February 8th.... 17 months!!!!

Yes... it is true... i am hitting my 17 month mark this week... but no, i am not coming home in a month... more like 2 months... WHICH IS AWESOME :)  and so so scary... starting Friday i will be one of the oldest sisters in the mission... crazy... 

So this morning we went to Crystal Falls which is a really pretty and so much fun!! We went with the Elders and on of the YSA Maddie Quinton (who is moving to Edmonton next week and she is the coolest so everyone needs to be her friend!!) And Elder Cox is going home in 4 days so we tried to burn his suit (dont worry, it was not while he was wearing it..) while we were at the water fall but it was too windy and the suit was mostly polyester so we ended up just throwing it off the waterfall... it was pretty fun. Then we got stuck and had to push the car for forever, but that was just a side detail... we went early in the morning because rumor has it... there is supposed to be a snow storm tonight and tomorrow that is going to bring 50cm of snow!!! (east coasters ALWAYS make the weather sound waaaay worse then it actually is) 

This week we had a pretty killer storm that was just a full day of snow, then rain, then snow, the sharp ice pellets, then more rain, then more ice, then snow again... and needless to say, the roads were awful, but needless to say.. we still went out and did stuff :) it was a good day!! 

We went knocking in an area that had a lot of older people. It was a hoot because they all just use the doors in there garages to get in, so none of the front door steps were shoveled. So at every door we had to climb up to the door and then just slid down them like a slide. One house was a HUGE mansion with a HUGE staircase, we went up and down that one a few times haha (nobody was home) But other than that we did not see a whole lot of success this week.. but that's okay!! It was just a good build up to the HUGE success we are going to have THIS week!! 

We got transfer letters today! Me and Sister Hotchkiss are going to be staying in Wolfville for my last transfer :) I am happy about it because i really like it here. There is so much potential and i was not done yet!! 

Well i hope everyone had a great week :) Here are some pictures of us at Crystal Falls!! I don't know why, but lately every moment is the right moment for a gangster pic.. 

July 20.... Halifax

Well hello everyone!! What a fun week this has been!

I am now in Halifax and i am loving every moment!!!! I am just so excited about everything that has to do with missionary work right now!

So it was sad leaving Cole Harbour, since Sister Shannon was going home we spent more time than i usually would during transfers saying goodbye to members, packing, and preparing the maps and books for the new sisters coming in.
On our last day we decided to go knocking in North Preston. For those who are not aware (and im sure most of you are not) North Preston is the largest black community in all of North America! And it was sooooo much fun. There is not a single white person in the whole area and we were getting the weirdest looks. Cars would drive past us, turn around and drive past us again like 6 times. I think a lot of them thought we worked for the government or something. There were some moments where i thought i was going to get jumped.... but i didn't. so all is well. Everyone we talked to was sooo nice... super Baptist, but so nice. It was a good time haha 

We went to the temple for transfers and it was weird saying bye to Sister Shannon after as well as Sister Spencer who was one of my trainers!! 2/3 of my trainers are home, and the 3rd (Sister Mangelson) is going home at the end of this transfer.... crazy!

And now Halifax! It is so so great here! Sister Howell is great! We get along really well and i have so much to learn from her! And everyone here is so ready and prepared to hear the gospel! Just the other day we walked around our apartment to a bus stop and got 5 potentials and set up 3 lessons.... THAT NEVER HAPPENS. only in Halifax... We are currently teaching 2 people from China, 2 from Nepal, and 1 girl from Bolivia... it is so diverse and exciting here! (and we are teaching a couple canadians of course...) But this has been a very humbling time for me! It has been a great because i am learning to teach more simply and take out the filler words in my sentences. (which im sure you can tell by the million run on sentences in my emails) 

So we are covering both the family and Ysa ward in Halifax. It is a hoot and a half. We went to the church at 8:30am for correlation and then didn't leave till 4:30pm, just enough time to make some calls and then head to the mission home for dinner and a meeting with President & Sister Pratt and the APs, that meeting goes till 8pm and then we ran to a lesson with a Child of Record we are teaching. it was a looong day. And it is going to be like that every sunday!! woohoo!  

I am really excited for the responsibilities we are given for this transfer (now that i know what they actually are) This upcoming week we get to travel to my favorite place of Fredericton NB for zone training, and then go on exchanges with the STLs in St. John. In a couple weeks President is flying us out to NFLD for exchanges which i am so excited about! Me and Sister Howell both served in St.Johns so we are hoping we get to spend some time there in our travels! 

OH and i have a ipad!!! Only about 6 missionaries in the mission have them, us, the APs and 2 other elders. They are so handy to have!

When we met with President Pratt on sunday we talked about the focus for this upcoming transfer, what the members need, the missionaries need, and what we need to do to strengthen the missionary success here. Our focus is on keeping the sabbath day holy. It is the Churches focus right now and is really such a simple answer to so many diverse and complex issues. And as missionaries, we can sometime be surprisingly bad and keeping the sabbath day holy. Not in the way of playing sports. But we are bad at making Sunday separate from every other day. Since we focus so much on the Lords work everyday, it makes it hard to remember that sunday needs to be different from every other day. We are going to be focusing a lot on encouraging missionaries to finish all they need to do before sunday, and use the sabbath day as a time to meet with member in the ward, less actives, and doing service. I have come to know as i have studies the purpose of the sabbath the many blessings that come as we focus on the savior. There is a talk called "The Sabbath is a delight" by Elder Nelson that talks about how we need to not focus on the things we can't do on sunday but instead focus on the good things, that blessings that come. I hope everyone can take a moment to read or listen to that talk and consider there own sabbath day activities! My favorite part of the talk is when he says "

my conduct and my attitude on the Sabbath constituted a sign between me and my Heavenly Father.12 With that understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don’ts. When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, “What sign do I want to give to God?” That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear."

