Born As On Wings Of Eagles

Threesome - Sorry Sister Hardy closed her eyes

 Hi everyone. 

I sure love hearing from you. 

It raining it's pouring, the old man is snoring...I think we are in the middle of a tropical storm!! We had a great week though!! We found three new people to teach!! A couple, Wayne and Michele are on date for baptism - July 18. And Arnold, he is an older man with a lot of questions about the Plan of Salvation. His wife and youngest son died three weeks apart both suddenly and that is still very hard on him. We continue to see great progress with all those that we are working with, especially the less actives. We are focusing on getting them to read the Book of Mormon because the reason that most people go less active or just stop progressing in heir spiritual growth IS THEY HAVE SIMPLY STOPPED READING THE BOOK OF MORMON. It is the key to continuing conversion and I feel that so many people forget that. Don't ever stop reading. And if you have stopped - start again today!! We have seen great changes in those who have committed to read every day. I love being in a trio because we just have more fun!!!! We crammed the third bed in our room last Monday so now there is basically just one HUGE bed and it's fun to stay up and have deep, awesome, conversation about life and the gospel. We are getting along well though we are all very different. It seems to work. And I get to drive the big red van - so you can't miss us around town!! 

Today I want to leave you with something that has been on my mind lately. One of my favorite hymns is number 72 "Praise to the Lord, The Almighty" (I didn't know it before my mission but now it's my favorite 

These are the words of the second verse:

"Praise to the Lord! Over all things he gloriously reigneth.

Borne as on eagle wings, safely his Saints he sustaineth.

Hast thou not seen, How all thou needest hath been

Granted in what he ordaineth?" 

I would like you to think about the second line. What does it mean to be "borne as on eagle wings"? How do you think that would feel? The Lord will sustain His people. He will strengthen and uphold those who love Him. He will keep them safe from the temptations and evils of the world. 

I read a powerful, life changing talk by Sheri Dew this week. It's called, "You were born to lead, you were born for glory." She ends the talk by explaining how we can access the sustaining power of God in our lives to help us fight the last and greatest battle against the adversary --

"My dear young friends, I repeat that these are the days in which a true leader wants to live. These are days when opportunities to change lives and even destinies are nearly endless. You are running the anchor leg of the relay because you were born to lead. You were born for glory.

In conclusion, in the words of Moroni, “I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written” (Ether 12:41) so that you experience for yourself the power in Jesus Christ to strengthen you, to sanctify you, and to help you run this leg of the relay. Don’t ever underestimate the power of Jesus Christ to help you. Isaiah said it this way:

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? . . .

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. . . .

. . . They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. [Isaiah 40:28–31]"

Again Isaiah talks about eagle wings   

"..SEEK THIS JESUS.." It is when we put in the effort to develop a personal relationship with our Savior. Specifically through heart-felt prayer and taking the time to listen - that we access this sustaining power in our lives, divine guidance, hope. Strive to have this relationship with Him, it is so important. 

I know that though the world would bring us down, Christ can lift us higher.

I know that though we all face moral appetite and weakness, Christ can make us strong.

I know that though we all face fear and regret, Christ can forgive and keep us safe.

I know that when we face heartache and loss, Christ will bear us up - as on eagle wings. 

He won't let us faint. He won't let us fall. 

I love you all. I hope you have a happy week - you deserve it!!!

Love, Sister GG

YM and YW service project!

here is the big red van we drive!

everyone sees us coming!

The Power Is In You

green food for her "green companion"

Hi people!!!

Sounds like things are going well. Hope you are having lots of fun in the sun - we are!!!!

I don't have much time today, we are leaving in a few minutes to drive to Halifax to pick up our new companion!! We are going to be in a trio (woot woot 3X the fun!!) But I still wanted to write and give you a quick update. It has been an amazing week. I'm sorry to keep bringing up the mosquitos but we just learned that all of the bats in Nova Scotia contracted some disease or fungus and they all died. Therefore they are not here to eat twice their weight in mosquitos...therefore we get eaten ALIVE!! I can't even describe how many attack us when we are out. We were at a door and one landed on me face..the guy almost smacked it off!! Oh dear. It's itchy (I told you that my mosquito bites never itch..I lied. Stinking Canadian mosquitos).

