Holy Priesthood Batman!

Holy Priesthood Batman!

Harvest Update! 

Right now we are at 28 baptisms for June

We have about 54 Investigators with a baptisimal date for June 23 and 36 for June 30th

We will need to average about 16 or so baptisms a week now to reach our goal. Pretty exciting Eh!

Now for this week. Phew! It was been a good old hard week! Lots of working and talking :)

Let's start off with some highlights 

-Sammy came to church!!!!!!!!!! Haza for Israel! Oh my gosh we have been trying to get Sammy to church for AGES!!! Problem is he doesnt drive and he refuses a ride from everyone. Luckily Sister Taylor is as stubborn as Sammy and wouldn't take no for an answer :D. We are hoping this week to set him with a baptismal date for June 30th 

-I Got a certain someones wedding invitation! FINALLY! And can I just say I have the MOST beautiful sister evvvvvvvvvveeeeeerrrrrrrrr! Good Grief it's just plain crazy! I know the invitation says to RSVP by June 6th, but you were late in getting me one so here is my RSVP: Will be there in Cardboard (they have a cardboard cut out of me hahahaha!) soooo clever I am (Baaahahaha and she is VERY cute in cardboard too! -J)

SHE IS SO PRETTY!!!

-Tony is a guy we met on the street this week. We saw him walking towards us and I was trying to figure out how I was going to approach him and soon enough he is right in front of us (funny how that always happens...) so we stop him and I blurt out, "What's most important to you in your life?!" haha smooth I know... His response sends me for a loop and I wonder if he is mocking me cause he says Jesus Christ. Thankfully Sister Ogden is not has suspicious as I am and asks him why. He has a legitimate reason and THEN says these sweet sweet words "Actually I'm thinking about being baptized, I've never done it before and I think I should." ->please give me a second to pick my jaw up off the ground! I jump on that and get his number and talk about our purpose as missionaries. 

Unfortunately we have not yet been able to get a hold of him but as that guy says in that movie my dad made me watch "Never give up Never Surrender!" (Galaxy Quest! -J)

-We had Zone conference! YUSSSSSSSSSSS! I have come to the conclusion that zone conference is better than birthdays and Halloween combined! This time President Scott "explained" the priesthood and church government.... it is sufficient to say that I am a female because there is in no way shape or form that I can handle nor understand the priesthood. Every time the president opened his mouth another nuclear bomb would go off in my head and my mind would be blown again.  Haha it was SO funny looking around at all the sisters during his presentation. They all had the same confused and dazed look and all the Elders were sitting forward in their sets trying so hard to piece together this power they hold.

I had another Bizzar moment this week and this one is all about Christine.

So Christine is a girl we ran into on the street who said we could come by and see her.
Side note -> people tend to underestimate the seriousness of missionaries when the we say we will come by tomorrow and this specific time to see them. They always get this really surprised face when they see us knocking on their door. It's priceless! 

Anyways, Christine is no different. I think she assumed she would never see us again, but here we are on her door step haha. She lets us in and we find out that she had been reading some of the Book of Mormon that we left her with. We do a little talking to get a feel for her religious background and such and she asks for the church address because she wanted to come check it out on Sunday and then next thing you know she is wrapping up the conversation thanking us for coming to see her.... We had been there for 10 min. 

In my head: "Oh no, You can NOT get rid of me that easily!"

So I ask her if she has 20 min for us to talk with her a little about our beliefs etc... and she says yes.
In my head: "Awesome, restoration of the gospel here we come!"

So we start talking with her about how God is her Loving Heavenly Father. We talk for MAYBE 8 min and she starts thanking us again for coming over and starts hinting at us leaving. I refuse to leave without sending a baptismal invitation her way so without further adue(?)....
Me: "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God"

Christine: "Ya"

Me:"We will be holding a baptismal service on June 30th. Will you prepare yourself to be baptized for that date." 

Christine: "Ya, let me just right that down."

Me:.... awesome... We'll see you at church....?

->what the heck just happened?! 

So that was my week out here in Oakville!

Special shout out to me Paps! You are da best and thank you so much for having the Priesthood :) I miss you a butt load, and I made you breakfast in bed and then ate your breakfast in bed.... but it's the thought that counts ;) 

Dad, what the junk is this stuff?! And yes, I eat it..

