Monday, October 21, 2013

October 21, 2013 - "I'm staying in the VALLEY!"

So Transfers update drum roll please!!!....
Well mom you will be happy to hear and well the subject to this email pretty well explains it I am staying here in the Wolfville in Kentville ward!!! I am taking on a leadership position as the "STL" so Sister Training Leader for the Nova Scotia South zone (my zone). Which consists of the Halifax sisters the Halifax family ward sisters and the Halifax YSA ward sisters. Those Sisters are; Sister Lee (I was in the MTC with) and her new from MTC companion and Sister Laxton (who I served with for 4 days in a trio) and her MTC new companion. And I as well will be training a new missionary coming from the MTC as well!! AND I CAN'T WAIT TO TRAIN!! Bring on the greeny fire!! I love greeny fire and I hope I still have it and if not I will repent and keep this mtc trainee's fire with me- she better be ready to have no meal breaks cause that is what I have done my whole mission!!
 
SO STL requires me travelling and visiting their area for 24hrs once a transfer and training them, calling once a week speaking to sisters together and separately and helping and training them but also growing together as I will be learning just as much as them if not more! Then as well Elder Prince informed me that every Sunday evening there is a conference call where it consists of the zone leaders, district leaders in the zone and me... the STL, I laughed I was like okay so whole bunch of elders on the phone, then me!
Elder Sloan is leaving to Moncton, New Brunswick as he has been here for 7 months, Sister Thompson is going to Amherst Nova Scotia where she will be completing the last 6 weeks of 12 week training for a missionary. So there is a new zone leader in our zone serving with Elder Prince that is coming from Newfoundland-Elder Becker. SO there is your transfer update!
 
I am very excited for this and I know this goal will require me to stretch and grow and raise the bar; I am grateful for this and I am going to do everything in my power to train my new comp. to the best of my ability and welcome her into the best 18 months of her life the very best way possible!!! And as well train these other sisters. Its nerve racking and well I know that as I stay humble and pray always and do my very best the Lord will qualify me and these new sisters coming into the mission field as there will be 7 new sisters this transfer.
 
This morning we had a wonderful meeting over Skype with President and Sister Leavitt, the 7 sisters that will be training and the assistants. It was great I am looking forward to what lies ahead! A few words that were shared from President and Sister Leavitt that I wanted to take the time to share- they just gave me goose bumps!! Sister Leavitt mentioned on how, from their Mission President training that they attended in Philadelphia it was talked about from Elder Nelson (Quorum of the 12) that this time, RIGHT NOW with the surge of missionaries, this is a crucial critical, memorable time of Church History almost as important as the First Vision.  The church is drastically changing as more and more missionaries are out all over the world serving the Lord, bringing forth the truth and that the Lord has truly prepared us in the pre-existance for THIS TIME right now.  There is a reason and how we are very special to the Lord because he sent us and prepared us to be missionaries at this time.  President Leavitt added to her comment and said "yes”! And just how Oliver Cowdry said many times in the Doctrine and Covenants referring to the days when he and Joseph Smith were translating the BOM that "these are the days that will never be forgotten" and that this is the very same for us missionaries right now that THESE are the days that will never be forgotten!"
.... That just gave me chills during the meeting. Just reflecting back on my past 5 yrs, I just cannot grasp it, but to think how I was really planned to be here right now.  It truly is a miraculous thing and I feel so blessed that the Lord is so merciful!  ... I owe everything to Him for this.
 
So this week was amazing; we picked up 8 new investigators, but by the end of the week - 2 of the 4 dropped us but its okay we have two solid investigators that are on date, totalling a 3 of investigators including our stellar investigator Kate!!
 
So let me go day by day again:
 
So Monday night we had Dinner with the Burgan's with Kate that turned out great!! They were able to share their conversion story and we watched Pres. Uchtdorf’s Sat. morning conference talk. Then we went to teach a potencial lesson from a door we knocked into but they weren't home, so we continued to knock the area.  We came across a lady whose 38 yrs old, her name is Sally.  She was crying when she answered the door, her father is dieing from cancer so we testified to her and so forth , we actually helped her take her garbage out and then we went inside and talked with her.  She is a single parent of 11 yr old named Jane and it turns out Sally's parents and herself were baptized into our church when she was 13 yrs but they were only active for 6 months. So we testified to her and had a great spiritual lesson, she is quite hard in heart at the moment but I have faith as we continue to meet with her it will soften.  But crazy thing is at that very same time - the Elders by fluke received her mother (Terry) as a referral from a member. Sister Horton a member met her at the laundry mat a couple weeks ago and they have become friends.  Sister Horton understood that Terry's husband was dieing, little did she know that Terry actually is a LA member from years ago and niether did the Elders know until we called them that night! It truly was a "intervention" from God to that family... basically him yelling at them for what they need aka : HIS CHURCH! So we will be working with them; crazy things have happened more with them with us bumping into Terry later on this week as we were prompted to just stop by Sis Hortons house one day as well.
 
