Dec 16...transfer trains

So a lot of this week was saying goodbyes for sister Meservy.... It is really so hard to leave an area, you really come to love the members and investigators you are working with. But unfortunately that is the life of a missionary, to come and go and slip away and hopefully make a difference somewhere down the line. I think the hardest part of goodbyes on the mission are you aren't sure when or if you will ever get to see these people again, Some people like elder Mcritchie are from edmonton and dont live that far while others are from england and washington and traveling back becomes more difficult but i swear everywhere i serve will always have a place in my heart! 

but alas, when the good byes were over we started a two and a half hour drive to head down to

Regina to spend almost three days. It was fun. It feels really weird being out of your area but it was really good to go on exchanges with sister elkins and sister haner. plus it kept me teaching and my mind off the fact that a new companion was on their way from winnipeg to be arriving and living with me for probably the next twelve weeks. So we spent wednesday night to friday night in regina and that was fun! 

On friday i met my new companion sister davis. She is incredible and is so prepared to do this work, its amazing how ready they are coming out! I am really excited for the transfer we have ahead of us. We were able to teach R***twice and that was good... he is still moving forward towards his baptism and things are going good. We were able to talk about revelation this week and i learned some things for myself which was nice. Now we are just teaching, caroling occasionally to help spread the christmas spirit, loving life, and doing gods will.... its great to be a missionary. Im really excited for christmas and zone conference and hope to tell fun stories about those! Love you all.... 

 

Dec 9...I ain't frozen yet!

So its kind of cold outside.... like just a little.... -40 degrees outside is apparently slightly balmy for winters here and im pretty sure my knees were going to freeze. In fact we got a text message that morning saying stay inside unless you have appointments or can do stop by. So we got to stay inside, NOT! our day was full of appointments and it was really great! We found three new investigators... its really nice to know that the cold doesn't harden peoples hearts. But the rule of thumb is if its -40 you stay inside unless you have appointments and you can only go out if you have a car. So ya... but apparently cold is not an issue for the lords work, we still move forward. Church even happened because it was only in the -30s. In fact there are a bunch of people moving in this cold. Sister Meservy is being transfered to Regina and we get to make a three day trip there this week....  It should be fun... and i get to stay and just cover one ward and I am training again... Im super excited. 

     We had an early christmas with sister D*** because of sister Meservy leaving. We got sweaters... Mine is black and white stripes with a green zipper on the back... super cute! Sister D*** is a fun member missionary... she literally drags her roommates to church... i guess thats one way to do it! We also had the Wildwood christmas party... we helped set up, clean up and serve food... we are called to serve but this week we were literally serving. 

     ZTM was this week and it was really fun! Our zone leaders are incredible, elder Mohlman and elder Judkins are great! We learned about how to better work with members and love our companions my favorite was the training video called phone call.... .dad did you ever have to watch that?.... but pretty much its a video about getting the courage to call a girl out to a date... it was very applicable and very funny.... Then we went to fudd ruckers and of course the elders wanted to do pound burgers... disgusting... but i shared one instead... apparently i'm a wimp, but i could do it, i just choose not to. 

     We went and saw a less active this week and her new husband said he wanted to find two more mormon girls to marry. We were hoping he was joking and he wouldnt realize that he just had two mormon girls walk through his front door.... luckily he didnt and we got out of there fairly quickly... We also went and saw our recent convert L***....she made us the best meal, it was chicken and pineapple... thats it... super healthy and super yummy.... Then we had a vent session with M***  one of our members...it was a fun vent session, and it really helped her a lot. We also met with one of our recent converts, L***... she reminds me of my roommate Emily, whom i miss, and she is super cute... she asks a lot of culture questions and im afraid im going to answer her wrong... you know because america and Canada are SOOO different. We also had a pizza party with the elders at a members house... I love being able to eat dairy again! SO GREAT!!!! While we were teaching R***and R***,our part member family, their son J*** totally punched me in the face. He's two and a lot stronger then he seems. Their dogs and cats were having world war 6 too so the dog unfortunately had to go. But r*** was thinking about getting baptized on janurary 14 so pray for him and that date. We also met three new investigators they were referrals from a family in Red Deer and we are now teaching three of them as investigators, they are going to be so good!

    But remember that FAMILY TIME IS SACRED TIME! and even though we arent together for Christmas I hold all of our good memories as sacred, and im excited to go and make more memories soon. LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

     

Dec 2...oh christmas tree!

So its been a week where things didnt quite go as planned but ive kind of accepted that thats how every week goes as a missionary. And an old russian guy doesnt like my parking job... he keeps yelling at me because im on the line..... THERE IS SNOW EVERYWHERE how can you even see the blasted line.... christlike love, christlike love.... im learning so much from random people. But you know rocking out to some mulan and lion king fixes everything. Disney fixes a bad day, music fixes a bad day!

