Farewell to the MTC

It has been a whole month since I entered the MTC. I cannot believe how quickly time has gone by. Tomorrow at 4:00 AM I report to the travel office at the MTC to head off to the airport for Missouri. I am so excited to teach the people in Missouri all about the gospel of Jesus Christ and about his eternal plan for families. I'm excited and feel like I'm on fire. Like the words to one of my favorite songs about missionary work by Britt Nicole, "I'm gonna set the world on fire." (It's the 2nd song on the player) I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!!!

So this week we did Visitor Center Training. We had the opportunity to collect referrals from other missionaries and call their friends and family to share with them the message of the gospel. So I've been doing "Real" missionary work for a whole week now. I've already begun to see miracles in the lives of those I've spoken with on the phone. I've felt Heavenly Father's love guiding me to parts of my rememberance to teach about subjects I didn't even know that I knew about. I found that I was being led to scriptures that I don't even remember reading. This is what it feels like to be used by His hand. Miracles.

Saturday I had the opportunity to serve as a missionary at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. It felt like a dream come true. I have always admired the sisters at Temple Square, and this week I WAS one of those sister missionaries. I had the opportunity to do contacting with both members and non-members on the square and give tours of various sites and exhibits on the square.

My favorite exhibit is still "God's Plan For Families." It is a walk through exhibit/video that follows the journey of a beautiful family throughout life and the blessings of eternal families. It always makes me cry. It always touches my heart. I HIGHLY encourage EVERYONE TO GO SEE IT! (Mom and Dad, that means you!) I know you will all appreciate it. My favorite room is the baby room where the dad says, "What do you think is the most important thing we can teach her?" The mom replies, "That she is loved. That she is a daughter of God, and that we can be together forever." <<< I KNOW. Sounds cheezy. But trust me on this one. It's the best part. OH! AND the baseball scene. I think Heaven will be a lot like the baseball scene. Please refer to D&C 130:2.

I think the most impressive thing about Temple Square is taking into account how much detail the pioneers put into every detail of every building. They knew the work they were doing was for their Heavenly Father and wanted to give each building the attention it deserved. The benches and the pillars in the Tabernacle are made of white pine, which is a plain wood. Next time you visit you'll notice that benches are HAND PAINTED to look like oak. The pillars are hand painted to look like marble. It's incredible.

The pioneers were so amazing. I have ONLY BEGUN understanding their lives and I am so touched by their examples of faith and perserverance, and their pure love that they had in their families and of their God. I want to share a short story: When the pioneers left Nauvoo, it was in the midst of one of the coldest winters in history. When they reached the Mississippi River there were huge pieces of ice floating in the water and disabled them from crossing the river with their wagons and animals. So they had to camp out and wait out for the ice to melt. They offered up all of their hearts that the ice would melt, but it seemed like their prayers were only being answered with lower temperatures and harsher winter conditions. The pioneers never doubted their faith in God, and continued to pray that they could continue their journey and the ice would melt that they would wade their way through the icy river. There was a night reported to be the coldest night in the history. That night the temperatures were so cold that the entire Mississippi River froze over. This is the ONLY TIME IN HISTORY that the river has frozen over. Their trials of enduring the cold brought about the greatest blessing. The ice was 2.5 feet deep. Just deep enough that all of the saints crossed the river with their wagons and animals safe and dry. What a blessing. It reminds me of a scripture in Ether 12:6 that says, "I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye recieve no witness until the trial of your faith." The saints had such faith, that despite of all of the hardships in their life, they had perfect hope that Heavenly Father would deliver them.

I know we can all have such faith in our lives. Constant and sincere prayer has been the means of many miracles and much healing in my life. I know that Heavenly Father hears our prayers when we offer them sincerely. I know that he answers them. Not always in our timing, but in His great all knowing timing and way. He knows us better than we know ourselves.
I love you all. This church is true. I know it with every piece of my heart. This gospel is the most important thing in the whole world. I love my Savior. I know that he lives. I have felt him in my heart in the time I have been here. I love you all very much. My prayers are with you.

Dream Big. Wish Hard, and Love Always-

Sister Jessica Rose Wathen

PS!!! I also wanted to give a special shout out to my friends Casey and Jimmy on their new baby girl, and also Ben's best friend Travis who just had a baby boy. Babies EVERYWHERE. Being a missionary really is making me want to be a MOM! (Weird huh?) Haha. I saw a little boy who was probably about 3 years old in the MTC cafeteria a week ago. He had on his Sunday suit and had one of those little tags on that said "Missionary in Training." It was SOOO cute. Congrats to everyone. Keep having babies. Keep getting married. Keep doing those things that bring eternal happiness, but KEEP ME POSTED!!!! Love ya'll!!!