Line of the Week: we are at a members home for dinner 

Brother Taylor: "So what did you guys do to prepare for your mission?"

Sister Tofa: "I went out with the missionaries and studied my scriptures and took some classes..."

Brother Taylor: "What about you sister Hall?"

Me: "I watched the best 2 years with my sister who has never served a mission..." (We learned a lot! -J)

Scripture of the Week: Nephi 16: 29

"By small means the Lord can bring about great things." 

A Haiku for You: 

Dadies little Girl

Through thick and thin always there

Te Amo Padre

Sister Hall

Mercy me! And it was only $40 ;)

Worse Than A Jehovas Witness

Worse Than A Jehovas Witness

What A Weeeeek! First off a few thank yous are in order! First to the Reeds for the birthday gift and card! I absolutely love the scarf and I have already eaten all the candies :s hahaha! Next to the Summers for all their letters! You dont know how much it means to know that you all are supporting me :) I am currently working on a letter for you guys! As for my fam jam, thank you for all the birthday wishes! I loved the picture of the horse from Sara haha it made me laugh! I love the hymn of the week from Sandra and the advice on not burning wool socks as well as Dans little picture and message (keep it up Dan, I just about die laughing every time). Thank you to the Bennetts for the card! In response to the singing in a lesson, I'm not sure if that would invite the spirit or detract from it, but I like the idea of singing my testimony to O Canada maybe on the 1st of July... Last but certainly not least, I must thank my dear cousin Naomi for her beautiful cards! They are always so colourful and has such good printing! :D

The Radkes celebrated my birthday with me! Coolest family in Oakville! 

As for this week, lots have happened. I went on an exchange with my Sister Training Leader, Sister Tofa, and headed over to Brampton. Holy moley did we ever have fun together! Oh my gosh I just adore Sister Tofa! She is from Australia (originally from New Zealand) AND she laughs at ALL my jokes! We have a lot in common, her and I. We are both really good at doing things in the dark (the power went completely out for 24 hours... -_-), we LOVE rugby, we enjoy talking to people on the street and getting shut down hard, and we are both easy going. It was a really cool experience getting to serve with her. We have already made plans for me to go over and live with her in Australia. We went and taught a man named Brupinder and I got the privilege to commit him and teach him about the Word of Wisdom AND the Law of Chastity! Yayaya..yaya..ya.... thank you SO much Sister Tofa hahaha! lol I'm over reacting, surprise, it was actually really awesome. We tackled the word of wisdom first and then dove right into chastity. In the end we were able to commit him to live both and all is well in the kingdom :) 

Sister Tofa <3

ANGELA CAME TO CHURCH!!! AHHHHHHH! Ok for those of you who have not served a mission, sometimes *cough 99% of the time* the hardest thing is actually getting your investigators to come to church. Angela has this habit of sleeping in till 10ish in the morning so we made a game plan with her, that we were going to knock on her door at 8:30 and get her up.... flawless right!? WRONG! haha last week we had a member go and do this and he stood outside for 15 min.... But this time we had Angela pray that Heavenly Father would help her wake up anddddddd HE DID! lol she woke up to the 2nd doorbell :) and wham bam uncle sam, she is at church!

This past weekend I was thinking a lot about Sharon. I was really nervous that she would not want to see us again blah blah blah.... anyways I put off calling her until Thursday when I bit the bullet and gave her a call... First thing she said. It's about time you called! (palm in face moment right there). Apparently all weekend she couldnt stop thinking about the 2 missionaries who knocked on her door and she was excited to see us again. So we made an appointment to go and see her and her daughter on saturday.The lesson went great! Once again it is more of a conversation with her. She asks lots of questions and we talk about what she has always believed and then throw some sweet gospel truths on her. 

For Example: She asked us what our take on with baby baptisms was (her church baptizes babies). We opened up to Moroni 8 and discussed the doctrine and she totally agreed with us. Then the question of when we should baptize came up so we told her about the revelation Joseph Smith received about 8 years old being the time to baptize. Her daughter laughed and explained that 8 was her moms favorite age because thats when her kids personalities always changed.... 

->supper cool cause thats straight up doctrine! 

We talked a lot on the plan of salvation, where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. I asked her a lot about what her church teaches on these topics and was surprised to find that they dont really talk much about them. It was cool to be able to clear up some of those unknowns, like where we came from. Sharon felt like we lived with God before we came here, but no one could ever tell her for sure.

