Newsflash: Good triumphs over evil. (Final)

This past week was so awesome! I have so much to tell you so I'll try to type as fast as I can to let you know what's going on.This past week has been a week full of surprises.

We went over and taught a sister and her husband again. They fed us a very nice Filipino dinner. It was the first time on my mission where I ate bamboo shoots. It was pretty good. But it makes me think so much of Lexi on her mission. She is going to do so great in the Philippines, I know it!

(investigator) has been doing soooo much better. He looks happier, he has been reading the scriptures, he came to church for not only sacrament meeting but sunday school as well. We are excited for him! I hope he can continue to progress and progress. He is nearly there.

We've taught some investigators that used to be in another area but since our boundaries changed they are in ours. Yesterday we taught a sister who has a lot of questions. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she seemed open to it.  

And...we taught a guy that we contacted a couple weeks ago. Because of curfew, we didn’t have a lot of time with him.  But he seems solid.

We had a lesson with another investigator and the whole time he just kept asking question after question after question. It was a little intimidating. But we answered them and we are seeing him again this week. Wish us luck. He is very curious. We're giving him a Book of Mormon in his native language so I think that will help him read the BOM and understand it better.

So our English classes are going well. Because the hermanas left, my comp and I are now Building Managers. So each Saturday morning we do a training on teaching skills and how we can use ESL. It was sooooo scary. Because the zone leaders, our district leader and his companion, the sisters that live in our apartment, and the new hermanas and the portuguese elders were there. Yikes. But thanks to my comp - who is just awesome - we did okay. And guess what? A student walked into our class from (country). After class we gave him a chapel tour and taught him a lesson. He came to church and...agreed to be baptized! Yahoo! So we are going to be working with him. He told us a lot about the turmoil in his native country. I'm so grateful to be here in a country where I feel safe and have freedom. We definitely take so many things for granted. .
 

Anyways...there have been some awesome experiences this last week.

First of all. Once upon a time we were going to teach a lesson with a member (whom we hadn't met yet). So we went on the bus on the way to our appointment. I decided to sit by a nice young man. Here's our conversation:

Me: So how long have you been in Canada?

Him: Two years
Me: Oh that's cool. Where are you from?

Him: Philippines. And you?

Me: Utah

Him: (gives me a look)

Me: I know I know it's typical. But Utah is awesome!

Him: Yeah don't you have a prophet?

Me: (impressed) Wow...yeah you are right.

Him: Thomas S. Monson right?

Me: ..... How do you know so much?

Him: ...cause I'm a member...

Turns out he was the member that would be teaching with us. Oh dear....

Experience two: we taught a young woman last week. The lesson was one of our most spiritual first lessons yet. The lady listened and agreed to everything we said. At the end I invited her to read the Book of Mormon and she flat out said, "Not right now...I want to stay with my religion..." That was the first time someone had rejected us after the first lesson. And the Spirit was there. It was super sad and disappointing. I asked, "Why do people not see?! Did she not feel that?!" My heart sank. But it was a good reminder that the Lord has prepared people. It's up to them to accept our message. We can't force them. It's not the Lord's plan.

So it looks like our other Toronto sisters are moving out of our apartment soon. They found an apartment and should be moving out in a week or two. They are awesome. It's actually fun having another sister companionship around. (It's been a little messy and there's more clutter) But other than that I've loved it!

My comp (greenie) is still being just awesome. She came pre-trained that's for sure. We've been through thick and thin together and I'm so grateful she's my companion. She has taught me so much. I know she is bound to do great things. And it's nice to talk about Hawaii every once and a while. :)

Finally to end I just want to bear testimony that the longer I'm out on my mission the more I realize that this is the Lord's work. It is. If it wasn't, I would have given up a looooooong time ago. But every day I feel strength. I feel support. And I know that if this wasn't important to the Lord, He wouldn't have led me to where I am right now. At the same time I have a testimony of the adversary. Satan does not want this work to go forth. And the longer I'm out the more I realize that Satan is real and exists. How comforting it is to know that good will overcome evil. And that Satan will lose. Good will triumph. And the Lord's kingdom will be established.

. I hope you know that your examples, letters, and prayers mean so much to me.