On Monday we were at a dinner appointment and because my companion is a "greenie" they fed us an ENTIRELY green meal..green water, green butter, green rolls, green coleslaw, green turnips, green mashed potatoes and green beans. The only thing that was not green was the chicken..the whole time we were eating I was thinking "mind over matter, mind over matter." My mind was saying - no one should ever eat anything this green. It was an experience!!

We found a new investigator named Korona!! She lives on base and has the cutest three year old son. She is searching for a church and realizes that so many religions today "draw near to God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him" She is fascinated by the Book of Mormon. It has been fun teaching her. 

We had zone conference on Wednesday and I got to see Sister Curtis!!!!! That was awesome. It was an amazing meeting. The Spirit was strong. To be brief I want to share what President Leavitt testified of. He shared Doctrine and Covenants 58: 26-28  

26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

 27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

 28 For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

He pointed out that the POWER IS IN US. Because of our agency we can do and be anything that we want to be. The choice is ours - we can choose Christ and become young men and women of great faith. 

I finished the Book of Mormon this morning and read this verse (Moroni 10:23) "And Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me." In order for us to access the power that is within us we must have faith! Faith in Christ and His promises. Faith in the power of the Atonement. Faith that Christ can turn our weaknesses into strengths. Faith that we can one day live with God again. When we have faith we can do ANYTHING! 

I love knowing that their is DIVINE POWER coursing through our veins. We have the power and freedom to choose who we will become. Our potential is limitless.

 "Choose your goals. Work towards them! Direct your thoughts. Control your emotions. Get into action, and you ordain your destiny. Daily Decisions Determine Destiny"

FINALLY I JUST WANT TO SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB LANE!!! I can't believe you are 16. I'm a little freaked out that you could be driving me around when I come home...hope you know that I love you. I miss laughing with you. You're the best "little" (who is not that little) brother in the world!!! 

Also happy birthday to Camille and Nana, Chris and Christian this week!! Love you!

AND HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!! I'm writing you a letter today dad. I can't thank you enough for setting such a strong example and helping me learn who I can become. Thanks for working hard, thanks for making me laugh, thanks for cheering me on. Love you to the moon and back. 

I love you all!!!

BYE FOR NOW.

Love, Sister G 

Our apartment

Scatterbrained

My new companion Sister Hardy

Hi <3 

Hope you all had a wonderful last week of school!! 

So the transfer has begun. My new companion is Sister Hardy. She is from Billings, Montana. She has blond hair like me  she is a softball player. She doesn't like fruits or vegetables and she still can't really say my name (it's a hard one  I think she is going to teach me a lot. We will have fun together. She was very nervous when I took her out knocking for the first time. I had a flashback to 17 months ago when I was driving in the car to Fredericton with Sister Lewis..she was telling me what she had planned for the rest of the day. All I heard was, "then we are going to go knocking" and I thought, "Oh no. Seriously? We are going to go knock on a random person's door and talk to them about the gospel??" YES WE WERE! Oh if I only knew.. I WAS SO SCARED!! Haha. But those uncomfortable moments are the moments when we grow. My testimony has been strengthened with each door I have knocked on. And now I really love it. I don't think Sister Hardy likes it much right now but all things get better in time!

We saw a few amazing miracles this week. It was a sacrament meeting I hope to remember forever. We were greeting members when I noticed the less active FAMILY that we have been working with walked into the chapel!! My heart was so full. As I sat by them I felt a little bit like Alma and the sons of Mosiah when they returned from their missions and were so happy to see each other again after all that they had endured. "Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God." Everything just felt right. We were all supposed to be there at church together - that's where we belonged. The spirit was strong. 

