Another Amazing Week of Miracles June 24, 2016

This week has been another amazing week full of miracles!! To start we had a multi Zone Conference and we all got to go through a session in the Calgary Temple! It was such a neat experience to have so many missionaries together all going through a Temple session! The Spirit was so strong and many of the temple workers were brought to tears as they saw all of us in white. It was truly an experience I will always cherish. After the Temple session we had a meeting with President and Sister Miles and the theme of the Conference was 'The Atonement of Christ'. We discussed how to use the Atonement and a lot of other things related to the sacrifice that Christ made for each of us. Sister Miles said something that really touched my heart though. She said, "Because of the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, He places certain people in our lives when we need them most because He knows how we feel." This just blew my mind! I had never realized that because of the Atonement Christ knows how I feel and blesses me with putting certain people in my life to help me feel loved by Him. That one concept has really caused me to reflect and think a lot. Now I am even more grateful for the Saviors sacrifice and it has helped me gain a deeper testimony that He truly does care about me individually and He sends people to help me and if I am close to the Spirit I can be sent to help others as well.

In addition to an amazing Zone Conference this week I had an awesome exchange with Sister Pipkin, one of my MTC companions!! We were really trying to talk to everyone that we saw... yes EVERYONE!! And I'm not going to lie, at times that can be a little intimidating, but we put our faith in the Lord and put our fears to the side and we invited everyone that we saw to learn more about Christ. After our dinner appointment we were walking back to our car and we noticed that someone was walking behind us but they were a little ways off... so we started to walk a little slower so that we could talk to them and then next thing I know Sister Pipkin flipped around (almost taking the guy out haha) and started talking to him! We chatted about what he was going to do over the long weekend and then we started talking to him about how we were missionaries and that we teach people about Jesus Christ. After a few minute of talking about the gospel we invited him to learn more and he said YES!!! We were so excited! So now we have an appointment to see him this coming weekend!! It was such a cool experience because as we were trying to be diligent and talk to everyone that was in our path the Lord blessed us with the opportunity to talk to someone who He had prepared! Oh I just love being a missionary! I am so grateful for the gospel and the opportunity that I have to share it with so many people in Canada!! (: 

Lunch with Brother Becker and Sister Falzon, they came

all the way form Canmore to have lunch with us!

 Such Sweethearts!

Dinner with the Turcios Family

Vera, Kathy and Elder Chen, Elder Shank and 

Sister Trimble and Sister Blazer

Fried Squid!! First time eating it!

May 16, 2016 Sick Week

So this week I actually got pretty sick.. but all is well my companion is a saint and she took really good care of me!! (: The teaching is coming... we have a goal for this week to contact 10 extra people a day, so 70 people a week! And we are praying that as we continue to show the Lord our diligence that He will help us find the people whom He has prepared to receive the gospel!! (: So that will be great this week and hopefully help us have a lot more people to teach! But we are working with a lot of less active members so that has been a really amazing experience! It has been so special to be able to testify of how I have seen the Gospel of Jesus Christ change my life. And it has been really neat to see how some of the things that the people we see are struggle with are things that our family struggled with too! There truly are no coincidences... Heavenly Father is mindful of each of us and places us in certain places for a reason! (: My companion, Sister Blaser, is amazing! We have so much fun together! She actually grew up on a potato farm in Rexburg so everyone always calls us the "farm girls" haha (: Just like my dad says, "Work Hard Play Hard." That is the moto that me and Sister Blaser live by! We try to work as hard as we can and have fun while doing it!! (: So all in all everything here in Canada is going great! I truly do just love being a missionary! I am so grateful for this opportunity! (: 

So crazy cool story from this week.... A little farther North well actually, a lot farther North is Fort McMurray. And the past few weeks there have been some crazy wild fire's there and they have had to evacuate the whole city... that is more than 80,000 people because everything is being burnt to the ground! It has been so sad to hear all the stories of everyone having to leave everything behind jump in a car and pray that they might have a home to go back to... But despite all of the craziness and the totally devastation and flattening of the entire city of Fort McMurray, the Chapel where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meet is still standing! Everything around the Chapel is black and burnt but the Chapel and it's grounds are still green and untouched by the fire! Now it is being used to help the fire department and rescue crews meet, so they can continue to try to put out the fire! Isn't that just so cool! This was such a testimony builder for me! I reminds me of Luke 1:37 "For with God nothing shall be impossible." 

