August 18, 2014

 

This week has been absolutely fantastic!! We saw miracles! Like everyday just miraculous things that just really made it so clear that we are instruments in the Lords hands and are so blessed to be taking part in this great and marvellous work!!

This is the best time of my time here in Cole Harbour we are truly reaping what has been sowed this past few months!

We were able to see great blessings this week, and well here is my letter to President, I just don't even know where to begin describing this week!

 

"Self: This week has been amazing week, I am so grateful to be here, to be serving in the ward, to be serving with my companion and just to be here on my mission. I love the gospel, and I know we are doing the Lords work! This week I have been focussing on being in the present I came across a quote that really has lead to a great study this week and great reflection; "if you are depressed you are looking in the past, if your anxious your are looking too much in the future, live in the present and have hope." The natural man is not positive, hopeful and faith-filled, it is such a blessing to have the atonement of Christ to cleanse us from all negativity and fill us with hope, peace and faith. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I love how much God is aware and loves us! I have been keeping in my mind Isaiah 55:8-9 "my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" I know that this is the Lords work, and it is essential to know His will and to act and do it! Prayer is how I have come to grow to understand the Lords will and forget my agenda and just figure out Gods will and just do it!! The past few days I have grown to have a prayer that consists of "holy communication and consecrated work" and I know that I must continue in diligence by being consistent in these things.

Area:Last week Sister Howell and I set some goals that were a stretch but we felt so right about them! We just saw this week everything unfold the way Heavenly Father planned for it to be! We truly saw miracles and we just stand all amazed to be able to take part in this! We have some amazing people we have met and committed to prepare to be baptised this week, last night at 8:30 PM we had a member out working with us, and we just had some LA's to stop by; we ended up picking up a LA's husband as a new investigator and will be teaching them both again today! They are both from the Philippines and just moved her a year ago, we found the LA by being referred to her and she just so badly wants her husband to join the church! We are seeing great blessings, and I know its because we are working as one with the members and that the Lord has a great work to go forth in this area and ward!

Companion: Sister Howell is great, we love serving with one another, and we are just seeing great blessings. I am learning alot from her she is very mature and calm. She works in a way where she can respond and make decisions by the spirit. She is great!"

We reached all of our goals that we set this week, and we were able to commit Carlene to prepare to be baptised on September 13th. We have moved Debbie's baptismal date back to Sept 6th as her neck is not healing, and we began teaching a 26 yr old guy name Leroy who is preparing to be baptised on Sept 13!

We had three investigators at church, Carlene's daughter came who is 11 yrs and she loved it! We hard hoping to get Grace (Carlene's daughter) to prepare to be baptised with her. They all enjoyed church and Carlene as she was leaving, just expressed so much gratitude for how grateful she is to have met us, and have these blessings in her life.

 

So Monday night we had a lesson at a members home, where we taught our investigator Adrianne she is progressing slowly, but her daughters attend Faith in God with the misner family, so they love church, and the Misner family is who introduced us to Adrianne. Adrianne leads the worship at the her baptist church so she won't be able to attend church till September has she has committed to do that till then. We picked up 4 new investigators this week and we picked up Ugena who is 24 and we hope to see her some time this week!

On Tuesday we had a church tour with Carlene and we had a member there with her daughter Nikki and we had Carlenes son Ben who is 4 and off the walls and her daughter Grace.  It was a great tour and we began teaching Grace as well!

Then we taught Debbie on Wednesday, with a member and she is progressing quite well, she went to Ontario for the weekend, then we took the new missionaries out with us.  I had a brand new sister working with me for that evening, as well we had 4 other sisters this week working with us this week in our area due to transfers, it was hectic!

Thursday night we had a lesson with Carlene at the Misners house, and the kids were able to play as we focused on Carlene, prior to this lesson we committed her to watch the resto dvd and she loved it.  We went over the restoration and committed her to Sept 13! She accepted it was amazing!! I know she will be baptized I have faith!

Saturday we had a ward activity where we were picking up garbage with the ward down at fisherman's cove, along the boardwalk, Carlene and Grace came.  We all were wearing our mormon helping hands vests! As we were at the activity sister Howell and I were walking past this guy and he was at the front of a group of people and we just could not help but to stop him and be like "HI!" haha SO we stopped him and we talked and turns out he met with missionaries like 6 mnths prior in Halifax for like 1.5 yr. So we talked with him and it turns out he had only slept for 2 hrs that night because he was up all night because he had a question he had from the bible he didn't understand and that it really stressed him out.... so we looked at him and were like"ok Leroy so you couldn't sleep and you decided to go for a walk and boom you came to a place where all these mormons are cleaning randomly.... what more could God show you?!" haha it was funny so we ended up teaching him couple hours later on in the day. Leroy brought his bible and french Bookof Momron as he is from Montreal and we opened up in the bible where he was confused and read Matt 12:24-32. We were able to read in 2 Nephi 31:14. he saw how the BOM answers questions and clarifies truths taught in the Bible. It was amazing! So he asked us "well how do you believe we can be save?" So I said "well why don't we just read what God says about that in the BOM" so we flipped open to 2 Nephi 31:5-21 it answers his question and he says he never has been baptised before so we commit him to be baptised for Sept 13th!!It was amazing such a miracle and we invite him to church and he came yesterday!