Then Amanda bore her testimony about family history and the temple. She told of the experience she had had with her Grandma - how it had changed her life and helped her find her testimony again. It was such a powerful witness of the truth.

We have several lessons set up for this week - I'm pretty excited. I love it here. I have decided to focus on charity for the next six weeks. I know that if we "have not charity we are nothing" and when we love people they can feel it. Loving them makes all of the difference in their lives. As I have tried to forget about myself and just LOVE more deeply, the conversations we have are so much better. I know that these people need this. They might not know that they do but I KNOW. And even if they are hard to love, God loves them. And I love God and I know that He has called me to do His work and to be His hands and to love His children so because I love Him, I can love them also. We all have weakness, we are all trying. When "love of God and our neighbor rules the world" that's when the work moves forward. That's when our natures change and we begin to fulfill the measure of our creation. 

I have been reading and studying so many wonderful talks and I want to share ALL of them but for now I will just leave you with a few quotes..hopefully they will apply to someone somewhere..These are from Lawrence E. Corbridge

"Every challenge you face, every hard thing you confront, every bad thing that happens to you,

every unfairness, every conflict, every sadness, tragedy, every disappointment and heartache, every

temptation and every opposition happens for one purpose only: to give you opportunity to respond by

applying in your life the teachings of Jesus. As you do so you are changed to become more like Him."

"The purpose and central blessing of life is change. It is to be changed to become more like Jesus Christ. It

is to incorporate into your character, the qualities of His character. It is to move from one degree of intelligence

and capacity to the next, and from there to the next, until you see God face to face and know Him as He knows

you."

"In the end, your heart and your will is all that you have to give that the Lord does not already have. If you

give your time, two years, and your strength, you give only that which He grants to you with each beat of your

heart and each breath that you draw. If you dedicate your gifts and talents, you only return to Him what He

already has given to you. If you pay tithing you only return to Him a tenth of what he has already given to you.

Everything that you have to give to the Lord, has its origin in Him, except one thing: your will. He does not have

your heart, nor your mind, unless you give them to Him. It is the only gift you have to offer that He does not

already have. And so when you give yourself, you truly give everything to Him."

"The only wav to win is to lose. Lose yourself in the Lord's work, and you will win beyond your

wildest imaginations, for "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the

things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (I Cor 2:9)."

"It is easier to walk with the Lord than it is to labor against

Him."

This week is President and Sister Leavitt's last zone conference..and mine. I am looking forward to it.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!! I hope you have the best day!!! Thank you for being my hero. You'll never know how much I love you and how much I look up to you. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have you as my mom. HAVE FUN AT DISNEYLAND (if your are going that day 

BYE BYE LOVE YOU ALL!

Love, Sister G

everyone in Canada has a cat!

BABY NUMBER 2

Hello - happy June 1!!

We found out about transfers! I am staying in Greenwood and training a new missionary (my baby)!!!!!!!! I could not be more excited. And I know this is a major blessing from Heavenly Father to be able to focus completely on the work for my last 6 weeks. Give everything I can to Him. Sprint through the finish. Help my companion start her mission off in the BEST way possible. We will have so much fun! 

We had a pretty eventful week. The weather has been beautiful, HOT AND HUMID. There are soooooooooooooooooo many mosquitos!!! But i can't complain because I know there are all kinds of freaky bugs out there (that other missionaries get to deal with) #countyourmanyblessings. They are just a little bit annoying because we open the door and 50 of them fly into the car and I'm trying to hit them down as I'm driving (it's distracting) then as we walk around they fly all over your face..I had a big red welt on my forehead the other day haha...lucky for me the bites don't actually itch. It's weird but awesome!! Anyway, moving on. We started teaching the cutest young mom!! She is the daughter-in-law of a less active member so on our way to find this member we met Kaitlin. She had four kids and was impressed by missionaries in the past who were so willing to offer support and help to their family. She doesn't really have a religious background but is very open to learning about the Book of Mormon. Her family is the most important thing in her life and when we told her that there is a way she can live with them forever she lit up. She has always felt that that had to be the case but was kept from the truth because she didn't know where to find it. I am so excited to teach her. 

