Christmas Morning Photos

Chirstmas Cinnamon Rolls and Read-a-thon with the Missionaries

Beautiful Morning

Oh what a beautiful morning! :)                                                  Dec. 30, 2013

 

The sun it out today and it's looking like it might warm up... but I'm not so sure. There is a member in our ward who texts us when the weather might take an unexpected turn and the forecast says it's going to be cold this week. It's supposed to be -19C today. All I know is that is pretty cold!

 

This week was awesome! On Christmas Eve we had our read-a-thon and read the four gospels in 9 hours straight. I've never read the Gospels that fast so it was cool to see what was repeated in all the books and some of the other details only contained in one of the books. It really brought the spirit of Christ into the season for me though. Then on Christmas we got together again and started the D&C. We got through 60 sections in four hours! It was crazy! There were probably 25-30 missionaries sitting in a big circle in the relief society room and we each read a verse and went around the circle and just kept going and going. We're finishing the D&C and the Pearl of Great Price tomorrow and New Years Day. We had tropicana orange juice and cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas! (It's tradition!) Then went to the read a thon. Sister Dyer and I left the read a thon a little early to go skype our families and it was so worth it :) It was so good to see them! Then we visited a girl named Kate that just got her mission call to Mexico! It was crazy because she's exactly a year behind me! She put her papers in last November, got her call in December, and she leaves at the end of April! I'm so excited for her!! Her Christmas presents looked a lot like what I got last year :) Mission preparation gifts. Hahaha. Christmas was so great!

 

Austin is amazing! We met with him twice this week. In the first lesson we finished teaching him about the Restoration and set him with a baptismal date for the 19 of January. Right before we quoted the first vision in Joseph Smith's own words I told him he would feel the influence of the Holy Ghost. After Sister Dyer said the first vision, he sat there for a minute and then touched his chest and said, "I feel it right here." It was one of those undeniable moments! It was so powerful! Then we taught him right before church yesterday and our branch mission leader sat in on the lesson. It was another powerhouse moment. Austin loved church! He was such a trooper because the guy who gave him a ride had to come early to church to come to branch council and then had to stay late for a little while so Austin was at the church ALL DAY! And he loved it. Sacrament meeting is last in this branch, so at the end of all of it we asked Austin how he felt and he said he felt the Holy Ghost. I love the way he describes the spirit! He said it feels like vibrations from really loud music at a concert, but instead of those vibrations going into you, they are going out from you! Isn't that awesome?!

 

Church was not only an amazing experience for Austin, but for me too. I needed it a lot. Taking the sacrament was so sacred because I hadn't taken it the week before because of the ice storm, so I felt the difference. In our combined meeting for the fifth sunday the branch president talked about the stake's new theme for 2014. It's "Feed the Spirit. Nourish the Soul." So we had a really good conversation about that. We read some of my favorite scriptures in the Gospels. John 21:15-17. As we read it there was a connection in my mind between three scriptural phrases. "Feed my sheep" "The first great commandment" "If ye love me keep my commandments" The greatest expression of love we can give to Jesus Christ is to "Feed His sheep." And the first great commandment is to love God. It all just made crystal clear sense in my head that if we truly love God and are motivated by that love to keep His commandments, the first thing we naturally do is share the Gospel. I don't know if I'm explaining it very well, but it was super profound for me.

 

I'm so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for the opportunity I have to "Feed His sheep" full time. I love being a missionary. I love this work. I hope you all have a happy new year filled with lots of new years resolutions to not only live the Gospel more fully, but to share it.

 

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

ICE STORM PHOTOS

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!                                                                               Dec. 23, 13

This upcoming week is going to be amazing! As a mission we're doing a read-a-thon on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve, and New Years Day. Since proselyting wont be super effective or welcome on any of those days we're going to read the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price in those four days! I'm really excited about it. We'll be reading it together as a zone in Kitchener. We also have our quarterly interviews this week with President and Sister Scott. I'm super excited about that too!

We had some changes in our area this week. On Wednesday we got a call from the Zone Leaders and they told us that the Guelph North sisters would now cover all of Guelph and attend the family ward and Sister Dyer and I are now GUELPH YSA! :) Crazy huh? So we will be finding and teaching YSA in Guelph and attending the Kitchener YSA Branch! I've never been in a branch before, so it will be a great new experience. There are lots of YSA here in Guelph because it' a university town, the only problem is they are all home for the holidays. Hahaha. It's okay because we're still seeing miracles despite that. It's so interesting how the Lord knows everything. Both Sister Dyer and I started our missions in YSA areas (S. Dyer was in London) and now we're in Guelph opening a new YSA area! I've enjoyed the challenges and adventures that come along with opening an area.

