Two Peas In A Pod

Two Peas In A Pod

So I've got some big news...... I'M STAYING IN KINGSTON!

->cue the happy dance :)

Actually our whole apartmentship is staying the same which is grrrreeeaaaat!

News from Oakville!

FIONA GOT BAPTISED!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost squealed with excitement! Ah, I remember the first time Sister Rogers and I knocked on her door some 8 odd weeks ago :) I feel so blessed to have had the privilege of teaching her and am overjoyed that she chose to get baptised! Missions seriously rock!

Shout out!!!

Happy Birthday Tyson! Your hockey team (still -J) sucks and you are going on a cruise without me!

As for our week, my cheeks are hurting from smiling so much haha we are seriously spoiled out here! There is no way that the mission can get better than this!

So to start off I want to tell you about our newest investigator named Dieter..... that's right ,we are teaching the next apostle! But like seriously he is going to be a prophet one day! So Dieter is a referral from Steph, who is seriously one of my favorite people to take teaching! She has been a member for a little less than a year, is putting in her papers to go on a mission AND is an incredible member missionary.... but like seriously where ever she goes she will tear it uppppp! Anyways so Dieter came to church last sunday. We talked with him a lot and gave him a Book of Mormon.... By Tuesday he had read ALL of 1 Nephi.... Who is this guy!? Also he bought us shirts. Can he get any better?!

Winnie and Jake are doing amazing :) they are both incredible and have actually started hanging out with each other! Say What?! This is actually the coolest thing ever and every missionary’s dream; to have their investigators become friends! A.K.A I am living the dream right now.

Winnie had some pretty cool experiences this week... well actually both Winnie AND Jake had some way cool experiences this week but I will start off with Winnie.

First of all I want to say that God really does answer prayers. Earlier in the week we had been talking with Winnie about her baptism and she raised some concerns about how her social life might change and confessed that she still felt tempted to drink when she went to parties (all legitimate concerns that we were very happy she brought up). I left that meeting feeling like Winnie still wasn't settled on the matter.

->fast forward a few days

We got a text on Saturday from Winnie telling us she would love to see us but that we would have to meet her at her house because she wasn't feeling very well. So we head over to Winnie's house and we are all sitting down and I ask her why she isn't feeling very well. She then confesses to us that she had her first drink last night in 3 weeks. She then looked at us with her big eyes and exclaimed that the weird thing was that it tasted SO bad!

->hahahahaha! I love it when Heavenly Father answers prayers!

 She continued to tell us that she felt sick the whole night and still felt like crap.. she couldn't even eat anything.

I had the biggest simile on my face as I explained to her that God has a wonderful way of answering our prayers. I told her that this was her sign from God that the Word of Wisdom is indeed one of his commandments and that he wants her to live it :)

Winnie was trying to explain how she felt so she drew me a picture.... I still don't get it.

Now onto Jake. Oh man, Jake never ceases to amaze me!

So I honestly do not know where to begin when it comes to this guy. For a while we have strongly felt impressed that we need to commit Jake to a baptismal date and that we would both see him baptized. Now the first time we committed Jake to a baptismal date was last week. We asked him if he would get baptized and he said he would buuuut not for a while... I jokingly said that we were thinking of a year from now and Jake got all excited and said "Ya that's doable!". I then laughed and said something along the lines of, "Ya right Jake! We feel impressed that in a month from now on November 24th you will be ready for baptism:)"

Jake did his nervous laugh and said no way.

But we were not discouraged because Jake is seriously one of the most prepared people I have ever met on my mission and the best part about it is he has no idea how elect he really is :)

Anyways so we are in a lesson with Jake and we are talking a little about some of his concerns. To be completely honest I'm not quite sure how it happened but the next thing I know Sister Waal, who was teaching with me, is telling Jake that the reason why he is feeling guilty is because he has already received his answer from God- that this is His church, that the word of wisdom is His commandment, and that He wants Jake to be baptised. WOW! Jake is a little taken aback. Sister Waal continues to inform Jake that he has some praying to do in regards to baptism. <- man I love her haha

At the end of the lesson we challenged Jake to pray about being baptized on November 24th and he agreed. We reassured him that God does want him to get baptized and that God will answer his prayers and to be on the look out for his answers. Later that night we got a text from Jake saying that he had finally let his mom know that he was wanting to get baptized. His mom told him that she loved him no matter what and supported him in his decision. His sister has agreed to have the missionaries over to learn more about the church. Needless to say Jake has received his answer and will be getting baptized on November 24th.

I seriously love this work. I have never been happier in my life than I have been out here helping people to receive the gospel and the eternal joy and peace that comes with it. This is God's work and nothing and no one will get in the way of it. He is so aware of his children's concerns and will and does answer their prayers if they are true and humble seekers of their answers.

