Listening With Love

4/8/14

It's a bright, sunny day here in Ontario. When I was watching the temple grounds during conference, I was just like, "It's so GREEN there!" Everything here is brown and muddy.... But one day it'll be like that. I'm enjoying each week because it's getting warmer. YES!! :) Spring is here! :)

I'm glad you enjoyed conference. Quoting my district leader, "Conference is like the Super Bowl out here on your mission." I loved it. I don't know if I have a favorite talk, BUT....Elder Scott's, Pres. Uchtdorf's, and Elder Bednar's talks stood out to me. I loved how conference talked a lot about loving others and the atonement. I also loved how speakers talked about standing up for what we believe in, even when it's not the "popular" thing to do. There are SO many ways to implement what you learn at conference, it's crazy. I hope that from conference I can love others more abundantly, appreciate and utilize the atonement, and be more grateful for my life. After conference...as I was pondering what was said, I just felt an overwhelming feeling of love from my Heavenly Father. It was a sweet reminder that despite weaknesses and imperfections, God still loves me and is willing to help me overcome them. 

That is SO funny about Stephen Layton meeting Dad's cousin on his mission! Sounds like he's quite the missionary down south. And congrats to Paige! I'm excited to see her at BYU! :) 

Okay well...last week was another week of miracles. 

We found a new investigator. The Elders Quorum President here is actually a medical professional. He gave us a call last week and told us to go visit this former patient of his who was struggling. That very night an appointment fell through so we decided to go drop by. She let us in and we taught her a very powerful plan of salvation. She is going through some really tough situations.  It broke my heart to see how broken this woman was. But my comp and I felt God's love for her SO much. As we testified of God's love and plan for her, she got pretty emotional....and you could feel the spirit SO strong. I am SO grateful for the plan of salvation. It, along with the atonement of Christ, can carry us through our deepest trials and sorrows. When I meet people that go through things that I can't even imagine what it would be like, I always remind myself that it's God who knows her inside and out...and He knows how to help her.  She accepted baptism but because of her circumstances and situation it might take longer. 

(Investigator) came to conference! Yes! He came to all four sessions of it too. He seemed to enjoy conference...it was hard for him to focus during the entire thing...but when Pres Monson spoke he was FULLY ENGAGED. And after he spoke (investigator) said, "I think I connected to Pres Monson more than the other speakers." YES! 

(A different investigator) came to a part of conference...the Sunday morn session...but she is not doing well physically so she left after Elder Ballard’s talk...but I'm grateful she saw Elder Uchdorf's talk on gratitude. She's had it HARD. And i mean HARD. So I think she needed that. We are going to see her today and see how she is. 

Last week we decided to pay (name) a visit in the hospital. We were both a little nervous because we've only met him once. But we came in and it was really really touching. Here's this guy who told us part of his life story. His life also hasn't been the best. He's in this bed..his stomach is completely bloated...and he's practically dying but we talked to him. He doesn't have friends...and his wife calls him occasionally but that's it. No one visits him or anything...not even his family. It's sad. So for us to come and visit with him meant a lot to him I think. He believes in God and Christ...he's actually read the Book of Mormon before and met with missionaries before. But I don't know what happened. We just talked to him about life...We saw him yesterday and he actually seemed to be doing better and it looks like he will be released hopefully mid week. But they still have to drain fluid out of his system every week/few days. His liver has completely failed him so his life is slowly slipping away. We testified of what we learned at conference...about God's plan and the atonement... and our conversations are super deep. It's super cool. It meant a lot to me visiting him at the hospital because it also reminded me of Grandpa...and although I can't visit him in Utah...I can visit those who are suffering here in Canada and help them. It was pretty neat. 

(Another investigator) was so set on conference but her health keeps holding her back from actually coming. It's frustrating. We'll have to see how we can help get her to church. Other than that everything is good with her. She loves the gospel and Jesus Christ. 

After a week we also saw (investigator)! YAY! And the miracle this week is that after weeks of telling her to read the Book of Mormon....she read 1 Nephi 2 and 3 on her own! And she marked scriptures and understood the basics and everything!!!! YAY! She was out of town yesterday but she told us she'd tune in to conference. We'll see how she liked it!