We found two new investigators this week. Onneetse we found tracting and she is from Botswana. She is awesome! And Austin we found while walking around in a neighborhood. He was shoveling snow in his driveway so we just went up and started talking with him. We're having a second lesson with each of them tonight, so I'm pretty excited to start watching them progress.

The craziest part of this week was yesterday though. There was an ice storm!! Crazy. I always heard about ice storms happening back east. And here I was. Back east. In an ice storm. Church was cancelled so we stayed inside for some of the day and did productive missionary things and went tracting for another part of it. It was crazy though. Thick ice covered EVERYTHING! It was like a blanket of ice was just thrown over the world. It was absolutely beautiful!

I hope you all have a great week! Have a wonderful and very merry Christmas!

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Staying in Guelph

Hello!                                                                                                          Dec. 16, 2013

Here's the transfer news: I will be staying in Guelph for another six weeks! And the best part is-Sister Dyer is staying too! :) I'm so happy. SO HAPPY that we get to be companions for another six weeks :) One of our investigators, Laura, said she prayed for us to stay here for another transfer. It was a great way to show her that prayers really are answered :) That reminds me of another cool story about answered prayers that actually happened last night. We went home for dinner then we were going back out again to do some tracting in the winter wonderland :) As we were going out the door, I grabbed a name tag to put on my coat and decided to put it on in the car. After we brushed all the snow off of our car, and after I backed Sister Dyer out of the driveway, I got in the car and couldn't find that name tag for my coat! I looked in my pocket, my bag, and everywhere else I could think, but didn't find it. Luckily, I was wearing another tag on my scarf so I just moved that one to my coat. When we got home, Sister Dyer and I went and got our flashlights and decided to look around the car where it might have fallen. We said a prayer that we would find my tag then went and looked. I looked in the car again and out in the road where I had stood while backing, but couldn't find it... Just as I was thinking about giving up the search, Sister Dyer kicked up some snow and found it lying on the ground next to the car!! It was turned upside down so the white back of it blended in with the snow and then it continued to snow while we were gone so it was buried. It was a miracle that we found it :) We went back inside and said a prayer of gratitude. It was a simple experience, but it once again confirmed my testimony of the Lord answering faithful prayers that are according to His will.

Gabby was baptized yesterday! It was one of the most spiritual baptisms I've ever been to. She was glowing :) Sister Marler and I sang a musical number and Sister Dyer played the piano. We sang the words to "Father in Heaven, We Do Believe" to the tune of "There is a Green Hill Far Away" and it was powerful! The last verse (verse 6) of "Father in Heaven, We Do Believe" is about baptism and we sang it in A Capella. Sister Marler sang the melody and I sang the notes to the bass part. Gabby was just beaming at us the whole time! That moment was definitely a holy place in my memory.

Laura is doing great as well! She has a baptismal date for the 5th of January and is looking pretty solid for that. She is reading from the Book of Mormon and praying daily. At the end of one of our lessons this week she told us that she wants be living all the standards of the church before she is baptized so she can fully give a life long commitment to God. It was so amazing! 

I WENT ON EXCHANGES WITH SISTER WALDRON! :) It was so wonderful. It was amazing to work with each other again and see the changes in both of us. She has been a Sister Training Leader for the past six months, so it was awesome to see my trainer, who I thought was perfect already, improve and continue to become more Christlike. It was a wonderful day.

Juliana fed us dinner this week and it was so good! She made us food from her country, Ghana. It was rice with foo foo? I think that is what it was called. It was lamb with a tomato sauce and vegetables and spices and it was delicious! She is doing so well! We talked about temples and family history work with her and she is really excited about the  concept that she can be baptized for her deceased family members. I love it when recent converts feel the Spirit of Elijah! It truly is a joy to redeem the dead :)

I hope you all have a fantastic week and a Christ centered Christmas season! 

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

O Christmas Tree

Dec. Zone Conference

Hello!