"One's life cannot be both faith-filled and stress-free" (Neal A. Maxwell)

I love the Spanish hermanas (who were transferred)!  Awww I miss them I was so sad to see them leave. But they've been in Toronto their entire mission. We were pretty close to them. We sometimes played sports with them and the other missionaries on P-days. Also, we taught ESL together and they were the only other sisters that we saw regularly. Now there are two new sets of Spanish sisters. I don't see them a lot. But they are nice.

Well we have a LOT of new investigators. So many blessings. The problem is we teach them then they get busy and we can't get return appointments.

First of all we taught a headquarter referral. She was very nice...but it was just a weird lesson. At the end we testified and she started laughing? But we are going to try to teach her again and hopefully she can understand more.

We taught another investigator who is awesome. He is super prepared. We taught him and he went to a baptism service in the same day/appointment. He accepted a date and told us he'd come to church. We were waiting...but he didn’t make it. But he said we could see him this weekend or maybe even sooner. I hope so. He seemed legit and he wanted to have more peace in his life. Let's cross our fingers and pray and hope that we can teach him again.

Then...last of all last week we got a call from a less active woman. We visited her and we are helping her with some stuff. She's going through a rough patch but she is super sweet. She has a young son who is super cute. We were teaching him about faith and baptism and he's pretty excited. Can't wait to work with him more! Both of them came to church yesterday.

OH. I completely forgot. Our area got split up. Two sisters moved in to our apartment temporarily with us. They are awesome. The one sister came out at the same time as me, and her companion is a brand new missionary. Both are awesome. Anyways because our area split we gave them (investigators). Kinda sad but at the same time comforting to know that everything happens for a reason. And I know they are in good hands.

Other stories:

Well yesterday as a district we've been making it a goal to talk to at least 20 people every day per companionship. Anyways it was getting late and due to church and appointments we hadn't made our quota. We had 1 hr and 1/2 left until we had to be back in our apartment. So we set off. It was awesome. God placed in our path some prepared people. One man in particular had a ton of questions. We talked to him for 35 mins. He seemed super interested...but he didn't give us a number but he said that he'd hopefully call. .... Still it was weird because both my comp and I KNEW that we talked to him for a reason. Whether it's us or someone else I know that he'll remember our conversation. It was pretty powerful. Talk about blessings from obedience!

So there was a baptism Saturday. On Friday our district leader asked my comp and I to sing a musical number at their baptism...We were running around and had no time to practice. We tried to practice in between meetings but...it wasn't sounding too good. Miracle Moment #2: so we sang at the baptism and even though we didn't practice we actually did OKAY!  We were so scared to sing in front of everyone. But guess what we did it ...with probably a lot of help!  

I'll just end with a little thought that our mission president shared with us. I really liked this quote:

Elder Neal A. Maxwell made the statement that, “One’s life...cannot be both faith-filled and stress free. President Wilford Woodruff counseled us all about the mercy that is inherent in some adversity: “The chastisements we have had from time to time have been for our good, and are essential to learn wisdom, and carry us through a school of experience we never could have passed through without.” (In Journal of Discourses, 2:198.) Therefore, how can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, “Lord, give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep from me, Lord, all those experiences which made Thee what Thou art! Then let me come and dwell with Thee and fully share Thy joy!” Elder Neal A. Maxwell, “Lest Ye Be Wearied and Faint in Your Minds”, Ensign, May 1991

Missions and life aren't always easy. But they sure help us grow! I'm grateful for all the hard days I have because I know that those days are shaping me and helping me develop into the person God's wants me to become.

Always in my prayers:

Sister Ogden

To My Cousins (8/12/13)

I just wanted to take the time to write and first express my gratitude for all that you do. You are an amazing example to me and I'm so grateful for your testimonies. I feel so blessed to be in the family that I am. I hope everything is going well!

I want to bear my testimony on how I'm so grateful to be out here doing the Lord's work. You hear this a lot but it is the hardest but greatest time of your life. I've had times where I've felt down, hopeless, and lost. But every time I feel that way, the Lord has stepped in and comforted me. I know that He lives. I've felt a growing appreciation for the Atonement of Christ. Every day I get rejected by people and it makes me think that I am experiencing a tiny bit of what the Savior felt when people rejected him. He was rejected and paid the ultimate sacrifice...a sacrifice that no one else could have paid. I know that this is God's work and it will go forth "boldly, nobly, and independently" I know also that Satan tries everything to destroy it and prevent it from moving forward.