->cool side story: Her daughter when she was a kid, talked about how before she came to earth, she lived with God and she chose them as parents.... being able to affirm what her daughter said was incredible and the spirit was so strong! 

 We talked a little on the steps we need to take to get back to our Father in Heaven (faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, Receive the Holy Ghost, Endure to the End) and focused in on baptism. We reviewed the great apostasy, priesthood, and Joseph Smith and helped her to realize that one needed to be baptized by someone holding the proper priesthood authority and then invited her to do the same..... she said she needed to learn more, but that if she found out it was true, she would be baptized.... WHAT WHAT! haha Man do I ever love Sharon! I laugh that one of the first things she said to us was "well you can come in and talk, but i cant promise I will convert..." look at what the spirit and the truth can do! 

->I forgot to mention the fact that she went out and bought us more treats! These little individual cheese cakes for when we had our little talk.... seriously can she get any better?!

I have some really great news for ya'll, I would make a GREAT Gypsie wife! Haha let me explain this one. Last week Sister Ogden and I were looking for a previous investigator and came across this Polish family. The poor mother is going through a lot of health problems and apparently her son is into drugs. We said that we would come back with a Polish Book of Mormon and "talk" (here English is limited) with her more. So this week we came back to see her. She was very pleased to see us and we sat down and gave her the Book of Mormon.... we then find out that she also cant read... temporary set back, right haha... We try and talk with her about the gospel, but our words are too big and we are getting no where, your conversation boils down to "Jesus Christ, Good" and she will nod her head and cry and make hand gestures. We sit there not knowing what to say, I chuckle and think about how Jill was convinced I'd go to Poland and immediately start praying for the gift of tongues (I knew it!!-J). My prayers were answered too, but not in the way I expected, cue her son Marco who speaks English and Polish! We start talking with him about our church, and he is very interested since he has had a lot of problems in his life due to the influences of Satan and really wants to get closer to Christ. We invite them to come to church and they say they will. Then we find out they are actually Polish Gypsies from the Romanoff line

My First thought: Whens your next wedding!
Next thought: SWEET! I am teaching Gypsies!   

Then Marco went on to compliment us Mormons on the way we dress. Apparently we dress the "right way" and we would make good gypsie wives who treat their body with respect!

So we are teaching this less active named John. He is 21 and for the last few years has taken a different path in his life and due to some events, it's caused him to rethink some of his choices. He is meeting with us now, because he wants to find happiness. The things he was doing in his life, drinking, drugs, money etc... they were not bringing him happiness. I want to bear my testimony of the gospel and how it is the only way to find lasting happiness. In the world today happiness is based on how much money you make, the cloths you wear, the kind of body you have, the car you drive... all these things are temporary. I meet tons of people every day and they are all looking for something. They are all looking to fill. Family, friends, and the gospel of Jesus Christ are what will last beyond death. They are the things that should matter most and I can promise that if you make them a priority in your life, you will indeed find lasting happiness. This does not do justice to the entirety of how I feel regarding this topic, but it will have to do for now. 

Be good! 

Line of the Week: 

Me: "Hi, how are you guys doing?"

Lady: "What are you guys selling!!!?"

Me".... Happiness :)"

Lady: "Oh, your a preacher! What are you, a Jehovah Witness!?"

Me: "Actually we are from the Church of...."

Lady: (realizing what I'm saying) "Thats worse than a Jehovah Witness!"

->starts to walk away

Me: "Well that's a new one... God Bless!"    

Scripture of the Week: Matthew 6: 20-21

"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

A Haiku for You:

Happiness

Gospel brings truth and light

Choice is yours 

Sister Hall

Glorious!

Harvest Time!

Harvest Time   And HAPPY BIRTHDAY today Sister Hall!!

Oh. My. GOSH! It's JUNE!!!!! Where has the time gone?! For those of you who do not know, June is a VERY special month. See June is Harvest month and our mission has a goal of getting 60 baptisms in June.... and that is a butt load of baptisms =) Lots of miracles will happen, I can just feel it! 

This week has been full of ups and downs, but the ups are wayyyyyyyyy cooler than the downs, so I'm just going to fill you in on the ups.