Then last night we had SISter Patti Devlin come out with us, we just booked a 1.5hr with her for her to come contact LAs with us, and well we had a LA on our mind Merry Christ is her name. We met her a couple weeks ago and crazy thing is she is not on the ward list.  We met her because two days in a row two different people gave her address and number as a referral.  The first day we went to her house and the apartment doors we could not get into, and then the second day when another person referred us to her, (who both were not members) we just were like "ok this is nuts! definitely not a coincidence!" so we prayed and headed to the apartment and wahhh!! The apartment doors were both held wide open by two huge bricks and no one else was around! crazy?!? I know! So we go in and meet her (this was two weeks ago) Merry explained how she so badly wants her husband to join and she was going to serve a mission in the Philippines as that is where they both moved from  a year ago. So we go and knock on their door last night at 8:30 PM and we end up teaching Bio, her NM husband. And we had a great lesson, he has read anti and has some concerns but I have faith and I just pictured him months down the road bearing his testimony of how much he gave the sisters a hard time and how he knows this is true! I am so excited for them and can not wait for them both to have the blessings of the gospel in their family as they have two kids!

 

It was a miracle this week and I know it was all because this truly is the Lords work! Faith precedes all miracles!

 

I feel so alive and ready for what ever the Lord has in store!

I hope you all have a great week and I just love the thought of living in the present and having hope this idea has changed my week, and removed all feelings of anxiety about the future.

I know that all things will come together, and I am hopeful about the future and all that is in store!

I love you all and have a great week, I will be bearing my testimony this week at my last zone conference seems very surreal!

These are the best moments of my life and the days that will never be forgotten!

Ah I wish i had more time to write and share my experiences about things I have learnt but just know the atonement is real, I love Jesus Christ, and never have I come to know of my Heavenly Father and His Son more in my life than right now, and each day I can choose to make that relationship better and stronger all through prayer and faith and action!

I love this gospel I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and they are real and can be very involved in our lives if we so but choose to allow them to!

Love,

 sister Pizzey xoxo

 

 

August 11, 2014

So we recieved transfer news this week and I will be staying in the Cole Harbour ward, to be honest I was little just like wow 6 transfers in a area, what left is there to do? I feel I have done everything I can think of- change can be nice, new people, new faces, it just gets me amped up and motivated to work even harder, so to be honest first reaction opening up transfer letter was like really?

Haha. Just coming to the end of my mission I want change, something new and different but after lowering my pride and forgetting my will and praying, I feel great and have come to see it is a blessing to be in an area and ward that I just know so well.  We are teaching some amazing people and the ward is on fire. I was a little confused about transfer news because Sister Sandberg and I on Tuesday both got asked to extend, then President Leavitt never mentioned any word since or did not mention any word in the transfer call to us, so we are just kind of in limbo we both are staying in our areas but have some sort of idea what will be happening and still don't fully know so we just are like hmmmm??

It is really easy to get anxious about the future a fear of the unknown. I have faith that things will work out but I am continually reminding myself to just forget myself and go to work. It is funny because a new missionary in their mind they think of home and feel homesick and are having to forget them self and go to work and focus their heart on here in the mission.  And now for me, my feelings of going home, I get anxious of ysa, digressing from this spiritual high of 18 months, just many fears, and I am having to remind myself to forget my fears and inward thinking and look outward and just "come what may and love it." President Hinckley gave a great quote "save your fork the best is yet to come" and I am just working on having an increase of faith, hope and trust.

 

We are hoping Debbie will be healed and her neck will be able to get well my August 23rd we may have to move it back, we had a lesson with her last night and she bore a powerful testimony of how much this gospel has changed her life. It brought me to tears, she expressed so much gratitude for us and how us coming in her life has changed everything. It was very heartfelt testimony, afterwards I painted the picture to her and showed her how it is not us, it is the Lord in her life Matt 11:28-30 that we all are the Lords hands he uses all of us to carry out His work.

