It's Cold In Cobourg!

Hi Everyone!

Wow, it seems like it has been a really long time since I have emailed you guys! We all arrived safely in Canada last Monday. We were all exhausted by the time we finally got to the mission home! We had been awake since about 1:30 in the morning. On Tuesday, we had a brief orientation and then we met our new companions and headed off to our areas.

My companion's name is Sister Spiekerman and she's from Brigham City (one of my MTC companions was from Brigham City too!) I'm the third greenie she's trained, haha, so she pretty much has the system down. We're serving in a town called Cobourg (it's about the size of Ontario), but our area also covers another little city called Port Hope. Our ward is fairly small, but all of the people are really amazing and they do everything they can to help us. Our ward mission leader, Brother Davenport, is really nice and he's a lot of fun to work with.

We do a lot of tracting and contacting in our area, which has definitely been a learning experience. I'm getting better at talking to people, but I still have some work to do. 

It's very cold here right now (and everyone keeps telling me this is a mild winter). We actually have a big storm moving in tonight, so we're hoping it doesn't snow too much. I usually put on about four our five layers plus two pairs of socks before we go out, and somehow I still manage to get cold, so I'm going to have to toughen up a bit. :) 

The most important thing I learned this week is that we have to rely on the Savior. There have been some days this week where things didn't work out according to our plans and we had to figure out other ways to spend our time. During these times, I would often start to feel homesick and want to quit. Every time I had these feelings though, I just tried to think of the Savior and His own mission when He was on the earth. It's quite a humbling experience to think that He was doing the same things that I am out here doing, only His trials were so much greater than mine. He had no way to contact His family, His life was in danger, and He didn't get to go home when He was finished. Instead, He suffered for the sins of all people, even those who had mocked Him, rejected Him, and crucified Him. I have learned that we are truly doing His work and that this is the time when we need to get to work and remember that we are representing Him as we try to help bring the blessings of the gospel into the lives of other people.

I hope you are all having a great week! I love you guys!

Love, 

Sister Dille

The Adventure Begins!

Sister Dille arrived safe and sound to the mission field on Monday!

Sister Dille with President & Sister Weatherford

The Power of Prayer

Hi Everyone!

Wow, it seems like it has been so much longer than a week since I last emailed! Time goes by super fast here because we are constantly in class, teaching, or studying. I didn't know it was possible to learn so much in such a short amount of time!

This week, we started teaching two investigators. We had our last lesson with one last night and I was actually kind of sad to say goodbye, but she told us before she left that she would sign up for another week of lessons with missionaries next week, so at least we planted a little seed in her heart. We have our last lesson with our second investigator tomorrow. She so sweet and I'm going to miss her too!

I learned a very important lesson this week: never doubt the Lord. My companions and I have been struggling to teach effectively, but finally on Tuesday, we felt like we helped our investigators increase their faith during the lesson. On Wednesday I was nervous and scared that we wouldn't be able to do the same thing. We prayed before the lesson and pleaded for the Lord's help and He gave it to us. It strengthened my testimony that the Lord listens to and answers our prayers, and that He is with us every step of the way.

I love you guys!

 

Sister Dille

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day Two at the MTC

Hi Everyone!

It's only my second day here and they already gave us a p-day! Yesterday was really great. We already got to practice teaching a little bit. We had three investigators: Jose, Elsie, and Lisa. It was really cool to try to understand their trials and then comfort them as we invited them to come unto our Savior, Jesus Christ. The most important thing I learned from this activity is missionary work is not about me. Missionary work is really about helping others and doing the same things the Savior would do if he were here.

My companions are both really great (I'm in a trio, which is super cool). Sister Meservy is from Brigham City (she's a CNA too!) She'll be flying out to Canada with me in about two weeks (we leave on Wednesday the 24th, I think). Sister Marsh is my other companion and she's really great too. She's actually going to New Zeland, but her visa isn't here yet so she's hanging out with us for a little bit and helping us learn. There are two other sisters in my district, Sister Kehrer and Sister Giles. They're both really awesome too!

We have classes every day and there are teachers assigned to each district. Our teachers our Sister Olson and Brother Pemberton. They're both really great too!

So far, I really love the MTC. There's just a very strong and comforting Spirit here and everyone is so nice and willing to help. Oh, Dad, they still do the dork dots. They're actually kind of fun to wear because almost every single elder and sister you pass says, "Hi Sister, welcome to the MTC!" 

I love you guys! Hope to hear from you soon!

Love,

Madi