November 30... Tour de Faith

This week was crazy. But so rewarding! 

So to start we had our zone conferences this weekend. Since me and Sister Weckesser were giving a training we went to all 3 (Moncton NB, Dartmouth NS, Gander NFLD) But even though we were only in our area for a day and a half we still got two new investigators and they are pretty cool! Good things are to come here in Halifax :) 

In the zone conference the Assistants gave a training on follow-up, then President announced the mission goals for 2016, then we gave a training on basically how we are going to accomplish these goals and on planning smart. It was a really good conference. THEN PRESIDENT ANNOUNCED THE "TOUR DE FAITH". I am putting this in capitals because we have been planning it for a month or so now and I am SO stoked. Basically it is a competition between Elders and Sisters. It is a week long challenge to shoot off the new mission goals. The standard for the week is 3O hours of finding and at least 300 contacts. We have different challenges each day (how many Book Of Mormons can you pass out, how many baptismal invites can you give, etc.) and so we will have daily winners and then over-all winners. And whoever loses has to serve dinner at the Christmas Conference and the winners receive prizes. Needless to say it is going to be awesome. So this is starting TODAY. Let the games begin... Being in Halifax we have a pretty sweet advantage when it comes to contacts so we have been taken out of the daily winners running but we still can contribute to the over all total. We have made a goal of 1000 contacts this week. The family sisters have the same goal. It's going to be so awesome. We are gonna be so tired and so sick of talking to people but it will be sooo worth it. Pray for us!!! 

We ended our long week of conferences in NFLD and went on exchanges in Bay Roberts. I love it there. It's small, but soo pretty. And Newfies are just the funniest people in the world. I will send a picture of the seal skin Santa hat I found at a craft fair we contacted at haha The only bad part of our trip was getting home from the airport at 2am Sunday and still needing to get up at 6:30am because we need to be obedient because we NEED the blessings! Plus we were doing a mission wide fast to start off the Tour Da Faith, so my brain was basically out of commission all day haha. It was a struggle.... 

With that said, I feel so blessed for the opportunities I have been given on my mission. At the beginning I dreaded the idea of EVER having to give any type of training or even talk in front of missionaries or members. But these experiences that I've had really made me love it! I LOVE giving trainings now. Preparing them will always be a struggle but the spirit that is felt as you present is remarkable. And getting to know all the missionaries along the way is a huge blessing. I find it amazing how God knows exactly what we need to grow and progress not only in our testimonies but in all other skills that can benefit many aspects of our lives. I hope to make the best of these last 4 months and do all I can to fulfill my purpose here and take as much knowledge and experience home with me. 

Love you all :) Have a great week! Watch the new Christmas video that the church put out because it is adorable, and start thinking of ways that you are going to serve the Lord this Christmas Season :) 

Love, 

Sister Lambert 

September 7th.... 1 Year Anniversary

Yes yes, the rumors are true.... I HAVE BEEN OUT FOR A YEAR. my goodness.... it's crazy. 

This week as flown by!!!! Moncton. Dartmouth and NFLD Zone conference.... so much fun! But i am a wee bit tired now... just a little bit. The conference was jam packed with info and it was very uplifting and inspiring! We had the couple who is in charge of the medical stuff in our mission (and like 6 other missions) come and give us a training on how to stay healthy and stress free. Then Brother Cartier who is the CES representative in the east coast (and the institute teacher here in Halifax) gave us a training on how to study the scriptures and get the most out of our personal study. That was an awesome training! It is amazing how much you can get out of a single verse of scripture. 

THEN President gave a training on member presents and near the end said "and now the STLTs are going to train you on IPERF" (a new concept that we had just learned about from president the night before) So we had zero idea he wanted us to train on it.... and we barely understood it ourselves....but we did it. And it turned out pretty good. It was a fun surprise.... 

It was so great going back to Newfoundland again! Me and Sister Fenn both served there so it was a good time. And my old comp Sister Pitcher was just made STL there so we got to go on exchanges with them :) It was a struggle getting to NFLD though. The assistants put my name on the ticket as Emily Fenn, so i couldnt use the ticket. And to get my name changed on the ticket was a hour and a half long process.... and the check in for my flight was closing in 10 minutes... so i had to buy a whole new ticket (didnt help that it was 5am so nobody was answering the phone) ive decided that airports are the biggest rip off in the world... so sneaky with all there hidden fees and silly rules. anyways, it was great once i got there but a bit stressful. I had a nice chat with the assistants after that. But all is well!!!! 