Winnie and Jake! They are going to get baptised TOGETHER on November 24th! Nothing like working towards eternal life with God with a good friend!

I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who sees fit to bless me with such amazing people in my life like Winnie, Jake, Dieter, and Jess. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

YOSO! (you only serve once!)

Line of the Week:

In Jake’s lesson while talking about the Word of Wisdom (Jake was conflicted about giving up alcohol and his roommates Nick and Affrotastic were playing the devils advocate all week trying to convince him this was stupid)  

Nick The Agnostic friend sitting in on the lesson who had been saying for a week that Jake shouldn't stop drinking: "Jake you obviously want to give this a try so just do it!"

Sister Waal: "Ok Jake if you are looking for a sign that this is something God wants you to do, you just got it! Your Agnostic friend is telling YOU to quit drinking!"

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:

Look forward

Steadfast faith in Christ
don't look back

Sister Hall

Sister HALL and I dressing up on Halloween!

Tender Mercies for EVERYONE!!

Tender Mercies For EVERYONE


Boy oh boy what a week and where the heck do I start!? Heavenly Father has 
blessed me with more spiritual experiences out here than I could have ever 
possibly imagined! So much so that I am starting to have to pick and chose 
the ones I write about! Crazy eh!



First off I had another great opportunity to get out of my comfort zone 
this week thanks to Elder Rogers and Elder Dewey (our zone leaders.)
 On Wednesday I got a call from them asking if Sister Waal and I would
 instruct the zone on Friday at our skills and interviews.... WAIT WHAT! You
 want ME and Sister WAAL to get up in front of the zone and instruct 
everyone else on how to ask inspired questions and how to listen.... YA
RIGHT! Unfortunately I was a little too shocked to think clearly and ended
 up saying sure.... So Sister Waal and I started to prepare for our
 instruction. We got a basic outline of what we wanted to discuss with the 
other missionaries and we figured that what we really wanted to hit home
 with everyone was that
 

->what makes a question inspired is not how wordy or elegant it is, but
 whether or not it comes from the spirit.<-


In order to hit that point home, we decided to do an object lesson with all 
the missionaries. In the middle of our instruction we got them to get into
 groups to talk about a concern their investigator has. While they were 
talking amongst themselves I stood at the front and recited the first
 vision and bore my testimony in a quiet voice. After 4 min we called them
 back in and asked if anyone had heard what I said. They all said no (now 
in order for the point of this demonstration to hit home with everyone we
NEEDED the spirit to be strong).
 

I took a deep breath and I said that I had shared something very close to
me.... I said, "After I had retired to the place where I had previously 
designed to go..." As I recited the first vision you could hear a pin drop
 in the chapel. The spirit was so strong it was like I could cut it with a
 knife. I even almost started to cry.... some of the missionaries even
 started to cry! 


It was an incredible experience.


We told them that while preparing for lessons is important, ultimately we 
need to listen to the advice God gives us about our investigators because
he knows them best and in order to do that we need to allow moments of 
quiet in our teaching. 



Now on to my dear Jake :) This week we got to share a very tender moment 
with Jake, which I will now tell you about. 


So I like what my Dad wrote to me last week about Jake. He said that Jake 
is the type of person who will test every principle of the gospel to make 
sure that it is truth. And he is very right. Jake will do that- some may 
look at Jake’s progression as slow, but when I see Jake I can see the gospel
 changing him and it is incredible! 


Last time we talked with Jake we asked him the next time we met with him 
if he would say one of the prayers (he hadn't offered a prayer yet). He 
smiled awkwardly and said that he thought he was ready for that. So fast
 forward to the next time we talk with him. Our lesson we had with him was
 on the gospel of Jesus Christ focusing in on the role of the Holy Ghost. It
 was a really great discussion and we were able to help Jake see the role of 
the Holy Ghost as a guide, a teacher of truth, and a comforter AS WELL as
 talk a little more about why baptism is important. At the end of the lesson
 we all look at Jake- haha there is an awkward pause and then he says he will
 give the prayer. We all chuckle. Then he offers a simple and heartfelt
 prayer. As he prayed I could feel the spirit touch my heart and prayed with
 all my might that Jake would also feel that. When he said Amen we looked up
 and saw tears in his eyes
.

->for Jake’s sake I will clarify: he did not cry because the tears never
 left his eyes ;)<-


He leaned back in his chair and said "Wow, what just happened?!" I could not
 help but smile from ear to ear! What an incredible experience for him! We
 told him to write down the feelings that he felt and explained to him that 
this is what the Holy Ghost feels like. This is God's way of showing you 
that He is there and that He is listening to you and loves you :) Jake was 
radiating... like seriously glowing and his smile was so big!
 

