hello 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Holy cow, where did 2014 go? Time sure flies when you're having MISSIONARY FUN!!!

(I feel so obligated to make this the best email ever since it's the last one of the year! But, we'll see)

Monday we had FHE with the wonderful Pulsihphers! We watched a cheesy video called "The Other Wise Man" and the moral was about how we have these gifts and talents and abilities to share with others and as we share them along our journey of life, we come to see how sharing our gifts helps us to draw nearer to our Saviour. So, SHARE YOUR GIFTS with others!

Tuesday we met with sweet Mackenzie! We taught her the Restoration and believed it all! During the lesson she told us, "Everyone at school always says that God doesn't love us because of all the bad things that happen, but I don't believe that. I think He does love us or He wouldn't have sent us here." How sweet is she?

We also went and sang to an elderly man in the ward. He then told us to stop or else he'd start crying. How cute? We love singing to people! Softens hearts like no other.

That night we went and visited a single, less-active mom and her two boys. 10 year olds are crazy, I tell ya!! We tried relating to them and helping them understand the importance of church and seeing how FUN it can be!! Yeah! haha...
After they ran upstairs we were able to talk to Jen (their mom) about how things are going. As we consoled her and rubbed her back and praised her, it was interesting to think about how much the Saviour loves us and of how much worth we are to Him. As she prayed through her tears, she gave such a sincere prayer and it was just such a tender reminder of how much the Lord loves us.

That night, we visited a family who is potentially investigating. They lost their mom this past September, so it's been a rough few months. We stopped by right as they were leaving and we were able to talk to them and sing to them and testify of Heavenly Father's love for them. I choked back tears as I saw the pain in this young father's eyes--knowing that he is trying his best to just get through, and as I prayed for this family.

As a missionary, I love standing in place of the Saviour and being His representative and His hands. It's such a blessing to feel God's love work through us for others.

Christmas eve, we visited members and delivered Christmas cards and had two dinner appointments in one night! Talk about turkeyed out! I love these wonderful families that take such good care of us! We also found a family that welcomed us right in and allowed us to share our message of the Restoration with them! They are wonderful! It was a Christmas miracles!

CHRISTMAS DAY WAS THE BEST! We had so many food appointments and we skyped with our beloved (love y'all!) and just went around singing for members! (Can you tell we missionaries like to sing?) CHRIST truly is the center of this season. HE is the reason for peace and joy.

The other day we met with Mike. He really hit rock bottom. He truly expressed godly sorrow and wants to change. But he, along with a couple other investigators, came to church yesterday! YAY FOR THE SPIRIT!
All the talks were SO beautiful-- Bishop Julian's was wonderful. He addressed every single person in His talk (the single mother, the deacon, the elderly, etc) and testified of the Saviour's love for them. It was inspiring and uplifting, especially with the upcoming new year!

With this upcoming new year, it's the perfect time to leave behind the bad, hold to the good, to seek out the better, and to work toward the best. Let's make this year wonderful! Set goals, make plans, and labour with love! The Saviour loves you.

I am so grateful to be on the Lord's errand. I love y'all!

Merry CHRISTmas

This week was absolutely wonderful.

First of all, I want to give a special thanks to the Ashtons and the primary kids back home from the good 'ole Justin ward for the Christmas tree package. My companion and I had a ball putting our tree up this morning! Thank you for making our apartment a little more festive :)

 

This past week, Sister Jensen (my little baby-- she only has a week left of training!) and I combined our areas and have been going NONSTOP the past few days! Literally appointment after appointment-- it's been crazy but sooo good :)

This whole month, we have had dinner appointments every single night...sometimes even two in one night...yikes, I know. This ward is just so wonderful! I love Hamilton! This is the best family ward ever. The members are so kind and wonderful and take such good care of us and have such strong testimonies. I love this family of mine!

We had a such a special lesson with our new investigator, Jessica, this week. While we were teaching her the Restoration, we got to the apostasy part. After she read the scripture about the apostasy (famine in the land, not of bread of water, but of the word of God), we asked her what she thought would happen next and she paused and looked at us and said, "He's going to call another man to bring back the truth."

HALLELUJAH! SHE UNDERSTOOD. It was so beautiful to watch as the spirit testified truth to her! She accepted a baptismal date and her 13 year old daughter came to church Sunday and LOVED it. They are so promising and we love them and ahhhh!!

We also met with Hilde and brought a sister from the ward and they were instantly best friends. So that worked out! We even had to break up their chatter so we could pray and be home on time!

