The Good Life

The Good Life   (I had to go find a Starbucks to post this from as my apt still doesn't have internet!!)

ALLLOOOOHHHA! Holly molly is it ever HOT out here! Oh my gosh I feel like melting on the sidewalk each time I go out side!

Before I get into the details of my week, I'd like to give a quick shout out to my wonderful Auntie Wendy for the super thoughtful gift you sent me for my birthday! I would be lying if I said I didn't squeal a little when I opened it ;) Also I want to let Auntie Sue know that I got the peanut butter balls! Thank you SO much for sending them out to me! I was so touched by how thoughtful that was and ate them all within 24 hours... oops hahahaha! I've also been thinking about Clare a lot over these past few weeks. I love her so much and I often look back on the days I spent with her. It is amazing how many lessons I've learned from that little girl :) She truly is a gift from God! I cant wait to spend more time with her when I get home and I'm always praying for her!

This is a brand new family that just moved into the ward. They are the Cunningham's and I LOVE them! We already have them fellowship our favorite part member family the Yips haha :) These are some of there kids Austin and Haley. Mom notice the rocket sticker on Austins shirt :)

As for my week I ended up spending a lot of time on my knees giving thanks to God for all of the blessings he is giving Sister Rogers and I. I didn't include this in my letter home last week, but not only were we dropped by Angela but we were also dropped by Laura and Heather. Needless to say I got a little stressed, but something my trainer Sister Williams told me, stood out in my mind. She said, "When people decide not meet with us anymore, that's just God's way of making room for those who are ready to receive the blessings of the gospel." I latched onto that and started to do some work. These are some of the blessings we have seen this week:

First off is SAMMY: So Sister Rogers and I are in the car heading over to our appointment with Sammy and I look over at sister Rogers and say,"We are going to invite Sammy to be baptized on July 28th tonight."

Sister Rogers stops what she is doing, analyzes my face to see if I'm kidding, decides I'm serious, takes a deep breath and says... "Awesome!" hahaha! Dear sweet Sister Rogers!

Our game plan with Sammy that night was to help him understand baptism. In the past when we have invited Sammy to be baptized he has come up with a host of reasons why not to be baptized. But tonight I just had this really good feeling that everything was going to be alright. So we started out the lesson reviewing what we had talked about before (the great apostasy) and good news, He Still Agrees With Us! haha. Then I opened up the scriptures to 3Nephi 11: 21-26. This is the part in the Book Of Mormon where Christ has come to visit the people in the Americas and is teaching them the proper way to be baptized. We begin to read through the verses and pause at the end of them to discuss each principle that Christ is teaching us. So far so good, Sammy is following along. Sister Rogers then says something profound, she mentions to Sammy that after he is baptized, he himself will be able to hold the priesthood.... BAMMM! We have Sammy's full attention haha. We talk a little more about this and the spirit just fills the room. There is no more debate, just this thirst to learn more. In the end we invited him to be baptized and he said YES! I challenged him to prepare for baptism for the 28th and he was more resistant. It took some talking through, but in the end he agreed to prepare himself for that date. We still have some work to do, Sammy still believes Joseph Smith was a Saint and not a prophet, and getting him out to church has been REALLY difficult, especially with his health problems, but the desire is beginning to grow within him!

The blessings didn't end here either. We have been really working with our members to share the gospel with their friends, but as any missionary can tell you, this isn't always the easiest task. It can be really scary sharing something so special to you with someone you really care about. Worries of offending people, not wanting to change a relationship etc.. always interfere with the actual sharing of the gospel. However this week we received 3 member referrals! 