Tuesday: We had district meeting in Bridgewater which was good then we went into Windsor it was nuts!!  Windsor is our sketchy area to serve where just alot of low quality of lives there; and as we have set our goal of 9 baptisms we are just finding so much more potential!  We were able to find 6 potentials that actually all weren't the "typical Windsor person" and find more success in our day there than ever before for us. We felt prompted to knock into Nancy and we actually put her on date, she lived in Taber and had nothing but good things to say about the church, but unfortunately she ended up dropping us end of the week over phone. We had a wonderful lesson with her but the adversary got to her and well agency.
 
Then Wednesday I cut Tanya and her daughter Lilya's hair (Elders Investigator who will be baptized Nov 1) She’s amazing, she has a two year old.  She just got out of a bad marriage and moved to Kentville to get away. We actually went to a lesson with the elders one day, couple weeks ago and we were all standing outside the house waiting to get let in and Tanya walked by and Elder Prince was behind me and I looked at him and said Elder you should go talk to her, he ran down the stairs and talked to her and BOOM she is totally prepared and can't wait to be baptized this gospel truly is changing her life. The lesson that day that we all were there for actually cancelled and I feel we really were just there to run into Tanya.
 
Thursday we started teaching Tracey (Burgans member in the ward friend)  we had a wonderful lesson with her and we actually put her on date the next day for Nov 30th!  She can't wait and is loving learning about the gospel!! She is 30 yrs old and is awesome! We taught Patrick and John as well with a family that came and taught with us- it went great. Patrick wants to attend church and continue learning from missionaries in Jamaica he will actually be leaving this Friday home and I am excited for him! We will be teaching him and John once last time before they go this week!
 
Friday we actually ended up moving the Whalens (Erica and Matt) So they are now living in Cole Harbor :( but it is what is best for them, they have met with the elders there and things are going well. I will be able to go visit them when i go on visits with the sisters in Halifax.  We passed Brandon over to the Elders, that lesson went great and things will go great with Brandon. We did the Stop Smoking Program with Kate Friday afternoon at Sister Hortons house! It was amazing she is devoted and has quite smoking so far! Kate actually has a "this is a non smoking environment" on her front door of her house it is absolutely fantastic!!!
 
Then Saturday we were so blessed to have a completely jambed pack busy day because there was an University party weekend event. Where literally drunk partying 18 yrs olds and 20 yrs olds from 10 am till dusk all day.... hahah Sis T and I laughed and were like well that is the great and spacious building and we are holding to the iron rod! University here is like the Univeristy in a Hollywood USA movie university haha its CRAZY. But we started teaching the most humble guy named Jesse he is from China. We met him street contacting and I asked him if we believed in God and he said " No, but I really feel like there is a God I just don't know about him" We just smiled and were like well Jesse we can help you with that!! So we taught him about through Christ we can be cleansed from sins, faith repentance, baptism holyghost sacrament- not the usual first lesson but it was great he was all over it!! We commited him to be baptized fro Nov 22 and he can't wait to "be apart of Gods family" he said. He came to church on Sunday and he said he can not wait for next Sunday! A member will be having us and him over for dinner Nov 3! We will be teaching Jesse again tonight at 8!
 
We also met a Chinese guy named Di Saturday and we had a great brief lesson with him.  He has been a die hard christian for a while surprisingly, and we shared with him the BOM he was so STOKED!  WE had to run because we had the adult session of stake conference to go to that evening but he pretty well asked to come so he followed us there and was loving it!! He is really into praising God to the point where he pulled out this Jewish robe in the beginning of the conference where it wrapped all around his body, arms ,neck everything!! hahaha omg I was dying and of course he goes to sit down at the very front of the congregation.  Sis T sat with Kate and things were going great then all of the sudden Di pulls out this Jewish robe thing where he stood up and wrapped it around, everyone was like whaaaa??? I was dying inside/trying not to laugh/freaking out that he would stand up start yelling like weird Pentecostal stuff. Thank goodness he didn't but it was a good thing to look back on and laugh at. We passed him over to the Elders as well as we felt that would be best. But things are going quite well with him.
 
It truly has been a wonderful week, we see miracles daily!! I love the gospel I love the scriptures and I am so grateful to be a missionary!
I want to stay motivated and doing my very best as the week continues and transfers arise I will. I know through faith and obedience and prayer I can and that is only through the grace of God.
There is so much to work on and improve but so much to look forward to and be grateful!!
Every member is a missionary- and as you can see family missionary work is changing my life, but just because I wear a tag doesn't mean it can not do the same for you! Open you mouths and don't procrastinate the day of being a missionary because I can promise you great blessings are instore for you as you step out of the box!
 
I LOVE YOU ALL
xoxo
Love Sister Pizzey

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