Icy Hair and Crunchy Coats...

Hey Everyone!

I hope you've all had a nice week! Well, winter is officially back in Canada. I think the snow has left the west and has now settled in the east, because we got dumped on yesterday! We got almost one foot of snow! It's also been freezing cold and windy, which ya gotta love. It was almost -20 C the other day with the wind chill. We also had an ice storm earlier this week, which we got caught in. We were walking back from the library when it started. By the time we got home, we had ice in our hair, on our coats (they made crunching sounds whenever we moved), our feet were soaking wet, and we were freezing, haha. Ice storms are kind of cool though because once they're finished, the trees will creak and groan in the wind. It sounds really cool, but you really start praying that the branches won't fall off and land on your head. ;)

We had zone conference on Wednesday. We talked a lot about the Sacrament and the role that it should play in our lives. One thing that really stood out to me is that we should be repenting and applying the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our lives throughout the week, so that when Sunday rolls around, we're very prepared to partake of the Sacrament and we can spend the Sacrament portion of the meeting focused on the Saviour. They also said that sometimes, people can change their lives without the help of the Saviour, but this is not repentance; it's just willpower. True repentance requires the Saviour's help. I've been thinking about that a lot the last few days, and it really shows how important it is to have the Saviour in our lives. We can't repent without Him.

After zone conference, we went on exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders. I stayed in Oshawa with Sister Santaluoto. She's from Finland! :) It was a really great exchange. We talked to a lot of people and learned a lot from each other.

One of our coolest miracles this week was on Saturday. Our mission president has established some standards of excellence to help us work hard and increase our faith. Our standards are 3 new investigators, 2 investigators at church, and 1 baptism every two months (3-2-1). So at the beginning of the transfer, we were sometimes getting one at church and one new, but that's about it. So we set the goal that by the end of this transfer, we want to be at the point where we're hitting standards. Last week, we found one new investigator, and one of our investigators came to church. This week, we wanted to bump it up to two new investigators. So Saturday rolled around and we were still sitting at 0. We've developed the habit of fasting once a week for our area/people, so we began our fast and went to work. We were so blessed to find two new investigators by the end of the day! It's like goal setting, planning, fasting, prayer, and diligence work or something! Haha. :)

On Saturday night, one of the bishopric counselors texted us and asked if we could fill in for one of the speakers who had cancelled last minute. So we said sure, and then completely forgot about it until early Sunday morning when we were sitting in our ward council meeting. Right after ward council, we have a missionary coordination meeting, and then church starts, so it left us with no time to prepare a talk, haha. Let's just say we were slightly stressed out. So as Sacrament Meeting began, we were flipping through our scriptures like crazy to try to find something to share. It kind of reminded me of cramming for calculus tests, haha. We wanted to be sure that we didn't talk on the same thing, so I said I was doing prayer, and Sister Barrow said that she was doing faith. But as I searched, I felt like I needed to speak on the Saviour instead. So Sister Barrow went first, and she obviously must have had the same prompting, because she got up and spoke on the exact same thing, haha. Luckily, we picked different scriptures though. I shared a scripture from Luke 22: 39-44. "And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and he sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." These verses have never stood out so powerfully to me before. As I read the verse that says "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me;" I had to stop here in the middle of the verse. I really felt the Spirit as I read, and I couldn't continue. It took me awhile before I could get the rest out, "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." I am so grateful for that last phrase. The Saviour was in so much pain and agony as he took or trials, sins, sorrows, and weaknesses upon Himself one by one that he didn't want to continue. But because He loved us so much, he said, "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." That last phrase makes all the difference to me! I am so grateful for my Saviour.

Oh, one more thing...I HIT MY YEAR MARK! We had a party to celebrate, haha. I can't believe how fast time goes!

Love you!

Sister Dille

I Finally Saw A Moose......

First week of the transfer if over! Sister Barrow told me this morning, "I can't believe I'm already into my second transfer!" So I said, "just wait! It gets worse!" Time is flying by! I can't seem to keep up with it!