Well...tomorrow I'll be 21....wow...birthdays on the mission are WEIRD because it does not feel like it's been a year since I was at Sister (name)'s house in (diff city) having my birthday there. Tomorrow I will be enjoying dinner at the (member's) house....cafe rio! Yay..I have been craving that for the longest time!!!!  :) (thanks for sending the recipe) Today for preparation day we are going to bowl! I'm still deciding who we want to visit and teach tomorrow and all so next week I'll let you know what else I did. 

Well family thanks for being so great! I love you all! I hope you know that. Every night in my prayers I thank our Heavenly Father for giving me you guys. I can't go a day without being grateful for you! And I'm grateful to be serving here in Canada. These last few weeks have been good...but yesterday I had a "wake up call" that I need to be MORE GRATEFUL for this wonderful opportunity to serve my brothers and sisters here. Yes, missions are HARD. But I'm so grateful for how my mission has changed others' lives as well as mine....and I hope that I can continue to change lives and continue to change my life. Not every woman can say they've served a mission when they were 19 years old. I'm so grateful I came to earth at THIS time....what an exciting time to be here! :) 

....so from Elder Ballard's talk he mentioned we should be talking about Preach My Gospel more. So I'll end with one of my favorite quotes by Jeffrey R. Holland (pg 185)

"More important than speaking is listening. These people are not lifeless objects disguised as a baptismal statistic. They are children of God, our brothers and sisters, and they need what we have. Be genuine. Reach out sincerely. Ask these friends what matters most to them. What do they cherish, and what do they hold dear? And then listen. If the setting is right, you might ask what their fears are, what they yearn for, or what they feel is missing in their lives. I promise you that something in what they say will always highlight a truth of the gospel about which you can bear testimony and about which you can then offer more...If we listen with love we won't need to worry what to say. It will be given to us-by the spirit and by our friend."

Sometimes...we feel nervous about HOW to bring up the gospel to family/friends...but if we really listen and prayerfully look for opportunities to bear our testimony, we will know what to say. I KNOW this is so true...The times where I've been so worried about WHAT to say were much harder than the times where I listened to people and didn't worry as much about what I would sound like...Let's treat people: less actives, non members, ANYONE, as people...not anything else. 

LOVE YOU!

SISTER OGDEN :)

At the Lake

(Spring... where are you?)

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!!!

An Amazing Weekend with all 300 of My Homies

3/24/14

Mom thanks for the packages! I'll prob open them up on my birthday. My comp’s birthday is this week so it's fun to have our birthdays close. She's gotten her packages, so that's good! She's so funny..she really wants to open them so I've been hiding her packages from her. ha. 

Oh man. Guys I think I could write a novel on this weekend. One of the most powerful meetings in my mission by far. So on Friday we drove for a little sleepover in Brampton...we had to drive 2 1/2 hours and guess who was the driver? Yeah. me. We drove some of my old areas, which is weird.  You just feel a lot of emotion. 

But we slept over with some other sisters...and guess who...my trainer! So you could imagine the awesomeness there! She is doing SO great and it's just really weird because due to school she's leaving in two transfers. EEK! So it meant a lot that I could see her especially because I haven't really seen her during my mission other than our first two transfers together. It makes me just think about how hard it was for both of us a year ago...and how far we've come now and how we are doing better. God really does lift us and help us out of trouble. Love her to death and always will! 

So Elder Bednar...well the entire mission was gathered for the first and probably only time. I don't know if I've mentioned this but there was a lot of preparation made...fasting, praying, and studying for this experience. I was really nervous/excited because we were told Elder Bednar was going to come and ask us questions. We got really good seats...I was on the third row on the right hand side. I just remember when he entered the room there was an immediate difference in Spirit. And I forgot to mention it wasn't only him who came but Bishop Davies and two Elders from the 70....so it's pretty amazing. 