The next day was Sunday and it happened to be district conference so our 
mission president was presiding. He decided to have a special meeting for
 all investigators and recent converts so that he could talk with them. Both
 Jake and Winnie were able to go and it was an incredible experience for 
them! After church I was talking with Jake and he told me how he hadn't
 told his mom that he was investigating the church.... he paused and said 
that he had better tell her soon though because this is getting more
 serious.....


-> cue Sister Hall freak out on the inside! I was smiling so big that my 
cheeks hurt!



If this is not enough, Heavenly Father decides to bless Sister Laing and I
 with ANOTHER tender mercy! So it’s about 6:30 pm and we are walking around
 outside talking with people, not having that much success when we get a 
text from the zone leaders challenging us to find a new investigator....
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED :) 


Sister Laing and I say a quick prayer on the streets asking God to help us
 to find a new investigator. We say Amen, look up and lo and behold a Queen’s
 student is walking towards us! We stop him and start talking with him. As
 the conversation progressed we began teaching him about the restoration of
 the gospel. Next thing you know we are saying a closing prayer and have a
 return appointment with him and a new investigator.... this all happened in 
about 7 minutes.
 

Truly anything is possible with God!



Jessica did not end up getting baptized this weekend, but that is ok! We 
are continuing to work with her and I know that she will be baptized when 
the Lord needs her to be :)



All in all it was a pretty amazing week over here :) I appreciate all the
 emails and letters I get from you guys and hope all is well!



P.S. Nathan, I almost died laughing at the cheeto stain! I thought it was way
 funny!



Line of the Week:


Sister Waal: "What did you draw in that guy’s Book of Mormon?"


Me: "A prayer burger."


Sister Waal: "A prayer burger?!?!?"


Me: "Ya... I used to call it a prayer sandwiTch, but then I realized I
 didn't know how to spell sandwich so now I call it a prayer burger."



Scripture of The Week: Helaman 5:30

"And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noice, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul."



A Haiku for YOU:


lack of gears


adventures up hill


mission bikes


Sister Hall

Sister Waal got whip lash from the accident and was less than impressed to
have to wear a sling

Just before heading out into the cold and just before our we meet Keagan
our new investigator

Happay Happay Happay

Happay Happay Happay (Duck Dynasty, for those who don't understand:))

First off a quick Shooooouut OOOOOOUUUTTTTTT

to my sister Jill who threw our parents an excellent surprise anniversary party! She put a ton of work into it and lets just say that I am glad to be all the way out here in Kingston Ontario ;) (Yaaaah I bet you are! Let's just say there is plenty of time for her to make up for it....haha)

On to some of the good spiritual feasting. I have been taught much this week and Heavenly Father has helped me to realize that He really is watching over His work and He is aware of everyone.

So we had a lesson planned with Jake for Wednesday @ 7:30 and because Jake is a guy, we as missionaries must have another girl to accompany us to the lesson. Unfortunately Sister Laing and I did not account for the fact that this week all the university students had midterms so for the past 2 days we had been frantically looking for another girl to come with us. All 9 of them were pretty swamped with school or had work.... gah! What to do what to do?! We prayed our little hearts out that God would provide a way for us to get a member to his lesson.

We were left with 2 options:

1. Get one of the older people in the ward to come teaching with us....

 ->not too bad, but Jake lives in a party house with other roommates and bringing someone who could be their mother to teach with us just felt awkward.

2. Teach at the university

->we really wanted to have a spiritual lesson and the university is not exactly the right place for that

We decided that going to the university would be our last resort so we ask a few of the younger ladies in the ward but all of them were busy.... we sent Jake the text asking him to meet us at the university. We would just have to put our trust in God that everything would work out... needless to say I was a little skeptical.

We got to the university and went searching with Jake for a free room in the library where we could at least have a little privacy, but because of exams all the rooms were full. We ended up sitting out in the common area where everyone walked past and to top it all off someone was playing some music really loud. My hopes of having a spiritual lesson were all but dashed

->oh ye of little faith!<-

So we start talking with him about how his week had been going and such, just trying to get a feel of where we were going to take this lesson when he started asking us questions about the Word of Wisdom. We had barely begun talking about it when lo and behold Scott Jackson, one of the YSA members, comes over and sits down... jaw drop... Scott is an incredible member missionary and is SO good at teaching. We fill Scott in on some of the concerns Jake has regarding the Word of Wisdom and then proceed to the greatest lesson on the WOW that I have had on my mission. A guys perspective was exactly what Jake needed to hear. The people walking past and the music playing became background noise as all of Jakes questions and concerns were answered. It was honestly crazy. Jake had gone into this lesson doubting the need for the WOW and left having a totally different perspective on it.

