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

Well Happy Valentines Day!!! We celebrated our valentines day with a BAPTISM!!! It was awesome! He and his wife have been getting taught by both us and the Elders for a long time (i think Elder Raymant was teaching them first?) And Nealson finally did it!!! !. It is amazing how God prepares people and puts them in the right path to discover the truth! 

Yesterday was a fun day... people were saying it was about 40-50cm of snow? I dont know how true that is but the snow banks are all taller than me now so i would say that is about right... We went to the church in the morning and only 7 people showed up to church which is better than cancelling!! And then we stayed at the church and just had all our lessons over skype instead. When we left at about 5 we got stuck in the parking lot but made it out after about 15 minutes so all was well. Luckily it was crazy windy and the snow was really light so it just blew right off the car haha We went to visit a former investigator that just lives across the street from the church and decided that it is obviously best to just walk. The snow in the front of the church had not been walked through most of the winter (we all go through the back) and so we trecked through waist deep snow to get to his house haha he wasnt even home..... 

This morning we had to dig our way into the church, the snow against the door was as tall as me!! But we made it inside!! Getting out is going to be just as fun haha but we really have been loving the snow. Sister Pitcher is only 5'3" so watching her waddle through the snow is absolutely hilarious. 

This week has been a great week for me, i feel as though my testimony has grown so much in this last while. I do not have a big spiritual story, nor an insane experience about why my testimony has grown so much. But God has blessed me with tender mercies every day to keep me going and gives me answers to my prayers every single day to keep me constantly aware of his existence. 

I was re-reading the Fourth Missionary talk and something that really stuck out to me was how it said that to live as the fourth missionary is the "only intelligent way" of living. ITS SO TRUE. God has promised us soooo many blessing, all we need to do is be obedient and have faith. So whenever i am feeling down because we have a small teaching pool i remember that God has promised us people to teach, and God never lies so obviously i am doing something wrong on my end, i find it, i fix it, and BAM we meet someone who is ready and eager to be taught about the gospel... ITS AMAZING. I seriously get so excited about this gospel. I can not show my excitement through words and i have a hard time writing out my testimony... But i promise you with all my heart that this church is true. We are being led by a Prophet who is called by God, the Book Of Mormon is the most true book on earth, and if you read it with sincere desire and a open heart, you will find a testimony and it will bring you more joy than any other earthly thing. The most amazing thing i have ever had the honor to do on my mission is give this promise to people. To give them the hope that God is there, and he loves them. Sharing this truth has brought me so much happiness and has really changed my life. I cannot deny the feelings i have felt, nor the miracles i witness every single day. 

I am over joyed to be a member of Christs army in these Latter Days, i thank everyone for there love and support. I am sorry i dont have any super funny stories this week! I really do wish i had a video of Sister Pitcher running through the snow... but sadly not. 

Love, 

Sister Lambert 

Here are some pictures of the snow though, the one of me is at about 5pm yesterday, so the snow storm was not even over yet and thats how much snow we had haha and then the second one is sister Pitcher locking me out of the church... its okay though, we were still in sight and sound.

Feb. 9, Gettin ur done in Fredricton

This week was pretty great! Quote of the week goes to sister Pitcher, when we were street contacting downtown we were not having a lot of success and feeling a bit down, so then i started talking about how us feeling down is just straight up dumb. We are disciples of Jesus Christ, and we have power from Him to (according to our faith) do anything we want to do. Including bringing the spirit into peoples lives. And Sister Pitcher thought about it for a bit and then said "we can do anything? okay, next blind person we meet, i dare you to heal them"... Maybe its not as funny when i retell the story, but we had a good laugh about it. (have you seen the progression of my humor dulling? i have...) 