So much has happened this week... I don't even know where to start. How about with Zone Conference! :) Tuesday was our Zone Conference and it was here in the Guelph chapel, which was really nice! I saw Sister Stoddard there! (She was my MTC companion) She is training a sister from France! So that's pretty awesome! President Scott talked a lot about repentance and we discussed in depth how we repent and how we help others do the same. It was incredible. One thing he said that I really liked was about influences on our thoughts. If our thoughts are directed in the past and looking  backward with despair and disappointment, that is Satan influencing you. If your thoughts lead you to want to do better, that is the Holy Ghost. And if your thoughts are directed toward the future with hope and faith, that's the Savior. I loved that. "Know who's influencing you!" he said. Sister Scott talked about the Christmas season and basically compiled scriptures together about the Savior's birth, life, and mission and read them as a power point of pictures of Christ played behind her. It was beautiful! She said, "We hope you have a Christmas that is outward focused, Christ centered, and filled with joy." After Zone Conference, the assistants came and talked with us for a minute and told us that some changes would be happening in our area! 1. We have permission to teach YSA!! (There is a University here and there are TONS of students everywhere!) 2. We would get a car! :) Then we can drive to Kitchener to attend the YSA branch. I have loved riding the buses, but it truly is a blessing to have a car! Especially because it's getting colder and colder! We don't know how everything is going to work out yet, but it will. We already got the car, so now we're teaching families and YSA until the end of the transfer (Which is this week), but then we don't know what is going to happen next transfer. We'll just have to wait and see what transfer calls will bring :)

This week we did some service for a family in our ward named the Parkins. They are an older couple and have a lot of health problems. We called and asked if we could come over on Friday morning and do some service for them for a little while. She responded promptly with a, "Yes please! I'll put you to work decorating my Christmas tree and making ginger cookies!" My kind of service! :) It was so nice to hear the Tabernacle Choir sing Christmas songs while we made cookies and decorated a Christmas tree! It was a highlight of my week! Sister Dyer and I were too cheap to go buy a Christmas tree, so we turned our couch on the side and taped a paper Christmas tree to the bottom of it :) So it was nice to decorate a REAL tree! Hahaha. 

Gabby is scheduled to be baptized this week! We're so excited for her! She called us yesterday and told us she couldnt come to church because she was in Cambridge staying at her aunts house. If she didn't come to church, she couldnt get baptized on the fifteenth because she has to come to church a certain number of times. So she was really sad! We told her she could go to church in Cambridge and could still get baptized on the fifteenth. So she went to church in Cambridge with her aunt! What amazing faith that eleven year old girl has!! She has taught me so much. Juliana got confirmed yesterday and it was beautiful! We watched the Restoration video with her this week and she loved it! We gave her a couple other church videos this week and she watches them all the time :) 

Another miracle of the week! Remember Laura? We found her a long time ago and taught her a short lesson then scheduled to go back and she wasnt there. She dropped off the face of the earth! So we decided she probably got anti-ed. But we dropped by her this week and we're starting to meet with her again! Both she and her baby have been incredibly sick and there were other complicated reasons why that time wasn't right, but we talked with her about repentance again, and she is so excited! She came to the ward Christmas party last night and the Christmas Devotional and loved it! I feel a really strong connection with Laura. I feel that she is one of the people I was sent to Canada for.

We had a unique experience on Saturday. On Wednesday we got a text saying that Elder Hallstrom from the presidency of the seventy would be in town and that we would have the opportunity to meet with him! Sisters Waldron, Crandall, and Sorensen were all there, so I got to see all of my companions this week! I sat next to Sister Waldron the whole time and realized how much I have missed her! We didn't get to go on exchanges this week because of this last minute meeting, but we're going this week, so don't worry :) 

Some of my favorite things from Elder Hallstrom: 

"The depth, foundation, and influence [your mission] has on you is up to you." He talked a lot about how this time is a time to build a spiritual foundation for our lives and then all of our other life experiences should build upon that foundation. And that foundation should be built upon Jesus Christ. 

"We know the spirit is speaking to us when we have the desire to repent." 

"3 elements of change: 1. Gain Vision. (Eternal Perspective) 2. Be willing to make commitments (Covenants) 3. Develop the self discipline (Consistency in vision and covenant keeping)"

As he was closing, I had one of the most powerful spiritual experiences of my life. He bore witness of God our Heavenly Father, our Savior Jesus Christ, the Restoration of the Gospel, the reality of living prophets and priesthood keys, and as he did so, I felt the spirit bear witness of the reality of his calling. To testify of Jesus Christ. I felt the spirit so strongly! It was as if there was another element running with my blood through every vein in my body. Then I had this thought: "You can not deny this feeling." I am accountable for the spirit that I felt that day. I have no doubt of the reality of God, our loving Heavenly Father and His divine Son, Jesus Christ. The fullness of their Gospel is on the earth today and I am so grateful, privileged, and blessed to have the opportunity to share that with others, full time. I love this work. I hope you all have a great week!