We are teaching an amazing lady named Andrea, she is amazing, she was atheist when we began teaching her, but now believes in God and is coming to believe in Christ as we teach her through the BOM about Christ. It was amazing lesson we had with her, she had some questions about Jesus Christ and how that is possible.  She is quite smart, has a 6 and 8 yr old girl has masters in political sciences and will be getting her doctorate in the fall.  She just did her thesis and will defending it which sounds nuts!! Dad did you have to do a thesis? and defend it for 3 hours? But it was amazing because we answered her questions through the scriptures, the spirit was so strong and I really gained a testimony of Alma 37:6  "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise." We read in John 1 when it is speaking of Jesus Christ, as we read she stopped and asked "wait was there a pre-mortal existence?" we taught that and how Christ was foreordained to be our Redeemer.  We gave her a wonderful talk to read as well, it is amazing the words of Christ will convert the anyone that is humble and willing to listen. We also read Hebrews 1. It was amazing lesson ...

 

I want you all to know that I love you very much. I can not wait to see you again. I am so grateful for the amazing family you are, when I talk about the sadness and sorrow, and fear of returning home it refers to me personally in spirituality and sadness of representing Christ at all times as a missionary.  I know my tag will always be on my heart. But I just wanted to clarify that so you can know how much I love you as my parents and siblings, you have been with me 100% of the way throughout my mission, you are my best friends, and I am so grateful. I have been born with great parents, my heart is so full, my mission has changed me to be alot more softer and sensitive. This is sacred time for me that it is so personal and what a blessing it is to be sharing these moments with you all. It brings me to tears and warms my heart at the thought of seeing you all again and growing with one another spiritually.  I think on Sunday nights we should read the scriptures with one another as a big clan; how powerful would that be?! SO POWERFUL!!

I have felt an overwhelming feelings of gratitude for being a Mormon this week, I love this gospel I love how much Jesus Christ has transformed me, I am a Mormon, I know it, I live it, I love it!!

"surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise" Alma 37:45 <3

I love you all and God bless

Sister Pizzey xoxox

Alma 34:38

 

August 4, 2014 (Pics)

Sister Howell, new companion

The many charts Paige and her companion make to organize their area!

A couple visiting friends who are serving a temple mission came across these cuties and kindly sent us this picture!

First day they served together and met they had the same outfit on!
They had to tell people it is not their uniform and not planned!

One of the many sister missionaries
Paige has met and loves!

Paige loves being a missionary and sharing the gospel!

August 4, 2014

This week has been amazing, like absolutely fantasticly amazing!

So as a missionary I have like zero time to write in my journal my letters to you are my letters in my journal... literally every night for my whole mission and especially now we are working till 10:15 PM 10:25 PM then we race to bed wakeup at 6 AM then get back at it! I love it and the the thought of this being my last full month on my mission makes me want to give her like 10X more!!!

So I am going to begin by giving as detailed of letter because this week has been a blessed week of doing the Lords work. The Lords work is always amazing, especially if we allow Him to be in control of all things as we diligently do our best to work by the Spirit. 

 

So my companion we just love each other, she is my age 22 will be 23 in November, she has been out for 5 months but I feel as though she has been out as long as me. We are 100% on the same page, and learning so much from one another. This Sunday we are opening up transfer letters, we are hoping and praying we will be with one another next transfer 3 weeks is not enough. I feel we will be staying the same although I have been in the Cole Harbour ward since January, but who knows! I love the Cole Harbour ward so much it is the best ward in the mission, and well it just feels like my home ward. But Sister Howell and are just hard working and loving it, we get along so well and yea what more can I say! She has a great style we share clothes, and we will be life long friends! I love being a STL with her.

 

So I am not sure if I gave you the update about Debbie last week ... Two days before Debbie's baptism she got a call from the hospital because she has been on a waiting list for 6 mnths to recieve this neck surgery. And BOOM TWO DAYS before her baptism and got a call that they recieved a neck bone donar for her surgery and that her surgery would be the Friday before her baptism.  She had the bone replaced in her neck as her evil horrible tenants from a year a go pushed her down the stairs and broke two disks in her neck, so this surgery was a result of that. So Debbie and us were quite sad but also happy because this neck surgery is a blessing. It is a pre baptism gift from Heavenly Father. So as Debbie has been healing she ended up getting blood clots in her lungs so she has been on blood thinners for the past week, and she has been in the hospital since July 25th so we are hoping and praying she can get out tomorrow! She can't get her wound wet for 3-4 weeks, so her baptism is postponed till Aug 23! We all and Debbie including call herself the "dry mormon". She is great and we have been visiting her and reading the Book of Mormon in the hospital. 

 

This week we had a exchange with Syndey sisters who are 5 hours away so we each met half way and switched.  I served with Sister Olsen during the day who actually came out with me, her and I have not served around one another for our whole missions so it was quite nice and learned alot from each other! 