1. Brother Goodrich shared the gospel with his co-worker Monica who then expressed the desire to learn more. So Bro. Goodrich called us up and we ended up meeting with Monica just this week at the Goodrich's home. As we were getting to know Monica she expressed to us the desire to fill an emptiness in her heart. She has a nice house, a fiancée, a great  job that she loves, essentially she has it all, but she feels like there is a small part of her that is incomplete. We shared with her the plan of salvation, or God's plan of happiness for all of His children. As we explained to her that before we came to earth we all lived with God and were part of his family, you could just see this change in Monica. We continued to talk about how God loves us so much that He has provided a way for us to be forgiven of our sins and become pure and clean, through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ. We talked about how after this life we will be judged according to our works here on life and how if we remain faithful to the end, we can attain exaltation (living with God in a state of never ending happiness as a family.) This message brings peace and purpose to our lives and I could see Monica begin to change as she came to realize Gods plan for her. We have a meeting with her again today and I cant wait to see her!

2. Rebecca Choi gave us a referral for her friend Sam who actually recently came to Eddie Choi's (Rebeccas husband's) baptism. Apparently Sam has been asking questions about the church for a while, which is supper exciting! We get to meet with Sam on Wednesday :)

3. Sister Cabrera has a really good friend Marisol who has had a pretty tough life and for years Sis. Cabrera has felt that she needs to share the gospel with her, but hasn't been able to get the courage to ask her friend to meet with the missionaries- that is until last week! Woot Woot! We challenged Sis. Cabrera to extend the invitation to Marisol and her friend agreed!

These 3 referrals truly are a miracle. Up to this point on my mission I have never actually been able to scheduled an appointment with a member referral, let alone have the members actually put the effort in to make the appointment! It is just incredible...

I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of all His children. He loves each and everyone of us. He will always be there to support us all we have to do is Trust in him.

Also Elder Jerowsky, the people in Oakville love you haha (The Guveras and Nuscas)

So I really liked those 2 colours together, but i couldnt wear 2 shirts.... so sister rogers said she would wear one :D

Line of the Week:

11:45 pm Sister Rogers sits bolt up right in bed

Rogers: "Do we have to kneel to pray for our investigators?"

Me: "What the..."

Rogers gets out of bed and kneels down and starts to mumble something

Me: "....get back in bed Sis. Rogers, your dreaming."

Sister Rogers gets back in bed and goes to sleep hahaha!

Scripture of the Week: 2 nephi 2: 25

"Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."

A Haiku for You:

He is there

Heavenly Father

perspective

 Sister Hall

please include this in my email home too

During our life we know that the Lord gives us challenges and opportunities to grow and stretch in various ways so that he can shape and mold us into what he wants us to become. During our mission experience that process is compressed and magnified significantly. We often refer to this process as the refiner’s fire. It is revealing to understand the origin of the term refiner’s fire.It originated with the process of refining silver. A refiner is a person who uses extreme heat or fire to separate the silver from the other material that pollutes the purity of the silver. This is done by heating the entire mix of materials so that it becomes a hot liquid mass. As the silver is heated the impurities float to the top and the master silver smith removes them. He then turns up the heat again to bring more impurities to the top. He continues this process until all the impurities have been removed. During this time he must always watch the silver, for if it is heated too much it will be destroyed. As we reflect on this process in our lives we see that the Savior is the great refiner. See Isa. 1:25;48:10;Zech. 13:9;Mal. 3:2–3.

Of this refining process Elder Dallin H. Oaks made the following observation, “So much of our lives are like the process of refining silver. Father Lehi promised his son Jacob that God would ‘consecrate [his] afflictions for [his] gain’ (2 Nephi 2:2). The Prophet Joseph was promised that ‘thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high’ (D&C 121:7–8). Most of us experience some measure of what the scriptures call ‘the furnace of affliction’ (Isaiah 48:10; 1 Nephi 20:10).Our needed conversions are often achieved more readily by suffering and adversity than by comfort and tranquillity. Through the justice and mercy of a loving Father in Heaven, the refinement and sanctification possible through such experiences can help us achieve what God desires us to become.”

From time to time as we experience stress, fatigue, and discouragement remember that we are in the refiner’s fire and that sometimes the master refiner has to turn up the heat to refine and purify us. Embrace that time so that he can remove the impurities from our lives and we can learn all that he has prepared to teach us.

