Monday, February 27, 2012

Picnic at the church

*Attached is a picture of our picnic at the church. We didn't have very many dinner appts this week and it takes to many kilometers to go home for dinner so we had dinner at the church! haha It was so pathetic I took a picture of it. 

Hello Everybody!                                                                               2/27/12
Well, it's been a pretty good week. Is that what I always say? haha We picked up some new investigators! Let me tell you about everyone we're teaching...don't worry, it won't take that long. The pickins are slim...Canada is harsh!
We were going through "former investigators" last week, which means they have been taught atleast once by other missionaries, and we called Laura. She was excited to hear from us and we set up an appt for later in the week. Well, the lesson went INCREDIBLE. The spirit was so strong and she is so ready to hear the Gospel! She had sat in on a lesson last May with an older lady who lives in her building but wasn't interested in hearing more from the elders. We taught her the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then she just started asking questions, especially about life after death. So we taught her the Plan of Salvation as well! Invited her to be baptized and she said yes! She is about 30 and we have gained a great relationship with her. It's crazy because we hardly even know her but it feels like we've been good friends for a long time. She works in downtown Toronto and invited us to take the train with her on a Pday so we can go to the CN Tower! :) double excitement! We're teaching her again tonight!
We also are teaching  A FAMILY! We also found them in the former investigators list. Their name is the Alegados. Wanna hear something crazy? The mom's brother is in the area 70 in the Phillipines. Crazy, eh? We just dropped by and she let us in and was excited to invite us back. She said she can see the happiness in her brother's family and would love her family to be happy too. We're teaching them this coming week as well. Pray that these appointments go well! It's such a huge blessing.
Now, about Vivian. She didn't show up to church yesterday so we called her and her husband told us she got called into work. So last night we dropped by and she was home. We asked her if this is something SHE wants because she understands the commitment and baptism is a big deal. She layed it all out on the table. She is so upset about her job right now and they basically work her like a slave. She's supporting her family, as well as her family back in Congo with small support from her separated husband. This is all with her minimum wage at the dollar store. She wants to spend more time with her family and even making time to meet with us is a huge sacrifice for her. So we're setting her up with our ward employment specialist and we're going to get her physical needs met a little better before her spiritual needs can be met. She wants to be able to give all she can to God when she is baptized and she told us she has way to much to worry about that she doesn't think she'd be able to do that right now. Her testimony is strong and she will be baptized but first sister wirthlin and I are going to help her become a little more happy and confident with her life. As well as getting the ward to fellowship and really help her out as well. It's the beginning of an upward climb for her! 
Last but not least, Kimberly- who's been taught for a long time by missionaries but we're taking a big of a different approach this time. We're gaining a great trust with her and she's been coming out to church. She has 2 little girls that are fun to play with as well.
So those are the main people we've been seeing lately.
So, you asked about the ward changes. Nothing happened in the ward, we still are in the Oakville ward but we're in the Hamilton stake now. So we drove out there this Wednesday for our district meeting. hamilton is really pretty! It looks like a European town. There are bridges that go over Lake Ontario...or other little lakes...and lots of trees and even hills! There's also a "castle" but it doesn't look like a castle, it looks more like a mansion. It's still cool though! Our new district is pretty big. There are 6 companionships. A funny story for ya, Elder Wheeler sat down next to me and we were talking about how we both went to BYUI and he asked where i lived and turns out we were in the same ward! haha I thought he had looked kinda familiar but i thought that was funny. Small world, eh?
We got a text from a recent convert that we meet with sometimes, her name is Victoria and she was like, "I just did baptisms at the temple and I was baptized for Elisabeth Messer!" Think we're related?! 
I got the Barlows package, thank you!
To be closer to Hamilton, we're trying to move to Oakville. It makes sense because right now we live out of our area and travel A LOT. We're probably moving to an apartment complex on Marine Drive in Oakville which is one block from Lake Ontario! If there's a tsunami we're in trouble. That's a weird thing about Lake Ontario is it looks like the ocean because it's so big. Just some useless information for ya.
Answering your questions...
-Nope, we're not teaching ESL anymore! It's sad but the elders in our old district aren't even in our stake anymore so it doesn't make much sense plus we weren't getting any new investigators out of it for us, but we were setting the elders up with some great people. haha
-I don't know if Archie has gotten his call yet. i just heard he was going.
-Street contacting effectively is just all about being bold. Instead of stopping the people and talking to them, you walk with them. Then they're kind of stuck with you. But also just being super bold and talking to EVERYONE because sometimes people look scary but they're really not!
That is really cool that mady got into BYU. Does she know where she's gonna live or what classes/major she wants yet? Lots to think about! :) All of her friends going off in a different direction, that's cool!
Thanks for all your prayers!
Sister Messer

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