    We got to do cooking as a service and it was super fun. We had to distract a crazy two year old and try not to destroy the star cookies and all worked out great! We made a cookie christmas tree.... and it tasted good too. yummy!

    There are so many family connections in the church its absolutely insane. This week we met someone who was the sister of a lady in our ward, we will call her susan. So we met susan's sister and then later that week we met susan's daughter and all and all we met three susan connections in a week.... it was weird... and we didnt even see them coming. 

    A*** is one of the investigators we are working with. She has decided that she is going to come to church for a year before deciding if she is going to join the church. Shes been for a month already only eleven more to go! She got us christmas presents too.... she is super sweet! and even though she cant read she just soaks everything up and loves everyone and just really tries hard to understand what God wants her to do. 

    As a district we did a road trip out to Warmen this week... its like thirty minutes away.... none of us really have the kilometers to get there so a member comes and drives down their suburban and picks us all up and drives us to their house so we can eat then brings us back into saskatoon. It was a lot of fun. and a half an hour in a car gets some good conversations going. 

    Me and my companion have a shift at the family history center and i have been doing it and loving it! I have found so many names and started cleaning things up and even added a whole line that was blank... unfortunately that just caused more clean up but it gives me something to do each week while i help out the family history center.... its been fun... and the boys can probably do the names too so just keep checking for updates. 

    We went to go stop by this formers house and got buzzed in without being talked to... weird thing number uno.... Weird thing number two we knocked on the door and heard a come in the doors unlocked.... ive never been a huge fan of walking into random houses and that hasnt changed on my mission but reluctantly we opened the door. Let me just describe to you the first thing we saw. A completely bare appartment that isnt in the best of shape with a lady sitting on the floor sitting cross legged rocking back and forth winding up a telephone cord. Both me and my companion thought we had entered a haunted house but all weirdness aside we asked if we could share a message and were able to share one on gratitude and invite her to the ward christmas party. We found out she was moving out of our area hence the blank apartment and she was just packing up her phone it was the last thing to go. We werent sure if we would ever see her again but thats where the miracle came in. She showed up to the christmas concert!!!!! and she set up an appointment with the sisters in her area.... God works in mysterious and kind of weird circumstances. 

    Every week we have a service opportunity at the food bank where we sort toys and clothes that are donated to be sold for super cheap for those who need it really bad. This week we found some treasures we decided to bring home with us. One of them was a rough rider foam finger... it is saskatoons football team that just won the grey cup which is apparently really big. Its like the super bowl but college age and canadian rules.... So that was fun to get as a souvenir. Also we found some minions to add to my collection. I wasnt going to take them but one of the ladies who volunteers heard why i love minions so much and INSISTED i took them. But I love minions because they remind me of the happy times at home... now i have four more great reminders of the amazing family i have!  

    We got american thanksgiving. It was so delicious. There is this young family in one of our wards that i have just fallen in love with and when she heard i was american she got so excited. She said she signed up to feed the elders on thanksgiving and found out one of the companionships were both Canadian and got so disappointed so she begged us to come. We already had a dinner appointment and she called them and invited them too... They had to cancel so it all worked out for the best and we had a really yummy thanksgiving! 

    Thanksgiving night we had another cottage party which is pretty much just a party at a members house where investigators can meet members in a more casual setting. We played would you rather and there were some crazy ones. My favorite was would you rather sleep on a bed of peanut butter or with a humidifier full of vomit.... nasty right... but so funny. It was a good night!

   We got to call bingo again... o 66 is my favorite. Apparently you are suppose to say clackity clack when you read it out.... its the best! We also had a meal appointment where a member made us sing for our dinner. That has never happened to me before but im sure its pleasent sometimes.... good thing we can sing... haha. She also is a cat person and makes sure to tell her cats not to cross the street when she lets them out because she doesnt want them to get hit by cars. and apparently all but one listened.... :( poor cat maybe it didnt speak english. 

    We taught one of our investigators the ten commandments this week and we taught them the way sister smith and sister harrison taught Summer... that is the most effective way i have found so far to teach that. It really makes it stick to your brain when you draw pictures that remind you of the commandment. 

    Okay but here is the craziest experience that happened to us all week. We were helping an investigator clean because she was moving and we had us and four elders over there working hard and as we are cleaning we found an elder sign wall... apparently in every apartment you live in you find something to sign and they decided the wall.. it was elders who served in the 1996 time period with phone numbers and address and pictures... IN AN INVESTIGATORS HOUSE!!!! it was the neatest thing ever! 

    L***, our recent convert, made us ornaments.... they are the best... she made me an american flag one... everyone likes to point out the fact that im not canadian but its okay, i love home no matter where it is. 