This one is for Jill! Notice the hockey glove hahaha

Do or Die

Do or Die

It's been a big week all around I hear! First off Jill is officially married, say WHAT! but seriously what the heck haha! All Saturday our conversations between sister Rogers and I looked a little something like this
Me: "My sister gets married today!"
Me: "its 1 hour till my sis is married..." 

Me: "30 min till my sisters married!"

Me:"CRAP my sister has been married 2 hours!" 

Haha I was thinking about you guys ALL day, except for the time I wasn't... (We were thinking about her too...we had a cardboard cut out of her at the wedding so she could join in the festivities!! -J) 

A quick shot of Lauren at the wedding!

So I have a bone to pick with you Dad and its about how you taught me to drive -_- I am now the designated driver and in each car there is this little black box called a Tiwi, and the best way to describe this box is that its like our prophet. It warns you of coming danger by saying things like this in the most robotic voice ever: "Check your speed." or my personal favorite "Aggressive driving!"

When ever you get a warning someone in Utah gets a notification who then lets our mission know. If you get too many warnings your tiwi license is taken away.
Now this is what you taught me since I was 15 years old

Dad: "Only pansies take corners slow! Accelerate through the turn!"

.... I have gotten a total of 6 aggressive driving warnings in the past week -___-

On a different note, you will be very impressed to know that I have been without a GPS this past week (we used Sister Ogdens) I seriously thought about going out to buy one, but then I thought about you and figured I'd go old school and use.... A MAP! Haha Sister Rogers is my captain Kurk? or would she be Spock? Anyways she navigates for me and we get along pretty well.

This week has been my very first week of training sister Rogers and I must say she is the butter to my bread! Seriously though, she is absolutely amazing! She is catching on super fast and is really easy going, which I am grateful for! She also does anything I tell her to do which is sweeeet cause it makes for some good times. Let me give you an example of a new training method I think they should implement in all missions, its called "Follow the spirit to the investigators house cause your trainer wont help you." HAHA! So let me give you a little back ground. We are walking to Sammy's house to go visit him and Sister Rogers asks if this is the right turn. In stead of answering her I tell her to follow the spirit. She looks at me and laughs and then realizes that I am dead serious. Good thing Sister Rogers likes a challenge, cause she went with it. We spent the next little while walking around the neighborhood trying to find his house. If she saw a house that she thought was his she would ask me if it was and I'd say, "Lets go see!" So we'd go knock on the door and some random would open it and we'd have to do a door approach. It was a lot of fun! It also didn't take her long to find Sammy's house! ->so inspired! :)

This week had a few unexpected pot holes, Angela dropped us..... Ah it just kills me! She found some anti stuff on the internet and doesnt want to continue to meet. It was hard hearing it from her because I know this is what she is looking for and I know how much the gospel will bless her life! She has had multiple spiritual experiences and was making a lot of progress. Everything happens for a reason though. I know that the Lord will watch over her and who knows what He has in store for her! Something my trainer always told me was that when an investigator drops you, that is just the Lord making room for someone he has prepared and I feel strongly that the Lord has prepared a FAMILY for us to baptize this transfer! HAZA! Sister Rogers and I are on the hunt for this family! We are going through neighborhoods like crazy looking for them :) We know the Lord will provide and we are excited to see the fruits of our labors!

We taught Sammy this week and were able to help him to see that there was indeed an apostasy! YESSSS!!! We used some great scriptures from the Bible (2 Thessalonians and Acts) that talked about a falling away and a restitution. It took a good 40 min of discussion and re-explaining, but you cant argue with scripture!.... or can you...-_- Sammy is now stuck on the whole "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." and claims that he doesnt need to be baptized again... I swear it goes in one ear and out the other... I told him we would address that concern next time we meet. 

