S P I R I T U A L

So let me just tell you about this week.

Tuesday we had skills and interviews with President and Sister Clayton. So beautiful. So crazy how inspired that man is!! Heavenly Father knows. He talked to me a lot about things I had been thinking about and just gave me the counsel I needed.

Something I finally came to understand is how important it is for us to have confidence in the Lord and just trust in Him. If we are doing what is right, then we need to recognize it and know it! The Lord blesses and guides us for a reason, and it is silly to not recognize when we are in the right and doing good! So recognize your strengths and continue to add upon them.

One day, we went to this area/neighborhood that we had prayed about the night before. While there, we talked to a lot of nice people, but no one was actually super interested. Right before we went back to the car, we met this lady named Dana. She had just recently found Jesus Christ in her life and said we were welcome to come over the next day! When we taught her the next day, she told us she hadn't even planned on going down that street that day! The Lord works miracles, I'm tellin ya.

One evening we had a dinner appointment with some members. The night before, we planned on teaching them about the Book of Mormon and then committing them to share a Book of Mormon with a friend. During dinner, we talked a lot about their less-active kids and then eventually about the Book of Mormon and Brother K was like "This is my favourite topic!" Gold. So we were talking and Brother K mentioned Alma and how it was because of the faith of his father that he was brought back, and immediately (as if a light had turned on), the thought came to me that he needs to write a letter bearing his testimony to his kids. So I turned to Sister Raymant and told her that I hope she's okay with changing the commitment and told them we had planned something different but that I just felt something else. I told him what I'd felt and he just smiled real big and laughed and looked at Sister K and she was like, "I know, go ahead and tell them." He told us that the Lord has been giving him this impression for months to write this letter to his oldest son and that he now knows he needs to.

Kudos to the Spirit, eh?!

That night, we didn't have any solid plans for the last half hour because an appointment had cancelled earlier. So we decided to heart attack a members' door! We wrote cute little cheesy notes and quotes and secretly stuck them on their door and knocked and ran! Ten minutes later we get a call from them...they were just bawling. So the next night they have us over and explain. That whole week, had been one of the hardest of their lives. She was sick and Satan was just being so annoying and hard on them and she just hadn't been feeling the spirit at all and was just super angry, etc etc. And right when she was at her breaking point, she heard a knock at the door-- when we heart attacked their door. She knew right away it was us and she just started crying and was totally brought back to solid ground and was exactly what she needed. Heavenly Father's timing is always soooo perfect.

We have also seen a lot of progress with two of our investigators, Kerry and Daphne. Kerry is a former and Daphne saw us talking to her son outside and just welcomed us right in.

Kerry expressed many feelings to us last night and it was awesome to just testify to her about the Atonement and how it will change her as she makes God her priority. The spirit totally worked through us last night, because it was so strong and so present. She felt it.

Daphne is Catholic, but we've been teaching her and now her grandson and she just keeps saying "I just don't know yet, but I keep praying!" And she just keeps inviting back. I love when she quickly plays her gospel music for us as we are leaving. It's so special.

Oh! Last night, we didn't have solid plans (I promise we usually have more solid plans than this past week...) so we decided to tract this street. We met a lot of nice people, especially a girl who just lost her dad and then her 88-year old, Filipino neighbor welcomed us right in and called us "foreign angels" and said we could come back tomorrow. Ahhhh!

Oh, and did I mention that I got to shake hands with Elder Oaks? Yeah, he came and spoke to our mission! As well as Elder Kacher and Elder Allard. It was wonderful! Their talks were prepared just for me, so that was nice. They talked about:

-being satisfied that Heavenly Father is pleased with our sacrifice

-remembering that Heavenly Father loves us

-that this isn't MY mission, it's HIS mission that I get to be apart of

-that we need not being disappointed when investigators fail to keep their commitments, but to continue to love and respect them

-to develop holy habits and righteous routines

-the importance of being converted to the gospel, not the church-- this influences the way we teach and testify

-that church is "not a retirement home for the righteous, but a hospital for sinners"-- hence the reason we are divided into wards ;)

-that Songs of Solomon, according to Elder Oaks, are "biblical trash" (LOL)

-that Catholics make good Mormons

-to just love and open our mouths to EVERYONE

The spirit was so abundant. Elder Oaks first spoke to the missionaries, and then another meeting took place after wherein he spoke to returning members and investigators. It was awesome! The room was packed! I even reunited with so many of my people from Toronto YSA, it was beautiful. I love them so much!!

Brothers and sisters, the gospel has been restored and the church is true! Ask Him and I promise you, He'll tell you.

xoxo

a week of miracles

This week was a week of miracles! So many wonderful things happening here in Hamilton!

Monday we had dinner with Sister Watson

! So fun. She has been through so much but stands strong and means it when she says, "I don't go to church for the people, I go for God. If I went for the people, I would've left a long time ago." Can I get an amen?