So while walking around the water front, we are talking with people and we come across this big Mexican man whose name is Carlos. So we stop to talk with Carlos and find out that just this morning he had a conversation asking God why God had given up on him, and then these missionaries come along! Can you say inspired!??? So we start talking with Carlos, and Carlos is just going through the ringer right now. He is being sued, he got caught for drinking and driving and was in jail, his girlfriend cheated on him with his brother and is pregnant and they dont know who the father is, he got into an accident, and he is an ex-gang member.... While complaining to us for a good 10 minuets, all I could think of was, "And you blame God for the stuff you are going through?" So I politely interrupt him and explain to him that God can only bless us if we are willing to follow His commandments, and you have made some decisions in your life that makes it hard for Him to bless you. Our message will help you to find happiness and help you to make good changes in your life. When can we come over? haha we are seeing him this tuesday.

We are now friends with the guy that owns a fish and chips (and hotdog) shack/stand by the beach. *SCORE* We talked with him a little about God and our church and gave him an Arabic book of Mormon and he said to come by any time and he will give us free fries!

Sammy (who we have been working with for a couple weeks) still won't come out to church with us... stubborn man he is. The reason why he won't come out is because he doesnt want to be a burden and he is weary of strangers taking him. Thankfully we have the Kay's coming with us to teach him and they have offered to drive him, however he still said no. Then we find out the Sammy used to be a concert pianist and really LOVES music, so brother Kay decides to use this to our advantage and asks Sammy if he will come to church if  the sister missionaries do a musical number in church. *my jaw drops* Then Sammy says HE will play the pianno for our musical number and to get him the sheet music! ->gahhhhh <- I look Sammy dead in the eyes and tell him if he comes to church then I will sing....

Oh the things I will do to get an investigator to church -_-  (That truly is a miracle!!-J)

This experience is for Justin :) SO we have an investigator who happens to be Muslim and the missionaries have been trying to get her to read her Book of Mormon for a few months now and she hasn't been AND they haven't been reading with her *gasp*! So Sister Ogden and I go in and I ask her :

"Angela, why do we ask you to read the Book of Mormon?"

Angela: "Tuthfully I do not understand."

Me: "AH, well lets change that! Can you go grab your Arabic Book of Mormon?"

->she runs to grab her Book of Mormon

I then have her read the introduction out loud in her own language and at the end of each paragraph we talk about what happens and why it would be important to read the Book of Mormon.

Cue the Light bulb! 

She finally got it! She looks at me and says this makes so much more sense! And the next time we go and see her I ask her how her Book of Mormon reading has gone and she says its been great! She has read 5 chapters and said she couldn't put it down because the story of Nephi was so interesting!

I have saved my favorite experience this week for last...

Sister Ogden and I went to an appointment, but they werent there so we decided to tract 5 houses to the left and 5 to the right. We knock on the first door and this women answered it. We start talking with her, asking her how she is doing, blah blah blah, and then she realizes we are Mormon. She starts asking about the usual stereotypes and we set her straight and then she asks us what we do. I start talking and am getting into Joseph Smith and straight up recite the first vision right there on her door step! The spirit was SO strong and I looked her dead in the eyes the whole time! You could tell she could feel something because after I bore my testimony she said.... "Well I can't promise you that I will convert, but if you want to come in for a drink and talk you are more than welcome." SHE LET US IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haza! We went in and she gave us some water and some cookies and we just talked. We talked about religion, we talked about families and raising kids, we talked about what we think happens after we die and then we got to the good stuff. She then asks the questions all missionaries pray people will ask "What makes your religion different?" Cue the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith! We explained the Book of Mormon, she asked questions, we answered and it was just awesome! We invited her to read and pray for herself to know if it was true and she said she would. We got her number and said we would call sometime and try to come back to see how things went and then we had to skidatel. It was the coolest experience! She was just so nice and open about what we talked about and it just felt so natural AND she gave us cookies! A beautiful day in the kingdom indeed =)

Birthday jog jump!!

Pre- present opening!

Post present opening!

Birthday Pancakes!

I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes! It was wonderful to hear from you all and I really appreciate the thoughts and kind wishes!
Mom & Dad you are the greatest and I LOVE the package and the skirts! I really appreciate all the thought you put into it and i just love you guys so much! :) 

Proof!

Jill thanks so much for the shirts and the necklace! I am wearing the coral shirt and the necklace right now... here Ill take a picture... there, some proof :) 

Chris and Kerry THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!! I Adore the card and the gift is FAR too generous! 

