April 7, 2014 - Staying in "Cool Harbor!!"

sooooo drum roll please...... Sister Keeler and I will be with another for a 3rd transfer in Cole Harbour!!!!! Which means alot of things but one of them being that you family will meet Sister keeler over skype in May... yes we are beyond excited! I am in shock! I honestly don't know what I have done to be so blessed on my mission, to serving in the area, with Sister Keeler so close to President Leavitt, with the great group of people we are teaching, serving 2 minutes away from the temple, having the blessing of being a sister training leader... like WOW everyday I am just in "awwwhh" at how much of a blessing this is!! 3 TRANSFERS she will probably be one of my longest companions as all of my companions have been 2 transfers!! Sister Aslett is now serving in Halifax btw! Sis Curtis is (sister in New Glasgow been out two transfers) Is being transferred to Sackville with Sister Thompson! and Sis Burton will stay in New Glasgow training a new sister!

Okay so General Conference this weekend?!? WOW. It was amazing!!! I was so excited and felt the Spirit so strongly. The Sunday morning session was just WOW amazing ...

So many things have happened it truly has been a week of learning and progression! We had mission leadership training all day Tuesday and Weds morning till 11 am then all 26 missionaries of mission leadership council and the remaining metro missionaries went to the temple session. Sister Keeler and I learnt so much from mission leadership training, it really was a humbling experience. All 26 missionaries, the leaders of the mission met with one another and we learned from one another, as President Leavitt and the assistants trained us... I felt more like I was just learning from them it was amazing and quite humbling.  I had a moment when we are all sitting in the room waiting for the training to begin in Pres Leavitt's house & I was just like Wow, like how did i get here? Never would I think I would be so blessed in my life to be among such amazing people learning from them. It was one of those moments where I just kind of felt inadequate but very blessed.

So I feel with General Conference and the things I learnt in mission leadership training I would like to focus on that this letter and then if and when I have time near the end I will give ya'll the grand update of things here in the "Cool Harbour" area!

So for 1) in mission leadership training I just wanted to begin at how amazing President Leavitt is. So we show up to the training and I have a man voice/no voice because of my cough and I was drugged up on medicine, so that morning I had Elder Amaya and Steed give me a blessing... I was fine but the cold was annoying and I really did not want it to get in the way of being able to be engaged in the leadership training and the work etc. So I come into the training like "woahs me in my head for being sick".  President Leavitt is training us and so outward we never would think anything was wrong with him. The training was amazing it was alot about our accountability to the Lord and how we need to realize that we account to Him at night, we are working for President leavitt for the approval from the leaders in the mission or any one else for that matter how we are to account to the Lord and ask if what we have done or going to do is pleasing to Him. We also were talking about our vision as leaders, so we as a group formulated our vision, we would break up in groups and talk about it and so forth, so the vision for us as leaders is:
"As faith-filled hard working & obedient leaders we will humbly teach those we lead how to baptise & reactivate the lost sheep of the house of Israel, we will inspire them to feel accountable to the Lord in their results."

So we talked about that, we talked about how obedience is 100% that the white hand book is the Law of Moses.
It was truly amazing though because during the training when we split up and came back.  President Leavitt came back it was after 5, close to dinner and he looked off, his skin color was greeny gray, and as he was speaking his voice and jaw were shaking.  At this point in the training the group I was in was talking about hardwork and as we were talking about hard work President Leavitt was sitting there grasping the chair, trying to maintain his shaking hands, body, (because of pain).  When he talked it was very shaky and frantic in a way, and his skin was getting greener  & white as he talked, he looked as though he put on 10 years! But he would not give up, he continued to talk in a way that was hiding it and he just so badly wanted to stay there and continue training us and strengthening us. He did not want any attention so at 5 pm we all left to Boston Pizza, President Leavitt and Sister Leavitt chose to stay behind. Little did we know President leavitt left to the hospital after we left and was in there the whole evening.  When we returned the assistants informed us and they continued with conducting the training in an amazing way. They are great missionaries!
It was quite eye opening to me; I started the training in a attitude like ugh I am sick why do I have to be sick, little did I know President Leavitt is suffering with an infection and you would never know! Until the point where he literally had to go to the hospital. So inspiring he is just so outward and does not think of anything but others and serving and doing the Lords work, President Leavitt is such an example of being accountable to the Lord and no one else.
Elder Evanson was telling Sis Keeler and I that they arrived early before the training (him and Elder Prince) to give President Leavitt a blessing they said he was in alot of pain but after the blessing President jumped up and said alright lets go to work as if nothing were wrong. He totally was just fighting off the pain and hiding it. 
So after dinner One of new assistants Elder Evanson gave a training on how we should lead as missionaries comparing it from sheep and how we want to be a loving shepherd, one who is humble and loves it sheep and not a sheep herder approach where one who directs sheep by pulling them and out of obligation.  And also how we don't want to be a sheep - one who follows the crowd does, what every one else does, has no vision or care. It was really great! I learnt so much about love and compassion this meeting, staying away from self righteousness and looking at the sisters I lead as my daughters.  Having that love for them to go above and beyond! "For without charity we are nothing"

The next morning President Leavitt was not able to be there as he was quite sick, so the assistants ran the training (mind you it was one of the assistants first week as an assistant no pressure right) and halfway through the training President walked in quietly and sat down, his face all puffy not looking good, he managed to stand up and still train us and add some words.  He managed to come to the temple whether Sister Leavitt liked it or not.  It was amazing as we all attended the temple, I was able to be the first in the celestial room so I sat down and President Leavitt was in afterwards and he walked over shook my hand all cheery smiling away, full of love never would you know he was sick.  He did not take one seat the whole time he walked from one end of the celestial room to the other greeting each elder and sister that walked in with most Christ-like love.
Little did we all know that, President Leavitt found out the next day that he has a very bad blood infection and spent all day Saturday in the hospital and has been shaking a fever of 104 for this whole week! We are all mission wide fasting for Him today but it is crazy and please keep him in your prayers. He is such an example, I am so grateful to be in this mission. He wrote how this is not his work, we are not his missionaries, this is the Lords work and that all will go forward. He is on the up rise and getting better we are just fasting so that will move forward quicker. But I more so told you about this because I feel His example is amazing what is important to him is seeking the kingdom of God first and Christ-like service putting others first and God first. We should all follow this example!

