everyone!

How are you all doing? I hope that this week is going well for you! Well, the miracle that I want to share with you today is about a man named Taylor. Taylor lives in Montana and actually has been taught my sister missionaries on Temple Square for a long time.

Well, right before Sister Brickley and I became companions she started teaching him again. Well, in the last 8 weeks he has gone from a really depressed and anxious person to a happy and excited about life and the gospel person! And because of how the gospel can really change us from the inside out he has been changed. He has set a date to be baptized on the 28th of April but when we called he told us that he didn't go through with his interview and that he was going to get baptized the next week.

Well, we called him two Friday's ago and he said that he was actually going to start over with the missionaries. We were so confused and didn't know what had happened. So, we just felt that we would exercise our faith and trust that the Elders knew what to do and we prayed really hard. Well, we called him on the next day to see how it went with the missionaries and come to find out he told us that he had is Baptismal Interview! We could not believe our ears! He also said that he would get baptized on May 5 at 3pm!

Well, low and behold he did get baptized and was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on May 6th! This gospel is so true and I feel so blessed to have been apart of Taylor's life and see him completely change into the person he is now. I know that Heavenly Father loves each of His children and that He cares for our individual needs. He will never ever give up on us and so we should never give up on His children or Him. I hope you all have a great week and that you keep smiling because even though the world can be sad and depressing there is so much good all around if we just take a look around!

Love always,

Sister Armstrong

On a side note, Sister Armstrong wrote:

Something that I didn't mention is that tomorrow is the end of week two of this transfer and there have already been 13 baptisms in our Zone!!! How incredible is that?! 13 baptisms in two weeks! The Lord is really pouring out His blessings on us. I know that as we are obedient and faithful and continue to do His work, His way and with much diligence that we will see so many more blessings! I think of this scripture:

D&C 18: 10 Remember the ^aworth of ^bsouls is great in the sight of God;

 11 For, behold, the Lord your ^aRedeemer suffered ^bdeath in the flesh; wherefore he ^csuffered the ^dpain of all men, that all men might repent and ^ecome unto him.

 12 And he hath ^arisen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of ^brepentance.

 13 And how great is his ^ajoy in the ^bsoul that ^crepenteth!

 14 Wherefore, you are called to ^acry repentance unto this people.

 15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one ^asoul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

 16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the ^akingdom of my Father, how great will be your ^bjoy if you should bring many ^csouls unto me!

 17 Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and my ^asalvation.

It is so true! The joy that I feel when someone that we have had the opportunity to teach and to come to know and love makes a covenant with their Father in Heaven and the has the opportunity for eternal life, can not be described! So, just imagine the joy of 13! I know that more and more people are starting to find the Gospel and it is just a matter of time before the whole world knows!

~Pictures of Sister Elizabeth Armstrong~

Sister Armstrong and her companion at our day after Conference weekend mission gathering. They  got to watch a movie and eat a catered dinner.

Wearing skirt Aunt Sylvia Johnson made her :)

All of the referral cards that me and my companion received during conference! 
They were so tired that night!

Sister Brickley and Sister Armstrong at the top of Ensign Peak

Sister Reynders and Sister Armstrong

Sister Armstrong and her companion and other sisters in her district at a baptism for Miguel.

~May 1, 2012~

Hello Everyone!!!!

How are you all doing this week? Well, everything here on Temple Square is amazing of course! I wanted to share with you a miracle that happened on  Saturday, so a few days ago. That is the day that our zone is assigned to have our companionship study on Temple Square because it is getting busier and busier and they need more sisters available to take people around earlier in the morning.

So, we received a text message in the middle of companion study telling us that there are people who would like someone to take them around. So, we went right away and met Sasha, her daughter (who is 15 months old) and her mom, Carmen. They are from Kentucky and they have been traveling from state to state.

Well, they were so nice and friendly and ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So, we took them around and showed them different things but we mainly focused on how the Gospel will bless their family. So, of course we ended up taking them to the Christus and God's Plan. Well, when we got to the Christus Carmen started crying and no one knew why.