Grandma and Grandpa, You guys are too cute and thank you so much for the gift as well! I really apprciate all you have done for me! 

The Bennetts, you guys are awesome! I loved the confetti! and threw it everywhere! haha my companion thought it was less funny hahaha!

Vanessa & Melissa, you guys are da best and I miss you guys! 

Alex Williams you are sweet as the day is long and I cannot wait to watch Duck Dynasty with you!

Line of the Week: "When I think of the harvest I get all anxious and nervous and excited!..... kinda like my first date..." 

Scripture of the Week:   Issiah 41:10 

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am they God: I will strengthen thee; yea I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

A Huku for you:
Harvest Time 

The Field Is All White 

June Is Here 

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

And Jill, please stop puking and get better :)

Love Sister Hall

So we go outside to write letters.... and sister Ogden whips this out. so precious hahaha

Charlie St. Cloud...

Angels In The Outfield

Sister Hall's new address!! It's her birthday on June 3rd (next week!!) so make sure to send her a card/letter or an email!

2381 Marine Dr, Apt B2

Oakville, ON

L6L 6R4

Angels In The Outfield

Alright so it's safe to say that I'm pretty in love with Oakville. The ward members absolutely spoil us missionaries! At church I had 2 different people come up to give us groceries! Oakville has the cutest little stores and restaurants and there are always people to talk with by the lake shore. Right now the only down side to Oakville would have to be the fact that this little oasis reminds me SO much of the movie Charley St Cloud, which happens to star Zack Effron (you can see how this can be a problem for me). Sister Ogden and I will be jogging in the morning down by the pier with all the boats and old men fishing, the sun will be rising and I'll be admiring the view and then without fail I'll think to myself:

"Man this sure reminds me of that movie Charley St Cloud! Jill and I sure liked that movie!"

which then prompts the thought
"Zack Effron was in that movie..." 

"STOP IT!!"

"I am a child of God....." 

haha that's pretty much my thought process every other morning. It makes me smile though cause it brings back some good memories with Jill :) (Yes it does!!!-J)

Anyways, I can't remember if I ever told you about our new investigator, but his name is Sammy and I adore him! He's probably in his 60's or 70's, he lives alone, very strong Christian and is from Egypt. The first time we met with him we talked with him about the restoration of the gospel and introduced the Book of Mormon to him, which he was very interested in. He got a little confused about the whole priesthood being restored because when we invited him to be baptized, he said that he had already been baptized. The whole trinity thing is also going to be a tough one to clear up, but all in due time. He really is just the sweetest old man though! When we came in he had cookies and drinks set up on the table and as we were leaving he was saying how he was so happy that we came to see him because when he met us on the street he saw angels with us and he felt something good in his heart and knew we had something important for him. 

Oh. My. GOSH!!! 

We went to see Sammy again last night and we planned to go in and clear up the priesthood/apostasy/restoration bit with him and re-invite him to be baptized, unfortunately that didnt quite go as smoothly as we had envisioned (but when does it ever haha). He still doesn't understand what it meant when Joseph Smith was given that power to restore the church BUT he has been reading his Book of Mormon! He is already into 2 Nephi! He believes it to be the word of God, but does not believe Joseph Smith was a prophet. Instead he sees Joseph Smith as a saint, but because he did not recieve any new revelation and just translated old scripture, he was not a prophet. I hadn't heard of that one before, so we had a good long silence, but then the scripture about how a seer is a revelator and a prophet also came to my mind...but I couldnt remember the reference so I had to settle for talking a little about D&C which didn't satisfy his concern (by the way its Mosiah 8:15) . What I should have done was born my testimony about Joseph Smith.... why I insist on throwing facts at people I will never understand! 
I guess I will just have to take comfort in knowing that the Lord intends and needs Sister Ogden and I to be teaching Sammy right now. 

Line of the Week: 

We are in district meeting and we are talking about how to ask inspired questions. Our district leader asks for examples of inspired question and a few people throw out some suggestions and then one elder says in his best batman voice,

"Where are the drugs!" 

lol we got a good kick out of that one.

Scripture of the Week: 2 Nephi 28:32

"Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine are is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts."

A Haiku for You: 

Return Appointment

Oh How I Have Missed You So

One In A Billion 

I love you all and so appreciate the letters and emails! =) 

Have a great week and Treat Yo-self! 