I feel blessed for these opportunities given to me. This transfer is going to be a huge growing experience for me! I Cant wait to see what lies ahead. 

Lobsters, Nuns. and Transfers

Transfer time has come waay to fast. I was pretty calm about transfers since i had just gotten to Cole Harbour and my companion was going home i knew i was going to stay here and i was already 90% sure who my companion was going to be. All was well. Then we get to the church with the Elders.... and my NAME IS NOT UNDER COLE HARBOUR. So i am getting transferred. I am going to be serving in the Halifax YSA ward as an STLT... Sister Training Leader Trainer....I don't even know all that this entails but from what i understand It is nothing too crazy. It just means that instead of being over the regular sisters we are over the STLs and go on exchanges and do trainings with them. I am excited! It will be so much fun :) although i am very sad i had such a short time here in Cole Harbour. i really loved it here. Maybe i will come back! 

My new companion is Sister Howell! She served with Sister Pizzey and she is an awesome missionary! i am really excited to serve with her, im going to learn a lot from her in this time. She is going home in a transfer so i will have to learn as much as i can in this next 6 weeks! 

So last monday we went it Pier 21, it is a museum. Pier 21 is where all the immigrants came into Canada back when the east coast was a bumpin' place. It was cool from a family history perspective but also pretty boring from a 19 year old girl with a short attention span perspective. I got some pretty sweet pictures though. 

I went on exchanges in New Glasgow this week which was fun. I was with Sister Taylor again. this time we didn't run out of gas which was a nice improvement from last time... We went to a Lobster Carnival (only in the east coast) and we later knocked on a house that had a bunch of Catholic Nuns living in it... they thought it was great that we were Sisters to, and how we started so young... we corrected them a bit and talked for a while. They ended up taking a Book Of Mormon which is pretty cool.... 

I big personal barrier was broken this week. I sang a duet with sister Shannon in sacrament meeting this sunday. i was beyond terrified but it actually went really well. It started as a way to get a less-active to church. He played the guitar to Nearer My God To Thee and we sang, the second verse Sister Shannon played the flute. It turned out really nice. 

I continue to feel so blessed for the many opportunities i have been given on my mission. I was reflecting on this in my personal study and came across Mosiah 2:22 -24

  And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

and then again in 41:And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

THAT IS WHY. I always knew of this promise of course. But i had such a confirming moment that i was doing the will of the Lord, i was following his commandments. And it is because of this i feel happier than i have ever felt. i get to teach people about something that can bring happiness into every situation. I get to help the sisters in this mission progress and feel confident about there abilities as well as learn from each of them. And i have friends and family from home giving me constant encouragement and love. 

 Alma 26:12

12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

I hope everyone can have an opportunity to reflect on the blessings they have received. And if you feel that you are in need of more blessings, reflect on the things that you feel may not be aligned with Gods will and change it. Because this promise of obedience leading to happiness is for everyone! 

Love you all, i will get off the soap box for the time being. 

Love, 

Sister Lambert :)

June 15th...Real Success

Well hello everyone, it is great to read all your emails and see what great things are happening in everyone's lives!

First off, a big happy birthday to my beautiful mother!!!! Wish i could be there but at the same time i don't, because i like it here.... 

So i am loving it here in "Cool" Harbour (as Paige would say) the members are great and there is so much potential here! this place is going to be exploding with missionary work in no time!! 

We had our Zone Conference this week. It is the last one we will have with the Leavitts which is sad but we are getting more and more excited for the new President that will be coming at the end of the month! 

They always have everyone prepare 5 minute talks and then at the conference ask 2 people to give there talk on the subject given, and then after everyone shares what they liked and what that person can work on.... of course.... thanks to my awesome luck.... i was asked to give my talk. I was asked to talk on using time wisely. I talked on the importance of prioritizing our efforts and used the example of Alma in chapter 32, and how he taught the prepared. It was a great reminder to me that we truly are here to find those who are prepared to hear the word of God. 

There is a Board Walk here that is so beautiful! It is in Eastern Passage which is a area near Cole Harbour. There are small beaches, fun shops, restaurants and great walking paths. I am so lucky to be serving in such a great place! We saw a family from our ward there and they took us out for dinner, it was great. I will send a picture!

So yes yes.. it is true. I have now been out for 9 months.... and yes... that does mean that i am now half way done my mission.... which is sooo crazy. I can not believe how fast my mission is going by.... but lets just not think about it. moving on... 

We went to a members home this week and her husband is an amazing musician! He plays the guitar and he showed us a few songs! I introduced him to the song `Nearer My God to Thee`and he LOVED it. So he played it on the guitar and me and Sister Shannon sang. It was so fun! It was a great way to bring the spirit into the life of someone who isn`t yet willing to invite it in himself. 

