Allison Jo Glanzer: Really Busy Week

Nothing too exciting this week except A TON OF STUFF!

I was able to go to the viewing of President Monson. It was rather interesting to walk past his body... Okay, I think it is interesting in general that we as humans mourn by walking around the deceased body, in all honesty. No leading up to right before we saw him, other sisters have said the Spirit is there, and you could feel it so strongly. Well, the struggle of my life is to tell when the Spirit there. When people say walk by faith, oh man, you know I am. I don't realize it was the Spirit until after, maybe even way after.

Anywho, we were on the escalator going up to where President Monson was, and I don't have interest in looking at dead bodies of people, so my stomach got all fluttery. I have learned that is the main way the Spirit talks to me, is making me what I assume what others define as nervous. SO! I can testify with surety that the Spirit was there at his viewing. I am amazed how we (meaning members of the church everywhere) are able to love the prophet so much. There were many people there that had solemn faces at his viewing. There was a lady who I was behind, who just stopped and looked so sad that he was gone.

We also said good bye to the Risenmay's on Thursday night.

Now as for President Monson's funeral. It was amazing to be able to watch it. He has a big family! My favorite part was the story told by President Nelson, when they went to a part of Germany and were able to open it up to missionaries coming into and leaving it.

As missionaries we didn't do anything special for his funeral. All the buildings were closed so it was pretty dead the whole day. We were talking amongst ourselves and thought it would have been good to have them open, so we could have played the movie about his life!

Tuesday was the coolest day ever! We had the official say who our prophet was! I was super excited! Sister Bablitz had an appointment, but it got rescheduled, so we were able to race to the basement of the SVC and watch the broadcast live!

The quorum of the 12 were in the waiting room of the temple, and we could see the SVC in the background of some of the video broadcast shots. They closed the East Gate so no one would be walking in the background of the video, and security where everywhere! When I figured out where they were, my thought was, we could go walk in the background. :) but we didn't.

I am so grateful to be a missionary during this time! And during this time of my life, the history, this location, this season, with the amazing changes in missionary work to help it hasten! Whoa.

After the broadcast was over, President Fisher talked to us... (I HAVE A NEW MISSION PRESIDENT! I'll come back to that...) those who where in the basement of the SVC. "Well, lets go do missionary work." I liked that!

Missionaries come and go, mission presidents, apostles, prophets, bishops, Relief Society presidents, primary teachers, etc. But the Gospel still moves forward, everyone continues on. And everything that we do here does matter! And even if we do stop and mourn, it picks back up right where it left off. There are going to be some pretty amazing changes in the world this year!

Now the Fischers. They are AMAZING! Wow, this week really has been full of stuff! They spoke to us Friday morning, and they had us laughing and are really winning our hearts. Sister Fischer was a volleyball coach! She knows how to associate with young women. They also spoke to us on Sunday.

I had two different phone calls from two less-active men, both wanting to return to church. The first had been away for many years, but after drinking heavily and some other things, he realized he is ready to make his way back. His main concern was the fear of what the members would think of him. Studying, not just reading, the Book of Mormon, prepped me for this man. As a missionary I need to teach out of it as much as I can and the story in Alma chapter 28 fit him perfectly. I gave him hope that the members where he lived would love him. (I asked him if he had gone to church in that area before, "No..." "Then they won't judge you because they don't know you!") He was solemn and sad and just ripped apart. I could hear the fear and sadness, but the desire to change in his voice.

The other guy had been a member for about a year before he left the church and had an identity crisis. His wife stuck with him through it, Now about 2 years later, he realized that what he was doing wasn't good for his daughters. He called full of excitement ready to do whatever it took to come back. He was excited telling me everything he did wrong, knowing it might be kind of hard to fix things, but he was ready for how the Gospel could change him and his family again! This guy is actually from Washington. I referred him to his bishop.

These two different guys were a testimony of how different people with different feelings and different sins can be changed by the Gospel. They went off the path, but now they are coming back on. We all can take the same path to make it back to Heavenly Father!

Sunday was the Young Adult Devotional with Elder Uchtdorf. There were tons of people, even more than conference. There was almost 30,000 people on Temple Square if not more. It was eerie, but cool, to come out and see them all sitting or standing listen to the Devotional as they had it playing over the speakers.

On P-day, we went to East High, the school where they filmed High School Musical, and right before we left, this girl came up to us and talked to us. She is 15, the only active member in her family, and she goes to church by herself. That was all of our favorite part of the touristy visit.

Now, I had a bit of an accident. I will let you all guess which story is true:

1. My comp elbowed me in the eye during a heated companionship inventory

2. I got randomly attacked by an Anti on the Square

3. I dropped a chair on my face

4. Some of the sisters go to meet Elder Uchtdorf on the day of the YSA Devo, and an Anti made it through and I got between the two.

5. I ran into a pole

6. I slipped an fell on square and my eye hit the corner of one of the planters.

7. My companion just got angry for no reason and attacked me.

Happy guessing! I would love to hear your guesses! People are pretty amazed by the answer. Actually the sisters have been saying, "Let me look at it. Is it okay? It is looking better. Did you go to the doctor?" One sister that I haven't talked to much, came up to me after I finished a prayer, "How did you hurt that? okay. Don't put make up or lotion on it. Just wash it with soap and water." She is a doctor. So nice, these missionaries.

Sister Glanzer