Neat Experiences June 27, 2016

Heavenly Father is so mindful of each of us! This week we have had so many neat experiences! To start we went on exnchagnes with some other Sister's serving in Brooks, Sister Tilley and Sister Messick. I went to Brooks with Sister Tilley and we taught the Restoration to one of their new investigators and it was so stink'n amazing! Saul, their new investigator, was so excited to learn and as we were talking he would bear his testimony about how much he loves Jesus Christ! At one point in the lesson after we had talked about the Savior's earthly ministry he looked at us and said, "I love Jesus Christ, because He has changed my life." The Spirit was so strong during that lesson and the Spirit testified to me again how mindful Heavenly Father is us each of us. This experience also made me reflect... do I appreciate how much Jesus Christ has changed my life? It is such a blessing to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints... but I think at times I take for granted how much Jesus Christ has truly done for me. Saul's words mixed with the Spirit truly taught me that I want to show the Savior how grateful I am for His Atonement and The Gospel of Jesus Christ every day the rest of my life! I want to follow the example of our Savior even more by helping others feel of His love and by doing my best to become more like Christ.

Also yesterday we were showed a video in ward council about never giving up on anyone, and it was so powerful! The video really focused on being kind to everyone and taking a genuine interest in the lives of those that are around us us and becoming friends with people and not just inviting them to church and other things because "that is what we are told to do". It was such a powerful video and made me want to work even harder and love people even more like the Savior! Then later on Sunday evening we had an appointment with the Matthew's family who have not been less-active for years. We asked one of the members of the Bishopric to come with us because he knew Brother Matthews pretty well. During our visit Brother and Sister Pierson and Brother and Sister Matthews just had a great time catching and chatting about the good old days. Then we shared a Mormon Message "Earthy Father, Heavenly Father" and the spirit was so strong. We talked about the similarities between our earthly parents and our Heavenly Father. Brother Matthews talked about how he felt about Heavenly Father and bore such an amazing testimony and then he just opened right up to us about why he was less-active. He told us that he has a friend that just keeps on pestering him to come to church. He said that he appreciated the offer but that what he really needed was a true friend.

That really struck my heart one, because that is exactly what we learned about in ward council that morning and two, because people can feel the difference when we invite out of love and friendship and when we invite because we are just told to. Now don't get me wrong, sometimes we go and visit others because we were asked to, and there is nothing wrong with that. But once we meet the people that we are asked to visit we need to take time to get to know them and take a genuine interest in who they are. This experience made me reflect a little... The question came to my mind, "Why does the Savior love each of us so much?" I believe that He loves each of us so much because He knows us so well. He understands out hearts. I want to follow the Saviors example even more and truly get to know people and pray to see others as the Savior sees them. I know that as each of us get to know those that are around us and strive to love them like the Savior does when we invite our friends, neighbors, and family to church or other activities they will know that we are doing it out of love. We can not control if they accept our invitation... but we can invite them out of love. One of my favorite scriptures is Moroni 8:16 "... for perfect love casteth out all fear." As each of us love those around us more and pray more fervently for one another we will be able to see each other more like the Savior sees us. We will be able to have more love for one another and that love will cast out our fear and we will be able to share the gospel with those that we love most. I am so grateful for this experience and that it strengthened my testimony that Heavenly Father is so mindful of each of us and love us all so much more than we can comprehend. I love this gospel with all of my heart and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to share it with so many people.

Sister Brown and Me washing our car with

rainbow soap! (Finding joy in the little things)

Sister Brown, Me, Shawna and Don Tanner

Sister Brown and Me!

Sister Brown, Me, Charlie and Clarissa

(the sweetheart that got baptized in Fort Macleod)

Great Quote!

New Changes June 13, 2016

There have been a few changes this past week. I am no longer serving in NW Calgary anymore. I am now in Taber, known for their famous "Taber Corn"!! We cover two wards, Taber 1st ward and Vauxhall ward. The Vauxhall ward is similar to a Branch though because only around 30-40 people attend there. All the people here though have been so nice! I just love it here so so much! Also my new companion is Sister Brown! She is so awesome, and she is from St.George! Anyways so there is a little up date on what is new here in Canada!! 

