Week Eleven - Conference Week!

Conference is just around the river bend and I cannot wait!

These last couple of weeks the snow has been melting and the flowers have been blooming. Well actually the gardeners have been working around the clock to make sure everything looks wonderful for this weekend. It is starting to look like spring around here! Since the sun has been shining people are ready to go outside and enjoy the weather with their families. This last week we have seen and taught so many people. Just yesterday, we met families from Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, and Ghana! It was so great to talk with the members and help uplift them in their struggles. Sometimes I'm surprised at the amount of information people tell me about their life. I sometimes feel overwhelmed and I have no idea on how I can help them, but then I remember the promise in D&C 30:11 "And your whole labor shall be in Zion, with all your soul, from henceforth; yea, you shall ever open your mouth in my cause, not fearing what man can do, for I am with you. Amen." That is exactly what happens, I feel the presence of the spirit when Sister Fisher and I teach doctrine. You can see right in that moment that they also feel it. It is the most wonderful feeling to know that you aided that person on their next step of conversion. Sometimes I still can't believe that I get to do this all day for 18 months! :) We have met so many wonderfully prepared people on the square. We took a tour with this these two men Tom and Jon. They both in Salt Lake waiting for their next plane to leave so they were killing time at Temple Square. We showed them around the Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall and we bridged the history to prophets. They were both so interested in the gospel and were asking the right questions. At the end the both referred for local missionaries to come to their house and have them teach them more! It was great because we taught them about the restoration and about the Book of Mormon and they both said "Where can I get a copy?" Wonderful right?! Ahhhh so so so so great!

Since there is an opposition in all things--Tis the season of Anit's. These last couple of days there have been many people coming to the square talking to the sisters and "trying" to tell us that we are wrong and we have been brainwashed. I've had some anti's come on to chat and some on the phone, but I haven't had any on a tour until yesterday. There was a whole group of them on the Square and I talked to a lot of sisters that said they are all on spring break on a trip of some sort. I was in the Beehive House all day and I didn't think that they were going to ask for a tour of an old house, but they did and I learned a lot! Obviously you never know who is an anti or not but we took a group of 7 of them as well as two guest from New York. At first it started out okay and they were all friendly but then all the crazy questions about sealings, Temples, polygamy, and the Book of Mormon started to come up. My stomach started to go into knots because I could feel my mind blanking. The only thing that came into my mind was "Just testify." So that is what I did and the spirit started to come back and the guest stop with the questions. Then the whole climate changed at the tour because I started to feel so much love for those people. I was sad for them because they looked so lost and confused. Sister Fisher and I just had a desire for them to understand who their Savior is and what he did for us. Some of them still asked questions and we answered them lovingly and prayed that they would be able to feel the spirit.

I dropped Nathan this week. We have been trying to get him to go to church and to have faith in the gospel but he didn't want to change any part of this life. There was no desire at all to come closer to Christ. Every time that we talked to him on the phone it was always really hard because he didn't/want to see how this gospel can bless his life. He has been through a really hard time so he is kinda bitter at life. I told him that there was only so much that I can do for him if he wasn't willing to act. It was hard because I know this can help him through all of his struggle. He has all the tools to succeed in this life but he wasn't willing to use them at all. I have hope that one day he will come back to church, but I just hope that one day is sooner than later.

We have been able to talk to Stephen again. He was the one who was suppose to get baptized two weeks ago but didn't. We talked to him last night and had a great lesson. He said that he would look into another baptismal date that he feels comfortable with. He is moving to SLC for grad school in two months and he wants to wait till he gets here to get baptized. We told him to pray about it first. It would be cool if he did get baptized here, cause then I could go to his baptism. But I think that it would be best if he had it in Tennessee so his family could have a chance to attend.

I hope you are all doing well! Conference is this weekend so I hope you are preparing to be uplifted!!!!

I love you all and pray for you everyday!

Love,

Sister Opeda

Alma 19:6 "...he knew that the dark ^aveil of ^bunbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the ^clight which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had ^dovercome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God—"