Oh and get this, at the end of the lesson Jake commented on how we didn't open up with a prayer. We explained to him that we didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable cause it was out in public. He said that he didn't care so we said a closing prayer. After the prayer Jake leans back in his seat and has this content smile on his face. He tells us that this his is favorite part of the lessons. During our conversations he always has questions, comments, and "what if's" running through his head but when we say the prayer everything goes away and he just feels peace, like everything is going to be alright...... GAH! I love the spirit!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reflecting back on how the events unfolded I saw Gods hand. He knew that Jake needed to hear what Scott had to tell him, He knew that sitting in that common area Scott would find us. If we had done that lesson at Jakes house with someone else it would not have had the effect on Jake that God was looking for. We truly are just hand puppets in this work and I LOVE it! If we put our trust in God that He is watching over us and is aware of us, then what need is there for us to worry about sharing the gospel with someone or doing something else that can be scary?

The icing on the cake is that a few days latter when we met with Jake he told us that since the last time we met with him he hadn't had a cup of coffee AND he almost went without drinking buuuttt his friends pressured him into doing it.

We had begun teaching a Chines exchange student named Maeglin (he chose his English name from a character from LOTR...winning!) The first lesson we had with him was not very promising. We went over the plan of salvation and he was fairly skeptical of the whole thing. His perspective was that if a large enough group of people believed in something they could manifest it.... hence the concept of God. Going into this lesson we were planning on wrapping up the plan of salvation. I started to recap what we had talked about previously and had mentioned about how our time on earth was a time to live the gospel which brings us happiness. He asked us what the gospel was and I was debating on if we should go into it, but I figure "what the heck!" So we begin talking with him about what exactly the gospel of Jesus Christ is and the spirit immediately fills the room. Maeglin's whole demeanor changes as he begins to understand the atonement of Jesus Christ. We begin talking with him about baptism and ask him what it would mean to him to have all of his sins forgiven and be given a clean white page to start anew. He thought for a moment and explained to us how he is not a happy person and how he has hurt a lot of people in the past and how he seeks forgiveness from them. The spirit was strong as we testified of the love and forgiveness of God and how He wants him to have a happy and fulfilling life. This time instead of debating faith, he expressed his believe that if God was real He would be his friend and would help him and how he wanted to find out if He was there. We committed him to be baptised on November 24th :)

This work is Glorious!

Heads up = Jess should be getting baptised this week!

Well I am running short on time again -_- 

I love you all! I will do my best to write my endings first so you get the good stuff too!

Best companion EVER

Beaver tails on campus!

Companionship unity! Sister Stats, my sister training leader, and I decided to match. Vickie & Kianna would be proud

 Jeg vil bare at dere skal vite at dere har en helt fantastisk datter, hun er den beste misjonaren jeg noen gang mott!! :) Dere har all grunn til og vare stolte av henne, hun er veldig god! Jeg elsker henne!! Ha en flott uke!

-that is from Sister Waal. I wanted her to write my whole letter in Norwegian cause I thought it would be funny to make you guys use google translate buuuuuuuuuuuttt I didn't

Scripture of the Week: Alma 42:31

"And now, O my son, ye are called of God to preach the word unto this people. And now, my son, go thy way, declare the word with truth and soberness, that thou mast bring souls unto repentance, that the great plan of mercy may have claim upon them. And may God grant unto you even according to my words. Amen."

A Haiku for you

in Gods hands

doubts falling away 

we will trust

Sister Hall

I am Thankful for my Testimony

I am Thankful for my Testimony

An update from the good old Oakville............ JORDEN GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!

Shout Outssssss

Mom I got the awesome package -> hence the awesome picture (which did not load...) :) Thank you so much for all my winter clothes! I will be needing them soon AND don't feel bad that there weren't any treats, trust me when I say I do not need them hahahaha!

Something that I have failed to mention for the last few weeks is that I am currently in the BEST housing situation in the whole mission! Why you might ask? Well let me enlighten you. First off, I am in the Queens ghetto aka lots of interesting people to talk to (so many theories of alien invasions haha I love it!) and second I am in...wait for it....... an APARTMENTSHIP!

A.part.ment.ship: when 4 awesome missionaries get to share an apartment with one bathroom

And I absolutely LOVE it!  We have WAY too much fun... no wonder they try and avoid these types of situations haha

Sister Laing, Me, Sister Waal (from Norway) and Sister Lamb (from wait for it..... UTAH! Surprise!)

Our companionships are creepily identical.... Sister Waal and I are slightly crazy and loud and Sister Laing and Lamb are quite and powerful. We joke around a lot about how if Sister Waal and I got put together nothing would get done cause we would laugh way too much and get side tracked every few minutes. Thank goodness for inspired companionships! Sister Laing keeps me on the straight and narrow AND laughs at my jokes :) She is amazing!

