Sorry Sis Ogden, but We Ate Your Package...

3/31/14

As always I hope you had a wonderful week full of warm weather and sunshine. I'm saying that because last week it was A LOT BETTER! It got to be 5 degrees (celsius)! YES! A member told me that we weren't going to have any more snow...but then Sunday morning I woke up and guess what was on the ground? Yes a nice few inches of snow. Humph. But it'll come one day... WHEN I don't know...but today it's sunny and I think it'll get 10 degrees so I'm embracing the moment! 

Dad: Sad about BYU Hawaii sports. Happy about BYU women's bball team. Thanks for the sports updates. Who won March Madness? I don't really care because I didn't fill out a bracket this time around but I'm curious. MARCH MADNESS IS NOT IN CANADA. No one says ANYTHING about it. It's just hockey hockey and hockey. But I think the hockey season is coming to a close. It's weird. 

Morg: The Book of Mormon IS a good book. ha. I don't know why I'm gonna say this but I'm doing this for my Book of Mormon study and it's AWESOME! Elder Bednar invited us to read the Book of Mormon by having ONE SUBJECT or QUESTION in mind: (i.e., restoration, atonement, relationship with God, why do i need baptism, etc) Then to read the entire Book of Mormon, mark things that stick out to you that could be an answer to your question/ subject...then after you're done write a one page summary of what you learned, stuff it in the cover, put it away and pick up a DIFFERENT Book of Mormon and read it with a DIFFERENT subject. He told us by the time we're his age we could have 40 different Book of Mormons with 40 different answers. Crazy, eh? I'm doing it for the atonement right now and it's been powerful! Ah there are so many ways to study and read the Book of Mormon and the scriptures! :) It's awesome!  

I'm SO glad Gpa is doing well! That's a relief! Keeping him and family in prayers. I'm REALLY grateful for prayers because I feel like God really does hear them out...it's comforting for me to know that although I'm far away here in Canada I can still reach out and do SOMETHING that could benefit these people. If I couldn't do ANYTHING I'd go crazy probably! :)

Okay...it's sooo funny. Okay please pass this on to Aunt Kalli. Because a few months ago I guess she sent me a package of her cookies....well I didn't know where they ended up...until this meeting with Elder Bednar...I was able to talk to the dear sisters in my old area....hahaha. This sister with wide eyes said, "Sister Ogden...I have a confession...your aunt sent you a package a month or two ago and we got it...we were going to pass it on to you..but then one night we had no food and we were STARVING so we were like, "We're just going to have one cookie...Sister Ogden won't mind..." But then they were so good we just kept eating them and we ate the ENTIRE THING!" BAHAHAHAH! So thanks Aunt Kalli for feeding the starving missionaries in Toronto! I thought it was pretty hilarious. Only Aunt Kalli's cookies could do that! 

Branch basketball is going good! I did SO MUCH BETTER last time! It was funny because I did a reverse layup and all the men there were like, "Whoa!" It was funny. But some good mission moments are happening. My comp sits on the sideline and talks to some of the nonmembers and there was this guy's girlfriend who she was talking to last week and she seemed fairly receptive. So that was cool! Still trying to find the opportunity to invite people to be taught...it might take time but we'll see. 

This last week we did something a little different for finding. We made invitations for conference and handed them out on the street...and we made them all cute by attaching these bracelets (so that they "won't forget") that we made from braiding some embroidery string. It was pretty creative and we found some people...it was a unique finding idea.  

We haven't been able to go to the island because we don't have enough ks on our car. Darn it. Hopefully this week or next week we'll be able to because it's a new month. 

This week was a LOT better. The work is coming along here. Obviously it doesn't come all at once...but it's comin.  A lot of miracles. I'll share one story. SO one day we wanted to go tracting...and we were going to do surveys for people to fill out (just to switch things up) So we go...and we stop at this random house. There was a For Sale sign and so we were like, "Well maybe no one's home here." But then we decided to knock anyways! This lady answered and before we could say anything she said, "Come on in ladies!" ???? So we went in and my comp realized that this woman was contacted by her old companion on exchanges. They had been trying to get a hold of her but lost touch/contact. AND OF ALL DOORS WE CAME UPON HERS! She really wanted to come to church and she has family that are members of the church. ANYWAYS it was awesome because on Saturday she called US making sure she had a ride to church. Everything was set up...and then her husband got into the hospital and was not looking too good at 2 in the morning....so she didn't come for obvious reasons. BUT she's pumped for conference so we'll see. She's a nice lady.
 

(Name) is doing good! It was awesome because we taught her the first two lessons last week. At the second lesson, she told us she had read the intro to the Book of Mormon and she felt good about it!!!! She's already receiving answers! So then we went and taught her the plan of salvation. It was really really cool because I testified of life after death and how I know I'll see family members and friends again. (I always think of Gma when I talk about that). She doesn't say much but she nodded her head and said, "This Sunday my dad will have passed on two years ago..." You could tell the peace that our message brought to her remembrance that she WILL see her father again. It was so neat. I love the plan! The spirit IS working with her. 

Just so you know members are really good to feed us. I'm still trying to gain their trust and get to know them better. But each week it gets better and better. 

Last week was my comp’s birthday!!!! She's 21!!!! It was a super busy day! We had district meeting, lunch...we taught some lessons....and then we had a dinner at a member’s house. One of our investigators and a member that comes teaching with us a lot came. The food was DELISH! And it was fun! My comp seemed to have a good time! I made her a birthday cake the day before...haha let's just say....it's not Betty Crocker or anything but it was fun to make and it tastes good and that's what's most important right? I'll send a pic eventually. I think the member family made my comp feel at home and loved...and it made my day to see her happy. 

We did go to the Womens conference last Saturday. It was so great! I just felt very loved the entire meeting and it was just great. I love our leaders! It did make me miss Mom and Annie a little bit....but it's just cause I love you so much! Thanks for being great examples to me and showing me what true Christlike disciples are. :) 

General Conference is this week. I AM SO STOKED!!!!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!  No but really. I'm so excited because (name) and his mom are coming to conference and her heart is softening up a lot. It's AWESOME! We're going to the branch meetinghouse to watch it. Sounds like not a lot of people go see it...like 5 families. Most of the families stay home...so it'll be different. But no matter where you go/watch it, it still carries the Spirit and God still speaks to you!

And yes that is something I learned from Elder Bednar's meeting as well: you get out just as much as you put in! So the more we prepare for conference, the more we are going to get out of it! My prayer is that we will listen to not only what the prophet/leaders will speak but what the SPIRIT speaks to us. Just know that as I watch the conference on the screen I'll be thinking about you guys watching conference wherever you are. It's cool...we are watching the same thing! 

Well I love you all! Thanks for being my family. I'm SO blessed to be related to you all. (We studied about how the gospel blesses families this morning) and just lately I've been feeling so lucky to have you all in my life. Like really. Not all families are like you guys. And I'm so spoiled to be in the family that I am. LOVE YOU TONS!!!