I guess I'll start off by up dating everyone with how I've been doing. Getting home was a hard adjustment to say the least, just ask anyone who was around me for more than 15 min and they will tell you (apparently its not normal to give out mormon.org cards to people while you're stopped at a stop light.) I had only been home like 4 days and Jill was dyeing to watch something with me so she made me drive all by myself to her new place and if that wasn't uncomfortable enough she also made me watch Catching Fire. I was doing pretty good until it got to that part in district 11 where the nice old man gets killed. I start sobbing and not the pretty kind. Im talking that ugly cant catch your breath sobbing! All I could think of was that he never had a chance to hear about the plan of salvation and experience the joy and peace the gospel of Jesus Christ brings. To top it off Tyson, Jill's husband, just sat there laughing at me while Jill awkwardly patted my shoulder and asked if she should turn it off. YSA hasn't been any better between all the Book of Mormon jokes, kneeling to say a closing prayer after hanging out and going in for the hand shake instead of the hug Im surprised that I have any friends haha ; ). All in all I felt really out of place and it was hard. I didn't like a lot of the music people listened to or the jokes they told, to me "hanging out" and watching movies or something was an ineffective use of time, the things that most people my age found important and interesting just didn't click with me anymore.
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Thankfully the Lord is very merciful and mindful of his children. With His help I am learning how to balance my life and move forward without reverting back to old habits. I keep myself busy by studying my scriptures daily, going to the temple and going out with the missionaries whenever I can. I got a calling in YSA as a gospel doctrine teacher which I am loving and I have the coolest people that I am visiting teaching! Now I dont want to give any false pretences. I am far from perfect at using my time effectively, my prayers aren't always meaningful, fasting is still not my favourite thing, I can be a pretty selfish person, sometimes I lose my patience and can be too quick to judge and the list goes on... But life is not about being perfect now, its about progressing and doing our best to be like our Saviour; being a little better today than we were yesterday #prezscott. Thats what I strive for each day and somedays are better than others, but I am happy with the work how things are going : )
proof that I can actually make friends haha
But enough about me, lets get to the important people!
Since I've been home I have done my very best to stay in touch with my family back in Ontario, so lets get to it!
Sam Healey
Jorden Healey
Winnie LU (haha)
Jess Thornton
Dieter Hoefer
Jake Kilcollins
Ian Comming
Will Bekoe
Taylor McDonald
Maverick Danis
Nate Ellis
Jen + The Gang
Jen and her family have stopped going to church for the time being and the decided not to let the boys get baptized. My heart broke a little for them, but since meeting with them I have noticed a wonderful change in them as they have had the opportunity to learn and apply the principles of the gospel to improve their family relationships and for that I will be forever grateful!
Ronda & Kassidy
As of Late
So the real motivation behind this post comes from events of this past week
<<<<<---------->>Jakes Family<<---------->>>>>
Even before Jake was baptized he had an urgency to share what he was learning with his family. We tried to help him out by sending missionaries over to his mom and sister but the lived waaaaayyyyy the heck up in northern BC in Fort Nelson which was about 5 hours away from the nearest branch. Since we couldnt get missionaries to them when Jake would go and visit he would share the Book of Mormon with them. Since moving out to Calgary and preparing for his own missions the feelings of urgency regarding his family have intensified. Well, He has done it again cause we just found out that Jakes mom, sister, sisters fiance, and his niece and nephew are moving to Calgary in May or June = they can go to church with him and learn from the missionaries :D #tendermercies
<<<-----> Pamela <----->>>
Sister Tebbs and I taught Pamela back in London. We did lots of service for her including scrapping paint off her trailer with butter knives haha. While we loved Pam very much, she was going through a lot tough family stuff at the time and wasnt ready to continue to meet with missionaries. Well I found out on monday that she got baptized this past Sunday!
and the good news doesn't end there!
*^^~~^^Catharine^^~~*
Does anyone remember Catharine from Guelph? She was the lady who stopped sister Urie and I on the street while we were running to get something from our car. Ya, you heard me right She stopped Us and asked us more about our church and if she could learn more. She also happened to live directly above us in our apartment building. Teaching Catharine was an amazing experience. She was a single parent of a little baby boy. She is a strong independent women who only wants whats best for her boy. When we taught her she would ask us tough questions and wouldn't move on until she understood what we were teaching her. Cathrin was baptized on Sunday as well : ) Its truly humbling to see how well our Heavenly Father knows us and is involved in our lives.
All in all I'm one pretty blessed daughter of God. I am eternally grateful for the privilege I had to serve in Ontario, it really was the best 18 months of my life thus far. I am so blessed to have these people in my life and for the experiences I had that helped to shape me into a more Christlike person.
Hope you all have a wonderful Family Day!
Scripture of The Week:
1 Corinthians 1: 27
"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty"
A Haiku For You:
moving on
no unhallowed hand can stop
its His work
Peace and Blessings,
Lauren Hall