I have had some really great personal studies this week! One that i would like to share with you is when i pondered a quote i have that says:
 ``There is nothing more vital to our success and our happiness here than learning to hear the voice of the spirit. It is the spirit who reveals to us our identity, which isn`t just who we are but who we have always been. And when we know that, our lives take on a sense of purpose so compelling that we can never be the same again``

I find that there are a lot of people who are scared of change. They are scared of the truth, of feeling the spirit, because if they allow it in, it will give them a reason to change, a reason to make sacrifices in there life. People have a false sense of joy that they cling to, not realizing that they are allowing themselves to be content with mediocrity. They are allowing there views of themselves and others be shaped by man rather than by God. The Spirit allows us to become `who we have always been`. Our true selves, not a manipulated version of ourselves that has been pushed around and changed by the worlds ever changing idea of ``success``. I chose a quote that will be a theme for this transfer. It is `Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value`. I know that Heavenly Fathers idea of ``Success`` is a lot different than what we imagine it to be. I want to be of value to my family, my friends, my mission President, and my Heavenly Father. I know this will be through helping bring the spirit into the lives of others so that the spirit can in turn teach them the truths of our message.

June 8th.... New adventures

Hello everyone :) i must say, transfer time sure is an adventure!! It has been weird going from an area where i knew everything about everyone and i knew my way around to an area where i don't know a soul, and i feel like a lost puppy just following around Sister Shannon! But i will get more comfortable as time goes on. This is Sister Shannon's last transfer so I will most likely be here for a little while longer :)

So we had Sister Drew stay with us for a few days before transfers because her companion went home early for health reasons. We had a blast for those couple days! It was a good end to my time in Fredericton, visiting with members and making sure all was organized for Sister Pitcher and her new companion. We drove to Moncton to pick up there new companions (hit a bird on the way... woops) and then me and the other missionaries getting transferred to Nova Scotia took the transfer van right to the temple :) OH MY how much i missed the temple!! What a relief it was to be in the house of the Lord. The peace that is in the temple was really what i needed to calm my nerves and remind me of my purpose here on my mission and ultimately in life. 

After I met my new companion Sister Shannon and we went right to work! I am really excited about this area! I was amazed at the size of the ward on Sunday! And it was even a low attendance that day! i am so excited to be in an area with so many strong members who all live in town! (unlike Fredericton where 80% of ward council lives 45 min out of town) And it throws me off to be walking into the church building and seeing President and Sister Leavitt..... that's never happened before..... 

Being an STL is not nearly as scary as i thought (so far) but God has been really answering my prayers by giving me the confidence i need to fulfill this calling. Its funny though to realize how much really does go on in a mission. I used to think that because im doing good that im sure EVERYONE is doing good as well! Who knew that missionaries actually had problems... and need help and encouragement... 

Today i am emailing a bit late because we went to Martinque beach with the Pitts (a senior couple that lives next door to us. They work in the temple and are from Montana) It was a beautiful beach and after they took us out for local fish and chips! So good! I am going to love serving around a senior couple.... Brother Pitt has the same cheesy humor as Dad so i always get a kick out of that haha

I don't have much of a spiritual thought this week, but i would like to say how much i appreciate the spirit in my life. It is an amazing blessing to have that comforting presence in a time where most people would feel pure panic. Going to a new area, living with someone you don't know, in a place where you have no family or really even friends and still being confident that you are where God needs you to be and knowing that you have a whole community of people who love you without even knowing you. What a blessing! It is a reminder to me that I am being carried by the Holy Ghost and guided by a Heavenly Father who loves me dearly.

I hope everyone is safe and happy, i thank all of you for the words of encouragement! 

Love, 

Sister Lambert :) 

May 18..... Interesting people in Fredricton

Hello everyone? Think you could forget about me? I don't think so... 

So first i would like to say. I am living in the best part of Canada. I've decided. Not in a "wow im going to move back here right after my mission" but in a "man, i love it here" kind of way. Does that make sense? 

So to start off. I have found such a great love for family history! We are now required by our mission president to do an hour of family history every week and i am seriously loving it! What a fun and exciting way to spend out time! Becoming connected with those who have passed on really brings a special spirit into your life and helps you recognize the true eternal perspective behind missionary work! 

So one of the reasons i started by talking about how great it is here is because we get the opportunity to go on the "walking bridge" fairly often and it is a bridge that tons of people go on and it has a great view of the city and the river. I will send some pictures! 

Another fun thing about the walking bridge is the interesting people we run into..... Just the other day we were talking to this guy who is hard core Pentecostal (the ones who speak in tongues and stuff) as well as a Druid. What is a druid you may ask? He is a guy who claims to have the power to heal through prayer as well as spells. He told us some pretty crazy stories, gave us some warnings about the blood moon that is coming (stay inside folks) and he claims to receive all this power from God but it is a bit questionable who the power is really coming from... anyways, long story short, he was actually pretty nice, committed to read the Book Of Mormon and when we left he gave Sister Pitcher a normal hand shake but then when i shook his hand he held on to my hand for a good 5 seconds while staring VERY deeply into my eyes, I KID YOU NOT when i say i seriously think he was attempting to cast an evil spirit into me or something. I was not feeling a very good vibe from him... But one of my favorite parts of serving a mission is the many interesting people we meet!! 