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Juliana Baptism

He sees me as who I can become, but loves me as I am

Hello!                                                                                                      Dec. 2, 2013

What a beautiful week it has been :) I'm so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord. My studies this morning were amazing. I always read at least one chapter from the Book of Mormon to start off my studies every day because it brings the spirit instantly. So I read a chapter from Alma then dove into a study about Jesus Christ. Our mission president has asked all of us to study repentance and the birth and mission of Jesus Christ in preparation for Zone Conferences this week. I have had some extremely profound experiences in the process and feel like my testimony has been strengthened on both of these topics. I want to share with you this one insight I had as I was pondering on the personal meaning of the life of Jesus Christ: He sees me as who I can become, but loves me as I am. I am so grateful for the unconditional love of our Savior and our Father in Heaven. If I could sum up the things I've learned thus far on my mission in one statement, it would be the reality of our loving Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. It's almost overwhelming when you think about it.

Juliana was baptized yesterday :) It was an amazing experience! After she came up out of the water, I asked her how she felt, and she said, "The Holy Ghost speak to me." So I said, "What did He say?" And she said, "I can't explain in English." She says that sometimes when we ask her to explain things back to us after we taught a principle to make sure she understands, but this time it was different. Because I couldn't explain the way I felt in English either! The spirit will do that to ya :) 

We took Warren on a tour of the chapel and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we went along. We talked about faith when we showed him the classrooms and how we learn at church to increase our faith in Jesus Christ. We talked about repentance as we pointed our paintings on the walls. We showed him the picture of Alma baptizing at the Waters of Mormon and then opened up the baptismal font as we talked about this sacred covenant we make with God. Then we took him into the chapel and talked about the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. It was amazing! The spirit was so strong! I know he felt it. He cried as Sister Dyer said the closing prayer. Now we just need to help him act on that feeling.

Zone Conference is tomorrow, Tuesday, and it will be in the Guelph chapel, so we don't have to go far :) I'm also going on exchanges this Saturday in Brampton with SISTER WALDRON!!! I am so excited!! I saw her briefly on transfer day and that's the only time since the first 6 weeks of my mission. I've changed so much since then, and I'm sure she has too, so I'm excited to learn from each other again.

I hope you all have a great week! Enjoy the First Presidency Christmas Devotional! 

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Happy Winter

Happy Winter!                                                                              November, 18, 2013

I got my first cold as a missionary this week. It was quite a sacred experience :) It's hard to be sick and do missionary work! But it's possible. Sister Dyer reminded me, "If you don't take the time to be well, you will most definitely take the time to be sick later." I'm better now, but it was a rough couple of days! I've been thinking a lot about these wise words from Sister Dyer. This advice can apply to us in so many different ways. Physically as well as spiritually. If we don't take the time to be spiritually well, our testimonies will become sick, and it take effort, determination, humility, and desire to build up our spiritual immune systems again. I am so grateful for my physical and spiritual health. It's something I sometimes take for granted. I'm also grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to remind me how blessed I am.

Juliana came to church this week and loved it! She is doing well and progressing towards baptism on the first of December! We're excited for her. Since she is from Ghana we're working on getting a Book of Mormon for her in her native language, Twi, and we should be getting that this week. So I'm excited about that as well. When she says the prayers at the end of our lessons, she says them in Twi, and I feel the spirit. So strong. Every time. The language of the spirit amazes me with it's universal influence and penetrating power. 

