I've Got This!

I've Got This!

Shout Out: Vanessa I got your birthday package! I just about died laughing at the BYOB (bring your own bear). Like actually though, it made me SO happy :) You are a wonderful human and an even greater friend! 

BYOB (bring your own bear) a gift from my dearest friend Vanessa :)

So this week we had our last zone conference with President Scott :( It was very bitter sweet. I am going to miss him a ton! He talked to us about one of his favorite topics to study. Light and Darkness! It was really cool how he went into detail with it, but the gist of what he said is that in life there are only 2 forces at work. Light, or God, and darkness, or Satan. Every choice we make will either bring us closer to the light or to the dark. He went into more detail about what light is and what brings light into our lives- being obedient to the gospel. We also talked about how Satan tries to convince us that light is darkness and darkness is light. We looked at some examples in the world today and one that really stuck with me is the idea of Pro Choice. For those who may not know, Pro Choice is for people who are pro abortion.... How grossly mislabeled is that?! Every time I think about it I just get so annoyed! GAH! 

President also took some time to give all of us some advice for when we go home, the things he has learned over the years of experience that he has had. It was hard not to cry. I could feel the fatherly love that he has for each of us. #tender

Sister Rogers! She was at my zone conference! 

I heard some awesome news from London! Im not sure if you remember me talking about Shawn, but Shawn is someone Sister Shurtliff and I contacted on the street and handed over to the YSA Elders to be taught. I remember seeing him walking towards us and thinking he would never be interested haha. He had the appearance of a tough guy; had a fro-hawk, look like he could be Native, and also looked mad and like he could beat us up. Well we stopped to talk with him anyways and he gave us his information. WELL he just got baptized!!! AH! The Elders were telling me about their experience teaching him and said he was one of the coolest most prepared people they had ever met! He comes from a hard back ground most of his family struggles with alcoholism, he felt like he didn't know what his purpose was in this life and he's a boxer. The first lesson they taught him he immediately wanted to make changes in his life. Since then things have been hard for him, he had an issue to over come with like every commandment, but had so much faith and was able to overcome like all of them in a matter of 2-3 weeks. God was there helping him every step! 

I'll share one funny experience the Elders told me about. So they taught Shawn the word of wisdom and at the end of the lesson they invited him to pray for strength to live this commandment. 

In his prayer this is what he said, "Im grateful for the missionaries and that they taught me about the word of wisdom... God, I know that I can live this commandment! I've got this! I dont even need your help! I know I can do this!" He then closed his prayer.

The following week was one of the hardest weeks Shawn had been through and the next time he met with the missionaries he was totally humbled and said he couldn't do this without God.  

I just about died laughing when they told me the whole story! 

As for over here in Guelph, Sister Maeta and I found the best family! They need the gospel so bad! Their story is a bitter sweet one, but I will start with the sweet. The mother's name is Jen and we taught 3 of her 4 boys. The father is away and wont be home till the beginning of August and things have been really hard on her. She is facing a lot of difficult life decisions and we really could not have come into her life at a better time (it is amazing how well Heavenly Father knows His children and is aware of them!). We taught them all about the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was strong :) Her boys asked such good questions about what happens after we die and they are only between the ages of 9-12! SO Smart! We invited them to be baptized on July 20th and they all agreed to work towards it :). Now for the bitter. So the next day we get a text from Jen saying they are Catholic and are not interested in changing religions... apparently her older daughter who came to visit her from Toronto got mad at her mom for meeting with us. Jen is Native and is Catholic mostly by tradition. My heart broke when we read the text, but she said that we could come back to share more messages as long as we didnt try and convert them. AH HA! Its the silver lining! :D I have a strong feeling that this is just the start of their journey and that there is much more good to come. 

Line of The Week: 

President Scott: "His companion was being disobedient and he was just sitting back drinking the kool-aid." 

Scripture of the week: Moroni 8:16 

"...I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear."

A Haiku for you!
two forces

determines destiny 

light and dark

Have a wonderful week and remember to always walk in the Light! 

Sister Hall

The Tornado clouds! 

Are You Sleeping Through Your Life?

Are You Sleeping Through Your Life?

Shout Outs! 