We just had an amazing week let me share a few experiences we had:

So on Friday we picked up 4 new investigators. For a big part of the day we were making our wall maps of the areas, it was crazy first off our area is HUGE so we have like 6 maps we had to make, now we have to put dots on them for all members, LA's, investigators, formers, potentials crazy huge project but it is helping with us prioritizing our efforts and making effective efficient plans. So we went to Staples (being deprived of talking to people we talked to everyone in our flyingsight during out time in the store) and we ended up setting up a appointment with our cashier guy who was ringing us through, his name is Kabu!! He is a African canadaian who is baptist, so we called Sister Brooks who use to be baptist and is african canadian planned to have her come with us to teach him, she was the most perfect person to come! We ended up teaching Kabu late Friday morning after our weekly planning in the temple grounds it was amazing!! We taught him the Restoration and it would not of been the same without Sister Brooks there, she was able to relate to him and testify in a way we could not. So we picked up Kabu and will be teaching him again tomorrow!

Then afterwards we had a lesson set up with Debbie's neighbour actually, so we went and picked up Sister Pinsent to come with us to the lesson, and we drove 15 mins to and no show.... we were little stumped because Carlene seemed so interested!! So we drove back dropped Sister Pinsent off at home, then BOOM we get a call from Carlene and she said she was running late from a doctors appointment, so we swing on back and go and pick up Sister Pinsent again and go on right back and teach  agreat first lesson with Carlene, she will be on vacation for 2 weeks but we will be teaching her when she is back and she looks forward to attending church when she is back. She has a 4 year old son and 11 yr old daughter! She is a single parent. 

then we go and do some finding then we have a DA with a member that day, we drive past the church and we see a young fellow walking through the church parking lot, and we just are like "dang! we don't have time to stop and talk to him!!" So we continue to drive to our apt, had a great member visit. Then we end up going back to the church after knocking that area, as we felt prompted to so we did... and we pull up and Sis H and I see that young man again and we both just look at one another and I am just like"OK go Sis H!! Run out I will park the car and follow!!" haha so we whip in the church parking lot i slam on the breaks she hops out I put the car in break and run following her haha it was great!! So we go introduce ourselves to this boy and friend that is a girl, we talk to them his name is Twyron and her's is Mckenzie, he is 18 and she is 17. So we invite them to come in the church after having a good convo with them, and we end up giving one of the most powerful church tours!! The Spirit was so strong, we could tell Twyron is raised in tough circumstances, and we knew we were exactly where the Lord needed us to be. So we end up getting to the end of the church tour where we described all the paintings pretty well give a good understanding of the gospel and the blessings of it through teaching through the art in the church, and we get to the point where we are about to go into the chapel, we explained it all and we invited them to sit down where ever they wanted and to pray and ponder in the chapel in silence, to reflect on the spirit. So we all go in quietly all take our seats and Twyron just is praying so fervently, he bows his head and for about 10 minutes we are all just silently sitting in the chapel. The Spirit was sooooo strong!! It was a profound powerful moment, I just felt so at peace, I truly felt as though angels were around us, (as weird as that sounds) it is true. My heart just felt so still, I just was praying in gratitude and asking Heavenly Father to help me to never forget this transcendent moment. I know this gospel is true, and I know that their is a great spirit in the chapel, I feel it is so easy for me to forget the magnitude of the chapel the importance of it, we have a sacred ordinance each week that takes place in the chapel the sacrament, what a blessing it is to have these miraculous truths and blessings in our lives that just is so normal to us that we tend to forget the importance of it. So afterwards we all quietly walk out and go sit in the Relief Society room we ask Twyron how he feels. He said " I felt as though Christs hand was on my shoulder, I felt impressed that everything is going to be alright one day and that things will get better" at this moment Sister Howell and I truly experienced the spirit literally burning our bosoms, my heart was so full and so warm. It was amazing, we commited Twyron to be baptized for Aug 30th and he accepted, just as we were coming to a close of the lesson, the YM's president and the elders quorm president randomly showed up at the chapel and we were able to introduce Twyron to them both. 

Saturday we went to the hospital with Sister Kidd to see Debbie, the Cole Harbour ward is so great they already have visiting teachers assigned for Debbie even though she isn't even a member yet!! Like that is fellowship right there!! I know and have faith the Lord will be preparing many wonderful people for us to teach with the ward like this!

