Illinois Chicago West Mission

Sisters Conference!

Sister’s conference was a blast! We started off the conference by going to the mall and caroling. Despite getting rained on, it didn’t put a damper on our spirits one bit. Every sister couldn’t stop smiling as we all felt the spirit and not only lifted each other up, but those around us. When we were caroling in a store, there was a touching moment that just let you know the women we were singing to truly felt the spirit. One started tearing up and we got to see the Lord’s hand in this work as we handed her a book of Mormon.

We had an opportunity to sing for everyone in the Chinese restaurant where they fed us family style.  We filled their restaurant with a bright spirit and sang to their customers. We also left the manager with a Book of Mormon.

When we returned to the mission home that night, we had the privilege of hearing words of wisdom from President and Sister Griffin as we talked about how God truly can make us jewels and as we become those jewels, the gospel light will shine through us as we guide others to find the light of Christ in their lives. We also talked about being born to be Queens and how we are all beloved daughters of God with skills and talents to bring about great miracles! We have been called of God and with His power we will teach and share the gospel.

The mission home filled with excitement as the sisters cozied up all around with their pillows and blankets for the night.  We could hear some whispering into the night and enjoying each other’s friendship.

The next morning, we woke early to get our group aerobics in to help us prepare for the events following later on in the day, and to help us stay energized throughout our morning, President Griffin made us a big pot of southern grits, sausage and eggs! The sisters loved the experience of trying something new.  It was an easy, yummy way to fill 60 hungry sister missionaries!

After breakfast we were able to receive several inspiring messages from both Sister Waters and Sister Murphy and the Sister training leaders. Sister Waters and Sister Murphy taught about finding our talents and how we can expound upon them because they are our precious gifts from God. A profound quote that truly brought the spirit in as Sister Waters spoke was, “God has given us everything and we need to give everything back.” Using and sharing our talents and gifts helps not only us progress forward, but also helps to build up the kingdom of God.

Sister Carver and Sister Gallup taught us how to continue to build our confidence and how we can reach our potential.  They had us walk down then up a confidence scale from 1 to 10.  We talked about things that took our confidence down then things that take our confidence up. Then we watched Elder Holland’s video clip that urged all of the missionaries to use the Atonement in their lives and how the Atonement carries us and lets us stand tall.

Hermana Taylor and Hermana Daule talked about the importance of dressing modestly. By dressing modestly we are able to feel better about who we are and who we represent. We must start within our thoughts and our hearts on how we need to be acting and how we need to be dressing, and if we are pure within ourselves, we show it through our outwards appearance.

Sister Porter and Sister Woolley were outstanding teachers! They taught us about how we comparing ourselves to others will stop our progress and can keep us from being the best missionaries that we can. Sister Woolley said “There are people who need you in your areas, in this mission…… and Satan knows that! And he will slam you!” Another sister said “When we think of what we need to improve on we say that were good because were making little improvements. But when we invite our investigators to make commitments, we invite them to live it right then!

Sister Ashby said “How dare you limit what God can do for you?”

Hermana Lunt and Hermana Francom had three main points on where we can start to become better as missionaries. Our thoughts, asking for help from the Lord, and Trusting in the Lord are specific fundamentals as to what we can be focusing on to change ourselves to become successful and to achieve our purpose not only in our mission but for the rest of our lives. Keeping our mind and hearts centered on Christ will help bring the spirit as well as help us endure to the end. 

The temple trip was the highlight of the whole conference! It gave us a wonderful opportunity to feel of God’s love for us and to take a minute and to ponder about our purpose as missionaries and see our whole in God’s eternal plan of salvation! In the Celestial Room, we were all able to join together as sisters and it was unbelievable touching. There were hugs going around everywhere and several wet eyes. You could just feel the love that we have as sisters for each other!