Transfer Day! July 25, 2016

This week was transfers... Sister Brown is now in Calgary, but I have another amazing companion... Sister DEAN!!! She is from Green Bay Wisconsin, and yes she is a huge Pakers fan!! (: On top of getting a new companion some other amazing things have happened this week. There was a missionary homecoming in the Vauxhall ward yesterday so the chapel was packed! One of the young women in the ward invited one of her friends that she met at a rodeo named Chris. He grew us as a Hutterite on a colony in Southern Alberta. We were visiting with him about what he thought about church and about what we believed in and invited him to learn more and he said YES!! Needless to say it was a great way to start off with Sister Dean!! In addition to that Chris came up the the Bishop in Taber at church yesterday and started talking to him about getting baptized!!! There are so many amazing things happening in Taber and I am so grateful to be serving here and have an opportunity to be an instrument in the Lords hands. 

I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. Not every day is easy, but because of my Savior everyday is worth it. I am grateful that because of the Savior there is purpose to my life and I can always have hope. I have seen so many people on my mission go through so many different struggles and trials but the one thing that is the same for each of us is that our Heavenly Father and Savior loves us. They knows who we are. Just like when the Brother of Jared asked the Lord to touch the stones so there could be light in the barges, we can let the Lord touch our hearts and fill each of us with the light of Christ "one by one" (Ether 3:6). Heavenly Father and the Savior know each of of personally, but we also need to take the time to get to know Them. I know that we can each "one by one" gain a stronger relationship with our Savior and Heavenly Father each and everyday. It doesn't matter if we are just beginning to gain a testimony or if we have been a faithful member our whole lives. We can each continue to let the Lord touch our hearts by reading our scriptures with real intent, saying meaningful prayers throughout they day, attending the temple as much as possible with a desire to learn, by meaningfully partaking of the Sacrament and by doing all we can to follow the example Christ has giving us of loving and serving. We all have a purpose because of our Savior. I know that Savior has changed my life... and I am eternally grateful for Him and our loving Father in Heaven. 

Lester & Brendas cat... Her named is Speedo! Ha ha!

Sister Lyu, Me and Sister Griffith

(Sister Lyu is training Sister Griffith)

This is Sister Dean, I just love her!!

Here are some more cows! Ha Ha!

Kayla Zudoff left me this cute note under my plate

before supper! I just love her!

I just had to take a picture of that!!!!

Being A Missionary Is The Best!! July 18, 2016

Can I just say that being a missionary is the BEST! We have just been so blessed this week! To start off, last Sunday we stopped by a part member family's house. Amanda is less active and her boyfriend Chris isn't a member. They have seen missionaries a few times in the past but never really wanted lessons or anything like that. But last Sunday they had their baby Lane blessed in Sacrament meeting. Since Sister Brown and I were speaking in Vauxhall we weren't able to attend the meeting and Bishop asked us to stop by during the week but we were never able to catch them home... so we went last Sunday to visit with them and congratulate them on blessing their little baby boy!! While we were visiting with them they asked us to come for supper on Thursday (meaning this Thursday that just happened) So we asked them if after supper we could have a lesson about The Plan of Salvation because they just had a baby, and they said YES!!! So on Thursday we had a lesson with them and it was amazing! Chris was asking so many awesome questions and he said, " I feel like now, I'm finally ready to learn." Oh we are just so excited!! I love being able to see how Heavenly Father prepares people. I'm so grateful that the Spirit is the true teacher and that I have this awesome opportunity to just be an instrument in the Lords hands. 

Also this week we were able to visit with Lester and Brenda again. We talked a lot about baptism and found out that Lester and Brenda both felt like they got baptized because they felt pressured into it, not because they really knew the Gospel of Jesus Christ was true. So we invited them to take the lessons again and take time to learn, and gain their own testimonies of the Gospel. During our visit Lester actually said. "I feel more ready now, than ever before to really learn about the Gospel." They both said that they wanted to talk it over together and decide if that was right for both of them, but the Spirit was so strong and I am so grateful for all of the things that we were able to talk about. I just love what it says in Moroni 10:5 "And by the power of the Holy Host ye may know the truth of all things." The Spirit truly is the teacher. I am so grateful for the Spirit and that it can guide our words and help each of us feel the individual love the our Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ has for us. I love being able to see the Spirit touch the lives of so many people here in Taber and also see how the Spirit is changing my life. I am so grateful for the Gospel and our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that because of Him there is always hope. 