Happy Fathers Day Papa! I heard this funny quote that I want to share with you :) "At the age of 14 I was appalled at how ignorant my father was. When I turned 21 I was amazed at how much he had matured." -Mark Twain  You sure do amaze me dad!

London Calling: 

So some wonderful news from London, the entire Ellis family came out to church this past week! They were welcomed like CRAZY into the ward AND they have been using the family reading and praying calendar we made them :) 

Chris didn't get baptized this week because he still has a concern about his DJing.... I feel like that might be a cover for something more serious but I am no longer his missionary. 

So it was yet another great week in the Kingdom! Efrem got baptized on Sunday and I don't think the spirit could have been stronger! It has been a long road for him and the decision to be baptized was not made lightly. He had the biggest smile on his face all Sunday and he kept going up to people inviting them to come to his baptism. I didn't think his smile could get any bigger but then he came out of the water and he just glowed! He was SO happy and he waved at everyone before getting out of the water :D After the service he went up to everyone to shake their hand and thank them for coming. My heart was so full of joy and the spirit :) 

Things with Valquiria have been interesting.. When we taught her last she hadn't been reading and her reason for not coming to church was that a personal matter had come up and that really she hasn't committed yet to come to church every week because she is not yet baptized..... hmmmmmm. Something is defiantly missing here.  I asked her why she wanted to get baptized and she said she didn't know. The more we talked with her the more concerned I got. I took a few days to think and pray about our situation and became enlightened. So Valquiria is really just about the sweetest and most innocent person I have ever met! I cannot imagine that she has committed any serious sin or transgression in her life and because of this I feel like she doesnt see the urgency for receiving her answer. She doesn't feel like her salvation is at stake because her conscious is fairly clean. So there is no motivation to change. Getting an answer would mean that she would have to act and she is comfortable where she is. The weird thing is that she understands the restoration. She understands that Joseph Smith restored the authority to baptize. I guess the problem is that she understands it in her head but it hasnt sunk into her heart. The spirit hasn't been able to testify to her that it is true because she hasnt been reading and praying.  

On a different note you will never guess who I met! Cletus Young! And I betcha that you also have no idea who I am talking about :) lol well Cletus is a less active member who is married to a very active lady in our ward. He was baptized about 2 years ago and was super active but has since fallen away. Cletus has come from a very very rough background. Actually he grew up in Newfoundland... in Corner Brook!!!! AND happened to be one of the biggest drug dealers on the rock! I just about died laughing!!!! I couldn't believe it! I asked him if he knew any of the Price boys who lived on Poplar Lain :) Cletus is 29 years old so it's unlikely that he knows any of my crazy uncles but I just thought that was so cool! I already feel a sort of kinship to him because of his rough background and how far he has come and I feel a bigger responsibility to help him back into the happiness of the gospel. 

My moral of this week is that I have seen many examples of people who are "sleeping through their life" on my mission. Efrem and Valquiria are two examples. Efrem has used his time to prayerfully find out if the message we share is true and has acted on his answer whereas Valquiria is content to just meet with us. This time is the time for us to perform our labours, it is the time to prepare to meet God. If we are not careful we may find ourselves sleeping through this life. The problem with this is that we don't realize that we have been sleeping until we wake up. I do not want to "wake up" at judgment day to see that I have not done the things the Lord has asked of me.

Just some food for thought :)  

Scripture of the week: Alma 38: 8-9

"And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto Him and I did find peace to my soul.

And now, my Son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, He is the life and the light of the world. Behold, He is the word of truth and righteousness."

A Haiku for you:

fatherhood

bumps, bruises, and heart aches 

he fixes

Well thats all for now. Remember to be wise and mature in your conduct at all times! ;) 

Sister Hall

Gratitude In Guelph

Gratitude In Guelph

Shout Outs! 

Sister Williams! I got your package and it filled me with joy to see a letter from my moma! I loved the sweater as well! I will send you a letter soon... hopefully haha 

Thank you so much Sister Spencer and the rest of the relief society for the card it was super thoughtful! 

Thank you to the Bennett's for the cake and candles :) Funny thing is that Sister Maeta's birthday was on June 4th so I got to celebrate 3 birthdays in a row! 

Also John I finally got your letter from you and your roommate. It was very humorous and I wish you luck with trying to find a wife! Ill try and write back when I can! 