I firmly believe it was because she felt the Spirit. Well, we then took them to God's Plan and by the end we were all crying and we invited them to meet with missionaries and they told us that they would love too except they don't have a home right now.  That is why they were traveling to find a place to live.

Well, we offered to call them until they can find a place and we could send missionaries and they accepted. I know that our Father in Heaven puts people in our path for a reason and if we are willing to do what He asks even if we have to sacrifice that He will bless us to help others find the truth! I love this work and I love you all! Keep smiling and remember God loves you!

Love Always,

Sister Armstrong

On a Side Note (Sister Armstrong wrote):  There is a DECA competition going on here in SLC and so there are about 15,000 high school kids here to compete and so we have been meeting so many of them and teaching them on the square! Yesterday we were on our way to the phones cause we had been on the square for like 4 hours when we were stopped by these 4 kids who asked us if there is a place to get a tour because they had been reading about this book but they didn't know what it was or who wrote it. . We told them that we would love to show then around and so we took them to this place that we call scriptures and revelation that has all of these displays about Bible prophets and then Joseph Smith and then the Book of Mormon. So, we taught the entire restoration and they were just all enthralled in what we were telling them; and they were only 16 and 17 years old! So amazing! We spent maybe 40 minutes with them and they were just so interested in learning about the church and what we believe and I can honestly say that those kids will go home and look up more information. We didn't have any of our guest cards to give them because we had been taking tours all day and had run out but at the same time they were under age so that is a little iffy anyway. But we told them about mormon.org and they were all excited to go on there and learn more.

~April 23, 2012~

Hello Everyone!!

How are you all doing this week? Well, it has been another great week here at Temple Square! I wanted to share with you that I get to stay with my wonderful companion for another 6 weeks! How lucky am I?

Well, Thursday was a day full of miracles. The biggest ones happened within the first few hours of the day! So, I received a voicemail from a lady who called in and said, " I would really like to learn more about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. Please call me as soon as possible." Well, I did just that!

We called her on Wednesday night and she was busy so we made an appointment to call the next day. When we called on Thursday she told us that the missionaries had come over to her house. We explained to her that we did not send them because we had not talked to her yet and that they had been inspired by God to go to her house and visit her. Well, we taught her and committed her to baptism right away. She accepted and also accepted to go to church this Sunday! She was supposed to have met with the missionaries last night so I will keep you updated on what happens! But, I just know she is so prepared!

Well, then we hang up the phone and find this other lady who has investigated the church before but her husband didn't approve. Well, within the last two years she has lost her husband her daughter (he left, not sure about the daughter) and really her life has been out of control. So, she just moved and wanted to find good people who could help her get back on track. The amazing thing is that she has grown up Baptist and everyone has told her that Mormon's are bad and what not but she can't believe it. So, we called her and taught her right away. She also committed to baptism and we even told her about the word of wisdom it is a commandment from God to not smoke. She then asked, "Will you help me to quit because I really want to but it is really hard."

I was so humbled at that moment and said, "Yes, we will do all we can to help you." It is amazing to me that people are so prepared by the Lord to receive His gospel! And that they turn to us to help with things that are really hard to do.

I know that there is no way we could do anything that we do without the help of the Lord and His Holy Spirit. I feel amazed to know that I represent Jesus Christ and that right now I am His hands. I strive everyday to do the best I can to fulfill that role and calling that I have been given. I want you all to know that the Lord is mindful of you and if you ever wonder if that is true please get on your knees and ask Him, He will answer! Have a great week and keep smiling!

Love you all!

Love always,

Sister Armstrong

On a side note: Sister Armstrong is still serving as a District  Leader for a bit. She is enjoying training and having the leadership opportunity at Temple Square. She has not (as of yet) had her second mission call. Hopefully, her mission plaque (in the PV Ward) has been ordered as there has been some delay :) in getting it up with the other missionaries of our ward!

~April 16, 2012~

Hello Everyone!!!

How are you all doing? Well, it has been another great week here on Temple Square! I am very attached to this place! The Spirit here is amazing. Everyday I feel so lucky when I walk onto the Temple grounds and know that this place has been dedicated to the Lord. Everyone that comes here member or not can feel the Spirit. They tell us there is such a peaceful feeling here. I love it!