Sunday was absolutely amazing so it was fast and testimony meeting, and with all the amazing experiences the members in the ward has been having in coming out and serving Gods children with us through street contacting, knocking and prayerfully picking LA's for us as member and missionaries to go reach out to Sister Howell and I have been asking the members that have been coming out with us to bear their testimonies about their missionary experiences, so couple members did. It has been amazing because Sister Patti Devlin who served a mission 20+ years ago is pretty shy and has been struggling with the lose of her mother this past year was one of these members. Last ward council we mentioned to the ward that she has been prayerfully selecting LA's to come out with us and the ward was shocked because she has been LA in the past, we had an great expierence where she came out with us to go reach out to these LAs she was tearful about it so we invited her to bear her testimony and she said yes and I excitendly said "OK I will bear my testimony with you!!" This was a couple weeks ago. So with 10 minutes left she gets up and bears her testimony, then infront of the whole congregation as she closed her testimony before she walks away she points her finger and says " sister Pizzey your turn!" hahaha. So I got up after came up to the podium and said: "Well I felt ... prompted? to come up today " haha everyone had a good chuckle from that ;). So I bore my testimony but it was just amazing looking out to this ward that I love so much, and have had such amazing spiritual experiences with one another as we have done missionary work together it has influenced and impacted both of all our lives so much! I normally don't get tearful like dad does when I bear my testimony but I did, I just got choked up when bearing my testimony of member missioanry work, I could just feel so much love in that fast and testimony meeting. 

So that was probably the most amazing testimony meeting on my mission! I just love this ward! So later that evening, we stopped by at an investigators home who just got back from vacation. Adrianne, she actually is friends with members here we met her at dinner at a members home they invited her over, and she went to Whales to visit her friend there so she just got back and we were able to start teaching her again!! We set a goal of getting one new investigator that evening and we had 2 hours to find, and we just were like we have hope against hope and all faith that the Lord will provide a way!! So we went and began knocking the first street we had picked from our new handy dandy wall maps, and turns out there is like 6 houses on the street haha, then we go to the next Lane we chose called "Monster Lane" haha it was pretty desolate so we were like hmmmm... so we drove down the Lane and I kidd you not there was 2 houses on it.... we drove down to the end didn't have a good vibe about the back further house. So we turned around began driving to the end of the Lane to the main road and we just were like this is a waist of time lets go somewhere else. Just before we were about to leave, I just thought in my mind "wait a second we planned this last night for a reason lets just knock this last house before we leave" So I pull over and said Sister Howell lets just give this house a try, so we do and BOOM!! That is where we picked up Jerry our new investigator who is amazing!!

Jerry is just nicest jollyest little man, and we had a great convo with him he expressed all these questions he has had about the catholic church, that he could never get answered. We said " well Jerry what questions do you have?" So he came out we all took a seat on his deck we started with a prayer and we ended up teaching prayer, asking alot of basic questions he had about prayer, as soon as we met him I just felt so much love for him in my heart, Sister Howell and I just pictured him as a member and could see the great member that he would be!!

We were able to reach many of the goals we had this week, all not on our own strength but because "the Lord does not call the qualified he qualify's the called." I have come to see for anyone that "I know in the strength of the Lord thou canst do all things" Alma 20:4. 

In Relief Society our lesson was based on sisterhood, I love everything I have learnt on my mission. I just have come to love the sisters, I love serving the sisters, I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve, grow and learn from the wonderful sisters that I am a Sister Training Leader for.  We are all different and unique and not the same but we all need one another. Being a STL I have learnt so much about Christlike service and charity. When we have Charity we never fail!! I feel my calling as a STL is something that was always in store for me to help me to learn and understand the necessary lessons of forgetting your insecurities, and yourself and losing yourself in the service by serving your God! I just love sisterhood, and how blessed are we to be apart of this all!! The world is just missing out on so much!

Last night as Sis H and I were "pillow-talking" haha. I was explaining to her the difference I feel from within my heart, from with in my soul!! From living my life  with and with out the gospel! I just want to bear my testimony that I know this is Christ's gospel, I know this because the Holy Ghost is so prevalent in my life. The Holy Ghost brings all things to our remembrance, the Holy Ghost guides us to truth and light, the Holy Ghost is only present when truth is spoken about. I know that these experiences I am having on my mission  would not happen if this gospel weren't true. I know that these miracles happen because we are on the Lords side, we are in a spiritual army fighting to save the souls of our spiritual brother and sisters. I love it so much, and I am so grateful. This is the greatest amount of joy I have ever experienced and I know this is just a piece of what it will feel like in the eternities if I continue to endure to the end.  

In my personal reading this AM I came across Alma 30:60 "we see that the devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them to hell" now this sounds quite intense but satan is so suddle to have the grass appear greener on the other side, to have evil appear good and good appear evil, he does not tempt us for our good, the devil is the father of all feelings of despair, Heavenly Father is the father of light. 

Yhis week we will be having Sisters from New Glasgow visit our area for a day, as we can train them and help them a bit more, as well we will be having to mini exchanges with a companonship with  a struggling sister, where we can all take part to strenghten her,

We will be having mission leadership training during the day on Wednesday which I am excited for! It is crazy it just seems like  aweek ago was the last one. Time is going too quick!

 

I love you all, and you said you wanted details so I gave you DETAILS ;)

Love,

Sister Pizzey

July 28, 2014

Well this has been a crazy busy week, looking back on it I don't know how we got through it all it was so busy! I am going to try to type and write as quickly as I can in these 20 minutes. This week we have had alot of spiritual expierences and miracles as well!