On Wednesday we had our first district meeting in our new district, and we talked about finding. Elder Orr talked about the importance of the spirit in finding. He said we should use prayer in our finding as much as possible. In that spirit, we went finding! Later that day we were had an appointment fall through and had picked out two streets that we could tract. We weren't sure which one we should go to, so we decided to pray. Right there at that bus stop on Fife road. After the prayer we felt like we should take that bus and go to the other street we had decided on. It would be about a seven minute wait. As we waited, a lady came walking by pushing a stroller and Sister Dyer handed me a mormon.org card and whispered, "Do it." :) I took the card and started up a conversation with this young mom about the purpose of life and came to realize, she was the one we had been waiting for at that bus stop. The bus came and left while we talked with her on the sidewalk. We asked if we could teach her some more of our message right then and she accepted. We walked for about five minutes to her home and we went in and taught her about God's love and repentance. It was one of those moments when you knew that the spirit was working through you and you could literally feel God with you. She told us about her hard past. HARD past. And told about the changes she had made already so she could give her little girl a better life. She said she wanted a new start and was looking for a church to go to. Talk about an answered prayer! We had to catch the next bus, so we left her with a pamphlet and set up a return appointment for the next day. She called and had to cancel the next day, and we haven't been able to get a hold of her since... It breaks my heart because I know how much she needs the Gospel. We think she got anti-ed, but we're not sure. I know she felt the spirit though. She knows there is something different about the message we share and the peace that came into her home as we talked about repentance. I know she felt it. I have no doubt she will be baptized someday. Whether it be while I'm here, or when I'm not, in that day, I will rejoice!

I read Elder Bednar's talk about conversion this week from a few conferences ago. This time as I read it, five words stuck out to me. All of them are verbs. And all of them are progressive toward the next. It is the process and pattern in which conversion happens. Believing. Exercising. Repenting. Experiencing. Becoming. LOVE IT! We need to first believe. Have faith that Jesus is the Christ and only through Him can we truly and fully be cleansed and healed from anything mortal life throws in our face. We need to exercise that faith. Act on that belief. How do we act? We repent. Repentance is such a merciful word. I'm ever grateful for the opportunity I have to change. We also need to experience the doctrine of Christ. We need to learn from repentance and continually change so we can become. Become who God wants us to be. Become who God intended for us to become. Become the person we decided we wanted to be in the premortal life. Become more like Jesus Christ. Man. I love the Gospel :) It's so true. All of it. And it makes sense. It's such a beautiful thing when I can see a light bulb of understanding turn on in an investigators head. That doesn't mean they always are willing to exercise that faith and repent, but I know the spirit spoke understanding to their heart. I know that living the gospel is the only way to be truly happy and find peace in this life. I'm so grateful for the experiences and decisions in my life that have put me where I am now. I'm grateful for a merciful and loving Heavenly Father who knows my potential and who's purpose is to make sure I achieve it. 

Have a great week!  Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

"When we sacrifice for the good of others, we get heaven within us."

Winter

Missionary Work is accomplished by Miracles

Hello!                                                                                                 November 25, 2013

This morning in my studies I read Alma 37:10 and it says, "...they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day." Missionary work is accompanied by miracles. Because it is the Lord's work. If you want to feel God's power in your life, just go do some missionary work! 

One of the miracles from this week happened on Friday. We were riding the bus home and I started talking with a girl named Jenna. I complimented the braid in her hair and that turned into a discussion about the Gospel! She said she had seen me on the bus a few days earlier and thought it was so cool that I was a missionary. She was too shy to strike up a conversation with me, so she texted her friend that was with her and pointed out that I was a missionary! I had no idea!! It made me wish I would have talked with her. But God gave me another chance :) She told me that she didn't grow up religious at all but has been really interested in spiritual things since she took a religion class a few years ago. She has never even set foot in a church before! She told me that one of her friends that is Catholic invited to give her a tour around a very prominent chapel in Guelph called the Church of our Lady Immaculate. The attached picture is of this cathedral looking church. It looks like the Notre Dame! Anyway, her stop was coming up and I hadn't had a chance to tell her a lot about our unique beliefs, but as we approached her stop the bus suddenly broke down! Tender mercy! We were able to talk for about 10 more minutes about the apostasy and Restoration and the Book of Mormon. It was amazing! She felt the spirit. I know she did. I invited her to church sometime, or even just to have a tour of the chapel, but we'll have to see what will happen. Miracle.

Juliana is scheduled to be baptized this week! If all goes as planned, it will be on Sunday

. It's going to be a crazy week, but it's going to be a good one! Juliana came to a Relief Society Christmas activity on Saturday and loved it! We decorated and baked Christmas cookies to give away to less actives or sick ladies in the ward. It was a lot of fun! We also put together what they were calling "blessing bags" with things like tissues, hand sanitizers, chap stick, etc to keep in their cars and to give away to homeless people they see on the street. So that was pretty cool. We also had two less active sisters come to the activity and one of them brought a friend! I'm grateful for Relief Society! 

