THE GOSPEL SHALL BE DECLARED TO EVERY CREATURE!!!

Oh man, what a week! We got off to kind of a slow start. We did a lot of tracting and street contacting, which is great, because we got to share the gospel, but it can also get discouraging after awhile. Sister Gariki and I decided that we just needed to cheerfully go to work and leave the rest up to the Lord. As the week went on, the days kept getting better and better!

On Tuesday, we had a wonderful lesson with our investigator, Erin. We read Mosiah 24 with her and as we read, she started applying the things we were reading to herself. It has been such a miracle to watch her progress these last four months! She's now coming to church almost every Sunday, she's praying and reading the Book of Mormon almost every day, and she's told us how much her relationship with God has been strengthened the past few months. It has definitely built my
testimony of the power of the gospel to change lives!

On Wednesday, I'm pretty sure Sister Gariki and I both set personal records for the number of kilometers we've walked on our missions. Our car has a certain number of kilometers allotted each month, because we had transfers and had to drive all the way to Brampton, our kilometers
are basically nonexistent at this point. On Wednesday, we walked all the way from our apartment on the north end of town, down to the food bank on the southwest part of Brockville to do some service, then we walked east to drop by a returning member, and then we walked all the way back up to our apartment. Man, I was so sore! (It's times like these you really start to appreciate cars, haha!)

On Friday, I'm pretty sure we were in the hottest weather I've ever been in! We left our apartment at ten and it was already in the thirties. In the afternoon, we went tracting before our weekly meeting
with our branch mission leader, and it was almost forty degrees (not including the humidity). I really appreciate winter time a lot more and I've decided that I'm not going to complain about the cold weather when it arrives! On the bright side, the tan line from my shoes is coming along quite nicely, haha.

On Sunday, we had a really amazing experience at church. One of our investigators came and she had been having a hard morning. It was amazing to see how much she had cheered up by the time church was over! On my mission, my testimony of going to church has definitely been strengthened. Although it may seem hard to go for three hours, I've learned that we're not really giving up three hours. When we go to church, it's really to bless and benefit us. If we go humbly and prayerfully, seeking answers from the Lord, I know that we will receive the strength and hope we need to carry on throughout our week.

After church, Erin invited us over for lunch, and we had such a good discussion with her! She asked us some questions about things we learned about at church and then we shared a scripture with her in
Isaiah 41:10 (you should look it up; it's one of my new favorites).  Later on that evening, we went to contact a referral Erin gave us about a week ago. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my
mission so far...

There's a big berry farm in a little town called Tincap, not too far from Brockville. We parked the car and started walking up the dirt driveway to the farm. We saw some of the workers sitting on a swing,
and so we went and asked them if they knew where we could find Verol. They pointed to a guy sitting on the other side of the lawn, so we walked over and introduced ourselves. He was really excited to meet us and he invited one of his friends, Colin, to join in. They're both from Jamaica and they leave their families to come up to Canada to work for the summer. We shared the First Vision with them and testified of the truthfulness of our message. It was so cool and they both have such powerful testimonies of the Savior. As we taught them though, a fox ran up in the middle of the lesson, no joke!!! Man, you know that if animals start showing up to hear the message, you must be
preachin' the truth, haha. But you know what the Bible says, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15). Haha!

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Dille

Out tracting in the teeny tiny village of Lyn! If you blink, you miss it!

We found this pig (once again...while we were tracting).

                                                        Haha, we found this eagle while we were tracting in Lyn,                                                         and I was like, "Whoa! Are we in the States again?!"

The Measure of Success

Hey Everyone!

Wow, it's been a long week! Lots and lots of tracting! Sister Gariki and I are starting to get tan lines on our feet from our shoes because we've been out in the sun so much! We're really trying to build up our teaching pool this transfer with people who earnestly desire to learn about the gospel. We're doing our best to talk with everyone (at least 10 people everyday). Even though it's not easy, it's amazing how talking with people actually helps us to feel happier because we know we're fulfilling our purpose as missionaries.