This is really hard for me to describe what I learned because a) it's really personal and b) it's hard to describe and explain. But I'm going to be quoting from my journal here because I think that will be better:

"God told me some pretty bold things...one to quit worrying about myself and getting in the way of the spirit...two that I need to stop being one to be acted upon instead of being one to just ACT and DO it...One concern I had was how could I have a desire to change and a desire to act. I learned through what Elder Bednar and others said that I need to increase my faith and knowledge of the Atonement and my relationship with God. When we increase our faith in those things...we WANT to become better and we WANT to change. A powerful experience was when his wife bore testimony of the Atonement. Sister Bednar told us to think about one of the darkest/loneliness experiences in our lives. She asked if the Savior would criticize, or bring us down because of those times. I thought about being discouraged a year ago. That was a regret that I've held onto for a long time...As Sister Bednar said that even in our darkest moments, the Savior loves us and is extending His arms of mercy towards us, I felt an overwhelming feeling of forgiveness for the first few months of my mission. I couldn't help but hold back tears. I felt the true POWER of the Atonement. Which made me have a desire to ACT. It made me feel joy beyond compare...and it made me long to be in God's presence forever. I'm so grateful that Elder Bednar told us to not be stressed out about being perfect but to be a little better today than the day before. I thought he would rip us apart as missionaries and tell us what we need to be doing better. But even Elder Bednar told us that we shouldn't expect perfection INSTANTLY. And the way the Spirit taught us how to be better was a way that didn't degrade or make us discouraged. 

I'll never forget when an elder asked a question in front of me. He was from my last zone in Kitchener. He stood and he was from the Philippines and his voice was shaking from emotion so I couldn't understand everything. But he talked about how he read a talk from Elder Bednar where he went to a man...gave him a pat on the back and told him that everything was going to be okay. He asked Elder Bednar if he could do that for him. Elder Bednar said sure, got down from the stand and walked up to this Elder...and they embraced. Elder Bednar showed Christlike love that I have RARELY seen and felt and witnessed. He told this elder, "you can do it. I love you. You're going to be okay." At that moment everyone in the room just felt Christ's love for this elder and for ourselves individually. There was not a dry eye in the room. I knew that if there was time Elder Bednar would love to have met us personally...I could feel that. I know that he is a true representative of Jesus Christ. And I knew from that experience that Christ and Heavenly Father know us and love us.

Elder Bednar's testimony...what a unique experience...I don't know if I can even explain it...but it was amazing. The Spirit told me that day that there are prophets... seers..and revelators on the earth today. Elder Bednar is one of them. Prayers were answered, the Spirit was felt in abundance, and we were taught and edified."

AHH so it's so hard to talk about what I learned...sorry! But at the end of the meeting, Pres and Sis Scott were invited to bear testimony...because it was probably the only time they would do so in front of the entire mission....all 300 of us. As they did... I just felt at HOME. It was amazing to be sitting with all my brothers and sisters...who were serving alongside me. I love the elders and sisters I've served with so MUCH! And Pres and Sis Scott have been there for me even when it's been tough. I love these people! 

After that meeting I totally understand what it means to be exhausted because of the spirit. I was physically weak from the spirit from Elder Bednar PLUS the emotion of  seeing ALL my companions (about half of them participated in the meeting by commenting or asking questions) and the joy that I felt from seeing them again. It was really weird. If we didn't have food afterwards I'm not sure if I would have been able to make it out the door ha. But it was just such an amazing feeling and I can't deny that this is truly God's work. 

Honestly this last week was pretty rough. My comp was sick...and I've said this once I'm sayin it again I'm SICK of my companions being SICK. haha. But she's getting over it so that's good. Honestly...we've been having a hard time finding people. And EVERYONE we schedule an appointment with BOMBS. So it's been a little trying at times. But I'm grateful to be here. I was reminded last weekend with Elder Bednar that God knows us, our situations and there's a reason why we are where we are. Just taking it a day at a time and it’ll work out. 

Little miracles have happened though! (Name) received an answer to a prayer he said at church yesterday...it was a small prayer but he got an answer and he was so excited about it! Yes! 

Then I don't know if I told you but we are the Kajiji coordinators for our zone. Kajiji is Canada's Craig's list. So we are offering free stuff on Kajiji as a finding tool for the areas here. (This is helping my advertising skills for sure!) Lately it hasn't been very fruitful. BUT...last week we posted something and we got a call from a lady for some free gospel literature. She lives in Kingston so it's not our area but that' okay. We gave her info to the elders there...they dropped the stuff off…and she has a baptismal date now! YAY!!!! Although we're not seeing fruit in our area it makes me excited to see fruit in others.

Oh and I have some fun news for you...guess what? Well every Tuesday the people in our church get together for some bball...and there are a lot of nonmembers that come. Finding activity? YES!! So for the next few weeks we're going to try to see what happens...but I'm playing church ball! My comp isn't a bball player so she's sitting on the side talking to the nonmembers that are sitting out. I'm definitely a little rusty but that's okay and it's weird playing because I'm guarding guys and I can't really touch them so it's hard to play that way. ha. But I made a nice shot last week and that was good!