We had a really cool lesson with our investigator, Peter, this week. We went into the lesson, and we were planning to teach the Plan of Salvation, but as we followed up on his previous commitments, we felt impressed to teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ instead. I was kind of nervous about not following our lesson plan, but as we taught, he said, "it's like you keep picking this just for me." The Spirit works! It really taught me that we can't teach without the Spirit.

We had zone council on Saturday, and we went over some of the things that were talked about in the worldwide missionary broadcast. During the broadcast, they made two huge changes to missionary work. 1. Instead of having nine key indicators, we now have four... investigators baptized and confirmed, investigators with a baptismal date, investigators at church, and new investigators. 2. They changed our schedule! No, we don't get to sleep in. :( But, the purpose of the schedule changes is to help us be more effective and have more opportunities to use our agency righteously. It's kind of weird to get used to, but it's definitely a good thing!

On Sunday, the Spencer's both came to church! We were so excited to see them! We were a bit disappointed though because Sacrament Meeting started, and Peter wasn't there. It's kind of strange how your heart sinks when your investigators don't show up to church. BUT THEN...he walked in a few minutes after the meeting started and we were excited all over again!

We also had a musical fireside about the Saviour on Sunday. We had a few people cancel at the last minute and a few people almost cancel at the last minute, so we had to throw a few together three hours before it started, but prayer works, and the fireside turned out okay! I'm really relieved that it's over though! Putting musical numbers together is a lot of work, haha! Peter came to the fireside, and he really seemed to enjoy it!

Well, I think that about sums up our first week. On to week two! 

Love you!

 

Sister Dille

 

I got a Canada blanket!

I finally saw a moose!

Will you be my valentine?  You know, since we're missionaries and that kinda thing isn't allowed.

These are the pictures from zone council on Saturday.

 

Bowmanville it is...for six more weeks!

Well, this week has absolutely flown by, but the last week of the transfer always seems to be that way. After p-day ended last week, we went out tracting on a street we felt prompted to go to. We prayed and headed off to a house we felt like we needed to go to. The man who answered the door was home with his family, and they invited us in. They let us teach them about the Book of Mormon, and then they shared their beliefs with us (they're Muslim, so it was pretty cool!) It was a bit tricky, because they challenged a lot of the things we taught, but they accepted a copy, and said they would start reading. Good way to end p-day!

On Tuesday, we got to go to the Bowmanville Older Adult Association to help them make their senior lunch. It was the first time back to help them in two months, so it was so much fun to be able to see them again.

On Wednesday, we had another lesson with Peter, and it went really well! We taught him about prayer and how to recognize answers to prayers. It's so awesome to be able to teach someone who is so sincere about learning the gospel. Also on Wednesday, we had a worldwide missionary broadcast. They taught us about teaching repentance and baptizing converts. Elder Bednar taught us about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and for the first time, it made sense to me! He taught that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a bunch of separate steps, but it's an ongoing process. Faith is believing in Him, repentance is relying on Him, baptism is following Him, and enduring to the end is pressing forward with Him along with the companionship of the Holy Ghost. You have to have all the components, or the process won't work.

On Thursday, Sister Barrow had her six-week follow up meeting with all of the new missionaries she came out with, and after the meeting, we got to go to the temple! It was so nice to go back! There's such a feeling of peace and love there, and I loved being there. The traffic to and from Brampton was awful though! We were in stop and go traffic for hours! But we made it!

On Friday, we had a lesson with our new returning member. It was an amazing lesson. We taught her about the Restoration, and she was asking questions, trying to apply what we were teaching, and really trying to understand what we were teaching her.

Sunday, TRANSFER CALLS!!!!...but we didn't get one, haha. I get to stay and finish training Sister Barrow! 6 more weeks in Bowmanville! :)

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Dille

Sister Goral!

The Shield's came to our ward on Sunday!

This Jacqueline! She is a sweet lady we go do service for once a week.

Temple trip!

Canadians love maple syrup so much, they put it on their ice cream.  It's actually not too bad!

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Measuring Our Rod of Success!

Hi! I can't believe another week has come and gone already! Time just seems to keep going by faster and faster! We're already to the last week of the transfer! Crazy!