We also met with a less-active woman. She stopped coming because of the people, but she says she really misses the sacrament. We testified to her of her divine role in building the kingdom of God on earth here and in being there for others at church and of not letting Satan get in the way of that! We all felt the spirit. She committed to come to church next week, too!

We also met with a young man from the ward that wants to go on a mission in the near future. We even role-played with him while teaching him the restoration. It was awesome.

We also visited lots of members this week. Oh how I love these sweet people. They are all so dear to me! I am grateful for them and for the missionaries they are.

Oh I wish how I could just talk about every little detail that's happened this past week. It has been such a blessing to be with Sister Jensen. She is such an angel and is just such a good missionary. We have already had such special, tender moments with members, investigators, strangers, each other, etc. I love this work and this season and I'm grateful for miracles!

I love this Christmas season. It's all about Jesus Christ. I know that He is our Saviour and Redeemer and that His love for us is perfect and individual. I'm grateful for the enabling power of the Atonement and know that it's real. I know our Heavenly Father knows and loves us so perfectly and wants us to return to His presence. I know the Spirit is the most powerful and assuring means of knowing truth and I'm grateful for His influence on the hearts of those we speak with as well as His companionship with those worthily under the covenant. I know that the church of Jesus Christ has been restored in it's fulness today and that we are led and guided by a prophet of God. How wonderful! I love this gospel and this work that I'm privileged to be apart of.

*REQUEST*
1) I would LOVE if everyone could send me their heartfelt testimonies of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. It would be the best Christmas gift to a missionary, ever.

2) go print of the poster of "I'll share the gift by ______" on mormon.org, fill it out, take a selfie holding it, and share it!

I love you all so much. Each one of you is precious to your Father in Heaven. And so is the person next to you. So share the gift of Christ this Christmas season.

xoxo

a looong week

Well, this week was long! Therefore this weekly update will be laaame.

Monday we visited the Pulsiphers and had FHE with them. We read the parable of the 10 virgins and talked about the importance of spiritually preparing ourselves for when the Saviour will come. 

It's happening one day, people!

Later that night, we visited our investigator Hilde and the Chinese elders came and gave her a blessing for her back. It was neat to hear in her blessing how much her Heavenly Father loves her. Power to the priesthood!

hello from Gotham city!

We also have been visiting more families in the ward. I love those people. I really admire how these families and I'm grateful to see how none of them are perfect, but they do what they can to love like Christ and put Him at the center of their lives.

It's also funny to hear conversion stories of all these older members and how they turned down missionaries so many times! Haha seeds have to be planted before flowers can bloom! (I'm still sick so if that's cheesy and makes no sense, sorry).

Friday we have Zone Council! It was so great. Sister Jensen (another sister in the ward) and I were asked to demonstrate the role-play on how to use the pamphlets more effectively and simply. It was scary and fun! 

Afterwards, Sister Pettus felt sick and pulled out of the musical number last minute so guess who filled in for her?

yep. 

I sang Silent Night with Sister Jensen and two other elders and it was TERRIFYING. But I loved it. I love singing! I just needed a push to go up there! 

This week, we have met a lot with Mike! Haha we love Mike. He always prays that we will have dreams where we are flying over things or prays for our future husbands, he's a special one. 

We even went over to teach him and ended up showing him and his mom and sister the "He is the Gift" video. The spirit was so strong and my heart was just a pounding! I love the spirit and I love my Saviour. He loves us all so much.

How about that Christmas Devotional?! The music was beautiful, the words were uplifting, and the spirit was edifying. 

So yeah, everyone go watch it! And share the wonderful spirit of Christ with all those who mean something to you.

I love y'all!

the sketchiest of all elevators

hey lookey there. It's Dallas!

He is the Gift

I love being in Hamilton! I love being in a family ward! I love Sister Pettus! I love the Christmas season!

This past week was too good. (Except when I hit my HALFWAY mark...)

churchin

Monday we visited the friend of a member. She is old and German and ended up telling us about her childhood and started crying. I can testify that old German woman do not cry, but she did! We were then able to testify to her about the Atonement and about how much her Saviour and Heavenly Father love her and how the trials she endured have taught her how to be a good mother to her children. It made me grateful for my German grandmother who blessed my life with the love and guidance I needed as a child.

Tuesday we had a special zone conference with half the mission! It was AMAZING. The means of our vision is switching gears a little! We will be working A TON with members and I'm so excited about it. 