So today during my studies I got to read about my FAVORITE Book of Mormon story, the Stripling Warriors! Oh my goodness I get chills every time I read about them! I saw this story in a little bit of a different light this go around though. We all know the verses that talk about how they had faith because their mothers believed etc.. and it got me thinking about this day and age and the HUGE number of sister missionaries serving now. I realized that a big part of the reason I am serving a mission is because of my very own mama! She raised me good and right in the gospel and her strong testimony kept me on the straight and narrow throughout my life. I am worthy to be on a mission because of everything she sacrificed for me! God knew that at this time He was going to need a lot more missionaries, so He saved these parents for this specific time because He knew they would raise good children that would serve him. The missionary force is like Helamans warriors who are going out to find those lost sheep. So I wanted to give a shout out to all the mothers and grandmothers with kids on a mission and thank them for everything they have done! I love my mom SO much and am SO grateful for support that she gives me :) 

Line of the Week: Probably one of my favorite things about training is seeing Sister Rogers contact people on the street. Mostly because it makes me feel reassured that every missionary is truly awkward when they first come out. Here is an experience we had just yesterday

Walking down the street I watch someone walk past us and look at sister Rogers and say...

Me: "Why didn't you talk to that person?"

Rogers: "Ah I'm sorry!"

Me: " I betcha that person has a family that God wants us to teach, man and you just let him pass by..." (said in a joking/loving/serious way)

Rogers: "Ok, ok! I've got the next one I promise!"

->A guy with a cigaret and piercings walks around the corner. And like any good trainer I laugh out loud! God has such a great sense of humor! 

Rogers: "Ok not that one! I'll get the one after him!"

Me: "We are ALL God's children. You can't pick and chose."

->He is now very close to us

Rogers: "Hhhiiiii????" *she actually says hi like its a question and I about die laughing but keep it together*

->the guy stops and looks at her. Sister Rogers looks super confused and pauses there for 5 seconds with her mouth opened. I let her suffer a little longer and then swoop in and start talking.
After Sister Rogers and I had a really good laugh about it and I told her I was proud of her for doing it.

Scripture of the week: Alma 56: 47-48 

"Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not daunt our mothers knew it."

A Haiku For You

Red Head Kids (and cute ones at that, I'm sure! -J)

Eternal Marriage

Jill Bennett

Thats all for this week! I love you all too much to bare! Glory in God always and go out and get yourself into an awkward situation! 

Sister Hall

IT'S A GIRL!

IT'S A GIRL!

So I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on the June Harvest! Last week we were standing at 52 baptisms and this last week in June we got........ 26 baptisms for a total of 78 baptisms in June!!!!! What What! The whole mission is just SO excited! How blessed we have been by the Lord! 

This is the district band pose hahahahah

I cannot believe my big sister is getting married in 4 days...... ah! This is SO weird! I'm sad I wont be there but I am SO excited for you Jill n' Tyson!  Be good and have fun! (Sound advice! -J)

I think now is also a good time to give you a quick update on some of the investigators that people have taken an interest in:

The Gypsies: So we have stopped by them a couple times, but the mother and Marco are never home.... We don't have their number and they live in Mississauga so its hard to get out to see them

Carlos: We found out that Carlos is not in our area so we had to hand him off to other missionaries

Sharon: Sharon has expressed the desire to take it very slow. She doesnt want to be baptized for at least a year and just wants to visit with us missionaries.

District bowling!

Big news! My street approach has improved! So my dad asked me to keep him updated on the successes I have in my mission as well as my funny moments (specifically with my street contacting) so here goes my success story!

We are walking on the street and we see a guy working on his lawn so we stop to talk with him. We find out that he is Catholic and we continue to talk with him then he said something profound, he said, "The Catholic church is corrupt, but I would never leave it. All religion is corrupt, thats just the way it is." 

That struck me as very interesting so I asked him, "Don't you believe that God would have one true church that teaches His children how to return to live with him again?"