So as of tomorrow, i will have been out for 5 months.... SO CRAZY. i dont know if that sounds like a long time to anyone else, but it has just flown by. Sadly... i still feel pretty new. I was hoping to be awesome and waaay experienced and know everything by now. But sadly that is not how it works, and thats okay... because although i have not learned everything yet.... i have learned more in the last 5 months than i have in the last 5 years. Missions truly are amazing. How many opportunities do you have to drop everything worldly, and focus just on serving others. It is so rewarding. We were talking to a lady last night who is "unconvertable" (we will see about that...) and she said that something that is so impressive about our church is the young people, never has she seen such a large amount of young people so willing to serve God. And who are so happy and friendly while doing it. And the reason that we are so different in that way is simple. What we come to teach is true. It is the only possibility. There is no way that a church without the spirit could convince so many 18-19 year olds to abandon everything for 2 years, pay for themselves, and then give them no supervision, a car, an apartment, a pre-paid credit card, a new area where they dont know a soul, and expect them to follow the rules, work hard, and serve the Lord with all there heart, might, mind and strength. It is only through the Holy Ghost and through love and guidance from our Heavenly Father that we are able to achieve this. Our message is that important. It is true, i dont have a single doubt in my mind that what i have to share can change the lives of every single person in the world. I have had to much proof, too many experiences to ever deny this. 

God has promised us so many blessing, if we are to be obedient. D&C 82:10 "I the Lord am bound when ye do what i say, but when ye do not what i say, ye have no promise" Because God is a perfect being, when he promises us something, we can be 100% positive that that promise will be fulfilled. Having this knowledge has gotten me through some hard times. When our teaching pool is small i just remember that God has promised me people to teach, therefore i need to stop and think about what i am doing in my daily routine that is blocking me from receiving this blessing. And as i fix those small things, the blessings poor in. And so this is my challenge to everyone: Do a life inventory, think of the small things that you are doing that could be blocking you from the promises that God has given you. I promise that as you do this, you will find a closer relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Let me know how it goes! I will be following up!!! 

Fun story of the week: A nice family from Nigeria (who is baptist) decided that because we are so pretty and nice, that they needed to help us "find the truth so we can be saved" which is very nice of them... so sweet. 

Hey, i love you all :) thank you for reading to my crazy rants, hope you enjoy them!! Be safe and enjoy life!

Love, Sister Lambert 

February 2, New Start

Hello everyone :) This is going to be a shorter email, not a whole lot happens during transfer week because of travels and getting settled and all that fun stuff.

Its been cool being able to show Sister Pitcher around Fredericton. We had a super fun snow storm at the beginning of the week. We weren't allowed to drive our cars because the weather was crazy so me and Sister Hughes walked to the church instead. We went because we decided to skype all of our investigators since we couldn't make it to our appointments. The walk there wasnt to bad, but on our walk back..it was an adventure. It started snowing in the morning at about 8am, by 10am the snow was too our ankles. By 5pm the snow was  above our knees. it was pretty awesome. We had a good laugh walking home in that. We ended up just walking on the road because they had already cleared those. While we were at the church we asked one of the Elders to take a picture of us in the snow and he ended up locking us out of the church...that was less fun. BUT we got our picture...  The next morning it took us like 20 min to clear off our car. Then we had another smaller snow storm on friday which wasnt to bad, now its like -25 which isnt too fun but all is well, we can still drive in this weather at least. There are rumors of more storms coming so we will see what happens. 

I am really excited for this transfer! Sister Pitcher and I have both only been out for less than 5 months so it will be a awesome experience to be able to learn together on how to be as effective as possible. The Elders in our area have more investigators than us right now, and it is really starting to bring out my competitive side. Im working to make sure i keep my motivation centered on the Lord. But sometimes i just really want to beat those elders, its hard though because they are also the Zone Leaders so they need to be setting the example and be getting the most key indicators in the zone. But we can do this. (to bring others unto christ of course....i promise i am trying to keep my motivation in the right place) 

We have been working a lot with less-actives. Its pretty cool because we havent really sought out less-actives to work with, they just fall into our path. Of course we are always looking for people to teach but i really think at this time, these less-actives are people we need to be working with. Its really sad to see people who have a strong testimony in the truth of this gospel, but just simply forget about the blessings they can receive because they maybe took offence to something someone said, or they were swayed by a false truth. But it is amazing to see the change when they remember that relationship they once had with God, and to see the shock in there eyes when they finally realize all that they did to distance themselves without even realizing it. I am really excited to really help people find that truth once again! 