As for this week I got to see a different side of missionary work. Its called staying inside all day cause your companion is sick hahaha...... poor Sister Laing got a bad cold so we had to stay inside for a few days. We would go out sometimes if we had appointments but otherwise she would sleep and I would try and entertain myself.....

I watched over 80 Mormon messages, read my scriptures, phoned former investigators, watched the restoration, legacy, and finding faith in Christ a bazillion times, worked on my hand stand, aaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnndddddddd built a blanket fort!

Me inside the blanket fort reading my scriptures, watching Mormon messages, preparing for a sunday school lesson AND not posing for the camera

This week we have been seeing the fruits of General Conference :)

Jessica was having second thoughts about getting baptized, but after listening to the conference and praying, she has had a change of heart and wants to continue to work towards baptism :D

Winnie went home this weekend to tell her parents that she is wants to get baptized.... it didn't go very well. She is unsure of what to do at this point and is wanting to push her baptism back. We saw her Monday night when she had gotten back from the weekend and talked with her about how she was feeling. I know that I should probably be really worried, but I just have this feeling like everything is going to be alright. Winnie has felt the spirit and I can see the physical change that is taking place in her as she hears these spiritual truths. The Lord has prepared her for this and is watching over her. Perhaps it might take longer than what we had anticipated but like the scriptures say, "Trust in the Lord".

As for Thanksgiving, I got myself covered :) A bunch of us all went down to this place called Smokes Poutinery (its awesome! I've even seen it on the food network!) And guess what..... they had a Thanksgiving Poutine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's right mom, I had thanksgiving dinner poutine style :) It had fries, gravy, cheese, turkey, stuffing, AND green peas and it was SOOOOO good!

To end off this letter, I guess I'll let you know that our apartmentship is down a car due to the other sisters getting their car annihilated by a driver. The sisters are ok (Sister Waal's neck is sore) but the car is totally done for. We found out today that they also wont be getting a replacement car anytime soon..... which means BIKES AND BUSES! Sister Laing and I are thinking of giving them our car because they cover a larger area so we will get to use bikes and buses. I am pretty stoked to uses bikes... not so much buses. It will make things a little harder, like getting our members who don't own cars to lessons..... but the Lord will provide!

Scripture of the Week: D&C 98: 12-14

"For He will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith. 

And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name's sake, shall find it again, even life eternal.

Therefore, be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy."

A Haiku For You:

Oh Happy Day

On the path back home

a mission?  

Sister Hall

First Doubt Your Doubts Then Doubt Your Fears

**Sister Hall won't be writing again until Wednesday due to Thanksgiving!**

First Doubt Your Thoughts, Then Doubt Your Fears

Can I just say I love being a missionary?! Like really can life get any better?  I think NOT!

 

Before I get into my weeks adventures I just wanted to send a quick update about Oakville :)

Jorden is currently getting ready to be baptized on October 13th (he moved his date up a week!)

Fiona has come to church the past 3 weeks and absolutely LOVES it! She has noticed the change it has made in her week and wants to feel the way she does at church all week. In response to the invitation to be baptized she said "OF COURSE!" Since she has been coming to church she has been facing some anti Mormon material from her neighbours and even her husband, but every time someone brings it up she gets mad at them and defends the church :) She is SO special and I love her so much!

 

I'm sure I am not just speaking for myself when I say that I have been spiritually stuffed this weekend but have room for SO much more *exclamation point*! (hahahahahahha! that guy cracked me up!)

Conference weekend was no disappointment and came at the perfect time. We had 4 of our investigators attend conference and I sure cant think of a better way to help resolve their concerns than to have them listen to the prophet and apostles of God :) I am eternally grateful for these inspired men and for the power of the spirit in teaching eternal truths.  

 

As for this week we have once again been blessed greatly... I hope I have time enough to write about all of them!

 

I will start off by telling you a little more about my dear Winnie. Winnie is a member referral and is one of the investigators who was in the big class we taught last sunday. Since that class we have taught Winnie twice. She is INCREDIBLE! I honestly do not know what we do as missionaries to be blessed with such wonderful people to teach! First off let me tell you how she came to be a member referral. Scott, one of the YSA, was sitting in class when Winnie approached him. She sat down and told him that she had heard he was Mormon. She proceeded to inform him that she wanted to be Mormon as well.... Scott literally said, "Great we are always recruiting!" hahaha! Since then she has been coming to FHE and institute. Teaching her is such a joy because she is truly humble.

 

Right now we are facing a slight dilemma please bear with me as I explain.