I wanted to share with you one of my favorite scriptures 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

I love this scripture for many reasons. 1. We need to constantly remind ourselves of the grace of God. 2. To remember that any challenge given to us is a blessing in disguise. It gives us an opportunity to become more dependent on our Heavenly Father, and find the trust that he will lift us up in times of need. 

3."for when i am weak, then i am strong" - it is only when we show unto God our weakness, showing our humility and readiness to learn and to serve, then we are made strong. It is the same as gaining physical strength, it takes, effort, discomfort, time, and a whole lot of motivation. But with these thing we can also expect results. If we do all that our Heavenly Father asks of us, we can expect blessings! 

How great it is to be lead by such a reliable guide. To follow our Father who loves us dearly and who will never disappoint us. 

I love you all, hope all is going well. I hope everyone is reading there Book Of Mormon and praying daily, doing the small things that bring big blessings! 

Love, 

Sister Lambert :) 

April 27.....Light is worth the fight!

Yes, i know that my emails have been super lame lately, for that i am sorry! i just haven't had any crazy "email worthy" stories lately. Not that my life is boring, things here are going amazing!! But typing out stories just does not do that story justice!

So this week it has been raining.... non stop. Sooo fun. But every once in a while it stops raining for an hour or two and when that happens me and Sister Pitcher run outside and do some street contacting so that we don't get stuck inside all the time. And i don't know what i am doing differently this week but for some reason, almost every one i have talked to is SO CRAZY. There was one guy who walked up to me and was like "you watch movies?" "uh... no, we are missionaries and..." "well crap. Well here. take this movie anyways." and he hands me a Planet Of the Apes movie. Its the legit movie, bought from a store. And he walked away after... so now i have a planet of the apes movie in our apartement... i don't know if thats apostate or not but i love the movie so im thinking of just keeping it in my suit case for when i go home...

We are teaching this girl who is a student at UNB and SO ELECT. She is loving the lessons and said to us this week "I can honestly say that since I have met with you guys, my life has been so much better. I have never been so happy in my entire life and i know that is not a coincidence" WOOHOO. But here is the porblem... she is moving to Ontario... next week. And hasn't been to church enough times to get baptized. So now we are prepping her to get baptized in Ontario!!!

I feel so blessed to have the key that brings happiness into the lives of so many people. And to have the technology to stay in contact with these people to continue to help them grow and become better.

I was studying this morning about our pre-earth life. As we come to know more about our existence and experiences before this life, the more we understand our purpose here.

I was reading in Section 93 of the Docterine and Covenants and its says:

24 And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;

So we learned about Gods plan before we came to the earth, and we continue to learn as we grow and gain experience on the earth. We continue to gain truth.

27 And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments.

As we are obedient we can gain more and more truth, and it talks in this section about how truth = light.

Now keeping this in mind, i thought of a less-active we visited this week. She has not been active since she was a teenager (she is in her late 40's now) but she stayed very spiritual still. The rest of her family is active and so she has always had contact with the church. As we got to know her in our meeting she expressed to us her testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. She told us of some concerns that were small and can easily be resolved and a concern that she has forgotten a lot about the teachings and has lost a lot of knowledge over the years. We asked if she would be willing to take the missionary lessons. She thought about it for a minute and then declined. Confused, i asked her why and she said "Because i know that what you will teach me will bring me closer to God, which is great. But i also know that I am doing some things in my life that God does not want me to do. I know that as i come closer to God those things will become more apparent. And i like my life right now. I just dont want to change."

John 3:19

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

We have the truth of the gospel. We have that light. But what i learned this week is that many times people do not have a problem with what we teach. They have just grown too familiar with darkness that they are not willing to make the changes necessary to find that light. They are scared to become accountable, to take ownership of there sins and mistakes; not realizing how much this is hindering their progression.

The story told this last Conference by Elder Clayton talks of a little girl trying to find her way to the light and he said "She saw a light in the distance and fought her way to it" Sometimes obtaining light is a struggle, it takes effort. But we do not want to become like this less active, content sitting in darkness. We know better. Light is worth the fight!

What a blessing it is to share this light with others, to constantly be searching for those who are willing to make the changes needed to obtain that light, that glory, and that joy that our Heavenly Father offers us.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week! Mothers day is coming up and i am excited to see my family! I love you all, i hope all is well, thank you for your love and support :) 

April 13..... Spiritual Knowledge

That's right folks... it got up to like +14 yesterday... and today is lookin pretty dang nice. 

So to start off with some funnies... Sister Pitcher is seriously hilarious. Sometimes i laugh a little more at her than with her but i just cant help it... I have to share two funny quotes from her this week. 

first, we were saying bye to someone after a lesson and were giving hugs... when we leave Sister pitcher just looks at me with such sad eyes and says "I have such nerd problems... she squished my glasses against my face" ... I know it doesnt sound as funny over email but if you could see the legit sadness and concern in her face when she said it, you would laugh to. 

second. We were rushing into the apartment to grab something and im a fast walker to begin with so i was ahead of her, and all I hear is "I feel like a wiener dog chasing a greyhound" and we had to stop and laugh for a few moments. 

I know these probably are not funny to other people. But im still laughing about it as a type...  