He stopped to ponder and I jumped on the opportunity 

"We share a unique message about the restoration of the gospel. See, when Jesus Christ and His apostles were killed, there was no one left with the authority from God to lead His church. As a result man was left to interpret the gospel by his own means, and precious truths were lost. However, God loves his children and He wants them to be able to return to live with Him again, so out of love He called another prophet in this day to restore the church  that Jesus Christ established and teach God's children what they must do to qualify to live with Him. I know that this message is true, that God has indeed called a prophet today to lead his children and I know that if you meet with us you can find out for yourself if this is true." 

John: looks at Sister Ogden and says, "This girl is a good preacher!"

Hahaha! He told us that we could come by anytime and talk with him more about this prophet so we are looking forward to meeting with him again.

We had another pretty cool experience this week with a new investigator named Neil. Neil is the husband to an active member of the church and she has pretty much forced him into taking the missionary discussions. Go sister Gould! Unfortunately, its hard to teach when someone is not sure why the message would be important to them.... We decided that we would talk about the plan of salvation, you know the whole spiel on families are forever... we thought it would tug at his heart strings maybe. So we ask him if he believes there is a God and he says that he isnt too sure, so we start talking to him about the character of God. We talk about this for 10 min and we arent getting very far with him and I can tell he is not very interested. Then I look him straight in the eye and say this:

"Neil you are the literal son of a Heavenly Father. He knows you inside and out and He loves you SO much. In fact He loves you so much He has blessed you with a beautiful wife and 3 healthy daughters. He wants what's best for you and more than anything He wants you to be able to return to live with him one day as a family, and what we are teaching you is the path that He has set out for you to be able to do that." 

Oh my gosh the spirit was SO strong and you could tell he felt it. The rest of the lesson went on and nothing really stuck out, but I could tell he felt the spirit, I could see it begin to work within him.

So I have some big news. Jill may be the first one to get married, but I am the first one to have a kid.... thats right, this transfer I have unknowingly been pregnant and just yesterday I gave birth to a 110lb baby girl! hahaha in other words we got transfer calls on Sunday and I am staying in Oakville annnd I'm training.... BAH! "The Lord qualifies those he calls, the Lord qualifies those He calls..." I have had to repeat these sentences for the last few days in anticipation to picking Sister Rogers up. I cannot believe God called me to train a brand new missionary!  Thankfully Sister Rogers came pre-trained. The first thing she said to me was that she was excited to be on a mission because she likes a challenge and she cant wait to go tracking and such..... I swear the clouds of Heaven opened up when she said that and I could hear the angels singing. I am SO grateful and blessed to have her! She couldnt wait to go out and talk to people on the streets. Yesterday I went to the trainers meeting and found out Sister Ormond (my MTC companion) is also training, which was sweet! Then we took our new missionaries out and started to work. It was a solid day. I took sister Rogers to meet the bishop, dropped by less actives and talked with people on the street. All in all it was a good first day! 

Oh also, Sister Rogers knows Elizabeth! She spent time with her in India... small world!!!!!

My new baby! Sister Rogers, Sister Williams (Grandma) and me

Welllllllllllllll thats all for now folks. Sorry this is a little shorter, but there is much work to do out here! I love you all and thank you all for the support! Keep smiling!

Line of the Week: 

Sister Ogden street contacting after a long day

Ogden: "What do you think happens when we die?"

Lady: "No idea but it would be nice to know"

Ogden: "Ya i wish i knew..."

me in a whisper: "You do know...."

Ogden: without missing a beat  "but I do know and I can help you find out too..."

ahahahahahahahah so funny! we about died laughing after the lady walked away 

Scripture of the week: Alma 44: 4 

"Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith." 

A Haiku for You: 

Comforter

speaker of all truth

still small voice

Sister Hall

Elder Burgason and Elder Roberts :D

Great Is The Work and Sacks Of Spiritual Bricks

Great Is The Work and Sacks Of Spiritual Bricks

So I hear now is the time to learn to swim out in Alberta eh! All week people have been coming up to me and asking how my family in little old Calgary has been doing, and its been killing me not knowing! I am glad however to know that you are all safe and sound! Know that we are all praying for you guys out here and we are thinking of you. 

