July 22....unexpected

Well... I started out this week in a companionship with me and sister christensen my trainee. I ended this week in a tri-pan covering two areas with my trainer now being with me and my trainee... its been a crazy week. Sister Rush's companion went home for medical reasons and so she has temporarily (so for the rest of the transfer) been assigned to our companionship. But the weird part is I am senior companion! It's weird being in charge with your trainer there... you kind of go back into first week mode but sister rush is being good at making sure i still take charge. But that is the basic outline of my week... now time for the juicy details :)

   We went and saw some members and they kind of had a scare this week. Their dog got attacked and had to have emergency surgery and had stitches and wasn't looking so great. He had to be hand fed and drink through a rabbit water thing but luckily he pulled through. Everyone in Winnipeg really loves their pets. They are part of the family and they would do anything to keep them around.

   We spent most of the week doing Winnipeg Harvest! Winnipeg harvest is a city wide food drive and we probably spent more than six hours going house to house passing out door hangers to let everyone know about what was happening. We go door to door when we tract so i thought oh no big deal. It was hard. You aren't allowed to proselyte and all i wanted was to start talking about the restored gospel and inviting them to do things. I had to hold myself back which gave me a lot of time to have with my thoughts. Then pick up day came and we spent a majority of saturday running around the city picking up bags of food and then organizing them back at the church. We had a BBQ as a ward and that was really fun. It was just a good day where we all got to serve the community a little more and have fun with each other why we did it.

  We asked a family to help us with our teaching skills by allowing us to come and practise lessons on them. I found that that is the easiest and best way to let members know that we need their help more than names and that we want to be the best we can for them. Asking for help is really humbling and everytime i do that I gain more respect and trust for the people i ask.

   Well I'm covering two areas again! Its never boring with two areas but the hardest thing is finding a balance so one area isnt getting all of our attention. I could join a circus with all these acts I am learning. In fact maybe i will just make a circus The RM Circus Club... i would go watch that.

   We have been working with a less active and she is the sweetest lady (i forget how much i have said about people so i just start over every week and probably dont get anywhere but oh well) She is one of the sweetest ladies in the world. She takes care of her granddaughter who is autistic and blind (she remindes me a lot of S*** from our ward in Idaho Falls) I just love these two people. Right now we are doing service for her and helping her stain her ramp and she came to church which was probably one of the best parts of my week. She has gone through a lot but she really does have a strong faith its just putting that faith into action.

   Teaching teenagers are really hard! I dont know how Summer's missionaries did so good! She must be an angel sent more than prepared because I have no direction! Luckily and hopefully the spirit is the teacher that matters because I am merely human and make mistakes.

   So we were struggling with having time to find in our area but the lord blesses those who work hard and are obedient. One of Sister Rushes new investigators ended up being in our area so we got to start teaching this young lady who came up to the assistants and asked for materials and said she was curious. Its the curious part we are working on right now. We want to get her to ready to act upon but we have the patience to do what it takes.

   Our ward mission leader is Brother Van Wyk. He and his wife are super great! Very charitable and always willing to help. They invited us for dinner this week... I had steak for the first time in a long time! it was soooo goood!!!!!!! They also gave us their story which is just incredible. Brother Van Wyk was inactive for a long time and his daughter was looking for a church. She had been researching the mormons for a year and decided its what she wanted to try. Her mom informed her her dad was a member and they set up appointments with the missionaries to start truly investigating. They are now both baptized, their family has been sealed in the temple and their daughter was just called to the Edmonton, Canada mission! Talk about a golden story!!!!!

   We had dinner with a member from Sister Rush's ward. They were my kind of humor it was so relaxing to be there.

   Church was great too! I spent the second block in the primary and the third block in relief society. Then we had a pot luck which was a fun way to get to know the ward members! There was this family that we have grown to love. They have two little kids and their son is adorable. They ask us all the time how we are doing and try to send us to fun things to do on pday... we would rather them send us to their friends to teach but hey what ever works :).