We also talked about the new He is the Gift initiative that the church is producing! It is AMAZING. 

DISCOVER

EMBRACE

#SHARE

I invite everyone to 

1) watch the video "He is the Gift" on christmas.mormon.org 

2) and then to think about how Jesus Christ is God's gift to you

3) and then share that with your friends and everyone else! Share it on your social networks, send it to a friend, invite a stranger to watch it. 

Let us flood the world with the gospel. Discover the gift, embrace the gift, then share the gift!

After the meeting, our mission President and His wife surprised us by showing us the movie, "Meet the Mormons"-- IT IS SO GOOD. EVERYONE GO WATCH IT AND JUST CRY YOUR EYES OUT WITH TEARS OF HAPPINESS.

yum.

So this week we visited a lot of members! I'm excited to get to know more. Yesterday in sacrament, I was invited by the Bishop to share my testimony and I bore testimony of the simple truths I know about the restored gospel and about our Heavenly Father's love for each of us. Good thing I did not specify where in Texas I was from because it gave some members a reason to come up and ask me, so I got to know lots of members that way!

One night we had dinner with the Pulsiphers. They are C E L E S T I A L. I love them dearly. It was truly one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. I left their home a different person. I am so grateful for them and for the spirit. A quote they shared with us was, 

"...the one power, even beyond sight, that can burn doubt out of us and make it, as it were, impossible for us to disbelieve—is the Holy ­Ghost."

I KNOW that this is true. This ^ is how our Heavenly Father communicates to us-- through the Holy Ghost.

Yesterday, Satan was suuuuch a stink! 

So there we were-- tracting (also, something I never have done in YSA, but it's so fun!). We saw a couple leaving one of the houses and so we approached them. The husband began asking us a little about who we were and about our main message and we shared a portion of the restoration and he immediately began telling us that what we believed was false doctrine. The woman whose home they were leaving said she even met with missionaries in the past and said she read from the Book of Mormon and prayed about it and felt she was SINNING (what?). The man went on further to tell us more about what we believed (I love when people do that!) and said that we do not believe in the same Jesus Christ as he does and that we are a cult and that he cannot even wish us luck on our missions because we are preaching false doctrine (as he pretends to shake our hands and then slowly and so proudly pulls away).

Man! I feel bad for them. I feel bad because Heavenly Father loves them so much and they don't even know how to return to live with Him.

This restored gospel of light and happiness and hope and TRUTH teaches us how to return to live with our Heavenly Father and everyone needs what we have. Think about who in your life is ready to receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and then invite them to partake of the sweet goodness we feel and value!

I love the gospel and my Saviour so much. 

He is coming again one day. 

Are we prepared?

xoxo

wimpy Christmas light we love! and AMERICAN flag

mormon.org everywhere you turn

hello from hamilton!

First of all...

big hugs to Megan Berge and Hillary Owen for RETURNING WITH HONOR. I feel like you both went into the MTC yesterday, and now you're home. I know that you were both such good missionaries and did wonderful things. I love you!

So this week was crazy. But here I am. In a family ward. In Hamilton (which is Gotham City for all you Batman lovers). We sisters don't go downtown, but it's still great! I miss Toronto YSA more than anything I've ever missed as a missionary before (besides my sweet companions), but it was my time to move on and I'm grateful that the Lord is already helping me grow in ways that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. He knows!! We don't, but He does.

It's really weird being the companion that has come into an area where I don't know any of the streets or members or places or ANYTHING. It's been really good, though, because I have never really had to turn to the Lord so much! I love the feeling of not having to rely on ourselves, but instead, learning to rely on the Lord and take counsel from the Spirit. I love feeling close to the Lord. It's such a beautiful feeling of love.

So my new companion is Sister Pettus! She is from Hurricane (huur-i-cuhn) Utah! She has been out a little over a year and she is so great. She is so good at bringing the spirit when she testifies and I loooove that. She has only been in this area for a transfer, so we are kind of learning how to build it up together as we go!

She actually had a birthday this week so a big THANK YOU to Kelly for the leftover birthday things I happened to have that hopefully made her birthday a little colourful and fun! :)

This morning, I was reading something called the "Sister Susan Fulcher case study" -- it's so good! If you know anyone that is a missionary or going on a mission or if you want to be a better member missionary PLEASE READ THIS AND SHARE IT. It has changed my perspective on missionary work and I know that it will help us bring more precious souls into the gospel.