It was SOO funny because earlier that day we were tracting a neighborhood and this guy answered. We talked to him and he said he might be interested..just not right now but he told us to keep him and his girlfriend in mind. WELL...guess who showed up that night at basketball? Yup that guy we tracted into. Ironic? Very. It was so funny! So he knows what we do but who knows maybe over time he'll open up?

The weather is warming up SLOWLY.  Like this morning it was -8c but in the afternoons it gets to be 3-4 degrees celsius. But the worst is over which is the most important part! 

A Few Pics of the Sleepover...

(I look a little rough but we hadn't had much sleep)

New Area, New Friends, New Blessings, New Adventures

March 17, 2014

Hello from Ontario. Man transfers are CRAZY! This is my fifth area and sixth companion...all in about a year. Guess I'm just meant to change and adjust a lot! 

The area here is nice. It reminds me a little bit of my last town...but it's on the lake. I'm still trying to get to know the area..but every day I get a little better. Our area is HUGE...but we have limited ks on our car so we're trying to figure out how to go exploring while not going over on our limit. Part of our area includes an island. 

The weather sometimes gets bad...I learned that last Wednesday. I had to drive everywhere around in this new area and it was snowing....all...day...long. It snowed like four or five inches. I was NOT happy. But you know what sometimes you have to do things that you don't necessarily want to do. So I drove in the snow. I recalled my setting apart blessing said I'd be safe on my mission, so I figured that I'm not going to get in a car crash that's going to kill me. Our car has four wheel drive (what a relief!) so it wasn't that bad. But yeah I did it. And now I'm more confident in driving in the snow. So yeah! We're supposed to be getting another storm this Thursday. Wish me luck! 

My companion is from Washington. She's been out for sixth months now and she's awesome. She's trying really hard to work hard and be obedient which I appreciate SO much. I love her. I'm grateful for her showing me the ropes and what's up here. 

The branch is nice. I'm still trying to adjust I guess because I've always served in wards beforehand so it's a little different. Yesterday at sacrament meeting they didn't have a piano player so we sang a capella for the hymns. Never done that before but it worked out! But then the primary pres wanted me to play a song from the Easy Hymnbook for primary's singing time. So my first sunday in the branch I played for singing time. I did okay! (I got major help) I think it's funny that I've never taken piano lessons yet I always end up playing the piano...ha.

We have some awesome investigators!

(Name) is really cool. He's 20 and apparently the missionaries first met him when he was high. But they taught him...he went to church and started doing the things they asked him to do...and he made a COMPLETE TURN AROUND and now believes in God and wants to get baptized. Crazy! He is a faithful churchgoer and we're trying to get him more involved. 

(Name) is super cute. Her fiancé, who lives with her right now, is less active but super supportive. We've taught them a few times and they have really really cute kids. At first they had a marriage date set for a year and a half away. Yeah. BUT...we had a miracle. After we taught them we received a text that said that they had moved up their marriage to this fall! ....oi. So...if they do get married I might have to come back for that! They are awesome though. She has noticed a difference and she' s just really really sweet. It's weird because I've only known these people for a week but I love them already! 

Anyways miracle of the week:

We were dropping by a less active's house. (We’ve never met him before) And we first couldn't get into the building because we didn't have his buzzer code. Luckily someone let us in and we were able to go to his apartment. But another lady answered and told us that the person we were looking for didn't live there anymore. But we continued talking to her and told her what we did and bore testimony of how God loved her. I saw her eyes watering. She told us we came at a time where she was having a bad day and told us we could come back .She's uncertain if God exists...just because of the things that are happening. The Spirit was there and it was a testimony to me that God puts people in our path for a reason. We are seeing her this week! 

When I first got here...I just remember feeling very peaceful. I've never felt that way before when I've gone to a new area. But I just felt that although I feel inadequate sometimes...and I have shoes to fill of previous missionaries that have served here whom I personally know...that it's going to be okay. God's going to help me. It’s a smaller town… so it's not the city that I'm more used to. Work here is moving a lot slower than other areas. But that's okay because I know that God needs me here. Why, I do not know yet. But he does. I'm excited to see how this all plays out because right now I just feel a little lost...