SO we set Winnie's baptismal date for October 27th and everything was great until we realized Scott, her fellowshipper, would be away that weekend.... After careful consideration we approached both of them and asked Winnie what she would like to do about that. We suggested to moving her date up a week or possibly back a week or keeping it the same. She decided to move it back to November 3rd, we advised her to pray about it and council with God and then to get back to us.

Fast forward to Sunday right before general conference starts.

Winnie approaches us in the hallway and says she needs to talk with us about her baptismal date. She explains to us that she has been thinking a lot and told us that she wants to tell her parents about getting baptized and that based on their response she will be baptized on October 20th or November 17th.

 

*Sister Hall's Insight* what incredible faith she has to want to be baptized earlier after only meeting with us 3 times! The power of the Holy Ghost is truly amazing and missionary work would be impossible without it. It is such a humbling experience to witness the power and love God has for His children and what He is willing to do to bring us back home.

 

She is going to talk with her parents when she goes home this weekend for Thanksgiving. She comes from a Dow(?) (no idea how to spell it) religious background (I believe its like the Buddhist religion.) We are praying ERNESTLY that her parents will be accepting and supportive. Please keep her and her parents in your prayers as well :)

 

Next I would like to introduce everyone to Jake :)

 

So Jake is the other investigator we gained last week from that Sunday class. So here is the story behind Jake; he is the friend of a recent convert named Taylor. When he found out that Taylor had joined a church he thought she was crazy so he decided to go to church with her to prove that she was brain washed..... He has now been to church 4 times HAHAHAHAHA! The first time we had our one on one lesson with him we asked him a few questions to get to know him and one of them was his thoughts thus far on the church. He told us that he has never met so many nice and genuine people at church and that he LOVES coming. He told us one of the biggest differences he has found with our church and with others is that with Mormons going to church is not a chore, but something to look forward to and he really likes that.

->Little does he know that really its the spirit he feels that makes him keep wanting to come back ;) mwahahaha 

He told us that his weakness lies with his lack of faith and his pride, but that he has been praying that God will not let his skepticism get in the way. He has the sincere desire to know the truth and he feels the spirit, even if he doesn't recognize it as the spirit, when he comes to church. I am so excited for him and his journey through the gospel!

 

So I am being exposed to a lot of new and different situations out here in Kingston. One of them is teaching people with absolutely no background in Christianity. We have found that on campus most of the people willing to stop and listen to us are exchange students from China. Them being from China, they of course do not have much of a foundation for Christianity or any other religion for that matter. The phrase "a whole nother ball game" fits well into this type of situation. Their concerns, questions, attitude, etc... are totally different from people who have gown up around religion and I am finding that I need to take a different approach when teaching them. 

Justin and James, now is the time to give me all your sage advice! I know that Japan and China are completely different countries, but I'm wondering if you guys faced similar situations as these ones. If you have I'd appreciate all the advice I can get :)

 

Line Of The Week: This is a conversation with our zone leaders over the phone.

Me: "perfect so is that everything?"

Elder Dewie: "Oh wait actually we have one more referral for you! This lady is awesome! She is from Russia and said she wants to be baptized!"

Me: "Get OUT! That's Awesome!"

Elder Dewie: "Ya, let me just get her information!... Ok so her name is hard to pronounce so Im going to spell it for you.'

- sister Laing gets out a pen and paper.

Elder Dewie: "ok its Yourmom."

Me: "Yourmom? that's supper weird... ok whats her number."

-Elder Dewie and Rogers just start laughing and then I clue in

Me: "yourmom.... your mom.... Elder Dewie I am going to make it my mission this week to go out and find your mom and baptize her."

At this point the Elders are in near hysterics. They think they are SO funny... -_-

Sister Hall

 

Full House

New Address!!

#1, 651 Victoria Street

Kingston, ON K7L 3Z8

Canada

Full House

Holy Moly Kingston YSA! Man is it ever different out here! I'll be honest, I was a little worried coming out here. Not only was I across the mission and working with the YSA but opening an area means going in with no investigators to work with.... and I do love my appointments. Looks like Heavenly Father is trying to help me get out of my comfort zone! So Sister Laing and I make the 3 hour drive out to Kingston and we get to work. We start making cold calls to all former investigators. One of the first people we call is a girl named Jessica. The missionaries taught her once about 7 years ago when she was 12.... I probably wouldn't have called her to begin with but we weren't working with much so we thought it couldn't hurt. Turns out this was one of the best choices of my LIFE! Haha! She couldn't remember meeting with missionaries but said that we could come over the next day and share a message. WHAT WHAT!