We are also teaching a man named Warren. He's quite a nervous and anxious man in his 50's that wears thick glasses and a paper boy hat no matter what the weather is. He has never had a belief in God, but this week we had a lesson that I think changed that. We talked about prayer most of the time and had a recent convert there that bore a powerful testimony of the reality of God. We are giving him a chapel tour on Tuesday to help him feel comfortable enough to come to church. I'm hoping he'll stay for the scripture study class we teach on Tuesdaynights. We teach a weekly class for investigators, recent converts, and less active members about how to study the scriptures that is focused on the Book of Mormon. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this on my mission and it's pretty great! 

We ate lunch this week with a sister in the ward named Sister Shantz. She feeds us lunch every Friday and it's always an amazing experience! She is the most wonderful, mystical, and spiritual person. I had a moment in her home that I never want to forget, so I'll try to describe it to you. Sister Dyer and I were sitting on a sofa next to Sister Shantz elderly mother in her historic home eating sausage, soup, salad, and butternut squash. The warm room was lit with light from lamps and it was snowing outside. Sister Shantz read us a poem about the birth of the Savior that she found while she was looking through some old cards. The spirit was so strong and the peace I felt was indescribable. It was peace that I needed to feel. It was a moment that is seared into my memory. 

I hope you all have a fantastic week! Eat lots of turkey and count your blessings on this week of thanksgiving.

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Guelph Photos

Guelph

Hello hello!                                                                                           November 12, 2013

It is most definitely winter!  It snowed for the first time this week, and wow! Bring on the humid winter! People weren't kidding when they said the wind goes right through you. It's brutal! But it's okay. Because the Gospel is true :) And people need to know that no matter what the weather is like outside!

I LOVE MY NEW COMPANION! Sister Dyer is so amazing. She is from Idaho Falls. She's 21. She went to BYU for two years. She and I came out to the field at the same time. She loves peanut butter and pancakes :) (that's one of the reasons we get along so well!) And she loves the Lord. I feel like we are really going to accomplish a lot this transfer. I pray that we are blessed enough to serve together for two transfers!

Guelph is awesome! Sister Dyer and I are the missionaries in the south part of town and then Sister Marler and Sister Puruganan are the sisters in the north. There is only one ward in Guelph though. We have a car to share between the two companionships, and the north sisters have it most of the time because they cover some of the smaller towns north of Guelph too. So you know what that means, Sister Dyer and I are on the buses!! :) Honestly, I was a little nervous about it, but it's great. There are always plenty of people to talk with as we are traveling to and from appointments. It's built in finding time! That doesn't mean it's always easy though. I talked to one girl this week that looked at my like I was extraterrestrial because I was starting a conversation with a complete stranger on a city bus! It's completely against the "social norm" to talk with random strangers these days. It doesn't stop me though :) They all need the gospel eventually, so why not now! Guelph is also a university town, so there are lots of YSA age people. So it's weird to focus on families now instead of YSA, but it's so amazing! We're not teaching any families right now, but we'll find one. And I'm excited about it :)

This week we got a call from the north sisters telling us about an appointment they had set up with someone on the street that lives in our area. So we went to this appointment and it was a miracle. Her name is Juliana and she's from Ghana. Her English isn't that great, but she understands well. We're going to get her a Book of Mormon in her language,Twi, so she can really understand and gain a love for the Book of Mormon. Before each lesson we do a brief overview of what we will teach and the commitment we're going to extend to them at the end, so they know what's coming. When I told her that we were going to invite her to be baptized, she got so excited and explained that she wants to be baptized to follow God. Then when we talked about Joseph Smith and recited the first vision, she was so zoned in and repeating the words of the first vision as I was saying them. The spirit was so strong! Then she said yes three times and Sister Dyer invited her to be baptized! She is preparing to be baptized on December 1! It's going to be a white Christmas in more ways than one :)

We also found another lady this week named Glenda who is AMAZING! She was sitting on her front porch smoking, so we went up and talked with her. She said she had been really sad for the past few days and she truly is going through some really hard things. She knew there was something special about us, and was so grateful that we went and talked with her for a little while. We set up a return appointment and we're going to teach her this week so I'm excited about that. It's amazing how much I love her. It's never ceased to amaze me how much love can be in my heart at once. The Lord blesses us with charity for those that we serve if we're willing to let Him in.