AND Happy Birthday Chris Roberts!!! Can't wait to see you guys again!

Birthday cake from the Bennett's! 

So let me tell you about Guelph! We cover the whole city by ourselves and it is very pretty. Much different from the slums of East London. We live in downtown and it super pretty with lots of trees and cute churches. We have a car now and it is WEIRD! The first day my back hurt from sitting for so long and it was probably only about 2 hours total of driving! I really miss walking around and talking with people so Sister Maeta and I have decided that we will drive to an area and then get out and walk to different places. I am pleased with this choice :) It is really nice however to be able to drop by so many people and offer members rides to lessons. My new companion is Sister Maeta and we actually served in the same district when I was in Kingston! She has been out since December and is from Tahiti which means she is learning English and that I have to help her. Me helping someone learn English.... laugh it up family!  She has a very strong testimony of the gospel and sees things as very black and white which compliments me very nicely. In that sense she reminds me of Jill :) 

A view from our apartment

As for this week, we spent our time going through our teaching pool to figure out who was serious and who wasn't. We ended up dropping a few people but the ones we have kept are very promising and one of those people is Efrem! So Efrem has been taught for quite a while and has made a lot of changes over the last few months. He is from Ethiopia and grew up with a belief in Jesus Christ, but lost it over the years and trials came his way. He used to be a drug dealer or something like that and when he met the sisters he decided that he wanted to start making changes in his life. He has a baptismal date for this Sunday which is very exciting! This week he moved out of his old apartment to get away from some of his friends and hasn't had a smoke or any coffee in a week! WHOOT! 

Valquiria is another lady we are teaching. She is from Brazil and is up here doing a research project. She is such a sweet spirit! So kind and soft spoken! She let the missionaries right in when they met her and has been learning ever since. She loves everything that the missionaries have been teaching her but when it came to being baptized she hesitated because she felt that if she got baptized it would be like saying to all her family and friends that her church is better than theirs. We had a really good lesson with her this week and explained how God does not discriminate against His children and neither does His church. We helped her to feel more comfortable about baptism and were able to set her with a date for June 29th. I have high hopes for Valquiria :) 

We are also teaching Yonas who is a Muslim. He has a baptismal date for June 29th and says that he truly wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true. Helping him to come to understand that Jesus Christ is the actual son of God will be a long road but Im excited for it! Anton is another investigator we found this week and he also has a date for June 29th. He is a recently converted Christian from India. He converted to Christianity mostly because his mom wanted him to and when we asked him about what he knew about Jesus Christ it wasn't much and he confessed that he only thinks of God when he is in trouble. He really wants his kids to start going to church though and I feel like as he starts centering his home on Jesus Christ he will notice a difference in their home life and that will be what really motivates him to get baptized. 

Anyways thats pretty much what our week has been like! I miss London but I feel like Guelph is where I am needed. I haven't heard from Sister Shurtliff about the Ellis family or about how Chris is looking for his baptism on sunday but next week I will give you an update! 

Hope you all have a wonderful week that is full of sunshine and memories that will last a life time! Do Good! 

Scripture of the Week: Helaman 12:1 

"And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him."

A Haiku for YOU:

the harvest

thrust in your sickle

june is back 

Sister Hall

Cheerio, London!

Cheerio, London!

To start off some quick shout outs!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the card and the cash! That was too kind of you and I soooo appreciate it! 

Thanks to the Roberts family as well! I have played the card over and over again cause it just gets me every time :) The gift was also SO generous and it will go to good use!

MOM AND DAD! WHOA! Way to spoil me! I loved the balloons and the bracelet (mom where did you find it?!) and all the other stuff :) 

Thank you to everyone who sent me an email as well :) I really do appreciate it! 

A special shout out to Taylor Mcdonald who is preparing to go on a mission! I am SO proud of everything she has over come to get to the point that she can go out AND she is going to absolutely KILL it wherever she goes :) 

We threw down on Scott this week. I told him that he was trying to serve two masters and that he can't do that. He can't be for God on the weekdays and party hard with the boys on the weekends. I looked him straight in the eye and told him it comes down to eternal life or eternal damnation and that the choice was his. After I said that he ran inside to grab something and I looked over at Sister Shurtliff who was just kinda staring at me and said: "Too bold and not enough love?" She just nodded her head and laughed.  