This is what I get after playing 

basketball with the Elders!

Some Jam we made with Shawna!

This made me laugh!

Sister Brown, Me,  Sister Anthian (my MTC comp)

and Sister Bloom

Lunch with Shawna!

Rainbow in Taber!

Miracles Just Keep Coming!!!

I don't even know where to begin this week.... Miracles just keep on coming!!! To start we had a Family Home Evening with the Neufeld family, they are a Mennonite family that we are teaching!!! We went out to the Torries ( which by the way... I went to High School with their Granddaughter... small world eh? ) and also had the Harding family from the ward come too and had supper together. For our activity we rode on a flat bed trailer that had couches secured with tie down ropes while attached to some huge Clydesdale horses!! It was so awesome to watch all of the kids have so much fun on their horse ride!!! haha After the activity everyone came inside and we all sang Primary songs, and yes the Neufeld children KNEW the Primary songs too, isn't that so stink'n great!! Then we watched a Mormon Message called Earthly Father, Heavenly Father and talked about how much Heavenly Father loves us and how we can pray to communicate with Him!! It was so awesome and all of the families had so much fun and we were able to have a nice spiritual message too!! Oh and the icing on the cake is that as we were heading out Halena ( the Mennonite mom ) asked US to come over that week before we even approached her about setting up another appointment!! It is so neat to watch the Spirit touch people hearts and see that they just want more and more of the gospel!! 

This Sunday Sister Brown and I got asked to speak about Pioneers in the Vauxhall ward, which is really more like a branch because only 30 people attend. It was so neat because as I was studying I just was so over filled with gratitude for all of the sacrifices that the pioneers made for me so that I can have the gospel in my life! I am so grateful that they were willing to leave every worldly possession behind to go to Zion and gather as Saints united in living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It inspires me to make all of the little sacrifices that I need to so that I can come even closer to my Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ! If the Pioneers can leave behind EVERYTHING then I can leave behind the things that are holding me back from becoming more like the Savior and serving Him with EVERYTHING that I have! I wish that I could adequately express the feelings of gratitude that I have for the Pioneers and for the Savior in giving them so much hope so they didn't give up while enduring so many afflictions. I believe that it was the Pioneers strong, unflinching faith in Christ and their full reliance upon Him that kept them going. They each gained a personal witness from the Holy Ghost of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that they had a loving Father in Heaven. The Pioneers lived the scripture: 2 Nephi 31:20 " Ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and alove of God and of all men. Wherefore, if you shall press forward feasting upon the word of Christ and enduring to the end, behold, thus saith the Father; Ye shall have eternal life. They press forward through so many trials, afflictions, and hardships but they did it all because of their brightness of hope and love of God. They overcame their trials because they feasted upon the words of Christ. What a marvelous example they are to each of us, of relying fully on the Savior and serving Him with their "whole heart, might, mind, and strength". I hope that each of us can follow their examples of relying upon the Savior with gratitude in our hearts for the sacrifices they made for us to be blessed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly does bless our families. I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of each of us. I know that we can each be truly converted to the Savior through our own personal witness from the Holy Ghost that Christ does live. I am so grateful for the Savior and our Loving Father in Heaven and for the amazing Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Sister Brown & Me in the Canola Fields

 

Me in the Canola Fields

I caught a baby bird on P-day!

Some of our Zone while we were celebrating the 4th of July!!

Left to right...  Elder Hansen, Einfeld, Winkle, Miller, Stone,

Cox, Zolman, Adams and Elder Christensen and Sister Brown

in the back:) 

The horse contraption activity we got to do at the  Torries!

Horse Ride at the Torries!

Cool picture while at the Torries house!

Sister Allred and Sister Trimble

Me, Traden and Sister Brown holding their new baby miniature horse.