Bowness Park

Mothers Day Email May 9, 2016

This week I just wanted to give a shout out to all the moms out there!! My heart has been filled with so much love, gratitude, and admiration for all of the selfless moms that are giving everything they have to love everyone around them. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Mother, earthly mother, and all of the other amazing women that have helped mother me during my life! I truly believe being a mother is such a sacred and special opportunity from our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for all of the things that my mom has taught me. I am grateful that she taught me by example how to love, serve and put others needs before my own. I am also grateful for the many other women in my life that have taken the time to love, nurture, and teach me. I am grateful for all the time they have spent in helping me through the thick and the thin. I know that Heavenly Father truly does love all of His Daughters, and especially the selfless mom's that are striving to be an example to their families! Just like the mothers in Alma 56:47-48 I have been "taught by [my] mother" I am eternally grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with a loving and nurturing earthy mother that always took the time to make me feel loved and special. I am also equally grateful for a loving father that has taught me by his example to turn to the Lord and rely on Him, to serve others with all my heart, and to be understanding and loving of everyone. I am grateful it is part of Heavenly Fathers divine plan for us to have earthly parents to teach and love us. Everyone comes from different homes, backgrounds and situations... but the one thing that is the same for each of us it that our Heavenly Parents love us. I am grateful for that knowledge that the Gospel of Jesus Christ beings me. I just want to thank all of the moms  and dads out there that are doing their best! Each of you are making such a difference in the lives of so many around you! Just like Elder Holland says, "Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on, today, tomorrow, and forever." 

Cool Picture!

Awesome Car!

Sabrina and the Anderson Kidos

Sabrina and Sister Sears

Pretty Awesome Week! May 2, 2016

This week has been pretty awesome!! (: So on most ward list's there are a few Do Not Contacts...So normally that means that during some time those individuals have contacted the Bishop or told the past missionaries that they Do Not want ANY contact from members of the church. Well, last Sunday our Bishop asked us to visit a few Do Not Contacts.... Normally for a missionary when we visit Do Not Contacts it ends in a few different ways... 1. We get yelled at and told to go away 2. People politely tell us that the church "isn't for them anymore" or 3. They look at us and slam the door.... Needless to say when Bishop asked us to go and contact some of these people we were a little nervous! But Sister Blaser and I knew that Bishop Turner was inspired of the Lord and that whatever happened we could handle with the help of Heavenly Father. (: So we stared to contact the individuals that we were asked to see. Dorthy was the first Sister on the list and when we got to her door she politely told us, "the church isn't for me anymore" but we didn't let that stop us... we just kept on chatting to her about her life and what things she likes and things like that. After a few minutes she ended up inviting us in!!! So we chatted a little longer and she asked us to read to her a few of her Family History stories! After that we just shared a scripture from The Book of Mormon that related to her family history story AND had a PRAYER with her!!! It was so amazing!! It really taught me a valuable lesson. 1. Kindness goes a long way. As we took sincere interest in Dorthy's life she could see that we really did care about her and because of that and that the Spirit softened her heart we were able to have a wonderful visit with her! And she said that we could come back!! 2. This is the Lords work... not mine. When we are asked to visit someone in particular or when the Spirit prompts me to go somewhere, I don't need ask questions... I just need to act! In order for me to be an effective instrument in the Lords hands I need to trust and rely on the Spirit! Sister Blaser and I had a few other cool things happen with people that we were able to contact that were on that list! It was such a cool experience! It just goes to show that Heavenly Father truly does know each of us! 

Also this week we were able to get in with a less-active family...while we were there the son (who is about 20) walked out of his room with a girl....the mom was clearly not happy with the situation, and as they went to leave and the mom said "i'm not letting that girl back in this house if she is a girl who doesn't go to church." We were a little shocked with her remark....but #shoutout to her because this girl came to church yesterday!!! We talked to her after and she just kept saying over and over how great it was. She thought it was so personable, and she said she just felt recharged!!! We were like YEST YES!! That's what the gospel of Jesus Christ can do for you!! She even said that she wants to come back next week :)I'm so grateful for the lessons that I learned this week that have strengthened my testimony in knowing that the is the Lords work!! Heavenly Father is so mindful of each of our situations and I know that He loves each of us so much! I love this gospel so much and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be serving here in Canada!! (: 

April 25, 2016

So the cool little miracle that I wanted to share today was about Brother and Sister Craig. Brother Craig had a stroke a few years back so when his wife goes out they have a care giver that comes in to help take care of him for a few hours. The past few times that she has come he has asked her to read the Ensign and The Book of Mormon to him. And the last time that she came over she said that she was leaving for a month and she asked him if she could have a Book of Mormon to read on her vacation!!! So we delivered Brother and Sister Craig The Book of Mormon!! It was just so cool to see that Brother Craig could have asked her to read him anything but he took advantage of that little missionary moment!! Oh I just think that is so cool! Anyways it has been a great week and the members in the Bow Valley ward are so amazing!! (: I just love serving here!! (: 

Awesome graffiti in Bowness!

I feel like I'm back in Utah!!