      Our ward christmas party happened this week and it was fun. They cooked seven turkeys, so many potatoes and had more pie than ANYONE could handle.... it was delicious and then santa came and so did the nativity scene. it was great!

    Well.... now that i have said soooo much (dont expect this every week but im trying to be better) i wanted to end with a quote from Sheri Dew we got in RS!

"No one can have the influence you have been prepared to have on all who come within your sphere of influence. Without question, no one can fulfill your foreordained mission. no one can do what you were sent here to do. no one."

How true that is... We are all here to do something special that only we can do... we are important and powerful and we cannot fail if we have the lord on our side.... Love you all... and remember the reason for the season!!!!

 

Nov 25...Happy 8 month birthday to me!

So this week I hit 8 months and guess what?! im still okay :)

In fact im even better than okay and i have loved what i am learning as a missionary. This week God decided to teach me in the art of patience again. I seem to need a lot of work on that one. good thing i have ten more months to do it :) .... 

It all started on monday when we got in a small rear bumper collision with the person behind us kindly tapping our back end... of the car that is... But there was no damage on either vehicle and everything seems fine but me and cars dont seem to want to get along out here. But its okay miracles are possible!

Oh... I also lost BOTH of my badges in the past week and it was awful... i felt like my identity was taken away but luckily I have FANTASTIC elders (elder mohlman) who make really good fake badges that will make me until the ones i ordered come in. 

The car plug got ripped off... and again the elders had to come to our rescue and fix it. So now our car wont freeze. :)

Our investigator on date for baptism, R***, was doing so good, we thought, but apparently there are some obstacles we need to tackle first. So we are pushing his date back a little. That was kind of hard but we know he will get there... HE IS SO PREPARED! 

We found an investigator that kind of went MIA. She showed up to the choir concert which was AMAZING. Miracles happen. And the concert turned out really good... good things always happen when the spirit is involved. 

Lessons have gone REALLY GOOD!!!! We always seem to find a member, investigator, or less-active to work with and help out.... I love being a missionary!!!!!

Love you all! 

The cold will not win.... I will prevail.... and as you continue to write me my heart warms. I may be far away in an arctic land and the weather may be in the negative double digits but I really appreciate everything everybody does for me... thanks so much. 

 

Nov 18...highlights

Hello Hello!

Ready to here about my week... It was so fun!

I am only going to go over some of highlights because SOOO much happened this week!

We had some of the best recent convert less active lessons this week! They were so much fun! We really got to know people which helped us help them more... the best is when i bonded with someone over a bon jovi concert... who would have guessed that going to that concert would help me in my missionary work.. definately NOT ME! :) We taught these little kids how to pray and it was so cute! They would kneel down and fold their arms real tight and close their eyes peeking only every once in a while... it was so cute... and they even remembered it the next time we went back. It was the best!!!!! 

We also had exchanges this week and i got to spend 24 hours with Sister Hill... It was SOOOO much fun! We had a day of miracles too for sure. Miracle number 1... I got mcdonalds... Miracle number 2 we got three new investigators and one of them is getting baptized in december!.... Miracle number three me and my companion wanted to come back together... it was great! Day of Miracles!!!!!!

Someone gave me a knitted sweater... so now i have a touque, gloves, head bands, shoes and now a sweater... with some pants i would have a whole outfit... ya i would... so good.

We also had something called a cottage party where we invited investigators to a members home to play games and fellowship.. it was really fun.. i hope we do it again! 

We walked dogs... devil dogs... yep thats us.. .they were crazy!!!!! They pulled us the whole time but it was so much fun! The member we went with almost peed her pants she was laughing so hard and sister meservy fell down the hill... it was great! 

The work is true.. it continues on... and it is so great! It was a great week to be a missionary this week. Love you all!

Sister Harrison

Nov 11...getting ready for baptism

 So this week was crazy... being in a new area always brings new adventures and this time is no exception. 

   We had a lot to do this week as we prepared for a baptism for L***! She is so great and we were so excited for the week we had with her! We had 5 lessons with her this week to make sure she was all ready for saturday. Everything went as planned and she was baptized... it was so great! The best part was her testimony afterwards.... You can really tell that God is looking for his elite when you hear her bear her testimony. She loves him so much and is so ready to be on this path to eternal progression that she started this weekend... its so fantastic! 

   We also had a great lesson with a recent convert where me sharing a personal story really opened her up... I got some special training from the assistants the other day where i was reminded that the people i meet out here are my friends. my brothers and sisters. As I've remembered that and started opening myself up they have opened up too. Its so fantastic! its really helping us with teaching and allowing others to open up with us and really come to trust what we say. Ive really made friends by doing it too! 