I am loving serving with Sister Fenn, she is so fun!!! We are getting along great :) 

I may have sinned.... i didnt write in my journal all week.... MY BAD! so i dont have much to tell...Sister Fenn almost got hit by a car in Halifax and then we got in a car crash in NFLD. THAT was fun. I would tell details, but i think its funner to just leave it at that. 

The greatest thing that i learned at Zone Conference is that their are two reasons to read the scriptures: 

1.To be changed

2.To obtain light and truth that will save me, my family, and those i serve. 

And if these are not the reasons we have in mind as we read, then they need to become the reason! 

Thanks for the emails and the support, It is a blessing to reflect every monday on the love and care i receive from those at home. Love you all lots :) 

Sister Lambert 

August 24... Lots of Training

Oh well hello everyone.... Long time no talk! 

Okay. CRAZY heat wave has hit Nova Scotia.... IM DYING HERE.

This has been a pretty crazy week! First off, I am now in a trio!!! But just for the week. One of the cole harbour sisters got sick and needed to go home and so sister Smith is now here with us in Halifax 😊 it has been a blast since she speaks some Chinese and our investigators love it! So Sister Smith and Sister Howell are BOTHA going home on Thursday soooo this is going to be a short email, I got two dying missionaries to keep busy here! 

We had transfer letters!!! Drum role..... I'm staying here in Hali (WOOHOO) and Sister Fenn is going to be my new companion! Which I am so excited about because I love her! She is so fun! 2 days before transfers I was telling president that I had a feeling that Sister Fenn was going to be my companion (because we are the only STLs that have been out for 2 transfers, everyone else is newer or going home) and so when I saw him at our weekly meeting on Sunday he's like "I didn't make her your companion cause you asked me to okay? Don't think you can just go around requesting companions..." Hahaha I get what I want here.... Guess you could say I run the show 😉

This next transfer is going to be CRAZY. I'm over 6 sets of sisters now. That wouldn't be too crazy but it doesn't help that they are spread over the whole mission. So I have to help train 4 new STLs and then I have 2 sets of regular missionaries as well. I'm going to be going to Newfoundland again next week because I might be giving a training at zone conference and to go on exchanges with the sisters there... Then we are going to be teaching all of our investigators as well as the assistants investigators because they are going to be traveling with the member 70 that is touring the mission this transfer. So they will basically be out of there area for 2-3 week. All while trying to fit in my 5 other exchanges in the first 3 weeks of the transfer. Woohoo..... Oh, and president said that he wants me to become an "expert" in working on campus. Since our mission focus is going to be on the YSA and institute he is going to give me this transfer to get really good at working on campus and then the next transfer train the mission on it... He told it to me AND the assistants but they are going to be gone for pretty much the first 3 weeks of the transfer so they put it on me... And sister Fenn of course, but she doesn't know it yet. So this transfer has felt so crazy and went by sooo fast... And next transfer is going to be even more crazy and go by even faster! But it's okay.... We got this...with a whole lot of the Lord’s help. 

I'm sorry but I have no spiritual thought this week! We went to Peggy's Cove today with Ryan and the Tegge girls (they are from Edmonton, one went to school here and the other served her mission here) it was lots of fun! 

Love you, I might not have time to respond personally to very many of you! Sorry!!! 

August 10th... That's How IT's Done Folks

Yes it is true. Today is my 11 month mark. And YES it is ALSO true that i am going to be turning the big 2-0 on friday..... the teen life of wild games and adventures is over... or have they just begun? i guess only time will tell. 

My goodness what a fun week this has been! I must repent, i only wrote in my journal once this past week, and it was last night... and this morning... 

So on Tuesday we got 3 new investigators! They are all chinese (of course) Sam and Amber are students, they are dating and so darn cute. They have been here for 3 years and have pretty good english. We are also teaching Ambers mom Mandy, she has only been here for a month, and has brutal english, luckily we have some pretty solid Chinese members in the ward to help us out. In our first lesson Sam said "do you always talk to strangers on the street?" and so we explained how thats how we find people to teach, and he's like "i introduce you to my Chinese friends, you teach them so you dont have to talk to strangers on street anymore" hahaha it was great. On Sunday Sam and Mandy came to church, our recent convert sharon translated for Mandy and we sat with Sam. The gospel principles lesson was on tithing, Sam turned to us and said "i want to pay tithing" "okay great, you don't need to pay tithing unless you are a member though" "what do i need to do to become mormon?" "get baptized, do you know what baptism means?" "no" *explain baptism* Sam: "okay,i want to do that" ....... and thats how its done folks. 