Sister Hall

Look Dad I can check my oil! AHHAHAHAHAHAH! 
So at our last zone teaching thing our zone leaders realized that a lot of the missionaries *cough the sisters cough* didnt know ANYTHING about cars, so they did a little how to lesson with all of us and taught us how to check our oil! 

My thought: Pffft what is this Amateur hour! 

When one sister asked what colent was I turned to her tried to figure out if she was joking, realized she wasnt, and enlightened her. The elders were  impressed and satisfied with my answer. Thank goodness you raised me like a boy haha

New Kid On The Block

New Kid On The Block

It's official, I have been out for 6 weeks aka I am into my second transfer! Ah I'm growing up SO fast haha ;)

Our last district photo outside an A&W... so full of class. Sister Colvin, Sister Wester, Sister Williams, Me, Elder Thompson (district leader), elder Ashton (zone leader), Elder Jones, Elder Johnson (zone leader.) ->note the nice gap between elder thompson and I... elders have cooties hahaha

So the BIG news is that I have been transfered! I am now in Oakville with Sister Ogdan. Oakville is still in the Hamilton stake, its supper nice and right by one of the great lakes, AND our area covers a little of Missassagua, but not Grandma and Grandpa Davidsons area :(. Sister Ogdan is as sweet as the day is long! Oh my she is just so kind and loving! She's from Utah and this is her 3rd transfer. I'm excited to work with her and experience what the work is like here in Oakville. I will, however miss my dear sister Williams AND The Mountain to bits!! Oh my gosh I am SO sad to leave Hamilton, buuuuuttt I know the Lord has put me in Oakville for a reason.

P.S. They white washed us out of Hamilton!!! The Nerve! haha.... but seriously, president -_-

 

So now that we have established how seasoned I am out here in the mission field, I wanted to share some of the things I have learned these past 6 weeks on the "Mountain" with Sister Williams

-Faith is SO important! If you do not have faith that the Lord will put someone in your path or dont have the faith that you can baptize, it just wont happen. That being said, what you want is not always what the Lord has planned for you. Heavenly Father knows best. Trust in Him and council Him on everything you do.

-Do not role down a hill with keys in your pocket

-Be grateful for the trials the Lord gives you. "The gospel is ment to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted." Whenever we are given a trial it is because we are ready to be molded into the kind of person God envisions us to be. It is because He knows we are strong enough to handle it and He trusts us.

-Do not go about waiting for happiness to come. Enjoy the journey, pot holes and all.

-Understanding the Faximilies of Abraham..... not important at this time in my life

-When you say something stupid on a mission the spirit is there to back you up. When you say something stupid at home, its just stupid. In other words open your mouth and talk with everyone and Heavenly father will make up for your downfalls.

  

These are just a few of the things I have learned this transfer so far and just think, its only been 6 weeks!!

 

As for my last week on the mountain I had some truly wonderful experiences

 

This is the Pulsipher family. They are SO awesome! both of them used to be missionaries out here in Ontario so they were always really good about us using their house for lessons

The Gallicher family! I love these guys and their awesome back yard

The Hillman fam Jam! She was my second mom out here always looking out for me and making me candy yams..... sooooo good! You know they love me too because I smelt strongly of camp fire haha! Nicole their oldest daughter went out teaching with sister Williams and I a bunch and she will be preparing to go on a mission pretty soon here; she is going to be a stellar missionary!

Experience number 1

Sister Williams and I finally talked to Tarzan aka Jay! Ok so every Sunday on the way out of Church, Sister Williams and I see this guy walking home from the gym. He has wicked long hair, is always in sweats and a tank top AND HAS THE BIGGEST BUTT I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!! It has been our hope and dream to share the gospel with this man and this week it happened! We were driving home after giving service and on the horizon I see this long flowing hair and a giant butt so what do Sister Williams and I do??? Pull over immediatly and jump out of the car to intercept him on the side walk. So we do just that, we pull over onto a side road and run to the main street where we "casually" walk towards Tarzan. We then ask him some questions and he drops a couple F bombs and hucks a lugie on the ground..... BAHAHAHAHA Oh my gosh Sister Williams and I nearlly died laughing! Not at all what we expected, but he said he would share the gospel message with a guy he sees at the gym all the time.

 

Experience #2

This is the family the stole my heart =) they are the ones who think I am normal haha. This is just after we roasted smores.