Also this week our mission was privileged to be able to all meet together and  have President Russel M. Nelson come and visit us! Yes, that is right, PRESIDENT Russel M. Nelson!!! It was such an amazing experience to be able to be in the same room as the President of the Quorum or the 12 Apostles. We all were able to go up one by one and shake his hand and it made me think of a scripture, 3 Nephi 11:15 "And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into His side, and did feel the prints of the nails in His hands and in His feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that is was He, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come."  This is the part of The Book of Mormon when Christ comes to the North American continent to visit the people after He is resurrected. The part that I love the most though is when it says that Christ personally ministered to each of them one by one. That is one of the amazing things about the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ, it is so personal! He knows, loves, and helps each of us personally! And when President Nelson took the time to shake each of our hands individually it made me think about how he was following the example of our Savior and taking time to help each missionary feel his love and the love the Savior has for us personally. 

One thing that got brought up during the meeting was "A call to serve is a call to change" This was so profound to me! We have each been called to serve! Whether it is in our families, church callings, visiting teaching, home teaching, and etc. But the most important calling we each have is that we are all Son's and Daughter's of a Loving Father in Heaven who has sent us each here to learn and grow closer to Him. We have individually been chosen to be right here, right now, so that we can change and become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. And the way that we can change and grow the most is by looking outward and serving those that are around us one by one and always relying on our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ! What an amazing opportunity we each have been blessed with to come to earth and have an opportunity to become more like our Savior. 

Another thing that I learned from President Nelson was about the importance of being happy! He said, "Men are that they might have joy, if you have joy please notify your face." haha Even thought this made all of us burst into laughter there was so much truth to his statement. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to make us happy and give us an opportunity to feel even closer to our Father in Heaven. When we feel that love and happiness within we should show that! We should smile to people as we pass them. Smile at the person who is bagging our groceries. Smile at our family members. Smile at the person that is taking our order at a restaurant. Smile at everyone that we see. Smiling helps us radiate the light of Christ and helps those around us feel loved by our Father in Heaven. I am just so grateful for the opportunity that I had to be able to learn so many things from the Spirit during that meeting! I know that our Savior, Jesus Christ truly does love and know each of us personally. I know that we are all Son's and Daughter's of a Loving Heavenly Father. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed my life more that words could ever express. And I know that each of us can become more like our Savior through the Atonement. What a wonderful blessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is!

The Hill Family from Calgary

Logan and Marie with Sabrina & Sister Blaser

Calgary West Zone

Sabrina, Sister McDonald, and Sister Blazer!

We rocked a three leg the last week of transfers!

Sister McDonald, Sister Blazer, Aleena Steven & Sabrina

We had some good old Clarshome Chicken on

our way to Taber!

Brother Anderson, Sabrina, and Sister Anderson in Taber!

Sister Brown throwing knives at Sabrina at the

Anderson farm! Ha ha!

Name tag at Anderson's Farm

Sabrina in the Winds of Southern Alberta #Gett'n blown away

Cute Cactus

#Fields for Days

Week Of Working, Working, Working!! June 6, 2016

To be honest I don't even know where to begin this week! We have just been working, and working, and working, and we have just been so so so beyond blessed this week! To start we had an amazing lesson with Logan and Marie this week! It has been such a blessing to be a part of learning with them! They have both grown so much and the Spirit is so strong each time that we meet! Oh I just love both of them so much!! Last week Marie shared a story with us that goes along with Mosiah 3:5-10 The story is called "Wings of Love"

"After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched like a statue on the ground at the edge of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings would live." 

After Marie read this story we began to talk about the Savior and how because of Him we can live again as well. The Spirit was so strong as we talked about the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ and discussed the similarities of the story and how Chirst knows and loves each of us personally. 

