July 28 Letter and a little more!

Well, guess what? I'm getting transfered. I'm not going far though, just to south Springfield, to the 3rd Ward. It will be cool, it's the smallest bike area in the mission. SWEET!!! Any wase, I'm excited, but don't want to leave the Ward I'm in, I just wish I could take the members with me. Well that's about it for me. So I will try to talk to ya next week. love ya, by.

Since Skyler's letter was so short I thought that I would do something different and share our letter we wrote to him with you.  We have had a very eventful week, which seems to be the norm this year (because of the length, I did not print our entire letter, just the best parts).  Thanks for checking in on our missionary, we truly appreciate your support.

Hey Bud,

How's it goin'?  Did you get our package?  I hope I sent the right scriptures.  These were the ones in your scripture case, along with your scripture mastery cards, so I figured that they must be the right ones.  So what's the latest in your world?  We have had a very eventful week, so this will probably be a long letter.  Here goes!

 On Monday, Dad and I went to the Twin Falls Temple Open House.  We went so that we could get a refresher course on the whole tour guide thing.  It was so cool!  There is a spirit there that you can feel as soon as you pull into the parking lot.  I talked to President Larry Gerratt the next day about that, and he said that he had heard the same thing from several people who had visited.  Which shows that even though the temple has not been dedicated yet, the Spirit of the Lord is still there.  There were men outside to direct you as you parked.  Then before you entered, there were men waiting to direct us to the Stake Center where the tours begin.  They were also there to assist anyone needing help getting in and out of cars, needing wheel chair assistance, waiting with umbrellas in case of rain, and they opened the doors to the building as you entered.   Once inside you were greeted by women handing out pamphlets explaining things about the temple and what we learn while there and its purpose, and then they directed us where to go next.  It was like being in the temple itself, there were people all over waiting to send you in the right direction so
you won't get lost.  Everyone was smiling and you felt so welcomed! Then we entered a class room where a sister missionary greeted the group in the room and started a video that re-emphasized the things that were in the pamphlet and also going into detail about the history of the Church in this valley.  The amazing thing about the video is how it makes you feel, (Dad and I, plus several others in the room shed many
tears).  After the video ended, our tour guides took us on the tour of the temple.  It took about half an hour to go through the temple. Before we entered the temple, we were greeted by the youth from the Paul Stake, who put shoe coverings on over our shoes. These were to help keep the carpets from getting dirty.  Then there were
two girls that stood in front of the big doors and opened them for us to enter.   It is very beautiful inside, the colors are very soothing, and there is a wonderful, peaceful feeling.  Our tour guides were a couple from Paul, (he was a former Stake President).  They did a good job.  Then they took us back to the Stake Center where we met Sister Missionaries who were there to answer any questions and to fill out referral cards.  There were also refreshments waiting.  The room was set up like a visitor center, with paintings of Christ, and panels of pictures of the rooms of the temple, with more explanations of each rooms purpose.  There was someone there playing a piano, so once again you felt welcomed and at peace.  The whole thing
was such a great experience.
 Then on Tuesday, we went back to do our turn as tour guides.  We had to be there at 7:00 that morning for a prayer meeting with Elder Brent Nielsen, who is our area authority.  He gave us a few details that were very encouraging.  He told us that as of that Monday there had been 118 referral cards turned in since the open house began two weeks before. In the whole six weeks of the Rexburg temple open house they had
received a total of only 70 referral cards.  This is very good news.  He also shared with us the support of the media in the area and the ministers from other Church's there.  He said the Pastor of the one church told him that on Sunday he stood before his congregation and said, "I am going to the LDS Temple Open House.  Who is going with me?"  He is planning on bringing two groups through.  Cool, huh?  We have all been warned about the protesters standing outside the temple grounds.  We have been told to ignore them, they are professionals and do this at every major LDS event.  Elder Nielsen told us that he has been contacted by many ministers of area churches who have said that they asked their congregations to not participate in any of these protests, since it is a very un-Christian like thing to do.  He said that they have received great support from the other churches, which has been a huge turn around for the Twin Falls area! Weren't we promised that this would happen?   After the prayer meeting, Dad and I had to wait for over an hour before it was our turn to take a
group through.  We were both very nervous.  One of us was supposed to be the leader who did all the talking and the other was the follower who brought up the rear and made sure that everyone stayed together.  It was recommended that we take turns.  So I told Dad that he could go first. This gave me the opportunity to visit with people as we walked.  Our first group had about 23 people in it.  That is just about the right size.  Our next two groups were both larger, around 35.  Anyway, you could see how affected the people were from the very beginning with the video presentation.  You would see members and non-members shedding tears.  The last room we go to is the largest of the two sealing rooms. At this point the leader is supposed to share their testimony of the temple with the group.  So Dad stands before everyone and explains the purpose of the sealing room.  Then he calls me to come forward and share my testimony instead of him.  He said that he could not control his emotions well enough to be able to get through it.  He is such a baby! So, I shared with everyone just how much the blessings of the temple mean to us because of the loss of one of our children, and how the promises we are given because of the sealing power of the priesthood gives us hope, peace and comfort.  I told them that we have a very
loving Heavenly Father who's plan for us is one of happiness, and testified of our Saviors' great love for us through his atonement and sacrifice.  After I finished, then Dad invited everyone to stand in front of the mirrors and look into eternity.  It was a pretty awesome experience.  I took the next two groups around and Dad followed.  He liked getting to talk to the people as we walked.  I was too nervous to
notice some of the things that Dad witnessed.  He told me later that in each group there was someone who was extremely touched by the experience.  In the last group we took through, there was a man with our group who lived just a short distance from the temple.  We don't think he was a member, because he seemed to be in total awe of everything he saw and heard.  He became very emotional more than once.  There was a
couple from New Zealand in one of our groups.  They were members and just happened to be here visiting family.  There was a family from Sun Valley, who were not members, and were there with a member friend.  They also seemed to be pretty touched by what they saw and felt.  We may never know if anyone in these groups ever joins the Church, but we will always remember the wonderful experience we have been given to do this. We get to go back on August 7 and do it again.  We are both excited and looking forward to that day.  We have found out since then that the day our Stake was in charge of the open house it was the second largest day since the opening.  There were approximately 4200 people who went through that day and get this, they received 23 referrals that day, which boosted the total over 200!  Pretty cool, huh!

 Well, I think this is enough news for one week.  Have a good week, and good luck with your transfer.  We love you.

Mom and Dad