I love it here in Fredericton... with all my heart... we are getting transfer letters on sunday and i DONT WANT TO LEAVE. I have been here for 3 transfers now so it is that awkward medium where i could easily stay... but people are usually in an area for around 3 transfers so i could just as easily leave... 

Something that i love about serving in a mission with small wards is how close you get to the members. What  a blessing to be building up great friendships everywhere we go! 

I read a talk this week called "Why 1820?" by Hyrum Smith (not Josephs brother Hyrum, a different Hyrum) and it is the funniest, sassiest, but inspirational and factual talk i have read in a while, i encourage everyone to read it! It talks about why God needed to restore the church in America in the year 1820, instead of (for example) a boy in europe in 1420... 

It is an amazing gift to have the knowledge of the Gospel in our life. And it is amazing that we have been chosen spirits to come to the earth in the last dispensation.

 I have been studying a lot on the topic of "Knowledge" and what it really means to have knowledge of the gospel. Because it is not necessarily to know where every scripture is and the ability to quote every prophet that has lived. But it is to consistently learning, and coming closer to our Heavenly Father through action. Action is such a huge part of spiritual knowledge. Having that perfect balance of work (scripture study, prayer) and faith - knowing that you will receive answers and blessing from the work that you put in. As we work to balance these things, we will become more like our Savior, and we will build our capability to serve him. 

I hope everyone has a great week! It sounds like a pretty crazy week for a lot of my family and friends! I hope that everyone travels safely! 

Love you all lots, i am blessed to have so much love and support! 

Love, 

Sister Lambert :) 

March 30.... Sun made a guest appearance

Yes, yes it is true. The sun made an special guest appearance here in the east coast. GET THIS. I got to wear my fall jacket instead of my winter one for a few days!! And one day i just wore a light sweater!!! I know what you are thinking.. "well Sister Lambert, its been like that all winter here in Alberta... so thats not exciting" But believe me when i say that it was the most glorious blessing from God when i got to go outside and actually feel the warmth of the sun again... 

We went on exchanges this week so i got to go to St.John for a day. It is such a cute city! Kind of reminded me of St.Johns a little bit (yes there is a difference between St. John and St. John's) It is very cute and i got a couple pictures but of course i left my camera cord at the apartment so you will just have to imagine the beauty in your minds this week folks. I hope i get an opportunity to serve there at some point. With that said, its right by the water and so the wind is freeeezing. But in the summer im sure it would be nice! But im also planning on staying in Fredericton for forever... so thats more likely. 

How great was womens session of General Conference??? So amazing! My favorite line in the whole session was when one the speakers (who's name escapes me right now) said "The home is only second to the temple". What a great way to put into perspective the importance and sacredness of the home. A home needs to be an escape from the world, where anyone, member or non-member can feel the presence of the Holy Ghost and feel of our Heavenly Fathers love and comfort. It made me really ponder on the things i am going to do to make my home a Christ- centered home. I sanctuary from the world! 

General Conference is more exciting than Christmas as a missionary. What a great opportunity to hear the Lords Prophet and apostles speak to us and give us council. I hope everyone will get an opportunity to listen and apply the council given!! 

April is almost here..... its crazy... time is going waaay to fast. Im sorry this email is short, but i love and miss all of you!!! Hope everyone is doing well!!! Have a happy easter!! Make sure to watch and share the video the church put out for easter called Because He Lives! Its awesme :) 

Love, 

Sister Lambert

6 month mark, 1 year left!

Yes yes yes, all the rumors are true, i HAVE been on my mission for 6 MONTHS now. Sometimes I'm excited that i have made it this far and learned so much already. And sometimes I just want to cry thinking that i have only learned so much already and i have SO MUCH MORE to learn!! And thinking that 1/3 of my mission is gone is just the saddest thing in the world...

So yesterday morning me and Sister Pitcher decided to be good girls and complete our personal study before running to the church to check transfer letters. During our study we get a text from the Elders saying "woah....." and then a text from the STL's saying "Well that's a twist...." So of course we are freaking out the whole time and not even focusing. We get to the church and turns out they were just messing with us.... Me and Sister Pitcher are both staying in Fredericton. WOOHOO!!! What they were talking about in the text is all the changes they are making to the leadership. Since we have sooo many new missionaries. And all the leaders are going home, they are putting all the current leaders (zone leaders, district leaders) with new or less experienced missionaries to help train all the new missionaries. So now we only have 1 zone leader instead of 2. But then we also have 3 STLs instead of 2... its all confusing. Im not in leadership (thank goodness) so i don't really have to worry about it right now. 

I have been having some awesome personal studies this week. I have been focusing a ton on building confidence, and self-esteem. I talked about it a bit in my last email but its really interesting when you really look at it. Low confidence in yourself is the root of so many issues and is often what leads to disobedience. So how do you combat it? I was studying and studying and then realized "wow... im so dumb. (obviously a great example of self confidence) I have been studying this for 3 days.... but the church has men called of God who have probably already thought about this. Where would their findings be? In a place that is easy access to the main focus group for this issue. The Young Women." So what do the young women recite every sunday? The key characteristics needed to have love for our Heavenly Father, those around us, and ultimately ourselves. Faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity and virtue. As i have been studying these characteristics i have thought about the countless times i recited this theme without have a real understanding of what i was saying. And they all interconnect with each other. You need to have faith in God and His teachings to understand what your divine nature is, and once you understand that you will gain more individual worth... and so on. 