First off Sister Howell and I meet at the airport and guess what for the 2nd time we have met one another we show up wearing the exact same outfit,  AGAIN haha it was quite funny.  I was wearing the dress that mom and dad got me for my birthday and she had the same one on haha so it was quite funny, so for the evening as we were knocking we were walking around wearing the exact same outfits.  We had to explain to everyone we met that this wasn't some uniform or normal thing to be matching.

Tuesday morning we left early on our way to the district training in Truro. I was giving a training at it, it was a great experience.  I started off my talking about the atonement and how we all grew in our personal testimonies of the atonement, but as well where we got out basic understanding of the atonement. Then I invited everyone to close their eyes and erase all that knowledge (to the best of their ability) and to picture who they would be if they were not raised having any knowledge we were all raised in.  It was quite  aspiritual expierence for everyone to visual that person and to open their eyes and talk about it.  It gave us alot of gratitude for all Jesus Christ has done for us in our lives; that everything good in our life is purely because of Him, our lives would truly be nothing without him.  So afterwards I asked what would we have to do to get ourselves that we pictured to understand the truth of our message that we share as missionaries. My purpose was to help the sisters really put themselves in the shoes of those we contact and invite to learn, to help them understand what others need to understand or feel to connect the dots in their hearts and minds that this something that they need! So that is all what lead to the focus of the training teaching by the spirit and the atonement of Christ. Teaching by the spirit will pierce others souls and help them understand that we are called of God and that God sent us to them!! THe Spirit is what converts others not us! We read in D&C 50:14-24, where we had a good discussion about the meaning of those verses.

Afterwards I came back to cole Harbour with Sis Jarvis as Sister Howell went to New Glasgow, it was really great to show her how to work with members, Heavenly Father was really blessing us that day because during our time with one another, like 5 members called me to tell us about their missioanry expierences and so on it was great! I feel it got her excited to take the skills I trained her in, in member work back to Newglasgow.

I had an amazing exchange with Sister Fenn in truro the next day it was so unreal!! Sister Fenn is such a kind soft spirit!! I had an amazing exchange with Sister Fenn this week, at the beginning of the exchange I just decided that I wanted to focus on having charity and seeing what would happen if I just loved her, supported her, and showed her with out telling. The spirit was quite strong throughout the whole exchange and I know we both left feeling edified and rejoiced with one another! We were praying about who we should find in their former book, and at dinner I came across this record.  So we went and contacted this former and it was in the creepiest hallway we had to walk down.  Sister Fenn was quite terrified, a guy answered and the person we were looking for was not there.  We ended up talking to him and asking if he believed in God he said not really but I have been reading a book let me go grab it ... he left and he came back with the Book of Mormon! He had been reading the Book of Mormon!! We were so extactic we had such a spirit filled lesson with him at his door, he has come from rough circumstances and actually almost was murdered in May.  He had a broken leg and has been completely humbled the past couple months, we were able to pray with him. He has been longing for understanding greater sense of purpose for His life and now the missioanries in truro will be teaching him! It was an amazing experience this really is the quick "elevator" version of this expierence but I don't have time to share more.  I have had many great expierences this week and learning opportunies. I just love it and look forward to the week ahead.

I decided I want to write in my journal more, to get my thoughts down. I know the gospel is true, that we are called of God, there is no greater time than now at this time of the restoration to be a missioanry I am so grateful to be here, I love my mission and the amazing examples that I am learning from here.

Hope you all have a good week.

Love,

sister Pizzey

July 21, 2014

Boy oh boy oh boy it has been an hectic interesting week, I have had 3 different companions this week, and including Sister Echols that would make 4.

So where to begin? Well!! Lets just begin with the update I have to share then I will just begin with describing this week day by day.  There has been many lessons I have learnt lessons that will last me a life time. Sister Echols is being transferred to Yarmouth which is 4 hours away, she will be serving with Sister Lee who actually came out with me, they will be finishing their missions together Sister Echols will have 1 more transfer after we go home.  We are leaving at 1:30 PM today, driving 2 hours then I am picking up Sis Mangleson who is serving with Sister Lee bringing her back here then at 5:30 PM we are heading to the airport and I am dropping her off, then at 6:20 PM my new companion Sister Howell is arriving!! She has been out for 4 transfers and I will be training her to be a new Sister Training Leader. She is great!! I met her in Newfoundland the day I went there for a day, we actually showed up to the training wearing the same shirt :) haha, she is 22 from Utah, is a nutrition expert so basically I am just going to eat everything she eats and lose some LBs :) and as well work hard!!