Next Day (Wednesday)

We head over to Jessica's and turns out she is pretty cool. She has had a really, really rough life and has lived on her own since she was 14 or 15. I could tell that she was in need for some serious TLC which is right up my ally :) She has always wondered if there is a God but with all the things that have happened to her, well lets just say believing has been hard for her. We talked with her a little about God and taught the restoration of the gospel. At the end of the lesson we invited her to prepare to be baptized on October 27th and she said that she would :D She is absolutely wonderful and I can just see how this gospel will change her life, bringing a flood of peace and joy and love! I cannot wait for her to experience it!

Jessica and I got to share a tender moment together this week :)

She was sharing with us a little bit about her past and asked us why God had abandoned her. I could see the pain in her eyes and my heart went out to her. I was filled with this love for her and started to tear up a little as I shared with her my testimony of the trials we face in life and how it might seem like God has left us but He never does. I shared with her my own experience when I felt like I was alone and testified that when in those situations, if you chose to turn to prayer and just ask to feel God's love that He will wrap you in his arms.

That night Jessica sent us a text telling us that she had prayed and that she felt warm.

God truly is just a prayer away :)

Thursday

On Thursday we got a hold of a few of the YSA and met with them early in the morning.... Can I just say that the YSA out here put me to shame! Holy crow they are the best member missionaries in the whole mission! I'd even put money on it if it wasn't super apostate! There aren't very many YSA (only about 9ish) but they are all very close and super active. They really want the YSA to grow so that they can get their own branch. So when we got together with them they sat us down and told us:

1. All the people they are currently working on

2. All the less actives we need to reach out to

3. All the active members who would like to fellowship and go teaching with us...

My mouth literally dropped! Saying that I am excited to work with these people is an understatement!

I also contacted on a university for the first time.... that was a really interesting experience... once again I think this is God's way of putting me out of my comfort zone. My new goal is to get a bunch of investigators so that I never have to go contacting on the university again haha! Although it wasn't all bad. We got two appointments with exchange students from china which was pretty sweet! I feel like the way we will see success though is by working with our YSA- which shouldn't be too hard seeing as they brought 4 friends to institute tonight....have I mentioned how much I love them?!

On a different note, Queens University is the most glorious campus I have ever seen! It is absolutely beautiful! So pretty in fact that I would seriously consider coming out here for school! 

This is just a way nice building on Queens University... It pretty much all looks like this 

Sunday

This was one of the scariest and most spiritual days of my mission thus far.

So we go to church like any normal day and we are greeting the YSA as they come in. To our astonishment they have brought 5 friends.... that is 5 people who are not members of the church....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What the WHAT! So I'm sitting in sacrament meeting having a little freak out on the inside cause I have no idea what the heck we should do! After sacrament we head over to the special YSA sunday school class. It is there that Sister Laing and I decide that after the class we will hold a separate class for all non members and any YSA who want to join in where we will answer any questions and share with them a little more about what makes our church unique.

After class we head over to the room to wait and see who will come. At this point I literally feel like I'm about to vomit because I have no idea how we should start this and we need to make sure that this goes well cause if it doesn't the YSA wont trust us with any of their friends ever again and it will be a very loooooooooooooonnnnng transfer!

So pretty much everyone shows up to the class (13 people) and we begin by asking if anyone has any questions. We start to talk a little about the Book of Mormon which leads nicely into the restoration of the gospel. This whole time the YSA are bearing powerful testimony about their own conversions and how they found out the Book of Mormon was true. The spirit was SO strong! The strongest it has ever been in any less I've ever taught. When we recited the first vision it was almost like getting hit over the head with spiritual bricks! Soon enough my fears melted away and I just got to sit back and enjoy watching everyone be taught by the spirit. It was amazing and a very humbling experience. At the end of the lesson Sister Laing and I split up and started talking with the PI's to make return appointments. Out of the 5 non members, 4 gave us their number and showed interest in meeting with us again....Oh.... My.....GOSH!!!!

THE GOSPEL IS TRUE!

Witnessing Heavenly Fathers work right in front of you = Winning  

Sister Laing and I were looking for an former investigator.... This is where the GPS lead us.... I kept hoping that it would tell us to continue driving into the lake...  could have had a Michael Scott moment! (its from an episode of the office)

Well that's all for now! Be kind and say your prayers!

Line of the WEEK: Contacting on Queens

Me: Hey what makes you most happy in life?!

Random Student #24: Sex and Alcohol!!!

Me (in my head): that's original...

Scripture of the Week: D&C 88: 63

This one might be a repeat, but this week I have really gained a testimony that anyone who is seeking God WILL find him :)

"Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

A Haiku For You

Hearts warmed

Hastening the Work

Hey Kingston

Sister Hall

It Has Been A LOOOOONG Time Coming

It Has Been A LOOOOONG Time Coming

Holy Molly what a week! So much to tell!

Shout outtttssss

Thank you to Marisa for the letter! It was wonderful hearing from you and I'm glad the family is doing well! 