This is where it comes down to faith. Just the other day, Sister Pitcher asked me where i found my faith, how i got it. And the only thing that i could think of is "well, it just makes sense." and i stand by that! Why not choose faith? What else is there to choose? Doubt? fear? loneliness? no thankyou... I would rather put all my trust, love, and time into a God who loves me, who has a plan for me, who cares for my well-being, and who is consistent and will never let me down, then in a world that is shaky and forever changing. 

So this is my plea to all that I meet, including anyone who reads my emails. Choose faith! It is the only option that makes sense!! 

Thanks for letting me rant to all of you! I hope at least some of you chose to accept my Book of Mormon challenge! I love and miss all you! 

hope ya'll are enjoying the nice weather i keep hearing about. This week was actually so beautiful!! We had awesome weather!!!! 

Love, 

Sister Lambert :) 

In honor of my 6 months, im gonna flash it back to the mtc, where i was still with sister Pitcher haha and i was actually tanned and warm...and cute and not pale and tired of snow...and being cold. 

Ello me duckies, March 2

Ello' me duckies.

Sounds like everyone is doing well at home, with baby blessings and weddings and all that fun stuff that makes me freak out for when i have to go home... But i am glad everyone is doing well! 

So just a funny little example of how much snow we have here... Me and Sister Pitcher are teaching this girl, and we were talking about having our next lesson at the church and she says "Oh yeah its the church with the park behind it right?" And we are like "uhh no there isnt a park..." and we get into this 5 minute debate about this park that she thinks is behind our church. And she is saying that she has been there before for blood drives and stuff so she knows there is one. 

We go to the church today and are looking around for this park, and then i look at this 20ft snow bank that has been there all winter and just think ".....no way" i climb it and lo' and behold there has been a park literally 15 ft from our church THIS WHOLE TIME but its buried under 8 ft snow and then hidden by a 20 ft snow bank! Ive been here since december and Sister Pitcher January so we dont know what this place even looks like without snow! It was pretty funny though... 

We have had a great week! The work here in Fredericton is increasing like crazy! we got 4 new investigators this week that are building up our teaching pool, and the Elders are finding even more success! We are all really excited for the work here! We have transfer letters on sunday and i really really really dont want to leave so we will see what happens. 

Something i have recognized is a common theme with a lot of people we teach and is the root of a lot of problems within the church as well. This problem is self-worth and struggles with low self esteem. So i have been focusing on it a lot in my personal study this last week and wanted to share at least a little bit of what ive learned with you! 

When i think about the worth of souls the first scripture that pops into my mind is D&C 18:10 "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" And i would always read this and just skim past because i am always told that God loves me. But this time i looked up the definition of 'great' in the dictionary. Great means remarkable and outstanding. So each soul is remarkable. But how often to we think of ourselves as remarkable? Not as often as we should!! To deny ourselves that title is to deny what God is telling us. To think less of ourselves could in a way be considered a form of disobedience. We are denying what we have been told, and we are then denying ourselves our true potential. 

We are each remarkable and outstanding. God teaches it to us. Christ had a full understanding of the worth of our souls. It is because of His understanding that He so willingly died for us and created the atonement. Because He fully understood what our potential was and knew that we need a little help. 

When my mind wandered to the Atonement i then got to thinking more about Christ. When He was a child, he had the veil put before him just like the rest of us. Christ had to find His potential. He had to learn who He was and what He was capable of. We in turn must follow Christ's example and find our for ourselves what it is that our potential is. What makes us remarkable. 

As you are obedient to God's commandments, and follow His council (including remembering the worth of your soul) you will be able to build a closer relationship with Him as you work towards the potential and the blessings that are yours to receive. 

I love you all, i promise im not buried under snow. Their

snow removal systems here are top shelf. The only scary thing is that almost every stop sign here is buried under the snow haha luckily nothing bad has happened yet! 

Love,

Sister Lambert :)  

February 22, Snow, Snow and more Snow

Sounds like im mad about the snow doesn't it? Well its a trick! The snow is awesome! Yes... there is a lot of it... but when it snows... its not as cold... and i get to randomly push Sister Pitcher into snow banks all the time... and we have surprise snow ball fights pretty much daily. Its pretty great. 

We had a great week this week! We found some new people to teach and had blessings poured upon us all week! It was so cool! Its always great to have those reminders that God is mindful of us and always willing to give us the help we need, when we need it. 

I finished reading the Book Of Mormon this week! And I am now going through and reading it again! It is amazing how you can read and re-read a chapter and still get something new from it every time! Kind of like the temple... always learning! 

I thought about reading the bible, or the Doctrine & Covenants, but i heard this quote saying "It is better to have a deep understanding of simple doctrine than a simple understanding of deep doctrine" Not that the Bible and D&C is deep doctrine, and of course it is God's word and extremely important. But the Book Of Mormon is the keystone of our religion, it is the physical evidence that what we teach is true, and so i am working to have a greater knowledge of what truly holds our gospel together before moving on to other things. 