Traden and Ashley Hofmann

We Are Beyond Blessed! July 4, 2016

In all honesty, I don't even know where to begin this week! Sister Brown and I have been so beyond blessed! To start we have really been trying to contact everyone that we see and talk to them about the gospel. So the other day Sister Brown and Sister Messick were coming out of our apartment and started talking to our neighbor Kayla. After chit chatting for a while then they started talking to her about the gospel and asked if we could come back and visit her. She said that we could so last Monday Sister Brown, me and a set of Elders (we brought the Elders because Kayla is technically in their ward boundaries) went over to Kayla's house and had an amazing lesson!! We talked about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and bore testimony of the Savior and His love for her personally and she just started crying. She said that last Sunday ( the day before we were going to visit her )  she just felt so low and she wanted to take her life... then she told us how she was looking forward to us coming over and talking to her about Jesus Christ and that she wanted to overcome the things that she is struggling with. We continued to talk to her and bare testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was an absolutely AMAZING lesson! The Spirit was so strong and she even committed to coming to church with the Elders! Oh I just love being a missionary and seeing the Spirit touch so many people lives and give them hope!!

Another miracle from this week was when Bishop Torrie, from Barnwell, called us with a referral to go and visit one of his patients! He said that he had been talking to Jennifer and asked her if she had ever met with missionaries before. When she said that she hadn't ever met with missionaries he asked her if he could send some to her house... so away we went!! Sister Brown and Sister Larsen had an amazing lesson with Jennifer and when Sister Brown shared the first vision Jennifer started tearing up! After their incredible lesson Jennifer invited us out to the Vuaxhall community breakfast and Demolition Derby on Friday to celebrate Canada Day! We had so much fun with Jennifer and her kids! She really is such a sweetheart and she has been so prepared to receive The Gospel of Jesus Christ! So, Jennifer was in charge of putting everything together for the Demolition Derby so we helped out a little too! We carried some drinks and tried to help with a float for the community parade. Then to our surprise we were asked to be IN THE PARADE with the 4-H group!! So just a little background on Vauxhall... there are roughly 1,000 people that live there and only 30 members attending the church from Vauxhall and the outside farming towns. So it was kind of an amazing opportunity to have 2 Mormon Missionaries walking in the community parade with the 4-H group in front of the whole town passing out candy!! It was such a neat experience and it all happened because Jennifer invited us to come!! But the fun doesn't end their! So we went to get lunch before the Demolition Derby started and we ended up talking to a lady named Dixie that we visited with a little bit at the Community Breakfast earlier in the morning and after chatting a little with her and Paul, her husband, we asked if we could come by and visit them out their house and they said YES!! Oh it was such an incredible day filled with so many amazing miracles!! And to top everything off Jennifer even gave us a free T-Shirt from the Derby!!! It is so neat to see how Heavenly Father places us in certain places at certain times so that we can find the people that He has prepared under the direction of the Spirit! I just love being a missionary!! (: 

The last miracle that I wanted to share was from last night. Brenda and Lester have been less active for many many years and recently they have found out that Brenda has cancer. Needless to say this has really turned their world upside down because this is the 2nd time that she has been diagnosed. Last night we went over to visit with them and see how they are doing. We shared a Mormon Message called Mountains to Climb, it shares experiences of people that have been through different trials in life and shows how they overcame them with the Saviors help. The Spirit was so strong in the room and after the video was over both Brenda and Lester were speechless! It was so cool to see how both of them responded to the Spirit, Brenda even said, "I just love having you girls come over because I always feel so good when you are here." Just like it says in Moroni 10: 5 "And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth ofall things." I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the power the Holy Ghost has to touch each of our hearts, testify of truth, and help us feel Heavenly Father and the Saviors love individually. I know that the Spirit is the true teacher. I am just so grateful to be able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands in helping a few of His children in Canada feel His love. I love the Savior so much and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity I have to share that love with others. I love being a missionary!! 

Sister Barlow, Sabrina & Sister Shaffer doing service!

Sabrina and the good old famous Taber corn statue!

We had to be home early for Canada Day so Sister Brown

and I watched the Testaments!

The Demolition Derby Shirt that Jennifer gave us!

What it looks like in Taber!

Sister Tilley and me in the famous Taber Corn!