In addition to the amazing discussion with Logan and Marie we picked up another investigator!! Her name is Iram and she is a single mom that we met at the gas stations a little while back. We went over to her house and she offered us pizza and cake and all kinds of food. We told her that we had just come from dinner but thanked her for her kind offer. After visiting for a few more minutes she asked again if we would like some "Pitza" in her thick accent. My companion at the time, Sister Sears, because we were on exchanges said yes, thinking maybe it was a small snack from Imar's native country. But it turned out that she stared cooking us a huge pizza! haha After talking to her more about the gospel and her religious beliefs enjoying pizza together she expressed to us how she had just barely gotten out of a woman's shelter but how she was still struggling a little with having enough money for food for her and her daughter. This broke my heart. She is working so hard and living as cheap as she can, but she is still running a little short on money. We told her that we would look into what resources we could find to help her, but as we were leaving she took all the leftovers of the pizza and wrapped them up to give to us. We insisted that she keep them so that her and her daughter could eat it, but she wouldn't take it back. After getting into the car with the pizza I couldn't help but just feel this overwhelming since of gratitude for Imar's kindness. Even though she didn't have much to give, she was still willing to give all that she could to help us feel loved. It reminded me of a scripture in Mark 12:41-44 This is the story of the woman that had nothing but still gave 2 mites, everything that she had, to the treasury. Even though this widow gave much less than everyone else Christ said, "this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury." What I love about the story of the widow and of Imar is that they both gave "all that they had" and they gave it freely with no strings attached. I am so grateful that we have this amazing opportunity to teach Imar about the Gospel of Jesus Christ but I am also equally grateful for her example to me of loving and giving like the Savior. 

These are just a few of the miracles and amazing things that have happened this week. My heart is just full of so much gratitude for our loving Father in Heaven, Savior Jesus Christ, and for the Holy Ghost who helps us feel the love that both the Savior and Heavenly Father has for each of us. I am so grateful for the experiences that I am having and for the amazing people that I continue to meet here! I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly does change hearts and bless lives because I have seen it happen to myself and so many other people around me. I love this gospel so much, and I love my Savior with all of my heart and I am so grateful to be able to see His hand in my life everyday. 

We left some potatoes in the cabinet for a little too long! Ha Ha!

We are in a trio until transfers on Thursday. 

Sister Blaser, Sister Trimble, Sister McDonald

Don't Know Where To Begin! May 30, 2016

I honestly don't even know where to begin this week! Sister Blaser and I have been so beyond blessed by Heavenly Father. SO to start this week we did splits with our ward missionaries and Sister Blaser and Sister Lopez-Nelson street contacted a man named Travis and picked him up as a new investigator!! Turns out that his sister is actually a member and that he has already read a little of The Book of Mormon!! Oh it is just so cool how Heavenly Father puts people in our path!! 

President Miles has really been encouraging all of us to talk to EVERYONE, so Sister Blaser and I have really been trying to do that and we have seen so many amazing miracles from it this week! First, we were are the gas station filling up and I just started talking to the lady at the pump next to us. After chatting for a few minutes I gave her a pass along card with our number on it and invited her to watch the video on the card about Jesus Christ. After talking a little more we found out that she was a single mom so we got her information and we set up an appointment to see her this Tuesday!! On top of that this week we also had to make a quick trip to the Doctors for a little check up and while we were sitting in the waiting room we started talking to lady sitting next to us. We talked a lot about what we do as missionaries and how we leave our families and go to foreign countries to teach people about Jesus Christ. We also talked to her a lot about her family and how religion is such a blessing. We ended up getting her address too and she invited us over for some lemonade this week!! 

To top off this amazing week though the less active couple that we have been visiting with for the past few weeks, Logan and Marie, they actually came to church!!! Oh I honestly can't even begin to express the joy that filled my heart as I saw them walk through the doors!! Needless to say this week has been full of miracles. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much with putting people in our path whom He has prepared!  I am so grateful to be a missionary. I truly love the people here so much and I am so grateful that I have had the amazing opportunity to serve in the Canada Calgary Mission! The people here have changed my life for eternity and I will always cherish the experiences that we have shared! I love the gospel so much, and I am so grateful for our loving Savior Jesus Christ! I know that He loves each and everyone of us! - John 3:16

Sister Blazer, Sister Trimble,Hermanna Allphin

and Hermanna Dean

Had a meeting in Lethbridge so we were back in the good

old country and we found a dragon! Ha Ha!

Traffic in Calgary... Still not used to it! But this 

sign! Ha Ha!