Anyways, we were able to teach our investigator Peter his first official lesson last Tuesday! Driving to the lesson was a bit interesting...we had freezing rain all night long, so the roads were super icy. Then it snowed a little bit on top of the ice, then it rained on top of that, and then to top it all off, we got some more freezing rain, so we took the trip at a nice relaxing granny speed, and made it there safe and sound! The lesson was incredible! He knew more about the Restoration than we probably do! He's been doing so much research on lds.org and he's so anxious and willing to learn more. It's so incredible to be teaching someone who has such a sincere and honest heart. On Saturday, one of the Oshawa North Sisters' investigators got baptized, and Peter came to watch. He really enjoyed it! We're so grateful for all of the progress that he is making!

Another cool experience...yesterday, we got done with our dinner appointment, and we still had about thirty minutes left before we needed to go inside and finish up some things. We decided the night before that we were going to go tracting on a street we felt impressed to work on during our weekly planning session. (This was the third time we went to work on this street because it kept coming back to us). By the time we got to the street, we were only going to have time to knock on maybe three doors, so we prayed and then started working. We knocked on one door, no answer. Second door, no answer. Third door, MIRACLE! A nice lady named Caroline answered the door and told us that she had been taught by the missionaries several years ago before they moved from Saskatchewan. They moved to Bowmanville, and lost contact. Five years later, we were blessed to find her and her family! We've been working and praying to find new investigators, so we're really grateful that our prayers have been answered.

This past week, we had interviews with our mission president. During my interview, we talked a lot about how we need to remember that we cannot achieve perfection in this life. He told me that our measuring rod of success needs to be "what does God think of my efforts" (efforts, not results), not "what do other people think of me?" God's opinion is the only one that really counts. As long as we're working hard, and trying to do as He asks, it's enough. 

I hope you all have a great week! Have fun with all the snow you're getting! :)

Love,

 

Sister Dille 

This is the river that runs through Bowmanville.

We got ice cream on my birthday....of course!

We got our nails done on my birthday too...Sister Barrow's are purple and mine are pink.

Kinder egg predictions....Sister Barrow's very first kinder egg.

Apparently, Canada has "parkettes."  Sorry about the picture quality.

Refining Silver

My testimony of the power of prayer and fasting has really grown this week. We had a day full of miracles on Sunday! We decided to fast for our investigator Peter, and two of our returning members again this week, and all three of them showed up to church yesterday! For one of our returning members, it was his first time coming to church in 10 years! It was so exciting for us to see them there! Peter came to all three hours, and he loved the Sunday school lesson. We have our first official lesson with him tomorrow, and it's so exciting! The power of prayer and fasting is real!

On Friday, we went to a lesson and we were teaching about faith. One of our members came with us and she shared a cool story about faith with the man we were teaching... A lady went into a silversmith's shop because she wanted to learn about the process of refining silver. The man told her that he would put the silver into a furnace and let it get really hot. As it heated up, the impurities would burn out of it. He never left the furnace when the silver was inside, because he didn't want the silver to get ruined while he wasn't watching it. She asked him how he knew it was hot enough, and he told her that he knew the silver was finished when he could see his reflection in it. It's the same way with us! It reminded me of the scripture in 1 Nephi 20:10. "For behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." Jesus Christ is the "author and the finisher of [our] faith." (Moroni 6:4). He allows us to go through hard times to refine our faith and to help us become more like Him. As we go through difficult times, we become more and more like Him, and we gradually "receive God's image in our countenances." (Alma 5:14). But as we go through the furnace of affliction, He will never leave our side.

Other than that, we've just been trying to find investigators. We went on Sister Barrow's first car fast this week, and boy was it fun, haha! We walked a really long ways in the rain and wind, and needless to say, we slept very well that night! 

I love you!

 

Sister Dille

Sorry, I only took two pictures this week, haha. I'll do better next week! :)

I'm 20 Now...I'm Basically Dead!

Hey Guys!

I wanted to start off by sharing something I learned this week in the Book of Mormon. A couple days ago, I was thinking about the scripture in Ether 12:27, where it says that the Lord will show unto us our weaknesses. I started thinking about all the different ways the Lord could show us our weaknesses. Sometimes, it's through the whisperings of the Spirit, sometimes, it's as we study the scriptures or listen to general conference, but I was thinking that a lot of times He literally shows us our weaknesses by allowing us to experience trials that help us realize what we need to work on. I just thought it was neat to think about.