We also started teaching another girl who lives next door to our investigator Glenna, her name is Kim. She converted to Muslim 9 years ago but is very interested in what we teach. She has a 2 page list of questions for us! We went over and started answering some of her questions. When we started we said that we are not perfect teachers, and we may not be able to answer all her questions but that doesn't mean that there is not an answer, and that the ones we don't know we will write down and study. Then Glenna stops us and says to Kim "if the sisters dont know the answers, you can just read the Book Of Mormon. It answers lots of questions" .... gotta love when an investigator teaches for you. 

How great are the people we are teaching right now???? so great... 

YES I DID GET TO GO TO NEWFOUNDLAND THIS WEEK! AND IT WAS SO GREAT! So we were supposed to go tuesday night, but then we may or may not have missed our flight... woops. But fret not, we left wednesday morning instead. We get to St. Johns safely and work with the St. Johns sisters for the day. We went to the Regatta which is apparently the oldest boat race in North America. It was pretty sweet! There were thousands of people there and it was pretty insane. The Sister i was with has some pretty bad anxiety so we took it pretty easy while we were in the crowd. It is hard to talk to people about the gospel in large and loud crowds, but i still managed to pass out at least one Book Of Mormon. Then we went to Bay Roberts and had an awesome time with Sister Christiansen and Sister Fenn. Im 99% sure Sister Fenn is going to be my next companion, she is an awesome sister! 

I forgot how easy it is to talk to Newfies. They are just so nice!!! You really will not meet a kinder soul, sadly more often then not they are also very content with mediocrity, making them hard to teach. But you will have a hoot talking to them!! 

But i am happy to be home in Halifax. There are some great works going on here and im very excited for these next couple of months!!! 

As for my birthday. The YSA is having a activity in honor of me turning 20. okay... well they might not know its my birthday, and they may have planned the activity before i got here... but my plan is to just walk in and be like "wow!! for me? THANKS guys!" and hopefully everyone will just play along.... 

I know these 7 months are going to fly by, and i hope to cherish every moment. It was a very cool experience to be back in my first area and see the progress i have made over the last 11 months. And i still have so much more work to do!!! And so little time!!! So i better get off this computer and get to work! 

Love you all lots, thank you for the early birthday wishes! have a great week me duckies' 

Love, 

Sister Lambert

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 :) 

June 1st.... transfer to Cole Harbour, NS

So transfers letters have come... and they are pretty crazy... but i think that maybe i'll just tell you about it another time... 

JUST KIDDING (don't kill me mom) They are finally sick of me here in Fredericton and kicking me out.... I am going to be serving in Cole Habour Nova Scotia as a Sister Training Leader.... you may ask "Sister Lambert, does President really think that you can be an STL?" and my answer would be "i guess so..." you may follow up with a "But why?" and my answer would be "I DON'T KNOW" but... i know that the Lord knows i can do it, which must mean that i can do it. And so i am very excited to be serving these sisters! I also get to live right beside the temple which is SO exciting!! And i will be serving by the mission home for President and Sister Leavitt's last month in the mission and get to be here for the new mission president coming in! So that will be fun :) 

My new companion with be Sister Shannon and i know nothing about her except i'm pretty sure she is from Ontario.... but that's all my knowledge. 

I am very very sad to be leaving Fredericton... i have grown great freindship's with a lot of members and i will miss the people that we are working with. I am so lucky to have gotten to know the people here and i am so grateful for social media so that i can stay in touch with many of my now close friends! After i gave my leaving testimony in the ward one girl did the hunger games whistle and held up the 3 fingers (for anyone who has seen the hunger games movie) it was SUPER inappropriate but pretty funny...  

I am sad to leave the young women here. We had a really awesome lesson with one of them about modesty the other day. My and this girls mind work the exact same and so i relate to her perfectly. It was a great spirit filled lesson that really reminded me of why I am here and that we as missionaries are sent to specific places for a reason. I know that i needed to be here in Fredericotn for this time but now the Lord has work for me to do in Cole Harbour. 

Our last Pday was a pretty fun way to end my time here, we went to a waterfall with the Elders and a older member of the ward. He loves taking pictures so got a ton of pictures of us. He even made us pose in a few of them so some of the pictures looks like cheesy 60's family portraits. It's awesome. 

I don't know if any of you saw it on the news, but Fredericton had a pretty crazy flash flood this week. Nothing bad, no serious damage but the power was out for a while and the weather was pretty insane. But do you know what sucks? I MISSED IT. We were on exchanges so i was in St.John and missed all the cool craziness.... but oh well.... 