Well, there have been so many things that have happened this week but the miracle I want to share with you all is about a man named Miguel. He is 22 years old and grew up Catholic. The missionaries have taught him before but he never progressed. He just didn't want to put for the effort to learn. Well, recently he has decided to learn more and the Elders in the Salt Lake City mission have been teaching him. Well, he was at a point were he was having doubts because his family was upset that he wanted to join the church. So, the Elders brought him to Temple Square for a tour or walking lesson. So, low and behold my companion and I get the call a few days before the tour is scheduled to be the one's to take them around. Of course we said yes.

Well when we got the information about Miguel I could  not believe my eyes. It was like I was looking at a piece of paper that had my name on it. I felt like I knew Miguel and exactly what he was going through. Well my companion and I finally met Miguel this last Thursday and took him around Temple Square, but we just didn't take him anywhere we had planned and prayed about what to share with him. So, as the tour went on the Spirit was just getting stronger and stronger. Well, of course I was in tears because I don't think there is a day that goes by on Temple Square that I don't cry. But, I was in tears as I told him my experience in joining the church and how I would have only ever gone through something like that if I knew that it was all true with out a doubt in my heart and in my mind.

Miguel agreed to pray more about the things that we had taught him and let us email him a scripture each day so that he could read from the Book of Mormon. He then invited us to his baptism on the 28th of this month. We also saw Miguel yesterday because he came back to Temple Square after he had gone to church! It was so neat to see him again! Well, we called Miguel this morning and he said that he knows it is all true and that he still wants to get baptized. When we asked him how he knew it was true he said "it was all that day." But, then he proceeded to tell us that he is getting baptized a WHOLE WEEK EARLIER!!!!!!!!!!!! He said that he just couldn't wait!!

My companion and I freaked out because we will still be together for his baptism and will be able to go! I love this gospel and how it changes lives. Only through Jesus Christ can we find the strength that we need to make a change for the better. I know that He lives and He can and will help you through anything if you let him. Have a great week and keep smiling because life is so good!

Love Always,

Sister Armstrong

~April 9, 2012~

Hello Everyone!

How are you all doing? I hope your week has been good! The work of the Lord is going strong! Well, I have a miracle to share with you that just happened last night. Well, I received a referral from a girl that came to general conference and she wanted us to call her friend. Well, last night I was calling many people but they weren't answering the phone or they were really not interested in learning more. So, he was the last call that I was going to make. He answered and we started talking and turns out that he has gone to church many times with his friend that referred him and he grew up Catholic. So, we had something in common, which helped a lot.

Well, when I invited him to learn more through missionaries HE SAID YES! I was so excited but of course did not express that until after I got off the phone. But, he said to me something that really hit me, he said that he was actually just thinking about trying to get a Book of Mormon so that he could learn more! And so because his friend was prompted to refer him and I was prompted to make one last phone call before we left he was able to find the way to receive the Book of Mormon and missionaries!

So, needless to say we will be calling him to teach him on Saturday!!!  I love this gospel and have found so much happiness in it. I know that true happiness comes from following the example of Jesus Christ and by living His gospel. Thank you for all the support and I love you all! Hope you all have a great week!

Love Always,

Sister Armstrong

~April 2, 2012~

Hello Everyone!!

How are you all doing? Well, we just had conference here on Temple Square. For those that don't know, it is when all gather to listen to the words of the prophet and apostles and other leaders of the church. Well, Temple Square is very busy for this weekend.

So, as a mission our goal was to receive 7,162 member referrals just for this weekend. Well, by Saturday we only had 2,484. So, we really needed a miracle. Well, by Sunday night we actually received 7,541 member referrals. Now these are not just numbers or cards, these are God's children who deserve the opportunity to hear about the Gospel of Jesus Christ! 7,541 people who may have the opportunity to hear about the Gospel of Jesus Christ! 7,541 people who may have the opportunity to enter the waters of baptism.

Real quick, another miracle is that John, the one who recently got baptized on March 3rd, well he came to conference!!! He texted us as he was walking into the conference center! He is so amazing! I love being a missionary! I hope you all have a great week!

Love Always,

Sister Armstrong