We also had the privilege of attending the temple on Saturday with a recent convert, Anne and another member that we have been working with, Amanda. Both of them had prepared family names and it was incredible to see the Spirit of Elijah working in their lives. Amanda had a particularly profound experience. She had been struggling for awhile with different things. She knew the branch temple trip as coming up and we encouraged her to begin her family history. She was baptized just over a year ago and none of her family members are in the church so she thought it would be hard to get the information and permission that she needed. But she moved forward with faith. She talked to her great aunt and received enough information to begin. When she entered in the dates of her great grandma, tears came to her eyes and the Spirit flooded through her body. She knew Vivienne was waiting for her work to be done. As she contacted more relatives she accessed more information and found one of her lines went back to 209 AD!!!!!!!!!!! She was so excited that she was hardly sleeping. I won't forget the Spirit that attended us in the temple that day as she was baptized and confirmed for Vivienne. We all felt her there. After that, Sister Tegge and I were able to participate in some sealings which was another wonderful experience. This week my testimony of eternal families, family history and the joy of the temple was strengthened immensely. There is no better work in the world than the work of Salvation - and as Latter-day Saints we get to be a part of it!!!

We have also been working with a cute family who are struggling in their church attendance. They had us over for dinner and they told us that their 8 your old son wanted to take the missionary lessons to prepare him for baptism. It was a sweet spiritual experience as we taught the simple doctrines of the restoration. I felt like the Spirit touched each of our hearts and they are excited to have us come back for the next lesson. They sent us away with a whole carton of eggs from their chickens, jam, home-made bread and leftovers from dinner!! MOM I AM NOT GOING HUNGRY. 

I wanted to tell you something that an amazing missionary told me last Monday. She wrote and said, "The thought I want to share stems from my relief society lesson yesterday. I realized that the one thing that if humans would NOT DO then self esteem, self worth, self confidence, self competence etc would flourish is DON'T COMPARE. Comparing ourselves to others is poison. I don't struggle with this overall but I know the second I allow comparison to creep in I feel like garbage. With that realization I can sort of imagine how people who struggle with it daily feel. Wow! Of course, it's often easier said than done BUT if we CAN avoid comparing ourselves to others then "happy are we, happy are we!" I encourage all of you this week to recognize those things where Satan sneakily slips thoughts of comparing into your life and learn to shun it and him at the onset. I truly believe if we can do this our self confidence and self esteem etc will soar!" She is so right. This is a lesson that I feel is important for each of us to be reminded of. I have learned form personal experience that comparison is the thief of joy. God made you YOU for a reason. He loves you - weaknesses, imperfections and all as long as you are trying. I think that we need to love who we are and work hard to become more like Christ. Comparing ourselves to others is selfish and miserable. As I have tried to work on this throughout my mission (though it is sometimes hard and I am far from perfect at it) I have found it easier to have confidence in myself and my Savior. When we compare WE TURN IN. The Savior's way is to always TURN OUT!! I hope you will all think about this - it helped me. 

I have a testimony that God answers prayers. I have a testimony that life is what you make it. I have a testimony of the divinity of my Savior and His work. I know that when we put God first in our lives - when we focus on people - when we live the first 2 great commandments LOVE GOD AND LOVE YOU NEIGHBOUR - life is better.

I DO LOVE YOU ALL!! And I will see you soon.

Love, Sister G 

PS - Happy happy birthday to grandma g this week! I am thinking about you and hope you know that I love you. You are a light in my life. And happy graduation LUCE!! I wish I could be there but know that I'm proud of you. Hope you have an unforgettable week!!

HEART

in the mall

HEY HO!!!