Anyways, we had a really cool miracle this week. So on Friday, we decided that we wanted to fast for our investigators and returning members. We wanted them to be blessed and strengthened, and we also wanted to know how we could help them. On Sunday, a less active member we've been trying to work with, Brother Legate, showed up, our returning member, Sister Spencer, came to church, and then a few minutes later, one of our investigators, Peter, walked through the door! We were both in shock and we were so excited we couldn't even sing the opening hymn. It's so wonderful when people come to church to feel of the Spirit and strengthen their relationship with God!

 

For my birthday we got to go over to a member's house and help them in their basement. We helped them sand and paint some sheet rock; man that dust gets everywhere. Sister Barrow made me breakfast and she gave me a French Book of Mormon :)  It feels weird to be 20....

So, the funny story of the week. After church yesterday, Sister Barrow and I were doing some of her training on the computer in the library. While we were sitting there, a guy started talking to us. At first, we were like, "Hey! Cool! Somebody who actually wants to talk with us!" Well, as he proceeded to talk, the conversation quickly got awkward. He began telling us about all of his super powers, and we were just sitting there going, "uh huh, uh huh, oh that's nice." Probably the most entertaining visit to the library yet!

The rest of the week was pretty good...we got to help the Leebody's sand and paint some of the sheet rock in their basement, and we worked on finding new investigators. We also had zone council on Friday, and one of the instructions was on letting go of the past. We talked about the verse in the Bible where it says, "Remember Lot's wife." We talked about how it's important to use the Atonement to repent, and then to move on and do our best. If we constantly dwell on the past, it will be difficult to move forward and progress.

Love ya!

 

Sister Dille

 

Sister Barrow made me a happy birthday sign!

We've been working on cleaning out our apartment, and you can definitely tell there were elders here before us...they left us a very old and moldy cake behind the fridge.  YUCK!!!!  Hehe, this was Sister Barrow's face when we found it.

We were trying to take a picture of us "letting go of our sins," but we were struggling as you can see, haha.

 

Find True Happiness....

Hey Everyone!

We had an amazing miracle  happen this week. On Sunday, a member brought his cousin to church with him, and he is really searching for the truth! He told us that he really wants to find true happiness and he really wants to know what his purpose is in life. It was neat for me to be able to listen to all of his questions and hear about all of his challenges, and realize that no matter what he brought up, the gospel could help him with it. The gospel truly is an amazing blessing in our lives, and we're really excited to see how it's going to bless and change his life.

Also this week, some of the missionaries from other areas of the zone came and helped us blitz our area, because we were having a hard time finding new investigators. Some elders found a lady who really wants to know more about the Plan of Salvation! We're really excited to help her understand God's plan for her!

This week, I learned something really important...The last few weeks have been very stressful and nothing I tried seemed to help at all. In my personal studies one day, I realized that it's because I was relying too much on myself, and not on God. So Sister Barrow and I have been relying more on Him than we ever have in our lives. We've been praying about almost every decision (like which street to tract, which way to walk, etc.) and we've seen so many miracles because of it. It's also so much less stressful when you choose to trust the Lord and trust that He will answer your prayers.

Funny story of the week: On Sunday, we were tracting, and we went up to this door, knocked, no one answered, so we knocked one more time, and again no one answered. We were about to leave, but a truck, pulled into the driveway. So that by itself was awkward to be standing on someone's front porch as they're pulling into their driveway and wondering why there are two strangers standing on their door step. Well, it became even more awkward when they saw who we were and started backing down the driveway and then down the road until we were far enough away for them to feel comfortable enough to go back. Haha, so awkward! 

I love you! 

 

Have a great week!

 

 

We were trying to heart attack a door, and we were pretty impressed with the results, so we took a picture.

Sister Barrow's first time trying Timbits! She's an official Canadian missionary now!

The Scea's

These are the Scea's. They let us hold their guinea pigs.

We helped the Leebody's paint!