   All in all it was a week full of changes and patience but i think i have pulled through okay!

July 15...my week of faith

The week started off with a good bang as us sisters had a sister lunch. It's crazy that not even a year ago there was only one set of sisters in the city and now there are four or more.... :) we are growing so much.

 So I have found this lactose free milk that tastes pretty good and we usually get that (all my companions have been super supportive) but this is the second time that my fake milk has been curdled.... HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE! Spoiled Fake Milk=Bane of my EXISTANCE! I hate it so much! I just want to be a normal kid who can drink normal milk and love her normal life. Oh speaking of being normal im finally a girl who screams around spiders... dont like them... in fact one decided to make a home in our pot and i was not amused. Then i went to go have cookies and fake milk on the porch to make me feel better and i completely ran into the screen door... almost broke it. That would have been bad, but instead i just got to wear my milk. But eeehh, thats life. What are you going to do about it? :) Oh the elders have a NASTY gigantic gummer bear in the office that they all eat off of. Do you know how many germs that bear probably has on it now? Oh i officially have 31 mosquito bites... majority of which have taken over my legs and feet. Finally bought some OFF so thats good! ooops :) Oh and I get a canadian drivers license this week!!!! yay! Sister Christensen hit her one month mark and to celebrate we found snow.... well we did find snow but we werent looking for it. it was on one of our adventures where i had NO idea where i was going.... we usually find the best things on those.

There was just so much that happened this week. We practised for a musical fireside we are going to be putting on... It is about families being forever and it is going to be a great way to praise the joy that comes from eternal families. I actually gave a talk this week about families too. I was asked to give a talk on why i came on a mission and when thinking about it i boiled it down to one word. FAMILY! The gospel has allowed my family to be together forever and i want to share that gift with others. (oh and i did my talk with no script, all from my heart, president and sister thomas showed up and they enjoyed it which means it was a success!) There was a baptism this week in St. James ward! It was so good to see someone make that commitment. It helps me renew my commitment to do better and be better! I even got to see sister rush a little this week and that was nice. She is always a boost of energy when she is around. We saw a lot of new people this week. We went to a members house and got to meet her fiance and she gave us a whole bag of stuff which included new shoes and some jewelry... apparently she was just getting rid of it so she thought we were poor and could use it... How sweet! We went to an appointment with the elders with this couple where She got baptised a year or so ago and he is now investigating. He is a finder.... he drives around and picks up random stuff comes home and resales it or keeps is so he has a lot of hidden treasures around his house. My favorite was a little frog he found it had a crown on it and diamond looking things and it was super pretty..... I wonder what he will find each week for the rest of the transfer :). Their story is so cute though. She got converted and when he asked for his old wife back she said she's gone and shes not coming back. now you can either join me or get over it. haha now he is taking the lessons for the third time. He really does love her and i think he will get baptized one day! We also met an investigator the elders gave to us that "has doubts"... it just goes to show that everything you do matters and that you have to be patient and loving and trust in gods timing... she said she will turn around and expects us to call weekly... see things work out. Then we went to this members house and they fed us phillipino food! oh how i love it!!!!!! Their youngest daughter is so cute and drew us a picture of an american flag! apparently she thought we missed home and now its up in our apartment so apparently we did.