- also thank you so much Brother Vance for the advice! It is very wise and we will heed your council :) 

So Chris has been doing absolutely incredible! We taught him this week about repentance and it was the best lesson on repentance we have ever taught! We started out by reading in Alma 36 which is when Alma shares his conversion experience with his son Helaman. We highlight the verses that talked about the total despair that Alma felt when he realized the many sins he committed, "That the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror." We asked Chris if he has ever felt this way and he said that he had. We shared that we all go through times where we have those feelings but that there is hope. We then shared the verses that talked about how he felt the forgiveness of his sins through Christ. We testified that we can all receive of this great blessing in our life IF we chose to repent! The spirit was really strong and we went on to describe the process of true repentance. He was very engaged and asked lots of good questions. We talked a little about why he was excited to get baptized and he mentioned how he wanted to be the priesthood leader for his family and I just about died of happiness. Chris will for sure get baptized on the 15th and I am SO excited! 

Next is the Ellis family! Oh my heart and soul do I ever love them! I wouldn't be surprised if in the pre earth life we all hung out. This week we went over for dinner again and we were talking about transfers and joking around about me leaving. Odessa who is 5 got all sad and said that I was her missionary and that I couldn't leave! My heart melted. I can feel the spirit more and more every time we go over. The family has been pretty good about reading and praying as a family however we still haven't been able to get Brother Ellis to say a prayer for us. But we will get him ;) I asked Brother Ellis if he was planning on bringing his family to church on Sunday when he told me that they would be in St. Thomas that day for a family birthday party (he was looking pretty pleased with himself for thinking he was getting out of church). Good thing they have a ward there! I told him I'd be sure to give him a call and see how he was enjoying stake conference and he had a good laugh. Right before we left we suggested that Brother Ellis put the kids to bed and Sister Ellis come out with us to listen to James Taylor and the MTC. Sister Ellis got a smile on her face and said she was in so we went out and had a girls night. While we were out Sister Ellis confided to us how much Brother Ellis enjoys it when we come over and gets excited about feeding us :)

The Ellis Family 

Me and Odessa

Fast forward to Sunday 

So the broadcast is done and we are walking around and who do we see!? The whole Ellis family standing at the back of the gym. My heart nearly burst with joy! They postponed their trip for a few hours to come to church :) In such a short time I have grown quite attached to this family. We were also talking about post mission plans with them the other day and Sister Ellis made a suggestion of the family doing a road trip out to visit us. 

I know that they will be sealed in the temple soon! I can see the spirit working with Brother Ellis to soften his heart and I am so excited for when he can take his family to the temple. I really felt like I was meant to meet this family and help them to the temple..... that is until I got a call last night. 

So I got transferred. I leave for Guelph and I am devastated. I sent Brother Ellis a text and told him we were going to come over to see them on Monday night. I told him I'd need ice cream and he asked what kind was my favorite. I don't know why I'm leaving. I really thought I was meant to continue working with the Ellis family. So sure in fact that I had already come up with some new lesson plan ideas and a game plan to get them to the temple...

I'll also be missing Chris's baptism :( 

I know that everything happens for a reason and I know this was inspired. I just dont understand why.

I don't like ending on a sad note though so I will tell a funny story about how I accidentally participated in a drug deal. 

So this guy comes up to me on the street and asks if he can use our phone to call someone for a ride. He looks a little rough and I'm affraid that he will run away with the phone. I contemplate my ordeal in my head and realize that I'm representing Christ and he would help the guy out. After an awkward minute of silence I say sure and hand over the phone. This is the converstation I hear:

Guy:"Hey I've got the stuff to pay you off.... Yeah I'm at the cornner..... Ya I have everything you asked... the cd player, the blue Nike womens shoes, etc..."

- I take a peak in the bag and sure enough all these things he lists off are there.

He finishes up on the phone and deletes the number he called and gives it back.... I don't really know what to do so I give him a card and tell him to check out the web site. 

Oh London East how I will miss you!

Took a long time today to get this all out so I dont have much time left but have a wonderful week!

Sister Hall

At the park with the Chines

Notice my fat lip? We figured I needed some more street cred... and now I get transferred. Worst timing ever!