Poor sister she is going to be thrown into the deep end this week ... she arrives here tonight, we go work, then we are leaving early tomorrow morning driving a hour to attend a District Training in the "relief society" district where Elder Davidson is the district leader for a district with just 6 sisters.  He has asked us to give a training for 30 minutes, then afterwards Sister Howell wll be going to New Glasgow I will be coming back with Sister Jarvis for a day exchange, then on Wednesday we are meeting back in Truro switching companions, and Sister Howell will come back to Cole Harbour with Sister Taylor and I will be staying in Truro for another exchange with Sister Fenn, then by thursday night we shall be back in our area together to work with one another!! haha. It will be a hectic week, but I know the Lords work will go forward and that this week will be a week where we will rely on the spirit and see many miracles by doing so!

So most likely I feel I will be ending my mission in Cole Harbour with Sister Howell. And if that is the case, when Emily (Sister Lambert) gets here on the 23rd we will be the STL's that will take her and her crew of sisters out street contacting the Wednesday after they get here! So i would forsure get to see her and a  high chance we would be able to go out on the downtown streets of Halifax and street contact our lives away!! I would be more than happy to stay serving in Cole Harbour, miracles are happening here and I just love this ward so much!!

 

Here is my letter to President Leavitt this week;

 

We have seen many amazing blessings this week, on Monday I was serving with Sis Mahoney, her visa ended up showing up on Wednesday so she hopped on a quick flight on Thursday to Salt Lake City so she could join in on her original report date soon enough. It was fun serving with her. We had 8 member visits this week with the ward and they were amazing!! Such a amazing spirit in the work of salvation when members and missionaries serve and work with one another!! I feel such a strong love for those in the Cole Harbour ward, we showed up at a families house in the midst of a fight and we were able to come share our testimonies of how much missionary work has changed our lives, we invited them to PRAY, LOOK, SPEAK, and INVITE and then we invited their daughter to come out with us knock for 2 hours.  She said yes, we came back half hour later and took Zion out (the daughters name) working was such a strong spirit and I know we left such an amazing spirit in their home. As we were leaving the parents said this was so inspired, Zion needs this and we were all in the middle of a fight and we really needed the spirit in our home. Zion actually was speaking in church this Sunday and she was able to bear her testimony of missionary work and share her experience she had with us!!

Working with members this week really reminded me of a story in the Book of Mormon; in Alma 3-4 when Alma the younger just got the church organized in the beginning of Alma, it is just after they how thousands died from fighting in war with the Lamanites and the Amilicites, after thousands were killed there began to be continual peace throughout the land among the members of the church. Eventually as usual though the pride cycle begins and some of the members began to forget their Lord Jesus Christ, their hearts got set on vain worldly goods, not on God and with that the spirit eventually began to decrease in their life which resulted to them not desiring to serve one another and doing what God has commanded. So Alma begins to recognize this change among the members and he goes out and decided to go meet with the members and this is what leads to Alma chapter 5 where alma lays the law down... but I was reading alma chapter 4 this morning and Alma 4: 19 "And this he did that he himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi (members of church), that he might preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them."

We also were able to meet with another family whose daughter is 16 she is on the fence about things.  We had lunch with them and as we were giving our message I stopped and asked the family if they could call Coceil down (the 16 yr old) so they did she came in and sat and we bore our sweet testimonies from the bottom of our hearts about our missions and the change it has made, we read a scripture looked up and invited her to come work with us this Tuesday afternoon for 2 hours, she said yes!! It was amazing the spirit was so strong! Afterwards we asked the family if there was anything we could do for them before we left and the mom with tears in her eyes said "no you already did it". I just love missionary work!! Missionary work is not for the missionaries and it is not just for us missionaries to reach out to non members, it is to bring ALL to Christ!!

We began teaching a LA Stephanie Kenny this week, she was baptised almost 2 year ago and fell away quite quickly after, she is 24 and we have met with her 3 times.  It is a miracle to be in contact with her, missionaries have not been able to see her in ages! We are going to be taking her out with us this week to work with us!

 

The day we came out with Zion at 8 PM we knocked on a door and BOOM got in and picked up a new investigator!

We have two members planned for this week in coming out and knocking with us! 

 

Thank you Jordan for your last email I really appreciated it. I thank you all for your example.

 

I bear my testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ, I know He lives, I know he love us and I know he is aware of us. He can heal us, He can strengthen us. The amazing part about missionary work is that Heavenly Father really does not NEED us to do it, they don't need us to bring their children to them, they really could send angels down and do it all on their own and it would be a whole lot better than what we ever could do. BUT it isn't that way because they want us to feel of the joy they have, they want us to experience the blessings they have. Missionary work is preparing us to become like God one day, to live with Him, in order to live with Him we must be like Him... And well, lets think about Gods purpose : "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" Moses1:39, so should be ours then!! God is not asking us to burden us He is calling us to bless us and prepare us for eternity!