We finally had the chance to have dinner at Lindsey's house aka the part member less active family that thinks I'm normal! It was SO much fun! She made us the best tacos I have ever had! We helped her make dinner and joked around with the kids. She showed us her house and we talked a little about what mission life is like (she asked us tons of questions!) After dinner we started talking a little about the gospel, Price had never really talked with her about the gospel or Joseph Smith (guy, what have you been doing!) So we sat down with the family and explained what prophets were, who Joseph Smith was and what the Book of Mormon is. It was SO sweet! As I recited the first vision, the spirit was so strong and Price grabed Lindseys hand. It is just so touching to see how bad Price really wants this for his family, even though he is not living the gospel right now, I can see its something he wants to start doing. And their kids are so good! Connor their youngest boy really likes church and praying. We talked about how to pray and asked him how he feels when he prays and he said he feels nervous at first but after he feels good. Then we asked him if there was anything he wanted to ask God, and he said he would like to know if He is real. So we invited him to pray right there to know, and it was just the sweetest thing I ever did see! At the end of the lesson we invited Price and Lindsey to read the Book of Mormon together, to pray and come to church. Lindsey was all for reading but doesnt know if she is ready to pray yet. After the lesson we went into the back yard and they had us roast smores and even invited us to go set of fireworks with them. (ya I was confused too, fireworks?!) Unfortunately I had to to put off the natural man and say no to the fireworks... ah growing up can be so hard sometimes. Saying good bye to Lindsey was really hard, she kept saying how comfortable she felt around us and how she would love to make dinners a weekly thing, but I know that these new sisters are meant to teacher her and that they are just what she needs. We exchanged emails though and told her to let us know when she prays for the first time :) This is definitely a family I would come back to see!

 

 

Line of the Week:

So brother Peters takes Sister Williams and I to a place called the Magrine to eat. It is an all you can eat chines food buffet. Once we had filled up our plates with food, Sister Williams looks down at my plate and then up at me with a quisical look on her face and this was my response:

"I made a special effort not to get anything ethnic..."

my plate was full of meat, mashed potatoes, and gravy

 

Scripture of the Week: 2 Nephi 26:24-25

**Jill could you please type those out :)

"He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall now partake of his salvation.

Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price." 

Hiuku:

Transfer calls

Anticipation

Change is Good?

 

Well I am excited to know what Heavenly Father has in store for Sister Ogdan and I out here in Oakville! Say your prayers and read every day!

 

Love Sister Halla

 

P.S. Ill try and get my new mailing address to you as soon as I can

This is the letter my dad wrote me.... he is just the cutest!! I about died laughing and then my heart melted just a little

This picture is glorious and if you want to look up perfect timing in the dictionary this picture would be there. elder thompson and elder jones after being shut down hard by those 2 old ladies hahaha!

Look who I ran into at transfers! Elder Campbell... still tall as ever :)

Look who I ran into at transfers! Elder Fox!!!

Love and Chastising Go Hand in Hand

Love and Chastising Go Hand in Hand

This week has been a great learning experience. The Lord loves me so much that He chastised me haha. Most of you who have served missions know that a mission has this funny way of magnifying all your weaknesses 10 fold, and this week one of my weakness has been magnified 70 x 7. I'll give you a little back ground on what brought about this realization; this week we had 8 appointments fall through on us (Mitzie, Grace, Chris, Rose, Kimberly etc..). By Friday I was feeling pretty discouraged and couldn't figure out why these awesome investigators had suddenly turned cold. Sister Williams and I sat and discussed and came to the realization that we both lacked Humility. We have been teaching and trying to find people on our own knowledge, not relying on the Lord to help us and guide us to those who he has prepared. Our prayers have lacked sincerity and now we and our investigators were paying the price. My stomach had this sinking realization when I put 2 and 2 together. Because I had not put my trust and faith in the Lord to guide me to the elect and put the words in my mouth to those who we teach, I had let all our investigators down. The Lord truly must have infinite patience for dealing with us imperfect missionaries.