So General Conference was absolutely amazing I would like to share with you my highlights from it!

SAT:

Elder Hollands talk: WE ARE TO DEFEND THE FAITH. What Jesus would do (discipleship) will not always be a popular response. How "man is creating God in their own image" and how we are encouraged to be Strong and defend our beliefs stand for truth with courtesy and compassion!

Linda Reeves: that truly nothing else matters but 1) daily scrip. study (BOM) 2) daily family prayer 3) weekly FHE... truly family it is the Law of Moses there are no exceptions to not following it.  e must now take responsibility for our own spiritual well-being.

Neil L anderson: "The Lord has not redefined marriage it is far beyond satisfaction for adults but the ideal situation for children to be raised!" BOOM that is so true!!!  My mission has truly changed to be what marriage is for and will be like, marriage is far beyond what the World has changed it to be. It is about furthering covenants with God and responsibility, the world has truly changed marriage in a very wrong distorted way that stems from satan.
We must and will stand alone respectfully with dignity and christ-like love that the BOM is power of protection for whirlwinds of life!

Are we tied to God or something else?

Christ MUST ALWAYS be first "Striving to be disciples of Christ requires DAILY commitment, but leads to DIVINE GUIDANCE"

Richard G Scott"
Moses 1:39 is Gods vision, we are here to be like God so why should it not be our vision too?!

We must sincerely love those we serve, so they can feel confidence in Gods love.

Robert D Hales:

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU FOLLOW - When you grow in the gospel your grow in obedience ... AWAKEN TO OUR DUTY TO GOD

Claudio D Zivig:

We must continually ask if we are doers of the word!  D&C 3:1-7,13 "DO I FEAR GOD AS MUCH AS I FEAR MAN?!"

W Craig Zwick: (one of my favorite talks)

let no corrupt communication come out of thy mouth!!

disciples words should come from humble heart,

WE CAN MINISTER GRACE THROUGH COMPASSIONATE LANGUAGE!

Quinton L Cook & Walkers:

Made me think of my patriarchal blessing how it talks about how I have a rich heritage of ancestors who have passed and know me and that I must persevere my heritage and share it with my children to strengthen the trails in the world that is vast in the return of the Savior!

Sunday session- Sunday morning was my fav!!

Dieter Uchtorf: Choose to develop a Spirit of Gratitude! Be thankful IN all my circumstances whatever they may be!

" We can choose to limit out gratitude or we can choose to be like Nephi, Job, mormon pioneers, Joseph Smith!".  Thank God for rain not just the rainbows!"  Gratitude heals, heart extends mind. Gratitude requires faith and trust in God!  Gratitude links all Christ-like attributes, thankful heart is the parent of all virtues!

So M Russel Ballard: (one of my favorites!!)
I AM FOLLOWING UP WITH YOU FAMILY!!

1) HAVE YOU PRAYED FOR WHO YOU CAN SHARED THE RESTORED GOSPEL WITH?

Gary A Stevenson:
I loved his idea of making a list to do to obtain Eternal life! siblings for your kids you should do this!!

"Run the race that ye obtain"

Our actions will determine the price of Eternal Life

David A Bednar : (my fav as well mom and dad) "it was the load to get back on the road and return to His home and family"  ask your self:" IS THE LOAD THAT I AM BEARING CREATING SUFFICIENT TRACTION SO I CAN RETURN TO MY FATHER IN HEAVEN?"

The atonement is not just for sinners it is for all to receive the enabling power of the atonement to get us to be heirs of eternal life!

I love Pres Monsons talk about charity and love as well just don't have time to write!!

The of load of missionary work, Christ-like service has gotten me personally to get the traction to be on the straight and narrow, the load of taking Christ's yoke upon me has gotten me to change, to simply open my eyes and smell the coffee and see the eternal perspective to see what is important in life.  The load of consecration to the lords kingdom has changed my life and my future generations if I only continue in progression through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

It is amazing but it is through work in the Lords Kingdom I can know God and know how to return to him.  It is through the load of forgetting serving myself and being inward and caring about worldly goods and serving others and finding myself through forgetting myself in the service of my God.

It is about forgetting my temporal gifts and seeking Spiritual treasures in heaven!

Every testimony we bear is recorded in heaven!

Let us stop wasting time in the temporary pleasures of the world in feast upon spiritual treasures!

My eyes have been so opened, I am forever changed, and it is through simple works of daily reading praying and missionary work.
I love you all and it is my prayer you will not miss out on the blessing Heavenly Father holds in store for you as you.  Step out of the world and become a disciple of Christ, continue on the path of discipleship!

It has been a great week we have picked up 5 new investigators.  (Investigator) is progressing towards baptism and is going to do family history to prepare to go to the temple after her baptism! The lords work is progressing the field is white and it is all according to our faith, trust, and gratitude that the Lords work can go forward!!

I love you all and please take Elder Ballards follow-up from conference literally and seriously it is the Lord calling you to repentance and to feast on the blessings he has in store for you through His atoning sacrifice!!
I love you all and felt it was important to share with you these thoughts!

xoxox
have a great week!
Love,
Sister Pizzey!