   One of our relief society presidents is very thorough and we had a good hour and a half meeting with her. It was crazy the information she had for us... mom are you that matrix about all your sisters? i still think your a fabulous relief society president if you arent? how do the missionaries help you and how do you want their help?

   They have a basketball night here (don't worry i'm wearing my brace) and i love it! I think its so much fun and it really gets out our investigators members and less actives.... its a lot of fun... 

   Also.... i got to have dairy this week! those pills from costco really work! I am such a happy camper right now and im a real kid again!!!!!! best week ever! Thats my week... and it only gets better from here... :)

 

 

Nov 4...moving on out!

Transfers always make things super confusing! But this one seemed even extra hectic with everything that was going on..... but let me tell you about my week

MONDAY- it was our last pday together as a district and a zone.... it was fun... we won a blender.. I think I talked about this last week but just incase... then we had dinner at Ed's for the last time, he made us a really nice meal and it was sweet. Sheryll asked for my favorite color and made me a toque and a scarf.....they are a light yellow and super cute! Such a nice family...I gave them the house number so if they randomly call sorry I just wanted to be able to stay in touch with them afterwards... like forever! 

TUESDAY- We had a marriage lesson today... it was interesting, it was so good that they know that we love them because if not that would have been really awkward... they agreed to pray to see if they should get married so my fingers are crossed from here!  

WEDNESDAY- i'm pretty sure the Thompson elders got into town,... spent the day with our elders, we had ward correlation and we had dinner with the Van wyks... who were then nice enough to get permission to take us out of our area and get my boots fixed, which I am really appreciating today as it is snowing outside... :) 

THURSDAY- Today was transfer day, our day that was suppose to start out good ended weird and just got more frustrating from there...too many people, not enough work being done, and it was halloween so we kept seeing fun costumes, i decided to dress up as an angel, wait i'm an angel every day!!!!! no but really its been fun! then we did a Book of Mormon challenge as sisters,.... there are 27 books of Mormon with a sisters testimony written in it all around Winnipeg...Super fun. then we did some service projects and ate sandwiches. We had a sleep over at the ysa sisters apartment that night. It was just a fun day! 

FRIDAY- Friday was sisters conference and it was so inspiring, but before i get to the inspiring stuff here is some of the crazy stuff we did. we had an exercise portion, we ate soup, we also had a testimony meeting followed by a pillow case and bed time story... super cute... 

We also had a portion on finding, talents, stars, and just improving ourselves! super inspirational!

SATURDAY- we drove.... all day... to Saskatoon..but I got to be with sister Elkins until Regina that was fun.. then we went to a ysa activity

SUNDAY- I met lots of people, don't remember any names and had a lot of fun then we had a good ces fireside about Will.... i would suggest everyone watch it... so good! 

MONDAY- is today... it snowed... got to see president.... loving life.... all is well in Saskatoon!

love you all!

 

 

I asked jessalyn about a letter she received from an past YW president who had them write a letter to themselves for 5 years in the future

Jessalyn...L*** called asking for your address so she could send you a letter you wrote yourself 5 years ago she got from L***. Wondering if you've got that letter yet and if it was a self revealing experience.?

..last week you said something about preparing for a sisters conference...but then you got your transfer call. Did you get to participate before you travelled west?

 

 

Yes I got my letter... apparently i wanted to be married, in dental school, and some other stuff.... obviously i was wrong but its not bad. I'm doing some pretty neat things instead. I am serving in Saskatoon on a mission, i am getting close to be done with my schooling for physical therapy, and I'm a pretty happy spiritual person so thats good. It was really really weird to get a letter from myself though, not something i expected on my mission. :)

Yes i still got to participate in sisters conference.... every sister in the mission (there is 27 of us now) were in Winnipeg for 48 hours, it was incredible. I got to do a portion or talk on talents and it was fun, i even made cute little hand outs for everyone. Sister Thomas is actually down the hall from my right now... they had to come to Saskatoon too for some meetings and she said she is working on posting pictures, i want to try to add some too!!!!! it was really fun

Sister Hutchinson went to open up international falls with sister Christensen.... so they are both in the states again, that was weird but im super excited for them! 

Sister Ashley Meservy is from Alberta, from Mountain View! She knows  Tyson...weird in fact a lot of sisters in this mission know Tyson..... hmmm.... She is super into basketball and we get along pretty well... we have really only had one day where it has just been us so that's not much to judge off of but i like her a lot i think its going to be a fun transfer! she owns a waterbuffalo farm and likes to horseback... we are already making plans to meet up in  Waterton... Waterton trips are going to be like mission reunions for me its so great! I love you...

 

 

With Sister Elkins who travelled west with her

Jessalyn's A team district in Winnipeg

with Sister Rush and all her trainees