The harvest is continuing out here in Ontario. This week we had 24 baptisms which brings us up to 52 in total :) The Lord has really been blessings us out here and I just wanted to thank everyone who has been praying for us!

As for this week its been pretty uneventful. A lot of our investigators weren't able to meet with us so we did our best to get in to teach less actives and ward members to gain referrals from them. 

We were able to see Angela and she has this great fire to find out if this church truly is God's church! She even said that she would die for this church if she found out it was true, she would tell everyone she knew so that they too could have the blessings! This touched my heart, the only concern we have is how she is going about finding her answer. She feels that knowledge is what will get her her answer so she has been researching on the internet, watching youtube videos and all sorts of things. She has also looked into the temple and now knows more about the temple than the average Laural/Priest.... Oh Boy. I'm not sure how to help her understand that it all comes down to faith and asking God. We have talked to her about that before and she has prayed and has had some pretty incredible experiences, but she seems to have forgotten them. 

We were also able to see my dear old Sammy and he has taught me a lot about our church! Here are some fun things that I learned this week or as I like to call it: "The Gospel According to Sammy" 

1. Joseph Smith is actually a prophet of the Jews 

2. Joseph Smith was killed by Jews

3. There was no apostasy because God's spirit was on the earth and lead men 

4. There is no real difference between the Catholic and LDS church 

Sammy and I got into quite the debate last time we met, it was friendly aaaand drove the spirit away... I have repented since and promise to be better next time. 

I have been struggling this week to teach people and not lessons... Cartch you need to email me and teach me your ways! (but seriously shoot me an email pronto)

I got the sweetest surprise on Sunday! Some strangers came to see me at church aka Grandma and Grandpa Davidson + Heather, Ben and their 2 angels (who live just beyond my boundaries)! Such a sweet surprise- it was wonderful to see them! I am so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who are so supportive :)  (And the family back home was SO THRILLED to hear that Sister Hall was doing well from reliable sources!! -J)

Sweet Surprise!!

Best family ever!!! Love these guys!

Dad, your talk was honestly good ;) haha but really I loved how you compared to it the compass and how it is between us and the Lord!

We had the privileged of watching the Leadership broadcast last night and it was simply amazing! OH my gosh I felt so inspired! I pray and hope that everyone who watched that will take what they learned and apply it into there lives. God is gathering Israel as we speak. It is happening now accross the world. God is sending forth His gospel to all corners and never has there been as big of a missionary force as there is now. It is up to bishops, members and ward councils to direct His missionary effort. The missionaries are there for your use! Don't put them to waste! Sister Ogden and I are working on how to help the members do missionary work and these are some things we have come up with

-invite friends over when feeding the missionaries

-invite people to come to family home evening

-when people ask you what you did on the weekend say you went to church

-get passalong cards from the missionaries and hand them out to friends

These are just a few things that you can do, but there is SO much more! PLEASE, use the missionaries, let your friends know what a blessing this gospel has been in your life, and if you are worried that you will lose friendships over this, well they probably weren't the greatest friends to begin with.

The work is great, and it requires everyones effort. The Lord promises blessings and promises to put the words He would have you speak in your mouth. He promisses to put the people He has prepaired in your path. Take Him on this promise, pray and ask for that missionary experience and I can promise you as a representative of Jesus Christ that if you do this in faith, the Lord will provide. He will put someone in your path, He will give you the words to speak, He will not let you fail. This is His work and nothing will stand in its way.

Be good, open your mouths, share the gospel, make your Father proud.

Line of The Week: 

A conversation over text with my Distric Leader   

Me: "I want to hit Sammy with a sack of spiritual bricks"

Elder Williams: "We are using ours right now, but you can borrow it next week if you want?"

Scripture of the Week: D&C 18: 10 & 15

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;...

And if it so be that you should lair all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"

A Huiku for You:

Gods Purpose

Salvation of Souls

Help Needed

Sister Hall

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...