But wrapping up, I just want to say that I'm so grateful for the Holy Ghost; the Comforter. God really does help his missionaries. No doubt about that!

I am amazed at the members here in Ontario...who have to stand up for their beliefs when they are so much in the minority. I especially admire the youth who just know 1 or 2 people in their schools that go to the same church. It's really amazing and it strengthens me. You really do have to make a decision to live the gospel here...people don't live the gospel because it's the "popular thing to do." 

You should be grateful that you live 30 min away from Church Headquarters. You've gone to a session of general conference at least once in your life whereas many many people here only hold attending conference as a long term dream. You live 10 min away from the temple while here it's 2 hours away. You have many friends that understand your values about church, the word of wisdom, the law of chastity, and moral books and movies. Here...sometimes it's not the case. 

But the best thing is almost wherever you go...Christ's church is there. Although it's not the easiest thing to live the gospel in some places...it's there...and it holds the same blessings and gives us the same happiness and peace...and we can find it in His church wherever in the world. It's amazing!

I forgot to tell you. Saturday is a BIG day for the mission....for once in my mission life, ALL the missionaries in the Canada Toronto Mission are gathering in a huge meeting. An apostle is coming, along with two other general authorities! AHHH! I'm so excited! As missionaries we've been doing everything we can to prepare...from cleaning our houses really well, to fasting, to studying certain subjects. I'm so excited...but I'm so nervous too! It's going to be awesome! All the missionaries (like 300 people) plus three General Authorities equals A BIG SPIRIT PACKED MEETING. Can't wait to tell you about it!

Christ WANTS us to use the Atonement

March 10, 2014

Holy cow. I'm going to ramble because 1) I did not sleep AT ALL last night so I'm out of it 2) I'm getting transferred 3) I'm feeling a roller coaster of emotions! 

But first of all..please enjoy the 60 degree weather for me while I freeze here! haha. I don't know even though it's been pretty cold...it's been okay. I think my body adjusted to the freezing weather...And yeah I know God probably had a laugh when he sent me here...in the coldest place EVER after finishing a semester in BYUH. It's pretty intense but my coat's pretty heavy so it helps A LOT. And our car warms up pretty fast....but like I said before my clothes are WORN OUT.  I feel pretty tough surviving a Canadian weather and all, But I CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING! We had a sunny day last week and it was just awesome! 

As far as updates go… Well the good news is we got to see (names). But it was the weirdest lesson yet. We got in and they said, "We need to get back to business slowly..so today no preaching. Let's just talk." (??) haha But they gave us an update and all their problems are easing up. So that's good!

I just love (name). We "heart attacked" their home one night while they were at the hospital and it was awesome! 

Other investigators! Man we had some awesome lessons this week. First we taught (name)...and it was awesome. The spirit was so strong as we taught her about God's plan. It makes sense to her. She is so prepared! She wants to make sure she understands everything and knows it is true so it might take a while with her. But she is sincere and willing to act...which I know will help her progress. And her trials are getting better and she's figuring things out so that's good. 

Then...we taught (name)! Yes the guy that pushed our car! YES YES and YES! When we met with him he like bore his testimony how he feels God put us in his path for a reason. He was going on and on about how he's been doing self reflection lately, how he just wants to find peace and feels there is something more to life. CRAZY!  He is super prepared. And the thing that gets me is...the thing that got him interested in hearing our message is that I just asked him what faith/religious belief he had? He told us that struck him hard and he doesn't know. Super crazy! He is awesome! 

Sunday was crazy because...well it's transfer call night. Like I say over and over again, I don't know why but I always get SO stressed out/excited/ jittery on transfer call day. Like it's so bad, but I don't know what to do about it! But anyways...yesterday I thought there'd probably be a change, My comp would be going because she's been out here six weeks longer than I have. So, just a reminder about transfer calls...you wait by the phone from 9:00pm to 10:30pm for a call. If you don't get a call nothing's changed... if you do, well you're moving or your companion is. The suspense is KILLER! I mean...your next six weeks depends on that phone call. So we wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait....10:00 passes...we wait and wait and wait...10:20 passes and we realize that we would be staying together. We were excited...but I think we both were expecting something to happen and we felt like something was off. I was saying my prayers at 10:30 just saying, "Okay Heavenly Father, you know what's best...if this is the best then just help us know what we need to do..." when at 10:30 WE GET A CALL!!!!! And...instead of my comp leaving, I'm moving to the opposite side of the province. 