Why i call this week a week of faith is we have done a LOT of contacting this week! We have tracted for a good three hours and done tons of street contacting which means my week was full of door slammings, grumpy people, and four potential investigators. It was fun! Oh and when we street contacted this one guy i got 15 misquito bites right then and there and all i was trying to do was explain to him that we weren't two tribes created by joseph smith who killed each other... im trying to decided if it was worth the sacrifice of my legs. It ended up being worth it later because we found bobby! He is one of our new investigators and he was out on his lawn when we found him. He invited us to the back where his wife was cooking and we taught him the first lesson. He asked so many questions and is letting us come back to teach him more! I am super excited... I dont even know how to contain it sometimes AHHHHHH!!!! But I wanted to also tell you about Blanca. she is our other new investigator. She is a former investigator where it looks like her husband was more of the focus so we are going back to teach her. She speaks hardly any english but i think with a translator we will be okay! I know that we were able to find these two new investigators because of your prayers so thank you! Thank you for keeping your brothers and sisters in mind so we can help bring them into the fold and remind them of their divine potential. The other people we are teaching are doing so good! Our twelve year old said the closing prayer at the end of our first discussion and wanted to not leave town so she could go to mutual... that is a HUGE step! We had to tell a less active that a member who has really helped her out from another ward passed away. I hate being the bearer of bad news... and I guess im not so sure how to deal with crying people either... maybe thats something i need to learn out here! But speaking of learning we had specialized training this week with the assistants and that helped SOOO MUCH! Its nice to have a direction, a real direction, on how i can improve myself. With all the slow days and everything not starting the way i want it to its nice to have reminders from the assistants, letters, emails, and scriptures that i am enough, i do enough, and god is pleased with my efforts. I am proud to be a missionary and Im excited for the future!

 

 

july 8th...Hello world!

Okay so I tried really hard to write things down this week so I can remember my week and be able to give you better emails.

  Adam is home.... Its crazy how time flies. I feel like its just yesterday he left which is funny because I remember being home I thought he had been out for ages... but he's home! It is just proof how short this time is compared to life and I am determined to spend my mission with no regrets because it is really short.

Me and sister Hutchinson always got puking stories at appointments and it looks like me and sister Christensen will be getting the topic of labor pains. Why anyone thinks I would want to hear about that right now or EVER I have no idea but I just politely smile and nod.... smile and wave boys, smile and wave.

   Sister Christensen says when ever you see your pinky remember the little things because the lord is in the details... she is so spiritual and she works so hard it is a blessing to have her. 

   Everyone in this big city just loves my Idaho driving.... I have been honked at three times at least for things that aren't my fault I swear. Luckily no accidents and there have been no freezers for me to run into! :)

   We had poutine... unfortunately it was at dairy queen and it was kind of gross (compared to waterton) but sister Christensen had never had it before and so we ate it... all for the experience right, I have eaten a lot of weird things that way.

   We meet with this less active and her daughter who is investigating at this cafe. Its called Stellas cafe and it smells SUPER GOOD! it is officially my favorite place to teach. It is so warm and cozy and the smells are like heaven and the bread always looks so tempting.... mmhmmmm :)

   We got to go to mutual this week and we did t-shirts... I wrote CWM on the front and on the back I had "leave your mark" with foot prints. It was really fun to get to know the girls and I think it was good for them to get to know us in a more casual setting. I hope we can be an example to the youth in this ward because I have a feeling that is where most of our work is going to be.

   I got lost for forty five minutes once.... and that's with me not being prideful about my directions,.... people keep telling me east west north south AHHHHHHHHH.... Plus there are no mountains so I have no idea where I am going! I only had half a map of the city of Winnipeg and of course I had to get lost on the side I don't have... I actually ended up leaving the city which is a big NO NO and finally found my way to down town which is also out of my area. By the time someone had finally answered the phone I was already to a street I knew and pretty sure i was even more closer to tears. I hate directions and I hate being lost.

   Sister S*** went home for medical reasons.... I pray she will be okay. I love her! Its been hard in a sixth of our mission a third of our MTC district has gone home....

   Sister Rush and I had a sleep over this week! We had exchanges because I was invited to attend MLC which is missionary Leadership council. It was an honor to be allowed to go, sit in, and participate in leadership council... A little intimidating too. But I learned so much and I know a lot of what was spoken there were for different people but during ever portion (this is an entire day meeting) I took something home with me that I was able to apply to my life and companionship. It was at Mossimen (probably not how you spell it) which was 4 hours from Winnipeg... I actually made it to Saskatchewan... while you were probably still in Alberta too :) crazy. It was super fun! I got to see Elder Stoker over video skype because he gave us some training along with Elder Brower (went to high school with him). I also got to do a four hour car ride back with a van full of elders and me and sister rush because the assistants needed my car. That was such a neat experience and they were able to freestyle beat box the first discussion. They are so impressive.