I love hearing from you all!! Will I've been praying for you every day - I hope you know that. I'm sure you did fantastic on the MCAT - you worked hard and studied hard and you will be blessed. I am proud of you! And jake keep being amazing. I'm cheering you on from all the way over here - good luck in your game today!! Leave it all on the court  

We have had quite the week. We found two new investigators!!!! Sam is 18, she requested a free copy of the Book of Mormon on kijiji. She has a strong faith in Christ and really loves our Savior. She asked if we could meet her at the Tim Horton's, she had walked there and it was a little cold outside. When she arrived I offered to buy her something. I hadn't thought about this before but Tim's is a coffee shop - everyone orders coffee there - I was SO worried that she was going to order a coffee and I would have no idea what to do..a missionary buying her investigator a coffee doesn't look too good. We are to AVOID ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL!! Luckily, she ordered some chocolate thing (that was a major relief). She was grateful for the Book of Mormon and excited to learn more. She was fascinated by the fact that our church is organized exactly the same way that Christ had organized it anciently. We have living, modern apostles and prophets!! A few days later we were knocking and met Shaniece, she is 20 and was excited when she found out we were Mormon. Turns out she lived in Utah for 3 years attending a boarding school type thing in Provo Canyon. She grew up in foster care and has been through a lot of pain and abuse. I could tell as I talked with her and looked in her eyes that she is a special person and that she needs to know that Christ is there. That He loves her and understands her. We went in right then and had a great lesson. She wanted to know mainly about what happens after we die because she felt confused. I love bearing testimony of the Atonement and the fact that we will all be resurrected and given the opportunity to choose eternal happiness in the life to come. She found great comfort in knowing that God does indeed have a plan. 

We also put on a mall booth this week. It was a lot of fun. We came up with several true and false statements about our beliefs {Example - Mormon don't drink coffee - Mormons have more than one wife - Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon - Mormons fast once a month - Mormons dance - Mormons believe God and Jesus Christ are two separated beings - etc.} It was interesting to see how little people understand about our church. And how mislead many of them are. They couldn't believe that we don't drink coffee, "everyone drinks coffee!!". It was a good way to bear simple testimony and to be seen in the community. Hopefully one day all of these people will know the truth. For now, at least a seed was planted. 

This time through the Book of Mormon I have been highlighting every reference to "heart". I am saddened by how often the people "hardened their hearts" against the Lord and how quickly "they were lifted up in the pride of their hearts" Satan goes for the heart. It is the one thing that belongs to us..it is ours to give or retain. Satan does all he can to make our hearts cold and to turn them away from God. On the other hand, God softens hearts, He changes hearts and allows our hearts to rejoice and be filled with love. He teaches us what we must do to have happy hearts, hearts that are clean and pure. Hearts that are full. Hearts that understand and are changed. I have felt the importance of shielding and protecting my heart from temptation, from pride and the things of the world (riches, power, possessions). Our hearts are precious and only when we turn them to God can they be safe. DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS RATHER LIVE WITH CHEERFUL HEARTS and happy faces  

Remember that we have so much to be grateful for. There are people around us every day who are struggling, who are afflicted and burdened. I have witnessed this first hand. We must remember to love more completely, to not judge and not get frustrated or impatient with another. You never know what "crosses" they are being asked to carry. Be grateful for your blessings. I am grateful for my health and my family. I am grateful for the safety and the freedom we enjoy. I am grateful for the power and authority of God - the Priesthood that we have available in our lives. I am grateful for the trees that are blooming and the sun that is warm. I am grateful for the love and support you offer me. Thank you for your prayers. 

I love you with all my HEART!

Until next week 

xoxo Sister G 

"Perfect In Trying"

Hello!!!

Sounds like things are going well in rainy SLC. I can't believe the school year is ending so fast and summer is coming so soon. Life is exciting. 

We have had quite the week. I think they call the rain that we experienced "spitting rain" not sure if that is real or made up in my head but it makes sense. Sister Drew used to say that it was like someone was squirting you directly in the face with a spray bottle. It's pretty funny but that is exactly what it feels like. Bizarre misting rain that soaks you and makes it hard to see. LOVE IT!!! 