This week we have really been working with the Pope family. We did service and helped them clean, we taught them about the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation, and they came to church yesterday. Progress! We are doing FHE with them tonight so FINGERS CROSSED they cooperate and participate!

We also visited a member and talked to her about her missionary efforts. This is what I have come to understand about member missionary work: there is a desire and there is a vision, but the in between stuff... that's unknown territory. So we've been thinking of ways in which we can develop a plan to help members be the effective missionaries they desire to be and that their friends needs them to be. We discussed with her ways and questions in which she can approach her friend with:

-how would I want to be approached about spiritual topics?

-what is my testimony?

-how can my friend benefit from this?

-why does my friend need this?

-what is motivating me to share this with my friend?

-what is the worst thing that could happen if I share this? Can I live with that?

-if they are offended or reject what I share with or offer them, then where do we stand? Where do I stand?

-what are some inspired questions I could ask my friend to teach her?

-what can I tell them about my week that may make them ask more about what I want to share with them?

-am I being motivated by love?

One of the first things I learned when I got to the field was what a terrible member missionary I was back home!! But talking to our friends is our commission and sharing with them what we love is our privilege. They may not accept it, they may be offended, but if we are acting out of love, we will never be in the wrong, and we will be doing exactly what the Lord expects of us. 

We also met with a couple former investigators this week, too. We helped Kerry to clean her house and she even came to church yesterday! We also met a guy named Alex. From what he has told us about himself, he has lived quite the extravagant life! We are still seeking the spirit to discern between truth and not-truth, but it's exciting nonetheless!

Last night we went and dropped by a media referral of someone who had requested a Book of Mormon, but the man that answered the door hadn't requested it (son probably did). He was very nice and Christian, but very quick to cut us off as we tried to bear our testimonies to him. It just makes me so sad for people who don't give the spirit a chance to just touch their hearts. I am just so grateful that I am apart of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and that I have found the truth.

With like half an hour before the end of the night, we found 2 new investigators! We had another media referral and then we were talking to this guy on the street who was shoveling snow out of his mom's driveway. She opened the door and told us to come in. When we were talking with her inside, we asked her what made her welcome us into her home. She was like, ""I don't know, I just saw you and felt like I should let you girls on in!" Right you are Daphne. We are excited to share the gospel with her!

The work is hastening here! It is wonderful! 

Have a great week!

So remember that one time when 2014 just flew by?

Crazy, eh?

Also, SHOUTOUT to Garret Cragun for returning with honor!! What a good missionary and friend!

So, I'm still in Hamilton and I'm training a new baby missionary! Well, she's training me, but it's been so fun! Sister Raymant is 26, from Alberta, and makes me laugh allllll the time! I love her! We get along so great.

This week, we just have really been working on having revelatory planning sessions and in rebuilding our teaching pool. It's been fun though because when Sister Jensen and I combined our areas for 2 weeks, we didn't have time to contact or tract, because we had so many people to teach!

But this week has been good because we have had more time to tract and contact people on the street, and it's been so fun! Especially for Sister Raymant who is new to it all. She is so good though?! Like, I'm super impressed.

I feel like I have thought a lot about when I was new and how I was trained and what helped me and what didn't and it's really been such a blessing to see how I have grown so much. The Atonement is real! I testify that it is.

Right now, we are teaching the Pope family. The mom has been coming to church every other Sunday or so for about a year and a half. This family is a rough-around-the-edges-I-don't-care-or-feel kind of family. Every time we go over there, there is so much yelling and barking and screaming and fighting, BUT...every time we go over there, I feel so much peace and joy. As we've been teaching two of her kids, it's really cool to see how the atmosphere changes when the spirit enters the room and how their hearts soften (just a little!) when they choose to participate and engage in the conversation. They are so special! I love seeing their potential.

So right now, they are super promising. Please pray for them!

And for Mike that he'll stop smoking.

And for Todd that he'll understand the Book of Mormon when he reads it.

And for Diana that her struggles won't burden her down.

Oh! Diana! So one day, we went to meet Mike, but he ended up bombing the appointment, so we decided to tract his apartment building. The FIRST door we knocked on, a man answered. Super friendly! I thought at first he wasn't really interested, though. Then his wife in the background yells, "Tell them to pray for me!" Then she insisted that we come in. She began telling us that she has been going through a lot lately and was asking us about forgiveness and God's love. She told us that she has been praying for something. Then we showed up. We taught her the Restoration and afterwards she said she already felt a little better.

NEW YEAR'S MIRACLES! Our Heavenly Father will always bless us for every effort we put in.

So yeah, this week was great and I love being a missionary. I'm so fortunate.

Also...

IF YOU LOVE YOUR FRIENDS, THEN TELL THEM ABOUT THE GLORIOUS MESSAGE OF THE RESTORED GOSPEL.

xoxo

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