   We decided to get rid of how are you? (the question).... Its super hard, its kind of a fall back question and it seems EVERYONE here asks it.... we will see how successful we are at that.

   We had dinner with the YSA sisters because they live on our floor. That was SUPER fun! We ate way too many fortune cookies followed by a large conversation.... It was a good change.

   We called this old lady and she asked us to pray for her over the phone... right there and then. It was a neat experience. She wasn't a member and as we closed the prayer she stated how much she appreciated the sincerity of our prayers. She is super great! We hope with continual phone calls she will allow us to come meet her and teach her.

   On sunday we got to attend primary. Sister Christensen's piano skills were needed and I got to help with the kids. My young at heart life was super happy to have time in primary again and I hope we get to return and help some more :)

   My ward has a lot of old ladies in it. They are super funny and they are all so excited to have sisters in their ward because now they can finally get visits from missionaries.. They all talk your ear off but they are so sweet you cant even really care about that.

   We also got to have dinner with a senior couple named the Menloves (Kaylynn actually met them in the MTC) They are super funny and they are so sweet. I just love them to death. Its like having grandparents nearby why you deal with yours being so far away! They really take good care of us and they made home cooked rolls.... DELICIOUS!

  We have been doing lots of finding this week because its a new area with little to no success so I wanted to try something. We have made a goal to have two new investigators this week and I was curious if you would help by praying for that goal with us. I know the lord can bless us with this and we are willing and ready to put in the work.

   Hope is something we all need. Hope for the future, hope for happiness, hope for love, hope for blessings. Without hope we are lost, impatient, irrational, and a little hard on ourselves. I hope you all can find hope you in your week as I search for hope in mine. Love you all so much!!!!!!!

 

July 2...transfers and change

I cannot believe three months have come and gone... I feel like it was just yesterday i stepped off the plane and I have been here for 1/6 of my mission (sister hutchinson was a time counter :P) This new place is so great! I am excited for the adventures and friends I am going to make here and the work that needs to be done. I was transferred to the St. James ward still here in Winnipeg. I now get to drive a 2013 Subaru that only had 39 kilometers on it when i was given the keys. My new companions name is Andrea Christensen. She is from Salem Utah and competed in Jr. miss and is just super bubbly and fun! I like her. And she is considered my 'daughter'.... haha your finally grandparents congratulations. how does that make you feel, old?! me too! I realized that christmas is our nine month mark and my mouth almost dropped. Time on the mission is weird. So yes that picture you got was of me and my new companion and then sister hutchinson and her new companion and then a sister who is headed to Regina. Then in the middle is Sister Menlove I think. President just found out I grew up in Idaho and he was like, OH your one of my Idaho missionaries with a big smile on his face. But he is keeping me running. with training I feel a lot more responsibility on my shoulders and it can be daunting sometimes but I know the lord wouldn't ask me to do it if I couldn't. Plus I feel like sister christensen is training me more than not. She is the cutest thing. Our new ward is a lot different then the last one I was in. A lot of elderly sisters but it will be fun! We already have a new investigator who is eleven and we have one appointment every day this week, and we get to go to mutual. I miss six hours of church but maybe I will just soak in the three I have more then. We live in the apartment complex of the YSA sisters and our district leader. We live on the same floor as the YSA sisters and have had dinner already together which was nice because we had NO food when we got there. but its been fun and I have nothing but hope for the future. Change is hard mom... you move in and fall in love with the area and the people you serve with.... but then you move, your heart is broken only for a moment and then you fall in love all over again.... Dating got me super prepared for this hahaha JKJK JK but I know the Lord is my constant and I know that for me and my mission I will always serve the lord! love you all!