The great things about missions is being able to build my testimony of God's love every sinlge day. I have seen God answer my prayers this week and i know it is because He is always watching over me. And not just me but everyone. Faith is the key. It can be sooo scary to give everything to one person, hopes, dreams, desires, and just have faith that it will work out. But When you  give these things to God, He doesn't just make things "work out" He shapes them into a greatness that you could never have even imagined. That's what's great about God, He will always go above and beyond all you thought possible. 

I am so blessed to be serving here in New Brunswick. I am where i need to be. Thanks for all the support i am given. I feel so blessed to have been raised in such an amazing family, surrounded by friends who are so supportive in all that i do. 

I love you all :) Hope the weather at home isnt as crazy as it is here!!!!

Love, Sister Lambert :) 

January 26th Transfers

So yes, we did get transfer news this week. And thank the heavens i am staying in Zion. I am going to be in Fredericton for another transfer and my new companion is Sister Pitcher who was my MTC companion!!! I am beyond excited!!!! I love that woman. We got along great and worked really well together so i cant wait to be serving with her :) We are both pretty young missionaries so it will be a great opportunity for us to really step up and stop relying on our companions for everything. 

With missionaries dying.... there is a bunch going home this transfer so they are "dying". We have been making jokes for the last two weeks about Elder Tusa being on his death bed. This is Elder Torrie's 5th kill. He is basically the assassin of the mission. But next transfer there are a bunch of missionaries going home to, basically all of our leaders (zone leaders and STL's) are going home! So it will be interesting to see what happens! Almost every Elder i have come out with from the MTC is either training or a district leader this transfer! There were no sisters that came out this transfer, just elders. 

 Yesterday we had a Q&A with Elder Torrie. We asked questions about how to be a good leader, effectiveness, helping others improve, and working with hard companions. I recognized a lot i need to change in myself, not just in my actions. But changing my heart and my will to fit the Lords. But what i need to start with is changing my motivation. It is easy to get caught up in the goals and the key indicators, as well as working to impress President and the other missionaries, that you can easily forget your true purpose. I was sitting in a lesson the other day, and last minute, the member that was supposed to come ditched out. And my first reaction was "dangit, now we wont hit our goal for a member present" My first thought was about the goal we set, not about the girl we were teaching. In the moment i realized that this is not the way i should be thinking, and i needed to change. You will not do any good without the spirit, but the spirit is here to help us bring others unto christ, not to help us hit the standard. 

I think this same thought of motivation can be transferred to many different aspects of the gospel. Our we praying out of habit or for sincere desire to communicate with our Heavenly Father? Are we following the guidance given from our Prophets because we recognize the blessings it brings and out of desire to come closer to Christ, or because we dont want to be judged by those around us for not following them? It goes back to the CES devotional given a couple weeks ago. It all comes down to what is your motivation. What do you truly desire?

Just something to ponder... and if you recognize that your desire is not in the right place, just remember: everything leads back to the atonement. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ all things are possible. It is only through Him that the desires of our hearts can be changed. It all leads to that foundation, that testimony in Him. 

I love you all :) my address is the same so if you sent me mail, i will get it. If you havent sent me mail... thats okay. 

Have a wonderful week :) CONGRATS TO KENSEY AND ALEX ON THE BABY!!!!!!!!! i am so sad i wont meet Lydia, but all im missing is the boring stage where all you can do is look at her anyways, ill get back just in time for when she can really start playing and interacting with everyone :)