M A N I F E S T A T I O N S

Shoutout to Sirima for a letter! Tender mercy, thank you! :)

This week we had Zone Training and, ah man, it's such a spiritual lift! We learned about how to teach people, not lessons. The best way to do this, is to discern investigators' needs. If they are giving shallow answers to questions, then they will have a shallow baptism. True conversion can't happen if they have unresolved issues or concerns that haven't been addressed! We must be worthy conduits of the spirit so that the spirit can work through us and help us know how to discern needs and help those we serve. We also talked about all the goals we want to reach together as a zone and as a mission. We are aiming for 60 baptisms in June! 

One investigator we are meeting with is Ahmed and he is from Saudia Arabia. We found him walking on the side walk in front of us a week or so ago. He was going to a free event at the science center...but no one was even there? We started talking to him and within two minutes he was telling us that he was trying to find out if God was real and he was praying that God would give him a sign. Then he said "Maybe...you two are the sign." Coincidences do not happen! God knows His children and knows what their needs are and he works through us to help them. This past week we met with him again and we read from 3 Nephi 11, when Christ comes to America and the people are able to see and touch Him. Ahmed struggles to "know" how things are true. He doesn't understand how he will just "know" if he reads and prays. President Joseph Fielding Smith explains it perfectly how we can "know" when he said:

"When a man has the manifestation from the Holy Ghost, it leaves an indelible impression on his soul, one that is not easily erased. It is Spirit speaking to spirit, and it comes with convincing force. A manifestation of an angel, or even of the Son of God himself, would impress the eye and mind, and eventually become dimmed, but the impressions of the Holy Ghost sink deeper into the soul and are more difficult to erase.”

There is nothing more convincing and powerful than a manifestation from the Holy Ghost!

We are also meeting with a sweet Korean guy named Tom. We met him through ESL, but he was also interested in learning more about the Gospel! Whoo! Tom served in the DMZ! Crazy scary! But he is here in Canada studying right now. There is quite a language barrier with him, but thank goodness for members who served in Korea who are willing to join us for lessons to translate and help teach.

Our previous investigator Ying Chen dumped us. I would be more devastated if he hadn't insulted our intelligence and called me a tomboy over text, so for now I'll just be simply sad and pray some other missionaries in the near future can help him better than we could. It is really sad that a lot of people in this world struggle to understand how much God really loves them. Yes, bad things do happen to good people. But God sees the bigger picture and this life on earth is so temporary. 

We also met a cool guy named Leighton. He is a logical thinker and likes when things just make sense, but lately he has been feeling something missing, spiritually (THE GOSPEL). We taught him the restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon. Thank goodness he loves to read!

We also met a guy named Vinh who we found near Chinatown! He has a Buddhist background, but doesn't practice much himself. He is very positive and loves having an optimistic mindset. He really likes the idea of looking back on his life one day with no regrets and a peace of mind. We related that to the plan of salvation and how this plan of happiness that God designed for us helps us to understand our purpose and path in life so that we can make the most of it and ultimately look back with no regrets and peace of mind. He isn't interested in "converting", but he was extremely interested in the Book of Mormon. Thank goodness that's where all the power and truth is found!

Friday night before we went home, we found a guy walking on the sidewalk and started talking to him. His name is Mansoor and he has lived here for three years and has no friends. We started talking about the gospel and the special message we have to share and HE wanted to get OUR number and meet up with US...usually people are running away from us, but he wanted to learn more! We met with him the next night. He will probably get baptized, buuuuut he really, really wants to be best friends with us and sit only with us at church and only be friends with us, so we may have to pass him off to the Elders haha.

Also...Oliver Prince got baptized yesterday! What a STUD. He is so strong and faithful! He is also famous and knows Drake? So that's pretty cool. I asked him if Drake would be interested in taking the lessons with us soooo don't be surprised if those rap songs turn into hymnal raps in June! All I ask is for a #mormon.org on instagram, Drake. 

Also, the YSA ward here is so good to us! Such friendly people! I love them so much!

I have officially started the Purification Challenge! It is where I fast for 30-40 days from bad habits and things I want to rid myself of and where I work on implementing good habits and work on attaining worthy goals for myself. The process is to help my spirit and mind and heart be pure so that the Spirit can work through me and touch the lives of those I serve. I am so grateful that God is able to help build us up and give us strength beyond our own!

The Book of Mormon is true. The Church is true. Christ lives and God loves us. 

And happy week for all mothers everywhere!

I love y'all!