He loves you I know He does, I love you.

I have come to see that we are so imperfect and that Heavenly Father is so patient and caring with us, I am learning on how I need to emulate this. The lessons I have learnt from serving with Sister Echols will benefit me for my whole life. I will be a different parent because of this time, I have learnt so much from my mistakes and weaknesses and I desire to love, allow others to use their agency haha and not be forceful. I love Christ's gospel- our Heavenly Fathers plan and I am just so grateful to be here!

I love you all and please read ALma 4-5as a family

Love,

Sister Pizzey <3

 

 

July 14, 2014

Hello!

First off I wanted to thank you all for the packages!! I LOVED them I have gotten many compliments on the dress and skirt and I just love that necklace it is so cute!!! Reminds me alot of the necklace Breanne gave me last year for my birthday. THANK YOU!!! As well I loved the package Breanne sent me and Grandma sent me a really nice card with money so thank you thank you thank you I love it and really appreciate it!!

 

So this week has been quite challenging... I am just learning so much and with the help of President and Sister Leavitt ... So it is a learning process and I am learning alot about not allowing others actions to effect my happiness, so continue to stay happy postive and loving, I am learning to be more patient and understanding and just having faith and hope. The assistants gave me a priesthood blessing and alot of re assuring words were said and I just have faith, hope and trust in this all!

But that being said there is a sister who is a member in Truro (a branch about 1.5hrs away) and she has a call to Salt Lake City Temple Square mission and her visa has yet to arrived. So she will be serving in our mission till her Visa arrives. President Leavitt has decided to have Sister Echols to spend 4 days/this week in the mission home where she can take the stress off of missionary work and rest and the sister from Truro will serve with me.  I can pretrain her for the MTC!!  So tonight after our lessons we are going to the mission home and I will be dropping Sister Echols off and picking up this sister! I am some what excited and feel it will be good for Sister Echols. Funny thing is when I went and visited Truro sisters for day in a half few weeks ago I went to this sisters farewell lunch in, so I have met her and her family as well and she seems great and just excited to be a missionary!!

So that is the plans for this week!

 

Serving in the Cole Harbour ward from January till now has been amazing!! It has been such a blessing to be serving here and see the change of the missionary fire in hearts of the members from the Bishop, to the ward council it is infectious! This ward was refiners fire and was known as "Cold Harbour" ward but it is amazing because I truly feel this ward is turning in to one of the BEST wards!! The new elders serving here are great. We are working together to just include the members in all that we do! The members hearts are softening and being more open to actually PRAYING, LOOKING SPEAKING AND INVITING!! The ward is now going to have activites once a month ... they as a ward council are going to reach out to LA's and INVITE!! This is literally miraculous!  We were able to plan with the ward council.  Certain fellowshippers from the ward that will be assigned to fellowship Debbie and attend all her lessons from now until her baptism next Saterday on July 26th!! it was great and I know and have faith things will continue to progress!

It is quite interesting when we read the scriptures the Book of Mormon daily, when we are magnifying our callings, doing the simply daily "seminary answers" the spirit will inspire us all to the same thing- and that right now is to take part in the work of salvation! To be a member missionary and to not be sleeping through the restoration! What a blessing the gifts of the Spirit are and we all have different gifts that can bless different people in our own unique ways and many people need us to serve them!! I love this gospel and I desire and will always have it go first in my life then everything else second. :)

 

But Debbie is going great! her baptism was announced on Sunday and she is excited, the ward is excited and so are we!!  We met with 5 members last week and are planning to meet with 7 members this week so we can strengthen, serve, bless and inpsire the ward! I love this ward and I have high hope and faith that great things are instore in this area to flourish.

This is the Lords work, no unhallowed hand will stop His work from progressing!!  I am a missionary called of God to do the Lords work; I know it, I love it and I live it!

 

I pray you all have a great week, and have an opportunity to serve someone in the ward, to reach out to one whose faith is weak, to ask the missionaries what you can to help them. We are here to work together to gather the lost sheep in preparation for the Lords coming. "It is the eleventh hour, and the last time that I shall call laborers into my vineyard." D&C 33:3  The time will soon pass when we will miss the opportunity to join in the harvest and thrust in our sickle with our might in our own individual unique God given ways. This is a great time to be a active member of Christs true Church on the earth today, there is no greater time than now, we must join in; the joy is oh so sweet!! Let us follow our Saviour Jesus Christ, all for the Glory of God.

"Dilligently doing things that matter the most will lead us to the Savior of the World."

 

I bear my testimony that these things are true, that God loves you and that I know the Book of Mormon is true. It gives us plain eternal truths. Put it to test, read it, pray, ponder and ask God if it is true. I promise you it is worth it!

 

I love you all.

Sister Pizzey