So there I lay in bed for the night just really shocked...and feeling excited/surprised/a little sad to say goodbye/etc. 

I'm still in shock. And I feel like I haven't been here for long at all. It's crazy. I'm going to miss the people here soooo much. I feel like I've really learned a lot here. Although it hasn't been the easiest past few months...they have been months where I have grown. (I mean...I had to drive in the snow!! haha). And this area has made me really appreciate the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. This past week especially...I have been studying about the power of the Atonement...and what it does for us....it's been amazing. 

I'm so grateful that Christ WANTS us to use the Atonement....it's not just a thing we HAVE to use to get to God. Something I've recently realized is that repentance is NOT a punishment. Sometimes we punish ourselves too harshly for our sins...but instead of having hope, that leads to despair and hopelessness and that's not how the Atonement is intended to be. It's about hope. When we truly repent, we feel sorrow for our sins but we HOPE to be better...we HOPE to not repeat those mistakes...we have a hope that God still loves us despite our mistakes...and we HOPE that we can be made clean again. Without that hope...we aren't using the Atonement properly. It is a PRIVILEGE to have the Atonement and we should treat it as God's most important gift to us. I'm so grateful for it...I can't describe how grateful I am that although many people suffer, although I don't always know what to do to help them...the Savior does...and He loves and understands them.

I'm off to my new area! Adventure awaits!

SAYING GOODBYE...

Gonna miss all these peeps!

I got Goodbye Dumplings! YUM!

Sure Love Her!

I Love the People I Serve Here, and I Love the People I Serve With!

3/2/14

Hiya family!   Like always there's a lot to say so sorry if I ramble. :)

Well....guess what happened yesterday? (Names) WERE CONFIRMED! It was so great. I could go on and on about them. First of all, Sister had been sick ALL last week. But we were able to see her on Saturday and she was well enough to get confirmed. It was a tender mercy. 

She shared with us on Saturday how the Book of Mormon has been helping her. She just finished first Nephi. :) And she told us how she was having a really bad morning last week and her son knocked off the Book of Mormon from the shelf and she decided to pick it up and read a highlighted verse. She told us that that verse meant a lot to her at the time and she felt better and the rest of the day went better after she had read the Book of Mormon. It's amazing to think that at first we struggled getting her to read the Book of Mormon...we first had to invite her to read just one verse every day...but as soon as she did that she's been reading more and more. The Book of Mormon is very very powerful. My mission has been teaching me that. Our ward mission leader confirmed her yesterday...and it was really meaningful because he is a convert and NEVER has confirmed anyone before. He was super nervous but it all worked out and he did great :)

(Name) was also confirmed. He's a good guy and it's been awesome to see how the ward has been reaching out to him. He was confirmed by Brother (name)... and it was awesome because he did the blessing part of the confirmation in Chinese. Although I couldn't understand what was being said the spirit was super strong! :) 

The work's going great here! We're still trying to find the elect but God's put some really cool people in our paths. First guess who called us on Friday? (NAME)!!!!!! And guess who we are going to be teaching tonight? (Names)! We don't know what happened but they wanted us to come back. We are sooooo excited! I had to do a happy dance in the car when I heard what was happening. It was so hard to drop them and I'm so excited to be picking them back up again. 

Then last week we decided to drop by a potential investigator’s. She lives at an apartment building where a sister from the ward lives. We were just talking to her and helped her take out her garbage. She was nice but we never could set up an appointment. So we decided to go drop by her randomly. She let us in instantly and then she just burst into tears and unloaded all these things that were going in her life. She was questioning her faith and was just overwhelmed because she just has a lot of things going on. We had to listen to the Spirit big time...and so we did a lot of bearing testimony, listening, and we even pulled out some Mormon Messages on her computer to invite the Spirit. By the end she was happier. I know that God needed us there and it was really cool to help her. We were supposed to see her yesterday but she cancelled so we will be seeing her on Wednesday...and we are going to be teaching her the Plan of Salvation. I'm stoked! 