And mom I have not yet received the  package of letters from the family

Ok as for this weekkkkkk TONS of stuff happened! 

I guess I will start with Fiona :)

So this week we got to see Fiona a couple times. The first time we stopped by we got in to see her but only had enough time to chat with her/establish our role as missionaries. She shared with us some cool experiences in her life and informed us that the day we knocked on her door she decided to quite drinking... Wait WHAT?!?! Sister Rogers and I chuckle and explain to Fiona that we dont drink either. Fiona is super curious about our religion so she was asking us why so we explained the word of wisdom briefly. She told us that the only thing she would struggle with is coffee, but that she was willing to give it up.... that's right people. Fiona has committed to live the word of wisdom without actually being taught anything. She is SO cool! The next time we saw Fiona she was frantically running around to go pick her son up from school. She quickly told us to get in the car with her soooo we did. HAHAHA! Next thing we know we are teaching her the restoration in the car on the way to pick up one of her kids. The experience was SO bizarre that we had to take a picture.

Fiona and her two boys came with us to church this week as well :D Fiona really enjoyed it! 

Now for a Jordan update. So we get a call from Jordan Wednesday night- he wanted to let us know that he had been praying and reading the Book of Mormon and that he felt that he should get baptized on the 13th!!! He said that he really wanted both Sister Rogers and I to be there for his baptism so he didnt want to postpone it. We explained to him that we were getting transfer calls this week and that one of us might be leaving....  He decided that he would fast the next day so that we might stay. WOW. Jordan is way cool! So this week when we went to go teach Jordan we talked a little more about his baptism and addressed some of his concerns. He even told us that he was thinking about serving a mission in a few years.... BAH! If Jordan serves a mission I will literally die of happiness! When he told us Sister Rogers and I nearly feel off our chairs and then squealed with excitement like little girls. Ah I am just so excited to see what happens to Jorden in these next few years :D

Sam, Sis. Rogers, Jorden, and sis. HAll

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO............. we got transfer calls last night....... Looks like Sister Rogers is staying in Oakville with Sister Ormond as her new companion. Sister Ormond also happened to be my MTC companion and someone who I adore very much! I am glad she is coming to Oakville; I trust her with our investigators :) 

As for little old me I am heading to the other end of the mission to.............. KINGSTON! Cool eh!? I will be companions with Sister Lang (from CARDSTON! Who also came out with me!) We are opening a new area over there for YSA...... That's right. I will be serving in YSA. SOOOOOO WEIRD! It will be a completely different experience and will be a great learning opportunity for sure!  I will miss Oakville for sure and I'm sad I wont get to see Jordan baptized, but really the most important thing is that he is going to enter into that promise with God :) 

Now Kingston is a very special place in the mission. Back in the day, Brigham Young baptized like 50 people there in 1 WEEK! When president Monson was mission president in Toronto the Kingston area was doing TERRIBLE! So bad in fact that the missionaries called that area Stoney Kingston because the peoples hearts were made of stone. He decided to try an experiment so he closed down the area for a while until everyone forgot about Kingston. Then he started spreading rumors about how he was going to re-open an area in the mission where Brigham Young baptized 50 people. All the missionaries got super excited. Parents started writing letters to Pres. Monson asking if their boys could serve there etc... Anyways the area began to flourish with many many baptisms :) 

The life of a missionary: Get up, exercise, prepare for the day, study, find, teach, baptize. Each day you wonder:  What does the lord have prepared for us this day? Whoever shall we run into or teach on the street? Who does he want us to find? Where does he want us to go? Following the spirit, teaching by the spirit. Teaching with members. Learning. Growing. Progressing. Becoming Like Jesus Christ. This is missionary work. Adventure. Life. This is awesome.I feel an overall peace for the good things taking place here in Oakville. We see miracles each and every day and because so, I am humbled by the power of God and his magnificent influence in my life. I have the desire to do better. I have the desire to become something better. I pray the Lord will take me places never thought possible. All things are possible through Christ. What we need is a vision, set the goal, back it up with spiritual confirmation and the diligent hard work to get there. 

I'm excited for what the future holds! It looks like is going to be a pretty neat adventure over in Kingston YSA! They had best look out! 

Line of the week: So we get a call saturday night from our district leader asking us to come out to Burlington to help a family move. We show up there to find that our whole district has been recruited!

Elder Wunhanie: "Who would have thought that by the end of the night we would all be in the back of a U-Hall...."

Scripture of the Week: D&C 58: 27 (thats what it was supposed to be last week haha)
"Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness."

A Haiku for you: 

YSA

Young Single adults

What The What!?

Sister Hall

This is me fasting durring weekly planning.... it got pretty rough