To end off, i had an amazing experience with family history this week! I would like to tell you all a small tale of my ancestor Gudmund Gudmonson. He and his wife and 10 kids were baptized into The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints in Iceland in the late 1800's and moved to Utah after being rejected from family and neighbors for there beliefs. It is a great story and there is lots to tell but for the sake of time and length of the email i want to share one part of the story

 "He was a very religious man and had many faith promoting experiences. He was a great believer and had great faith in prayer. At one time when some of the Saints treated the family so badly father doubted if the Church was right so he prayed to the Lord to guide him and to show him the way. This he soon found and spent his entire life working in the church, paying his honest tithes and offerings."

I know to many this does not seem like that big of a deal. But if Gudmund had chosen at this brief trial of his faith to become offended, resulting in inactivity, who knows if i would be here serving a mission right now. Who knows if his family would have stayed active, then resulting in his grandchildren and great grandchildren not being raised with a knowledge of the gospel. I know this may seem a bit extreme but i have worked with soo many less actives who have chosen to be offended, and because of it, their kids aren't baptized, or they have taken on the attitude of there parents, creating a hate for the church, then losing the joy they could have found in the gospel, simply because they had parent who chose to be offended. It is so important to remember that our decisions do not effect just us. I'm sure Gudmund didn't think in 1866 "oh i better stay active in the church so my great-great-great-great granddaughter can serve a mission" but it does not mean his choice didn't effect me. It changed my life as much as it did his.

I pray for those who have made the mistake to take offence, and i pray that i will never make that same mistake. 

I don't know what my new address is going to be, so stay tuned, i will have to let you know next week! I am excited for the adventure that lies ahead of me. I know this will be a time of great growth and i am very excited! I love you all, and thank you for the love and support you all give me! Miss you lots, sorry if the last part seems a bit intense but it is something that i am very passionate about! I know this gospel is true and i hate to see people miss out on the joy that comes from this truth due to the decisions of others. 

Love ya'll

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

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!!

Burden free life

I read a talk this week called The Challenging and Testifying Missionary, great talk. It really made me realize that I need to really let go of my fear. This message is so important and I need to help people recognize that. I also need to worry less about how I teach a lesson and focus on just inviting the spirit, because in the end it is the Spirit who is the true teacher. 

I have thought a lot about trials and the lessons you learn from them. Like I said in the letter last week, this is a time for us to learn and grow. And something I have learned to do on my mission is when I get frustrated and things just really are not working out, I just stop and  say "what am I supposed to be learning right now" and as I ponder that, I receive personal revelation on what I am supposed to learn, and what I need to do to apply that lesson to my life and how I do my work. And once you recognize what you need to learn, it never feels like a burden, its an exciting opportunity to grow even more and become closer to our Heavenly Father. Its a really great way to achieve a burden free life. Don't think of trials as burdens, think of them as opportunities!! 

I love to hear everything that is going on at home, it makes me happy when people reference my letters so that I know people are actually reading them haha I love you all, I will try my best to answer everyones emails but I do promise I read every single one!! I am happy to be serving here, I know this is where I need to be and that I am growing from the experiences I am having.

Proselyting in the rain for three days straight!!!

October 27th Changing my Heart

In my personal study I was reading the fourth missionary talk and pondering a lot about what I need to do to improve my missionary work and my attitude towards the work. I even talked about it in my farewell talk a bit, about changing the intents of your heart and giving your desires to the Lord. I seemed to have an idea that you can do it like a flip of a switch, easy. Just give yourself to the Lord. no problem. 

Changing the intents of your heart is hard, it can be a real challenge. And its a process, it really does take a lot of change. But what is the purpose of our time here on earth? to change!! Saying that its in your nature or its just the way you are, is never an excuse. The atonement and the plan of salvation is tilting everything in our favor, with help from the Lord and sincere prayer, we can be like our savior, and be able to live up to our divine potential that we each have received in the pre existence. Nothing we can create ourselves will be better than what the Lord has created for us. 

A barrier I've always had is that I never had good grades, I never thought about myself as a smart person and that has limited my ability to progress, I was constantly limiting myself. But I am a daughter of God, I was born in this gospel to progress, and help others to progress.I am a daughter of a King and therefore I have no limits to what I can become. If I want to be loving, caring, affectionate, AND smart. than I am going to work to become that. I never got good grades in school because I didnt allow myself to.  This is a life of no limits. This is a time where we can learn to become like God. 

My challenge to everyone this week is to think about the barriers you each have and about how you can overcome them, and what steps you need to take to become the person you want to become. Because most of the barriers in life are mental

ones that we have created ourselves.