"It's funny, but I don't even feel discouraged when I ask someone to learn about the church, and they tell me they're not interested. I know I just offered them something more valuable than a $100 bill, and if they don't think they need it, I just offer it to someone else. And I always hope that the people who reject the invitation felt that I loved them, and felt God's love for them. At some point in their lives, they might remember how they felt, and remember that it came from God through me."

We don't know who is prepared, but the Lord does and they need what we have. So let's do our duty to God and preach the gospel. Our ward mission leader actually put together invitation ideas. You member missionaries out there should try some of these!:

-invite someone to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional with you on Dec. 7th

-invite someone to church during the month of December

-invite someone to join you for family home evening

-invite someone to read the Book of Mormon as a gift with your testimony inside

-invite the full-time missionaries over for dinner during the month of December

-invite the Saviour to assist you and guide you with your invitations and your desire to share his gospel as you join in hastening His glorious work

I am grateful to be a representative of the Lord. I know that His hand is in this work.

Please reach out to someone you don't know this week. Be a friend to them and love them and help them to feel God's love through you. You never know who might be praying for someone like you to come into their life.

I love y'all, but God loves you more!

xoxo

HAMILTON

Yep, I'm getting transferred to Hamilton! I'm leaving my dear area of Toronto and all the YSA here! How dearly everything and everyone will be missed.

Toronto YSA is where I was changed and raised and shaped and tugged and stretched and tried and built, and I'm super sad to leave, but I'm also happy because I know it's time for me to move on and I know the Lord knows me, because everything that has happened to me on my mission is evidence that He knows me and what I need and who I need. I'm excited to move forward!

Also (here comes the missionary in me because I'm about to use an analogy)... a new area is suuuuuch a small portion of our mission, and a mission is suuuuuch a small portion of our life, and our life is suuuuch a small portion of the eternal plan that God has for us. So when challenges arise, remember that they will be but a small moment.

So this week was actually a little rough! haha. Downtown Toronto has some crazy people and there is always just lots of wickedness and sad things happening everywhere. My tender, missionary heart can't even handle it sometimes!

As missionaries, at least for me, I think we forget that there really is a lot of hurt in the world out there. We forget that there is a lot of sadness and cruelty and sin and abuse. But that is why the Atonement of our Saviour Jesus Christ was not performed in case we needed it, but because our Heavenly Father knew that we would need it. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is not beyond the reach of any one of us. Change IS possible, joy IS available, and the love of our Saviour and Heavenly Father is and always will be present, perfect, and unchanging. The things I've seen and felt, the good, bad, and the ugly, have all been for a reason. I'm grateful for that.

On Saturday, we had SMT! I kept feeling like we should talk about charity and I couldn't figure out which direction to take with it or how to really apply it to ESL, but I went with it. We started talking about what our missions have taught us about charity and the spirit was SO PRESENT. It was so great to hear, not only the testimonies of what these missionaries have learned about loving others, but also about what they have learned from the examples of their companions. (shoutout to my former companions for teaching me so much!!) LOVE IS ALL WE NEED IN THIS WORLD.

Yesterday was oh so good. A few investigators and less-actives came, the talks in sacrament were so perfect, and a girl that I handed a mormon.org card to on the subway WEEKS ago showed up at church with her friend! Man, miracles happen! When I first talked to her, she didn't seem thaaaat interested, but then she came to church?! So great. And after church, the Elders had another baptism and it was so happy. We got to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ during the "changing" time and it was so special. I love teaching and testifying!

After church, we had some lessons and Robert got Sister Coleman and I gifts! He is the best gift-giver because he got Sister Coleman legos (general conference family tradition for her!) and he got me a selfie card game (because I always take selfies on his phone)- he knows us too well! ONE DAY ROBERT WILL GO ON A MISSION. PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM :)

Gifts from Robert

That evening there was a missionary fireside! President and Sister Clayton spoke. I love them! Sister Clayton speaks soooo tenderly. These were a few of my favourite things from last night:

"We don't know what we don't know."

Let us ask ourselves each day, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me do?"

"Give Him a place in your heart."

I love being a missionary! I love the gospel! Please think of the people in your life who need what you have-- pray for them, love them, invite them to partake of the things that can bring them the joy they need.

I love y'all!