We started out the week by going on exchanges! I stayed in Brockville with Sister Crawford (Sister Gariki's old companion). We had some really good lessons and we were able to talk with a lot of really cool people. At one point, we were walking down the sidewalk and some missionaries from another church walked by. They stopped us to ask us a bunch of questions and I was freaking out! I was so grateful I had a Sister Training Leader with me, haha. Then they wanted us to pull out
our Bibles so they could ask us more questions, and inside I was like, "AH! Is this Bible bashing?!" They were super nice though and we got to share a little bit about the Plan of Salvation with them. Overall, the exchange was super fun and I learned a lot! We did have to stop teaching two of our investigators though, Will and Marsha, during the exchange. It was so sad and so hard for me to watch them turn away. I've really come to love both of them and I really wanted them to receive the blessings of the gospel in their lives. It's crazy how much people come to mean to you as a missionary!

On Thursday, we had Skills and Interviews, so we got to meet our new mission president and his wife, President and Sister Shields. They're super laid back and we love them! You can tell they love the gospel and we're so excited to learn from them. In my interview with the mission president, he gave me some really good advice for conquering feelings on discouragement. He shared a scripture with me in Doctrine and Covenants 123:17, "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." President Shields told me that I need to go about and cheerfully do everything I can, but then let God take care of the rest. He told me that as missionaries, we do things in the name of Christ, which means according to His plan. His plan includes the agency of others, which I cannot control. I must do everything I can, but then let other people have their agency.

This week, my testimony that prayers are answered through the Book of Mormon has been strengthened so much. The past two weeks, I've been feeling discouraged with lessons falling through, investigators falling out of our teaching pool, tracting with no success, etc. A couple days ago, I came across a scripture in Helaman 10:3-5. "And it came to pass as he was thus pondering-being much cast down because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all manner of iniquities-and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a voice came unto him saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments. And Now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works..." Sorry, I know it's a long scripture, but it really helped me to remember that I am here to declare the gospel to as many people as will listen, but the ultimate measure of success is not in how many people we baptize or how many new investigators we find. If we are obedient, diligent, and and full of love for the people we have been called to serve, we are successful missionaries.

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Dille

Exchanges with Sister Crawford!

Five Months!

Hey Everyone!

This week went by really fast because we had transfers and zone council, so we spent lots and lots and lots of time in the car! My new companion is Sister Gariki (she's from Tahiti)! She speaks French and I'm helping her learn English, so it's definitely a new experience for both of us. She's tried to teach me how to say some things in French, but I sound so American when I pronounce them it's ridiculous! 

Anyway, transfers were definitely an adventure. I realized once we got to the stake center that I didn't have a GPS, my new companion didn't have a GPS since she can't drive, and I had no idea how to get back to Brockville from Brampton. It caused a slight panic attack, but thank goodness for Sister Training Leaders! They had an extra one, so we made it back to Brockville safe and sound. I also got to drive through Toronto for this first time (it's a little bit different than driving through little Weiser). I didn't crash the car though and only got lost once, so I'd call it a successful trip!

Something that has really impressed me about Sister Gariki so far is her amazing faith. On the ride home, one of the first things she said to me was "Sister Dille, do you have faith that we will see a baptism this transfer?" Then, on Saturday night, we were trying our best to get our investigators to church so we could hit the standards of excellence for this week. We had set up rides, called people, sent out reminder texts, etc. We knelt down to pray and ask the Lord to bless our efforts, and Sister Gariki looked me in the eye and asked, "Sister Dille, do you have faith that the Lord will help us?" The next day at church, two of our investigators came and it really strengthened my testimony that if we do everything we can, the Lord will help us!

Oh, also at church yesterday, our investigator came up to us after relief society, and she asked if it was too late for her to pay her tithing this month! I have absolutely loved watching her progress to this point and her faith is incredible! When I first got to Brockville, she was really struggling, but over the past few months, she really has exercised her faith by continuing to come to church, read the Book of Mormon, and now through paying her tithing. Oh my goodness, I just love being a missionary and watching the Atonement soften peoples' hearts and change their lives!

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Dille

We had a mission "birthday party" last night because Sister
Gariki and I hit five months in the mission field. Woohoo!

Pancake party!