And yes, this is turning into a challenge. I have a little over a year left on my mission. This is TONS if time. I CHALLENGE EVERYONE TO READ THE BOOK OF MORMON ONCE THROUGH BEFORE I GET HOME. (i put it in capitals for everyone who just skims through my emails, dont lie, i know you all do it) 

I promise you, that as you do this, you will find to be true what is in the introduction of the Book Of Mormon "Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. ". Let me know if you are planning on doing it so i can follow-up with you! 

I am sorry this email is a bit short, i promise i will do better next week! But i love you all, i thank you all so much for everything you do! 

Sister Lambert

Fredericton, New Brunswick, Here I Come

So i will start with the exciting news of Transfers... drum role please....... IM GETTING TRANSFERRED to Fredericton New Brunswick. Am i freaking out? yes. Am i excited? Heck yes. Honestly soo many emotions. I am soooo sad i am leaving St.Johns. Newfoundland in the promised land. Strong families continue to be moved here, and it is so they can help the work to grow and build up the branch here. There is so much work to be done here and i wish i could have done more while i was here. Its a pretty crappy feeling to wish you would have done more, so thats something i will make sure i will never experience again. I am here to work hard and give my all. I will make sure that at the end of each day i will have the assurance that there is nothing more i could have done that day, and i will have nothing left. Because this feeling of wishing i helped and gave more is the worst. I dont know anything about my new companion. Her name is Sister Hughes, but nobody here has served with her. I will be serving in the same area as my zone leaders who are Elder Torie and and Elder Tusa. Elder Torie was the assistant when i came out and he is awesome, Elder Tusa i hear a lot about because apparently he is really funny, so i am excited. And i might be serving in one of the few wards in the mission!!! That will be cool! Elder Gibb is going to be the Zone leader here in NFLD!! crazy!! 

Thank you for all the packages and gifts i have received! i feel so loved!!! And it really does make my day! My favorite thing to get is letters and pictures!

The weather in Newfoundland will forever be the weirdest thing in the entire world. It is so warm lately, it had been raining a lot and it looks like they may even have a green christmas, no snow here. In one day you will experience snow, insane wind, sunny skies and then rain. But i will miss the warm times and the lack of snow, because all i hear about NB is snow, snow, and more snow. 

We had our Christmas Zone Conference this week, my trio and elder Gibb may or may not have performed a little song... it was pretty great! Santa came and gave us all gift cards for timmies, and we had a white elephant gift exchange and i got a massive stuffed giraffe that i am determined to take with me, it is going to be a huge struggle to try and stay under the weight limit when i fly out. 

Christmas is a great time of year because everyone really stops and remembers family and service. After the Zone Conference a bunch of missionaries who traveled from all over NFLD as well as the assistants went caroling with us in Downtown St.Johns, it was so fun! We sang Christmas carols, talked to a lot of people, and even had pictures and videos taken of us. People really loved it! It was a great opportunity to share the He Is The Gift initiative with many people and help others recognize the real meaning of Christmas! 

Something we have been focusing on a lot is faith. It is such a simple word with so much power behind it. It is truly only through faith that anything can become possible. If you lack in faith then you lack in power, in teaching, in the spirit, in everything really. And the best way to gain faith is through prayer. So thats something i have really been focusing on lately, my prayers. It is an amazing blessing to be able to have such a personal conversation and connection with my Heavenly Father, it would be crazy for me to not take advantage of that! 

At first, i was so nervous about transfers, this is my first area and i love it here with all my heart, but i am comfortable and i could see my progression slowing down. So i cant wait to have a change and to once again be pushed out of my comfort zone, because that is the best time to grow and become better. Its a little sad it is happening right before Christmas since i wont know people yet and i now have to figure out how to get my gifts from here to there. But all will be okay because this is Gods will. I am here to follow Gods will, not my own, and i am here to work to the point where my will and Gods will are aligned. Because it will be at that point that i will reach pure happiness and satisfaction in my abilities and talents given to me in this life. But i didnt recognize this at first, i needed to pray, and i needed to have faith that President Leavitt puts us where God needs us and wants us to be. 

A mission is not what i expected it to be, its harder, it creates hardships and at points, sorrow. But it has been the most rewarding time, i have never felt so much joy, and ive learned so much. And its only been 3 months!! I know that great things lie ahead for me and for this work. And i cant wait. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas! I hope everyone has seen and shared the He Is The Gift video on christmas.mormon.org because its awesome and needs to be shared withe everyone! I love you and miss you all!!!! 

Love,

Sister Lambert

Love My Companions

My companions and I get a long so well, we have so much fun together. We are just all really silly and find each other hilarious. We jam out in the car to circle of life a lot, its like the only somewhat upbeat song sung by MoTab. We all have our own parts in it and everything. I cant even explain how we have fun because it just sounds silly to everyone else. Elder Gibb compares us to Cohen, Kaden and Brayden if that helps...
That is crazy about Riley!!!! And Taylor!! (I am sure she would add her congratulations! haha)

We had a girl on date for baptism december 20th, and then this week she texted us out of the blue and told us she doesnt want to meet with us anymore and now she wont answer any of our calls or texts. not gonna lie, it really broke my heart. To know that someone had recognized the truth of this gospel and felt that spirit all of a sudden turn around and deny it, just kills me. I feel sorrow for her because i know that she is probably feeling so much sadness from it. 
There is a couple that moved into our ward 2 weeks ago, the Earls. and WE LOVE SISTER EARL. and brother earl, but the elders get him.  She is from salt lake, and she is a amazing member missionary. He is here for the oil and she had decided that the reason she is here is to build the branch and do missionary work. She is going to be working a lot with the ysa, which is good. 
We actually got a decent amount of dinner appointments this month, must be the christmas spirit haha the members here are starting to get excited about missionary work and i actually emailed President Leavitt telling him i really dont want to leave because i love it here. There is soo much potential in this branch and i just so badly want to be apart of the growth that i know is coming here. Because they didnt have a lot of strong families here in the first place God is putting job opportunities here to bring in strong families from afar. And those families are going to bring in more families and really help build up the church here. 