 

 

here's my heart

 About a year ago, last October, there was a Halloween stake activity. There was a bright, 18 year old boy there, named Elliot. There were no warnings that peanuts were in any of the food items, and Elliot had an allergic reaction. He ran outside and called for help immediately; by the time he got to the hospital, damage had been done to his brain. Doctors said that the damage was so severe that he would be completely immobile and mentally handicapped for the rest of his life.

His sister Eloise, was on a mission. She had the choice to either return home or stay on her mission. She knew that in order for her family to receive the strength and blessings they and Elliot so desperately needed, she would need to stay. When she returned home at the end of her mission, she went to the hospital to visit Elliot for the first time in 18 months. She saw him, she held his hand and said in his ear "Elliot, I'm home."

Despite being immobile and completely unresponsive, tears came out of Elliot's closed eyes. He knew she was there, and he could hear and feel her.

I've heard of Elliot's progress since being here and have heard of so many miracles that have happened since his accident-- one of them being that he has returned home with his family just last month. He still resides in a hospital bed, but he is there-- body and mind. He feels when people touch him, he blinks twice when he understands, his eyes get big when he tries to see, he can almost, barely say "hi". Sometimes he will look around the ceiling frequently or just stare in one spot for a very long time-- angels are there taking care of him.

Saturday night I had the privilege of meeting Elliot for the first time. He has quickly become my favourite human. I tried soooo hard to fight back tears! But, I'm such a softy, dang it! Pray for him and his family. I love that boy and I admire his family so much. The strength they have and the blessings they have received from this trial has been such a testimony-builder for myself.

Elliot :)

I know that this is a very frail existence that we have chosen to be apart of. But this life isn't it, there is so much more. The beautiful things we see and the tender mercies that are apparent and abundant in our lives, are only glimpses of what our Heavenly Father has in store for us. He loves us, and He hasn't forgotten us, and never will. It reminds me of the lyrics to hymn number #136:

He lives to grant me rich supply.
He lives to guide me with his eye.
He lives to comfort me when faint.
He lives to hear my soul's complaint.
He lives to silence all my fears.
He lives to wipe away my tears.
He lives to calm my troubled heart.
He lives all blessings to impart.

He does, I know He does. I've felt it, and I know you can too as you turn to Him.

This week was good though, but this transfer went but so stinkin' fast!! I'm praying that I stay JUST ONE MORE. Maybe I can bargain with Heavenly Father? We'll see how that goes...

This week, we also met with our investigators! Yesol is still hanging in here! She will be baptized one day!! Pray for her!!

We met with Ben, too! He was sooo sick and still met with us to talk about the Book of Mormon. What a good guy. He is the one who comes and translates at our ESL class for us and plays the piano beautifully and has long hair-- he is a kingdom-builder, for sure.

After we met with Ben. our member that came with us was leaving to go hang out with the rest of the YSA, and sometimes being YSA while serving in YSA is hard! But we went on being missionaries and went to visit our dear Shaunna-- and it was one of the most spiritual moments of my mission.

She talked to us about how she is so ready to start coming back and asked us questions about how to know if Heavenly Father has forgiven us and so many other tender things that cannot be written. It was so good, and I love her so much! It's so cool to see how her testimony is not only becoming more apparent, but is also strengthening.

We also had Zone Council this week. We role-played talking to people on the bus and at the end. We all went into a small room and watched the "Because of Him" video and then our zone leaders opened the baptismal font and the spirit FILLED THE ROOM as they began testifying that this is what it's all about. MAN I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. Testimony meetings with other missionaries is one of the most powerful things to be apart of.

Also, the greatest baptism in the history of baptisms happened yesterday. Mordecai is this African girl that has the most solid, powerful, pure, testimony. She literally smiles with her eyes! She came out of the water laughing and crying. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. She said that when she told her mom at first, her mom left her room and didn't talk to her for 2 hours-- but it was because she left and cried because her prayers had been answered that her daughter was being baptized. After she bore her testimony, her mom was bawling and they just held each other. It was so precious!

Sister Coleman and I and Elder Lasley and a member (Jesse) did the musical number, too! I played Come Thou Fount on the piano and they sang the lyrics to Joseph's Smith's First Prayer. It was fun :) and we also taught the Restoration during the baptism-- the spirit was so strong.

This week was the best week ever. I love my mission, I love these people, I love the spirit, I love love, I love this gospel, I love my Saviour.

The church is true, if you don't know it, I invite you to get on your knees right now and pray-- ask your Heavenly Father and He will answer your prayers. I PROMISE. Gain your own spiritual witness.

I love you all.
xoxo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glQYsxJhv_E