On Wednesday after district meeting, President and Sister Leavitt came to interview us in our apartment. They are travelling around the whole mission together - visiting all of the missionaries and doing final interviews before they go home. They are remarkable people. During my interview President asked how my 5BX was going (that's the exercise program that we do every morning) I told him that it was going well and he asked for more details. I said that I now do 55 push-ups and a plank (only a minute and a half) every morning and night. He was totally shocked. So..after my interview Sister Leavitt and Sister Tegge came out and President and I got down - in suit and skirt and did a 2 minute plank together as we recited "our commission" and "the standard of truth." It was pretty funny. A moment I'll never forget, President is the best!

Saturday was a HOT day and we were out knocking in the morning. We weren't far from our home which, if you remember, is out in the country. That means BUGS! So many bugs..hornets..gnats (if that's how you spell it)..etc everywhere!! Some even chased us off of the doorstep at some houses. Anyway, around noon we headed back to our apartment for lunch. When we arrived, to our HORROR, there were countless spiders crawling all over the door frame and windows and the siding of our house. It was absolutely disgusting. Instead of opening the door, we got right back into the car and went to buy some spider killer. Then we ended the lives of all of them..I felt a little bit bad but I really didn't want them in our house. I think they are in a better place..we haven't seen one since ;)

We went back to see Wayne yesterday. We woke him up from a nap but he is friendly and a talker so he came out to talk to us. He said that he hadn't read much but he had thought about it and he did want us to come back. He said "don't give up, I promised I would read it." So I'll keep you posted! And it turns out his cousin is a member here. She lives really far away though so it's hard for her to make it to church.

I also got a letter from dad this week that I really appreciated. I loved this part "Natalie made a presentation this week at a meeting I attended and she mentioned a conversation she had with Governor Norm Bangerter who passed away this week. He was asked what accomplishments he was most proud about from his 8 years as Governor and his response was, "I didn't duck." I love that. He met all challenges and difficulties head on, without ducking or trying to avoid or hide from them." That is an accomplishment. Life can throw some pretty difficult, heavy things at us. But we should meet them head on and with faith in our Savior - this is when character is built. 

Ok one last thing. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this quote in a previous letter but this week we had a branch movie night and watched "Meet the Mormons." My favorite quote in the movie is from Bishnu Adhikari - the humanitarian from Nepal. He says, "I'm not perfect, but I am prefect in one thing - I'm prefect in trying." I think that is a significant statement. I used to believe that when I neared the end of my mission I would be pretty close to perfect (oh dear), I thought I would have most things figured out and we would be having immense success...I have quickly learned that this is not the case. I am still so far from perfect. I still have struggles and trials. I still make mistakes. And some days are still plain HARD. But I do believe that I am better at trying. I have a better understanding of why I am here and what Heavenly Father requires of me. I know that if I try my best - He will bless me and help me. So remember that if you are upset because of your many imperfections, all you need to do is keep trying. Be perfect in that.

It is only when we give up or give in that Satan can have power over us. SO I am going to keep trying. Keep moving forward!! 

I LOVE YOU!! I hope you have a fantastic week. 

Love, Sister G 

PS -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HEIDI AND TAITE THIS WEEK. HOPE YOUR DAYS ARE MAGICAL. AND I HOPE YOUR WISHES COME TRUE :) XOXOXOXO

Choose To Be Faithful

Hi hi hi

Calling home is a little like Christmas (on a much smaller scale) the build up is so exciting. And then it happens and it's great and funny and your heart feels happy. Then you hang up..and it's all over. Back to normal life :) I sure loved hearing your voices but normal life is good too! 

Some of you know but I will re-explain for those who don't (I can't remember if I wrote about this last week or not??). We are reading the Book of Mormon together as a mission over this transfer. We are supposed to read 13 pages a day to finish in time. It's amazing to me how wonderful and beautiful the day seems to be when you read the Book of Mormon. Everything goes better. I can't explain why. I'm just grateful. 