We made a ginger bread temple for christmas, its pretty great. First temple is St.Johns ;) 

Email from Emily's companion, Sister Sharp

Hello! This is Sister Sharp. I am currently serving with your little one, Sister Lambert. She is fantastic! I thought you should know that you have raised a fine daughter and a fantastic missionary. I feel privileged to serve with her and am thankful to have her friendship. She maybe has told you some silly stories about me but rest assured that I do know the sacredness of this calling. I hope your family has a wonderful Christmas! I have seen pictures and you are a good lookin' bunch! Keep up the good work. 
Sister Lambert is hard working and always striving to improve and serve the Lord more fully. I am very impressed with how quickly she progresses. I know that she will have important responsibilities in this mission. 
Merry Christmas! And if you haven't seen the church's video "He is the Gift" then you should watch it immediately. 
And if you wouldn't mind, would you pray that we will find people to teach? That would be a marvelous gift to us sisters. 
Thank you for being so supportive of the fabulous Sister Lambert. I just love that gal!

Christmas Season is Here!

The Christmas season is officially here!!! Since my companions are Americans... i was not allowed to be stoked about Christmas until after american thanks giving, which actually ended up being a bigger deal than Canadian thanks giving in the St.Johns branch. This is because pretty much half of the branch are engineers for Exon oil and so they are all from Texas and other places in the states... so for Canadian Thanksgiving I had mexican food...and this time I had two Thanksgiving dinners!! One on Thanksgiving with a member and the next day because all the oil families got together and had a big thanksgiving meal at the church (we werent actually invited, we showed up to cook our dinner at the church (canned soup...) cause its faster and found them there, and they felt bad so they let us eat with them haha)   

So something im working on this week and for the rest of my mission is being better at waking up in the morning... I will admit that I am not much of a morning person but I read a quote this last week from Elder Holland that said "You tell me how those first few hours of a missionary's day go, and I'll tell you how the rest of their day will go. Ill tell you how their week will go, how their month will go, how their year will go, and ultimately how their life will go." And so I realized that I didnt like how my mornings reflected my attitude. So now, instead of laying in bed for 4 minutes wishing I could sleep longer, I get up within like 5 seconds, say my prayers, make my bed, and start my 5BX workout. And as I've done that, I have noticed a huge difference in my day. Who knew how much that 4 minutes laying in bed affected my attitude!! lesson learned. 

We had our interviews with President Leavitt this week, and by interviews I mean him talking to the 3 of us for over an hour about our facebook usage and then talking to each of us for 5 minutes making sure all is well haha  In our mission they have really started encouraging us to use facebook and email way more. And its weird to do because I feel like I am not really doing missionary work when i am using facebook but I am!! I talk to way more people and effectively teach about the gospel more in 30 minutes on facebook then I do in 2 hours walking around downtown St.Johns. And its an amazing way to get in contact with less actives! The point that President made is that missionary work has been the same for the last 100 years, knocking on doors, talking to people in the streets, and getting ditched for appointments. If we are going to continue doing the same thing we can only expect the same results, but we need to be hastening the work which means we need to change the way we do things. The internet can be an amazing tool when used correctly! And people arent as open to allowing missionaries into their home anymore, or talking to us on the streets and giving us there info so we can contact them again, but people are more likely to be comfortable giving us there facebook name so we can send them a mormon message. Its great! 

I read a talk this week called "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ" by Elder Gene Cook (great talk, everyone should read it) and it really helped me recognize the role faith has in my work as a missionary. And i know this probably sounds like a "duh" moment to everyone else but it just really hit me this week. We need to be always willing to give everything to the Lord at the very moment he asks it of us. If you have any doubts in your mind. any fear, or any distractions, then you will not have the power you are capable of having. When you FULLY trust in the Lord you will have "sufficient faith that the people cannot disbelieve their words" what an amazing blessing we have been promised! Having faith does not just change our attitude but it is something that others will recognize and desire to know more about. There are so many blessings promised to us in the scriptures, all we need to do is work to be worthy of those blessings!! 

The church has put out a new video called He is the Gift and i will ask all of you to watch and share that video with the hashtag #sharethegift, its an amazing video and deserves to be shared be everyone!!! It is something we have been asked to use as our main focus in our missionary work this next month, we have pass along cards and we are asking everyone we meet to watch the video, lets show how we can use social networking to  bring Christ into the lives of everyone!!! 

I love you all, I wish I had pictures of the snow here but I dont yet, I will work on that! miss you, and hope everyone is staying warm!!