And one thing I know is that God helps our weaknesses. Sixth months ago I could not imagine telling people on a bus about the gospel of Jesus Christ. That would have scared me! But now here I am...at a point where I feel weird NOT talking to people. I'm not saying I'm perfect...but I am saying the Lord has strengthened me. He has given me courage to talk to people. And just like D&C 100 promises, I have never been confounded while talking to people. Some things come out of my mouth that I would NEVER have thought of. I know that the Lord can help us with our fears and challenges. We just need to turn to him, ask for help, then get up and go to work.

And last of all...I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. That book has power. Read it. Ponder it. Pray about it. Over and over again. I know the more you turn to the scriptures, the more inspiration you will receive for your very own life. That is one of God's greatest tools and ways that He talks to us and helps us.

I am so grateful to be on a mission and I know that even though some days are harder and easier than others, I wouldn't be anywhere else. You learn. You grow. You serve. You change.

You are always in my prayers. Let me know if you need anything at all! I love you!

The Toronto World Mission

So...first of all last Friday we get a call from our dear zone leaders. They said, "hey can we drop another bed by tonight?" We used to have three beds...now there are four. So last night we were waiting and waiting to hear what was going on. But nada. So we are still waiting. The rumor is our area is being split up. But that's about everything that we've heard. I'm wondering if some more sisters are coming. I'd be super excited but super nervous because our apartment is kind of a wreck right now. Oh but anyways yes, I am staying in Toronto with my comp. Super excited! :) I hope that now that we've been here for six weeks we can REALLY start getting the ball rolling.

To answer your questions:

We go jogging in the mornings. We just go into some neighborhoods usually...and the best part of the workout is the last part...running up all 15 flights of stairs to go to our apartment. haha. I love running but it's definitely a lot different than running by the lake. 

Do i feel safe? Don't worry mom! Toronto is one of the safest cities. I don't know there are times where there are some interesting people...but I've never felt seriously in danger. Obviously there are some places where we don't go after dark but that's usual.

(name) is doing very well. We've been reading the BOM with him every night. He's been doing it. So now we are going to make a plan of action and really really really focus on helping him get rid of those few last cigarettes. He is so close! He came to church yesterday and he seemed to really enjoy it. It was awesome! There were talks on baptism, how reading the scriptures help us overcome temptation, and faith. I hope he was able to understand it. After sacrament meeting though he turned to me and said, "When can you come see me? Yeah...I just need to really quit smoking." .

(Name) got busy last week. We are seeing her Thursday. Same with another investigator. Busy. It's hard because a lot of people here work and are super super busy. But yeah...learning patience.

WE GOT NEW INVESTIGATORS! We taught a young man yesterday at the church. Because it was transfer calls and everything was pretty crazy and it was a last min appointment, I was pretty stressed. He turned out to be a cool guy. We taught him the Restoration with a recent convert and it was powerful. It was a testimony to me that the Lord helps soooooooooo much. I can't stress how much he helps us. I'm so grateful for His help. We showed him around the church as we taught the first discussion. My favorite part was when we showed him a picture of Joseph Smith's First Vision and my comp told him Joseph's experience. It was hard for him to grasp everything we were saying but I know he felt the spirit. It was awesome! He agreed to meet with us again so we will see what happens.

So...we went to the CN Tower last P-day. It was awesome! I've decided I get a little nervous at heights. But it was awesome! You could see the entire city and the lake and even our apartment building. It's SWEET! We went with the Hermanas and we had a great time...

I just want to end with how happy I am to be here. I know I told you when you asked me where I wanted to go on my mission I replied that it doesn't matter at all. I swear this city is all the missions combined. It is so neat to bear testimony to people from the Philippines, Iran, Brazil, Portugal, Morocco, Japan, Korea, China, Israel, Greece, Syria, Italy, Germany, the Caribbean, etc. It's awesome to say, "Soy una misionera de la iglesia de jesucristo de los santos de los ultimas dias." to all the people that say, "no speak english...speak spanish." It's awesome to read with our Italian BOM. I JUST LOVE PEOPLE. What an amazing experience this is to witness people from all over the world making choices to repent and come closer to Christ. It's so awesome.

Sister Ogden