One particular instance of me being too caught up in my own logic was last week as a thought popped into my mind that we should NOT extend a baptismal invitation to Chris... I thought that was just me having a lack of faith cause Sister Williams and I had felt so good and confident that the Lord would provide! This thought occurred to me several times, but I ignored it. Sister Williams extended the baptismal invitation and Chris declined, which we were not too choked about, but our mistake took light in the coming days as Chris didn't show up to church and then cancelled on our appointments and didn't return our calls..... AH! I have been praying to have the gift of discernment, to have Heavenly Father lead me by the spirit so that I can help all our investigators, but when He tried to tell me Chris is not ready for baptism, I ignored Him and trusted in my own understanding. 

I felt terrible! I may have just messed this mans eternal salvation up for Him because Im ignorant and imperfect. So what do I do? I get on my knees and repent. This time I felt the need to call and apologize to Chris, to let him know that I ignored the spirit and that Heavenly Father knew he wasnt ready for baptism. So I called and left a message. Not 3 minuets later his wife calls us to scheduled an appointment. 

Lesson Learned: When you make a mistake, do not run and hid, the Lord is always there to help us right our wrongs. He will lovingly let us know our weaknesses and when we repent and humble ourselves before Him, He will help us. I cant describe the love and gratitude I feel towards our Father and Heaven over this experience and I can only hope and pray that by the end of my mission I will have learned how to fully rely on the Lord in all I do.

-> if anyone has advice for me send it my way! 

Zone conference last week and this is my MTC district!

moving on ---------->

Interesting and cool experiences this week

Interesting: I got spanked by an old Catholic Italian women on the street as I tried to share the gospel with her.....

Cool: Dante is a man who we've talked to once in the elevator in our apartments a few weeks ago and as we were walking in to our building for lunch he stopped us to ask us for the address to our church so he could go... he didnt show up but eh thats alright!

Cool: A man knocked on OUR door to talk to us about something and when he found out we were missionaries he told us if we were ever near his place to come over and teach him about God and then proceeded to give us his name and number. Unfortunately he lives on the east side of our mission, but transfer calls are this Sunday......

Awesome: Sister Williams and I, having been chastised already this week, have made a special effort to do everything we can to become more humble and even more obedient. Sunday roles around and it's 7:40 at night, and we haven't had the opportunity to talk with anyone and we still have companionship study we have to do before 9. We drive around for 10 minuets looking at bus stops and drive the main roads looking for anyone to teach, but the weather is bad and there isn't a soul outside. We drive back to our apartment and decide to pray that God will put 10 people in our path in 10 minuets. Now let it be known that our apartment is not near any main roads and not very many people walk down our street. However, less then 10 minuets latter and we have talked with 10 people and we didnt even leave our street. aka Heavenly Father will provide if you ask AND THEN act.

Super Sweet: A week ago, sister Williams and I challenged a family to give a way a Book of Mormon and their son Mark took it to heart. HE prayed and felt prompted to give the book to a friend he hadn't talked to since grade 5. It went well, his friend Zachary took the book and ended up coming with Mark to church on Sunday. Zachary has had some health issues so Mark asked him if he would like a blessing and Zachary agreed... the elders gave him a blessing and then we taught him. THIS NEVER HAPPENS! You cannot deny how present the Lord is when it comes to His missionary work. He knows everything that is going on and as long as we are willing to be humble and submissive, He will guide us to those who are ready and will direct us in the things to do and say. Where this will go, I'm not sure but I will most definitely be counseling the Lord on everything I do.

I am grateful for my weaknesses and I am grateful that the Lord loves me enough to show them to me. More importantly though, I am so grateful that despite these weaknesses, Heavenly Father is stilling willing to bless me =) 

I love  you all, embrace your weaknesses and glory to The Lord! 

Line of the Week:

After our investigator Grace leaves for a second to help her son and after I finish telling the awesome story of the great apostasy.

Sis Williams: Why are you yelling at our investigator?!

Me: What? 

Sis Williams: Stop yelling at our investigator

Me: Im enthusiastic...

Anyone who knows me knows exactly what Sister Williams was talking about haha poor Grace. 

Scripture of the Week: Ether 12: 27

After the sting that comes from being Chastised by the Lord, I hoped my scriptures to find comfort and flipped open to Ether 12. The whole chapter is amazing, but this stood out to me.

 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weaknesses that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." 

A Haiku for You:

Jesus Christ

Atonement at Work

Nations Healed  

Sister Hall

These are the NASTIEST mints you ever did eat! So I decided to eat them all at once...

And then spit them out over the balcony because they're just that gross.

Spagetti and bacon for dinner! AKA it's the weekend and we're running out of options..