from Soeur to Sister Hanna – Mission update 7/6/2015

Monday we had a fun P-Day with the other missionaries in our district as we walked around the old part of our area and took pictures.

Tuesday we had a miracle! We had run out of kilometres (on our car) for the month and thus had to use our bikes. I had been looking over our plans for the day and for some reason I felt like forgoing a certain member pass-by and heading over instead to pass a note to another member who lived in the opposite direction. I told my companion after some hesitation, and we started out. As we were biking we saw one of our members playing soccer at a park, and after looking harder we saw that he was with one of the people we had talked to on the street the month before. We had given this man a pamphlet the last time we were out of kilometres and using bikes. We pulled over and began to talk to them, and after he expressed interest in our message, we taught him a lesson under a tree next to the soccer field. He seemed to be unloading on us everything he had been pondering about spiritual things, telling us that his friends didn’t want to discuss things like that with him. We have another appointment with him tomorrow! On the way home from that I got into a bike accident though and couldn’t really walk the rest of the day. We have started helping members do Visiting Teaching (because visiting teaching is just missionary work to members, and missionary work is just visiting teaching to nonmembers, Chpt. 1 of PMG) and we did a visit that night.

Wednesday we taught a lesson to another new investigator. He had already starting reading the Book of Mormon, and he is searching for the truth. He is open to learning and working towards finding things for himself, which is of course wonderful for him and his family. After that we saw Chimene!

Thursday we volunteered at the thrift store and then taught a lesson. Friday was Zone Training in Montreal. Saturday we had a lesson and helped prepare for the baptism of a little boy. We helped decorate, and I played piano. Chimene came, and it was so amazing to see her talk with the members and meet everyone. We love her so much! She is so cute. We also got our transfer calls. Yes everyone, I am going to Ottawa, which is bilingual but mainly English. I thought for sure I would stay longer.  It was so hard to accept that I will be leaving an area again. But it is just more people to love.

Sunday we said goodbye to everyone and prepared to go. All of the sisters in our apartment are leaving, so it is a madhouse. Wish me luck, I love you all!

I wanted a photo at this bench, and then when I sat on it immediately all of the elders started taking photos of me as well to annoy me. How funny.

    

Mission update from 6/29/15

This week was amazing. I learned a lot and I am really hoping that on transfer calls next Saturday I can stay in this area!
Monday we helped one of the 16 year olds, Rachel, to get ready for her ball (Canadian prom). I did makeup and nails and my companion did hair. She was so pretty! We watched Mormon Messages and talked together while we worked. She had introduced us to some of her friends the week before. Everyone in the area takes pictures for the ball in the same place, so Sister Willis and I decided to see all of the teenagers in their finery after Rachel was finished. It must have been odd for the students and their parents to see two Mormon missionaries taking pictures of everyone but whatever. I love dances and all the fun memories of getting dressed up to take photos.
Anyway, we got to where Rachel was with her friends and we said hi to all of them. The interesting thing though was that even though they had take photos already, they wanted to retake them with us! Some of them even wanted individual photos with the sister missionaries. It was amazing. One of Rachel’s friends was taught yesterday by the elders (we had a dinner scheduled and couldn’t go).
Tuesday I was on exchanges with one of the Sister Training Leaders. We stayed in Terrebonne so I was in charge of most of the planning. Everything, everything, everything fell through, even the backup plans. In the end we got a lesson. Our area went crazy that night, because it was the day before Quebec’s national holiday, la Fete de St.Jean-Baptiste. The renowned Quebecois rocker Eric Lapointe was singing in the old town and we could hear him wailing until late. Most of the streets were closed and everyone was in blue and white.
The next day we went to a St.Jean dinner and I taught my first full lesson in Spanish later in the evening!
The next day was a miracle. We met with all the people we wanted to see, including an investigator that we hadn’t been able to meet with. It turns out her family would lie to us and tell us she wasn’t there. Awkward. The next day we taught our investigator again. We proposed another baptismal date. We had both felt right about a certain date and it turns out it was her birthday.
On Saturday we had soccer, again with the nice Italians. We sang at a baptism for another nice Italian later that night. Who knew that I would be able to remember the descant for “I am a Child of God” after having left Primary so long ago?
Sunday we had a great church meeting and dinner afterward.
I love you all and thank you so much for your examples!