Then there was one more guy that was really cool. We were running to an appointment...but there was a guy sitting in front of a store...I was so close to not talking to him because we were late but we decided to stop and do it anyways. Turns out that he just BARELY turned his life around and BARELY started to believe in Christ/God. We had a good talk and scheduled an appointment and said a prayer on the street with him. After the prayer...he stopped and said..."You know...as you were praying I was reminded a few weeks ago I was praying to find some real Christians and a Christian church to go to. I think God just answered my prayer!" We were so excited! He was solid! ......But then....he bombed his appointment and we haven't gotten ahold of him since. AH! We keep meeting all these solid people and then we can never meet with them it's frustrating sometimes! Well...God's timing is perfect I guess we won't give up! 

(Name) is doing okay..still some drama here and there. He's just had a hard life so it's a roller coaster ride....Man....but he's in the right place doing the right things most of the time so I think God's watching out for him. I feel peace that although sometimes things get really stressful with him...it'll work out. I don't know how but it will...

It was a good week last week! (Not as stressful as the one before) But that's missionary work for you...you have good weeks and not so good weeks. Good times and bad times. :) It makes me really appreciate the good moments! But I loved it because it was....ZONE CONFERENCE! Oh man I love zone conference so much. I could go on and on for like five pages but I won't. So for zone conference we went to London.....Ontario. haha. (Don't worry I've confused the two before) It was pretty awesome. We talked about the restoration and the apostasy. And it was really neat to see President Scott bear testimony about the Restoration...super super powerful. 

I just love the missionaries here! I was able to see some good old missionary pals...Get this: my trainee was there, her trainee was there, AND my old comp was there...so 3/5 of my companions were there. I was pretty happy! There's such a spirit when you gather together in the same room with a big group of missionaries. I have really grown to not only love the people I serve, but the people I serve WITH. There are some elect people serving here alongside me in this mission. They have taught me SO much! 

District Meeting

Eating out!

Sister Selfie

Catching Up with Sis W!

But to be honest I had a pretty....emotional? sad? bitter-sweet feeling. There were a lot of departing missionaries that gave their last testimony during the zone conference. And there were a lot that I knew whom I had served with. It's really sad to think about how people are leaving.... people who have taught me SO much and have helped me out....Why is everyone leaving? And it just hit me pretty hard that in a few months I'd be doing the same....I'm just not ready for that yet. I feel like I have SO much more to learn and SO much more to do here! But...life goes on. I just have to be grateful for EVERY MINUTE that I have to be here. I can't take the time I have here for granted! 

Well I love you family! Thanks for supporting me out here in Canada....it's been the best thing ever!

Priesthood Power, Blessings & Baptisms

2/24/14:

Wow: what. a. week. I've been SO excited to write you this email you have no idea. I have a surprise. But I’m gonna make you wait a bit for it.

Well let me just say that this week has been THE CRAZIEST week ever. First of all, (name) is awesome. She wasn't having any problems or concerns. When we were going through the baptism interview questions with her, she would bear her testimony on everything and how she knew it was true. It was awesome. Like I said before, the Lord has been preparing her  for a while. 

But Thursday rolls around and we get a call from the zone leaders. They called and told us, "Well you're going to have another baptism this Sunday!" Apparently, there's a Chinese student who was taking the lessons in Montreal...who just barely moved here...and still wanted to be baptized. And he couldn't make it to the Chinese ward because it's an hour drive from here. So he got passed down to us. It was INSANE! We had to meet him, get his interview set up, and made sure everything was good for him to baptized...in three days. He is so cool! I felt bad though because he was taught everything in the gospel in Chinese and so it was sometimes hard for him to understand everything we were saying. And I think he misses his friends and his last church in Montreal because EVERYONE spoke Chinese. His friends played a big role in his conversion. We really want him to feel comfortable in the ward. It's just a little stressful because there's only one family that speaks Chinese and he and (name) are the only people there who are like 19-20 years old. But he was still baptized along with her yesterday and he seemed to be excited and happy. Man it was just crazy because Heavenly Father was like, "Here you go...here's another baptism..." I was NOT expecting that to happen. Morgan...I wish you could be his friend. He's awesome. 

