Serah Crystal Doraiswamy Pokhrel

Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission

2012- 2014

Hi, my name is sarah. I am from Bangalore,India. My family consists of my parents, Raja and Geetha. I have one sister, Leeza, and she is married to her husband Suraj. I got married after a year finishing my mission to Ashish. We recently welcomed a baby girl into our family, Kaylynn Jade.

My dad was a Hindu and Mom a Methodist prior to joining the church. They received the fullness of the gospel a year after they were married. I am so grateful for the choice they made and for God preparing them to receive the gospel. We as a family were sealed for time and all Eternity in the Manila, Philippines temple in April 1995. I am so grateful for my loving parents and for the example they set for me. At home the gospel was an integral part of our daily living with having daily scripture studies and prayer as a family with personal study and prayer. Life with the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has given me so much meaning and clarity. Although I was raised in the church I had to choose for myself if I truly needed Christ in my life. I am so thankful for the love of God which has been such a blessing in my life. Especially for the choice I made to go on a mission. I see and understand so much about God’s love for me when I was on my mission. I saw people change and it marveled me.This work is the work of Salvation. The Atonement is the greatest of all gifts. It has blessed my life and my family and it can bless the lives of all the people. I am so thankful for the mission and for all of your support and love I felt from my family and especially from God.

My conversion to the gospel was not in a day. It’s more like a process as I am still converting. Going to church, reading scriptures, attending seminary and institute fostered my testimony of Jesus Christ . Ever since my primary days I wanted to serve a mission and share the gospel. I wanted to wear a name tag and be a missionary. I was blessed with numerous blessings including being sealed with my family in the temple and I wanted this joy to be felt by many people. I applied for my mission in my final semester of my undergraduation and a few months later I was called to serve in the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission.

Receiving a mission call to serve the Lord was one of my happiest days. I was a little confused about serving on Temple square since it was a visitor center and I had no idea what would happen there. But I was thrilled to be a missionary.

My real understanding of the mission increased even more on my mission. I had a desire to serve but on my mission it became my passion. I was reminded always as a missionary that I was representing Christ and I have the authority to preach the gospel in Christs name. And that my main purpose was to “Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

Normally people consider door knocking as missionary work and fail to recognize that missionary work is inviting others unto Christ and that there are many ways to accomplish that. In my mission, missionary work was unique. We have many historic sites including the assembly hall, tabernacle, the beautiful Salt Lake temple,beehive house where the prophet Brigham young lived and two visitor centers. There are many visitors visiting temple square including non members so it is a wonderful place to share the gospel. Here we organise tours and take them to the different historic sites and along with sharing the history of the different buildings, we share the gospel and share basic doctrine and invite people to learn of Christ. Once we took a group on a tour in the Beehive house. At the end of our tour we invited the people to read the Book Of Mormon and learn more of the gospel. One lady was so excited to receive the Book Of Mormon and gave her contact number for us to contact and teach her. It is a special feeling when the Atonement of Christ works on people. The invitation she took allowed her to make changes in her life and as missionaries we were being instruments to help her in the path. We also keep in contact with the people we meet on temple square and teach them over the phone. We teach the same lessons that are mentioned in Preach My Gospel and later transition them to the local missionaries. I had an opportunity to teach people from the USA, India, Pakistan, Mexico, Canada, Australia, England, etc. It is amazing how people all over the world come to temple square and how through different mediums we teach the gospel to the world literally. There are sisters all over the world teaching in different languages and it is truly humbling to know how the work of God goes forth perfectly in many different ways.

We also teach people by getting referrals. Once during the end of my mission we got a member referral from Alan Osmond who is the member of the Osmond band, a very famous musician band who are members of the church.He called and referred Ann Marie, his fan. We taught Ann Marie for a few weeks and finally invited her for Baptism. Although she was hesitant in the beginning, she finally took the decision and was baptized. That was one of the highlights of my mission where a person like Ann Marie with so many challenges was led to the church through a member of the church . Like her I was able to see many of our investigators coming unto Christ through Baptism.

In the middle of my mission I was sent to the Florida Tallahassee mission for 3 months to serve there. In our mission we are given an opportunity to serve for 3 months in a proselyting mission so that we can have the experience to work with ward members and the bishop. In Florida we worked a lot with less active members. It was a wonderful experience and although the area I served was hard, I was able to learn so much especially to trust in God, be obedient and to be positive. I will not say my mission was easy and that the work is easy. It is one of the hardest things I did emotionally and also physically. There is a lot of work on Temple Square and with different assignments, missionaries have to stand and walk for long periods of time.

Along with that not every time we teach we can see the fruits of our labour. Faith is something that I developed more strongly and to trust in God and His will. Sometimes investigators don’t progress and keep commitments, sometimes people just want to tour and not listen to our message and other times we are not able to contact people after they gave us their contact details.

At these times it can be frustrating and saddening. But the Lord always helps us to focus on the bigger picture that as we trust Him we can see miracles. And my mission was full of miracles. My service was possible because the Lord’s hand was in it and I was able to understand the Atonement in a more personal way than I ever did before.

Yes, in the mission we help others come unto Christ. But as I invited others, I saw myself coming unto Christ. I was converting. Elder Holland in a MTC talk said , “Missionaries are under obligation to come home having had at least one convert, you! There is no excuse in time or eternity for you not to have that one precious conversion.” Speaking of his own missionary experience, Elder Holland said, “Everything I cherish in this world I have because of this Church, and everything I have because of this Church seems to have begun with the blessing of my mission.” I cannot agree more to what Elder Holland said, that everything I am and I have is because of the church and my mission. I learned to love the Lord more and the scriptures especially the Book Of Mormon has been my constant guide, I realized my worth and the worth of souls, I deepened my testimony and increased in faith. My mission had a great impact on me and I am ever so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve the Lord and His people.

My mission was the best 18 months of my life and it still continues to bless me and the experiences I have is a reminder of how important the call is and of God’s love. I know Heavenly Father is truly mindful of us. Jesus Christ is my Saviour,He lives ! I love him and am so grateful for the Atonement. I know with all my heart that the atonement is true and it can change us if we allow Christ in our heart. I know the prophet Joseph Smith saw God and the message of the restored gospel can heal us and be a light at all times. The gospel is the best gift I have received and the best gift we can give to anyone. I share all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen .