Listen to the Spirit

April 16, 2016

We had another good week here in Regina! Not a lot happened, but I have a couple stories to share!! 

So last week on pday we were asking some of the missionaries for advice with our car. The key broke so everytime we unlock it manually the alarm goes off. They told us they didn't know how to fix it but they asked us if we had checked our blinker fluid lately. I was like, "What is blinker fluid? I have never heard of that." They played it off really well though and had me convinced that we were supposed to change our blinker fluid every 3 months. They told us that our vehicle coordinator had a record of it so we should call him. Of course we did and asked him if we needed to change our blinker fluid.. We soon realized that there is no such thing as blinker fluid. Such a cruel joke:) 

We had zone conference this week which was so great! It was kinda long because we got a lot of training on how to use the area book app and pretty overwhelming. We are slowly figuring it out though. I am still trying to decided if I like having the smart phones. It makes some things easier but also part of me wishes we still had flip phones! 

Monday evening we saw some miracles!! We were stopping by a former investigator we found in our area book. It didnt have an exact address so we just kinda guessed. Turns out it was the wrong house and that lady that answered the door talked to us for an hour about how we needed to think about what we were doing and not do it basically. But then she was praying and saying how grateful she was that we came. It was very confusing. She told us it would be no use to knock on her neighbors doors.. As we were leaving we were going to go to another street but I felt pretty strongly that we should just stay. partly because I wanted to prove her wrong:) But also we soon realized that it was the spirit telling  me to! The next house we knocked on was the former we were looking for. Then a few houses later we found someone else! Such a cool experience and a reminder to always listen to the spirit!! 

Last week we had a supper appointment at a members house. It wasnt planned but she asked us at church if we had anywhere to eat and felt strongly to invite us over. We didnt really think much of it but were grateful to go! She had us help her peel some potatoes and she had to teach us how because we had no idea what we were doing. Later in the week we were at someones house and all she had to eat was potatoes but she needed help peeling them. Good thing we were just taught how!! We were able to help her peel the potatoes so she had something to eat. So I am glad that the member acted on the prompting she felt too or else we wouldnt have learned how to peel potatoes! Hopefully that made sense!! 

President Craig shared a scripture with us at zone conference that I really liked. 

1 John 2:3-6 

"And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 

He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." 

He talked about how important it is that we are obedient to the commandments and for missionaries to the white handbook and preach my gospel, not just because we feel obligated or guilty if we don't, but because we love the Savior. We are exactly obedient because WE LOVE HIM!! That is a theme we have learned a lot as a mission and something I will take with me the rest of my life!! 

Love you all so much! Have an amazing week:) 

Pic.. it was national grilled cheese day this week so we made grilled cheese! 

Well it ever be Spring

April 9, 2018

Hello from Canada!! It has been another very cold week here. The weather has been really tricking us. It will get "warm" (Like -3 degrees) for a few days and we think that spring is coming and then it will be back to -20. It is supposed to warm up over the next few days but then we will be getting a snow storm again on thursday. At least that is what everyone keeps telling us. I am beginning to doubt that it will ever get warm! Maybe if everyone prays for spring it will come? That is what we will commit all of the people we teach this week to do:) 

Besides the cold it was a pretty good week here! Not a lot happened. We were able to find another chinese family to teach! That was cool. We also found a family from the philippines. And some canadians!! We taught our investigator Leah a few times this week. She was doing really good and told us that she knows the Book of Mormon is true! Then we brought up the word of wisdom and she kind of freaked out.. She told us that she couldn't get baptized anymore:( We are hoping that she will have a change of heart! We won't give up yet:) She also didn't make it to church so we were pretty bummed about that. We found her a ride and everything and then she told us she couldn't come. Hopefully this week!! 

We went on exchanges this week and I got to go with Sister Patac from the Philippines! Her best friend was companions with Sister Anhder in New Zealand! Such a small world!! It was a good day and I learned so much from her! 

That's about all that happened this week. Sorry this email is super short and not too exciting.. Hopefully I will have some more exciting things to write about next week! 

A scripture I read this week and really liked was in Jacob 2:18 "But before ye seek for riches, see ye for the kingdom of God." I know that as we keep our eyes single to God and focus on eternal matters more than worldly matters God will bless us more than we know!! Sometimes it's hard to remember the things that really matter when there is so much going on in the world around us. Seek the kingdom of God first and you will be blessed!!! Love you ALL!! 

General Conference

April 2, 2018

What a crazy week!!! I will start off with a story..

On Friday this week Sister Jackson and had just finished a lesson and were about to go tracting with some time we had before supper. Both of us had to go to the washroom pretty bad so we stopped at the gas station before heading to the street we were planning to go to. I went into the washroom and handed Sister Jackson my coat which had the keys to the car in it so I didnt have to carry it in with me. When I walked out of the washroom Sister Jackson was no where to be found.. I panicked because she had the phone, and the keys. So there I was, in a gas station with no phone, no keys and no companion. I brainstormed and quickly rushed outside and sure enough, the car was also gone. I decided to walk to the closest members house which was about a mile away. When I got there we looked up the mission office's phone number and called them to see what I should do. At this point I was bawling because I didn't know where she had gone or why.. It was quite stressful. Luckily our cars have tracking devices on them so we were able to find where she was and get a hold of her within a few hours. Turns out the stress of the mission was just too much and she was trying to head home. We talked to her and she was able to come back and all is well now:)........

april fools!! 

Haha none of that actually happened, I thought it would be fun to play a little joke though even though I am a day late!

This week was actually pretty good! We were able to meet with Leah, the girl who came to church last week. She has had a rough past 6 months. She got into the wrong crowd and was headed down the wrong path but I believe she has a sincere desire to change! I am excited to see how she progresses!

General conference was amazing!!! So many exciting changes made. I think my favorite part about conference was the solemn assembly on Saturday morning. As they announced President Nelson as the prophet and showed his face on the screen I had such an overwhelming witness from the spirit that he is truly called of God. I am so grateful for him and his guidance!! Also my mission president, President Craig got called to the quorum of the seventy. Pretty exciting! He has almost no break once he gets released as our mission president in July!! 

Some of the things I loved about general conference was the theme to seek and follow the guidance of the spirit! As well as the need we have to constantly strive to become more like Christ. Sister Bingham said, "What a better way to prepare to meet Jesus Christ than to become like Him." I also loved the talk about love. I can't remember who gave it but he said, "Pure love is the true sign of every disciple of Jesus Christ." 

I am so excited to be able to go back and reread/learn more from the talks that we were given. What an amazing opportunity we have to receive revelation for our day!! As well as personal revelation! 

I hope you all have an amazing week!! 

Crazy Week

March 26, 2018

Crazy week!! Here's what happened..

-We had more chinese food! and met more of Li-Li's friends. They are so cute

-We decided to stop by Kendall's house and we got to meet her husband and see her other daughter again! They are super nice! We left a book of mormon and are hoping to be able to teach them. We will see how that goes. 

-I was in a tri-pan two days this week! On wednesday a sister that was headed home spent the evening with sister gatten and I. That was super neat. I learned so much from her!! Her name was sister davis and she is from west jordan!

-Then Sister gatten left bright and early thursday morning so I spent the day with the STL's.. Sister Gatten and Sister Stokes. That was fun! it was weird not to have an actual companion. I just got bounced around while waiting for my new companion to come! 

-My new companion's name is Sister Jackson! She is from Layton, Utah! She is super sweet. I will send a couple pics! 

-We saw so many miracles this past weekend!! We met a lady from Sri Lanka a few weeks ago. We were actually introduced to her by the guy who got baptized last week! We taught her and two of her kids a lesson this week. The lesson was a bit rough. We were teaching about the priesthood and baptism and she got a little defensive when she said she needed to get baptized again. I think Sister Jackson was a little nervous haha. But as the lesson went further her heart was softened by the spirit and she was more open to the idea of baptism and meeting with us. That was a very cool miracle.

-Sunday morning at about 11:30 we were just about to eat lunch when we received a text from mormon.org missionaries saying someone was going to call us for a ride to church. Sure enough, 30 seconds later we received a call from a young lady. She said that her dad used to be a member and she wanted to get involved. So we frantically called a few members and were able to find her a ride to church! She came and had such a great experience. I think she was a bit overwhelmed going to 3 hours of church and knowing nothing about it but she definitely felt the spirit. I know that she needed to be there. She told us that her dad recently passed away at 50 years old in a car accident and that she has just been looking for something more in her life. She is golden!! We are hoping to be able to meet with her this week! Such a neat experience and a testimony builder that God is preparing people to hear the gospel! 

I love being a missionary SOOO much!! I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to serve the Lord. I know the church is TRUE!! I just wanted to share a scripture that I read this week in my studies. It is so powerful and so true if we apply it to ourselves!

2 Nephi 22:2 "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation." 

- I hope you will all watch general conference this weekend and look for what the Lord is trying to tell you! Go in with a question or something you want to learn and I know that He will answer!! Love you all!!!! Have an amazing week! 

Diversity

March 19, 2018

It was a good week here in Regina! We experienced a lot of different cultures this week! First, we met with a chinese girl that we met at the university here. She invited all her friends over as well. We got to teach them how to pray and she fed us chinese food! They taught us how to use chopsticks so that was fun! I asked them about moon cakes! 

Then we had supper with the family from mexico again. Sister Uribe is such and amazing cook!! I love mexican food. It's the best! 

Then we had a lesson with a family from africa. Talked with lots of people from India, Syria, and the Phillipines. Then there's always the first nations people. We learned some of their language this week! That is one thing that I love about here. THere are SO many different cultures!! 

A couple months ago sister gatten and I met a man from Sir Lanka. We gave him a book of mormon and got his contact information. We were sad when we realized he lived in another ward boundary so we had to pass him over to the elders there. Anyway, he got baptized this weekend and it was an awesome baptism!! A testimony builder to me that no effort is wasted and everything happens by divine design!

I hit my half way mark this week which is super crazy! It's also transfer week... I will be staying here in Regina and getting a brand new missionary to train. I am scared out of my mind!! Hopefully the Lord will help me and her. 

We were tracting and an older man answered the door with his shirt off. We could only stay in his doorway for a few minutes because he was there alone so we gave him a book of mormon and told him a little about it. As we were leaving he went to shake his hand and he pulled us both in and hugged us. It was the most uncomfortable situation I think I have experience so far... hahaha

I came across one of my favorite scriptures today in my reading.. 

2 Nephi 17:15 "Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good." Make sure you all are eating lots of butter and honey this week!! 

Love you all! Have an awesome week!! 

This week was Good

March 12, 2018

Hello everyone!! This week was good! 

-So It snowed all day and all night for like 3 consecutive days!! So much snow!! We got stuck a couple times but were able to get out pretty easily! Monday night our mission president didnt want us to do any driving because it wasnt very safe so we stayed around our apartment. We planned to do some tracting in the area but then ended up getting people unstuck all night! We were pretty exhausted after that. THe apartment parking lot was really bad though! It took them all week to get the roads all plowed. 

-Tuesday morning our parking lot was still pretty bad so we decided to walk to some houses that are next to our apartment building to tract. We saw a pretty cool miracle!! A lady named Sam let us in! She had an english accent but grew up in South Africa. We had a good lesson with her. We shared a scripture, helaman 5:12 and as we were leaving she wanted us to mark it for her! A couple days later she texted us and said that she talked to her husband and didnt want us to come back so that was super sad:( 

-We also found a student ID card for the university of regina on the side of the road that same day! We picked it up and messaged the girl on facebook so we could return it! Then we tried teaching her as well but she wasn't interested. She was impressed that we tried though haha. 

-We had super with a family from mexico this week and had some authentic mexican food. IT was super yummy:) 

-We had a member call us this week wanting some book of mormons to give to her friends. We went over there to drop some off and then shared a scripture with her. As we were leaving there was a man and woman sitting by the front doors of the complex. We started talking to them and asked if we could teach them about the book of mormon. THe lady  got up and left and the guy talked to us for a bit but we soon realized that he was pretty drunk. So we gave him a pamphlet and then walked out the door. The lady who left was outside. She approached us and said "I want to learn but I wanted to get away from him because he has been drinking." That was a super cool miracle! We were able to teach her a little bit and hopefully more this week! She has met with missionaries in other areas too! 

-We had interviews with president Craig this week and that was awesome!! It was a harder week and we had a lot of rejection. It seems like we get a lot everyday, but it never really gets easier. I was grateful to be able to get some advice and instruction from President Craig. Just what I needed and the Lord knew that too!! So crazy that he goes home in a few months and we will be getting a new one! 