Anyways...so as you know...the week before a baptism is THE CRAZIEST. Let me tell you that this week has been one of the most stressful weeks ever. Usually Satan takes it out on the investigators preparing to be baptized. But instead (probably because these two were just too solid) he decided to take it out on us. My comp and I just kept switching off having bad moments... Both of our weaknesses came out last week. I had a little bit of a breakdown just because I was very exhausted...and a little discouraged...and quite overwhelmed because of all the things we had to do....My comp got a little sad sometimes... Then she was sick one night and we had to go home early. Then when we were trying to figure out the  baptisms... one thing just happened, after another, after another. People kept bombing appointments and rides...we would spend hours calling to find people to help give them a ride or come with us to teach...it was just a mess. Then on Friday night...it was MY turn to get sick. And I just felt crummy. Saturday morning rolled around and I still felt icky and with all the stress (it being the day of both interviews and the day before the baptisms...and there was a ward activity where our investigators were going to that night after the baptisms) and I wanted them to be happy...and I just had had ENOUGH. 

So a few hours before the interview, I called my district leader and asked for a blessing. I had been thinking about it all morning long and I think I just needed help...and I wanted help...and I just wanted to know that everything was going to be okay. And I don't know, I think it's me just trying to be a tough girl, but I sometimes justify myself as "I can do it...I'm okay...I'm strong. Praying and fasting are enough. God's got my back. I'm not lying on my deathbed so it's not like I NEED a blessing as if my life depends on it..." But I remembered another time on my mission where I was struggling and I didn't get a blessing and now looking back I regretted it. So I decided to get one. 

By the time I was able to get my blessing I was slowly starting to feel a little better physically and emotionally...but I still wanted it. Let me tell you. I know the priesthood is truly the power of God. The words that I heard from the blessing that was given were words that I didn't expect. It was one of the most intense blessings I've heard. And I wasn't expecting it to be. I'll probably email a separate email about it just cause it's pretty sacred to me and stuff. But some of the things that were said have really been pressing me for the last few days. But anyways, I'm grateful because after the blessing everything was starting to flow and come together a LOT better. By Sunday I was feeling a lot better. (Thank goodness!) 

The baptisms went very very well. The talks were great! You just feel such a special spirit at a baptism. (Name) was smiling and happy. The ward members were really welcoming to him which made me happy. It's amazing how you can just come to love someone even after meeting them three days ago. But I know God is so proud of him. What he's doing is NOT easy and definitely NOT in his comfort zone. But he is doing it!  It took him 2 years of investigating the church to find out it's true. I don't know why of ALL people and missionaries we were the ones to witness his baptism. But I feel so humbled to know him. I'm excited to work with him more and I know that God's going to bless him and help him so much. 

And (name)...oh you know how I love her!  She has come such a long way! You take this person who has been through so much.. and you just see how because of her trials and hardships she is an amazing young woman and mother. I was so happy to see her be baptized. She was SO excited about it. SO EXCITED. She couldn't wait. And it was awesome to see her mother there, who was baptized last September.  I love her so much and she has taught me a great deal of what it's like to have true faith. By reading the Book of Mormon and from listening to the prophet online, she has felt the Spirit and she won't deny it. The gospel makes sense to her. The Spirit has helped her understand. And I just know that God's timing's the perfect timing. I don't know if I told you but we were THIS close to dropping her because we could never meet with her. The day of Do or Drop we visited her and we invited her to be baptized and she accepted. And now look at where she is now! It's amazing! :) 

While they were changing after their baptisms, we shared the Restoration with everyone there. .including the rest of her family who were nonmembers...I really hope that they felt something. And I hope that they will follow their examples. I don't know if it will be now or later...but I hope one day they will. 

Sometimes with my companions and investigators, I just want to saran wrap them and lock them away so they can be safe and no one can harm them. But I do know that trial helps us grow stronger and God will never give us anything we can't handle. 

One more thing! it was cool because I had a posterity moment last district meeting. My old comp (name) was there....I was there...and her trainee (my grandaughter) were all there. It was cool to see the person I trained and the person she trained all in the same room! But I'm excited for Zone Conference...I get to see Sister (name) I think so I'm pretty stoked for that.

Anyways I know that this is God's work. I'm so grateful to be here. I thank Him every day that I can be here as His servant to serve my brothers and sisters here in Canada.  I don't know why some things happen...but I know that no matter what happens it is for the best. I love the joy that comes from seeing people change by living the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's amazing to see the difference and see how it makes them so happy. I know God can't help but smile seeing them make these steps in their lives! :)

Love you lots fam! Keep the faith! :)