Yesterday we were knocking and we met Wayne, who came out onto his porch to talk with us. He said he was religious but didn't go to church. He also mentioned how he could never change religions. He told us that his wife was sick and that he had a lot on his plate. His understanding of gospel topics was limited. We started testifying of the Book of Mormon. We told him about the role of prophets which is to testify of Jesus Christ. How Christ actually appeared to His "other sheep in ancient america." He read Moroni 10:4-5 out loud. We shared the first vision and told him about a living Prophet. He took the Book of Mormon and said he would read it. He didn't want to set up an appointment but he did say that if the Book was true and if it could bring him peace - he would give it a try. We left him with the promise that it would. 

Mom wrote these words to me this morning and I really appreciated them, "I hope you are able to meet with the man you talked about - that wouldn't set up a firm apt - we all struggle so much with change  - life is so crazy how things that are simple and true sometimes are the hardest for us to accept  - so i do hope he will meet with you again.." 

Nephi wrote words that were plain and easy to be understood and still so many stumble because of them. Sometimes I feel like we like to complicate things..though I have no idea why?? This has taught me about the importance of testifying. We will not always know what to say but God does and when we testify we allow the Spirit to speak. I feel that it was only when we bore testimony that Wayne really felt something stirring in his heart, And so that is a goal we have. Whether the person wants to talk or not - we will leave them with our witness of the truthfulness of our message. I too hope Wayne will experiment on the word (we'll follow up:)) because I know that the Book of Mormon can change his heart and his life!!!

The weather is beautiful. Sun actually makes people happier, I think. One day this week Sister Tegge and I drove out to Alyesford which is about 15 minutes from the center of town. For some reason we were both extremely tired..like past the tired stage. We were looking for former investigators when our trusty GPS led us down and unpaved road with SO MANY POTHOLES. We were going maybe 2 kph and just bouncing up and down (like we were on Indiana Jones - Nova Scotia style). We of course started laughing..mainly due to the tiredness and we couldn't stop. By the time we got to the end of the road we were both crying and couldn't breathe. 

That was a good moment. I also want to tell you about Devon. He is a 15 year old member here and the only active member in his family. He comes to church every week by himself and to all of the activities. He is amazing. He'll text us often to tell us about the missionary experiences he is having. He talks to less actives every week to try to get them to young mens. He told us that his mom said "I think you are obsessed with the church." Last night we gave him fliers to hand out because we are having a branch movie night on Friday, Meet the Mormons, and we want to invite everyone we can. He basically started going door to door to invite all of his neighbours and was texting us to give a play by play of what they said and who he thought we could stop by later. I love his enthusiasm for the gospel. He knows what it is that he is offering. NO FEAR!! I wish we were all a little more like that. 

This week we also had a wonderful stake conference. Something that really stuck out to me was the words of a young mother. She talked about faith and the trials she had gone through earlier in her life as a single mom with a premature baby. She said "I had to choose to have faith every day. Otherwise fear, hopelessness and despair would creep in and take over. The Lord will fight our battles when we honor and keep our covenants." CHOOSE FAITH. It is not a passive trait. It is something that we have to work for every day. We cannot just pray for more faith and then just wait and hope it magically comes. 

Elder Clayton said this in the April conference, "Belief and testimony and faith are not passive principles. They do not just happen to us. Belief is something we choose—we hope for it, we work for it, and we sacrifice for it. We will not accidentally come to believe in the Savior and His gospel any more than we will accidentally pray or pay tithing. We actively choose to believe, just like we choose to keep other commandments." And God in His infinite goodness and mercy will bless us for our faith. He will work mighty miracles in our lives. He will fight our battles.

That is what I am going to try to do this week. Choose faith. And actively work for it!!

Also wanted to tell eli and emma b how excited I am to hear of their mission calls!! Ghana and Oakland California are LUCKY places. I know that God knows us. He is so proud of your decision to serve.

I love you all with my whole heart. Hope you have a happy, faith-filled week!! TTYL

Love, Sister G