Teaching in the Pouring Rain

 Wow, I have so much to write this week, I don't even know where to get started.

On Tuesday, we were in a lesson with one of our returning members, Chris. Because we didn't have a member with us, we had to do it down by the river. We were just starting the lesson and it started pouring rain, like literally pouring. I've never seen it rain so hard. It felt like we were getting a second shower. We ran under a tree and finished the lesson and then started running back to the car. We stopped to talk to a guy (while it was still pouring), but he wasn't really interested. While we were talking to him though, his friend walked over and told us that he had met with missionaries before, but he was ready to learn some more! So we found a new investigator in the pouring rain! Of course, as soon as we got back to the car, the rain stopped.

On Saturday, we had a really cool experience. Our mission president has set standards of excellence for us each week. In order to achieve the standards of excellence, we have to find two new investigators. We found Jeffrey on Tuesday, but we still needed one more! We were trying so hard to talk to everyone all day long, but no one was interested. Our lessons with our investigators kept falling through, we were really tired, and we started to get discouraged. Finally, we had 20 minutes left of "finding" time during the day and we were about ready to give up and start walking back to the car, but the thought popped into my mind, "go right." Usually when I feel the Spirit, it's through peaceful feelings, I've never had an impression come in the form of a thought like that before, and it was very powerful. We turned right and saw a lady raking her lawn. We offered to help, but she was almost done. Her name is Josie and she's a super sweet lady (she has a gigantic puppy named Murphy)! We shared the Restoration with her and she said we could come back this week to share more. We were so relieved to be able to find a new investigator and it really helped me see how important it is to be diligent and rely on the Lord.

Sunday was a hard day because it was transfer call day. Transfer calls start at 9:00 and go all the way until 10:30, so all day long, you're super nervous, wondering what's going to happen. We went and said goodbye to some of our members and investigators just in case Sister Hunter got transferred, and it was so sad! We have a really cool family, the Smiths, who invited us out for dinner at a place called Ivy Lea. We had spaghetti and we got to go look at some of the cool houses in the 1000 Islands. On the way home, we saw the bridge to the States, and it was super cool (I took like 10 pictures)! Anyway, while we were driving, there were deer running all over the road, and so we had to go really slow. It was starting to get really close to 9:00 and we were stressed because we were going to miss our curfew!! Then, to top it off, we got stopped by the police!! Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds!!!! They had the road blocked off, and they were making every car stop so they could check for seat belts and drunk drivers. Haha, it was pretty funny because they're checking LDS missionaries to make sure they're not drinking and driving.

Anyway, we FINALLY got home and started nightly planning at 9:00, and every time the phone went off, we had a heart attack (it seriously went off like six times)! It was getting later, and later, and later, but still no phone call. Finally, it was like 10:28, and I was like, "okay, it's going to be fine, we're staying together!!!" And then the APs called and crushed my dreams!!!!! Sister Hunter is going to whitewash into Bowmanville (which is like 20 minutes away from my last area, Cobourg!) and she's training a new missionary. She's nervous about it, but I know that she is going to be amazing. She is seriously one of the best missionaries in the CTM, and her new missionary is so blessed to have her. I'm going to be staying in Brockville and my new companion is Sister Gariki. She just finished training and she's learning English, so we'll have an extra hour of studies where she'll practice English. She's from French Polynesia. I've met her a few times before, and she seems like a very sweet sister. I sure am going to miss Sister Hunter though. I'm so grateful for all that she has taught me, and I know that she will do so well in her next area!

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and your good examples!

Love ya!

 

Sister Dille

 

 

Here's our district! Elder and Sister Hatch, Elder Lemon, Elder Bradford, Elder Dardon, and Elder Jackson. Oh, and then there's us!!!! ;)

This is Laurel (our investigator), Jeannie, and Joy (our family hx consultants)!

Hehe, I had my first Canada Day on Friday! Happy 'eh' day!!!!

This is our investigator, Erin, and her two kids, Adelaide and Finn. We love them so much!

These are the Smiths! They're the best!

This is the bridge to the States!!! We saw it on the way to a dinner appointment on Sunday evening!!!

These are the Harveys! They're awesome!