-We had a lesson with a less active couple on saturday and we were teaching the plan of salvation. Sister gatten suggested that we would sing them I am a child of God... I looked at her like, "What?" I am not a huge singer haha. But we did it and they even joined in. I was actually super awesome. Hymns always bring the spirit!! Although I was not fond of the idea at first I was grateful after! 

-funny story.. maybe you have all already heard though but it made my day today. Last week my niece Collins said a prayer one evening and instead of "blessing bayli on her mission" she blessed that Bayli would not get fat on her mission. HAHAH I think the odds are in my favor after her prayer. Thanks collins!! 

-We had stake conference this weekend and we were able to hear from President and Sister Craig. Sister Craig gave a talk on member missionary work! She talked about how small and simple things are great things brought to pass. and gave 4 things that we can do to share the gospel! 

1. Pray for help from Heavenly Father and act on the spiritual promptings that we get!

2. Give loving service

3. Be authentic and natural. Show kindness and friendship! It's not just about preaching to people.

4. Use technology!! 

The Lord is able to help us in the work, but we need to help HIM!! We succeed whenever we invite, regardless of the outcome. Member missionary work is an attitude of love to help those around us! So I hope you will all do these things and be member missionaries:) 

Winter is Here

March 5, 2018

Hello everyone, I hope you had a wonderful week! This week....

-We had exchange and I was able to go with Sister Gardner! She is from Alberta. I learned so much from her! We taught a vietnamese family and that was fun! Also we were tracting in this little neighborhood with a bunch of townhomes and there were these kids all around having a nerf gun war. At one point they thought we were their friends and starting shooting at us. I was pretty comical! 

-We helped an investigator from Nigeria move this week. They just moved here like 6 months ago so all they really know is missionaries. They were pretty stressed and at one point they were trying to find a toolbox that they had left. You could tell there was some contention over this silly toolbox. I had the thought to say a prayer so I suggested it and everyone kinda looked at me like I was silly. I was adament though and so I said a prayer.. 5 min later we found it!! That was cool:) Hopefully it helped them to build their testimonies too! 

-We started teaching a mother and her daughter this week. They were being taught by some other missionaries in another part of the city and recently moved into our area. One day they are super excited about the gospel and the next they wont answer their door. It has been a bit frustrating but hopefully everything works out!! 

-Kendall officially moved this week:( It was super sad! But we had one last lesson with her and I really think she will get baptized in Arizona! She also asked us if we would reach out to her daughter who is still in high school and staying to finish out her senior year. We invited her to church and she came!! Hopefully we will get to start teaching her soon:) After kendalls lesson I was super discouraged and just had fear about the unknown of what was going to happen to her and her family. I want so badly for her to get baptized and I just want it all to happen now! Sister Gatten pointed out to me and it's kind of ironic how we teach people to have faith and patience and hope in god's plan, yet sometimes we forget that as missionaries! That was an eye opener for me. So I am going to start having more faith in God's plan. He knows what people need way better than I do!! i know everything will work out! 

- We have had a HUGE blizzard over the past couple days. It snowed all day yesterday and all night. Plus it is still snowing now. It is pretty crazy!! It's the first time that it has really snowed since I have been in Canada! And it is supposed to be spring! A bit discouraging. It is not too cold though so that is good! It's like a Cache Valley winter now! We got stuck in our apartment parking lot this morning so that was pretty funny. But it wasnt just us. everyone else is getting stuck too! They hardly have any snow plows here! 

I was reading a talk this week from last conference called "Repentance is always positive" by Stephen W Owen. I loved when he said, "Repentance is for everyone- those who are wandering in forbidden paths and are lost as well as those who have gotten into the straight and narrow and now need to press forward. Repentance both puts us on the right path and keeps us on the right path... It is a life long pursuit not a once in a lifetime experience." He also talked about how its not just about gaining a testimony of the gospel, but maintaining one!! Like riding a bike. YOu have to keep pedalling in order to move forward! I know that is the same with repentance! It is always a good thing when we repent and turn our hearts to God. I am so grateful for the the opportunity that I have to repent each day!! I know the church is true and that Heavenly Father loves us so much!! love you all! have a wonderful week!!