It was Remembrance Day in Canada yesterday, that's why I'm emailing today. But I've been thinking a lot about that. We had Stake Conference on Sunday and there was a visiting general authority. Elder Kopischke. He talked about two main points. Keep the faith and Remembering. He said something like this, "I think the word remember is the most important word in our church theology. I'll tell you why: we need to remember in order to love." He talked about how ordinances and covenants help us remember. Remember who we are. Remember why we're here. Remember how to get home. Remember our Savior. He said, "If we live in constant remembrance of our covenants, the Lord will never be far from us." I think that is an incredible promise from a set apart servant of the Lord. So don't forget to remember :) And always keep the faith. If you've lost your faith, find it. The Church is true. The Gospel is true. God is always mindful of His children. I promise you that. I hope you all have a great week!

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Ps. I had poutine for the first time this week! That's the first picture :) The next one is of me making some hot chocolate last night after we got back to our apartment after a super freezing cold day! Then the other one is of Sister Dyer standing by our little space heater. Good times :)

November Photos

Guess Who's Getting Transferred?

Hello!                                                                   November 4, 2013

I have zero time today, so I'm sorry if this is shorter than usual. But GUESS WHO'S GETTING TRANSFERRED?! I am :) I'm going to be serving in Guelph South with Sister Dyer. I'm stoked. I'm going to teach families! I don't know how to do that, but the Lord will teach me how. I find great peace in that. Sister Crandall will be staying here. I'm sad to leave YSA, but I think it's for the best. I know it's for the best actually, because it's the Lord's will. And the Lord always knows what is best for His children. Always.

This week we found a sweet new investigator named Kayla! I'm sad I won't be able to teach her, but she's totally getting baptized! We met her at a bus stop last week and we talked to her for literally one minute. We told her we were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that we share a message that can bless her life, and she said, "I want to learn more about this." She had to go, so we set up an appointment, she gave us her number and we were on our way. When we went to that appointment, we saw that there were other people home so we invited all of them to join us. Her grandma and cousin joined us, participated in the lesson, committed to read and pray, and all of them accepted the invitation to be baptized! Miracle. Kayla and her cousin, Keanna, came to church yesterday and loved it! It was a wonderful day!

I am so grateful for my Savior. I love my Heavenly Father. I love being a missionary. I know this gospel is true with all of my heart. I apologize again for the shortness of this email, but I'll send pictures to make up for it :) Carry on and I'll send more details next week!

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Don't forget the Camera!

Baptism

Hello!                                                                                                  October 21, 2013

Kelly's baptism was so good!! She's amazing. She texted us yesterday morning and told us not to forget the camera! Hahaha. She bore her testimony after and it was incredible. She said that when she was saying her prayers that morning she had this thought: "Your family is going to be blessed because you opened the door." She talked about how this decision will not just affect her life, but the life of her family and many others. When she said that, the spirit bore witness to my heart that it was true. I felt that she has ancestors that are waiting for their ordinances to be done and now she can do them :) Amazing. And another really cool thing, the elders had an investigator at church that accepted a baptismal date and is preparing to be baptized in two weeks because of Kelly's testimony!! Miracles are happening I can promise you that. Kelly wanted to wear a dress for her baptism and was just adorable in it!! She was beaming all day. Yesterday was definitely a highlight of my mission this far. Sister Crandall and I were drained when we got home last night! I kind of know how Ammon felt when he talks about losing his strength because of an overwhelming amount of joy and the spirit.

We met with Harriet again, but this time the Robinson's came. SENIOR MISSIONARIES ARE MIRACLE WORKERS! I promise. We've been so worried about how to help Harriet because she is reading, praying, and really anxious to learn more, but she is moving to her sister's house this week and she is super anti and won't let us in her home. The Robinson's offered to pick her up and bring her to their apartment so we could meet with her in their home. Prayers were answered with that act of charity. I'm so grateful for angels. Seen and unseen. You'll notice them everywhere when you're doing the Lord's work.

Sister Crandall and I had a really cool experience during weekly planning this week. Weekly planning can be really long sometimes and my attention span is gone after about two hours! But as we were talking about each of our investigators and planning their lessons for the week, we came to one investigator that we had no idea what he needed. We talked about it and thought about it, but it wasn't until we took it to the Lord that we received the answer. I learned a lot about revelation that day. I learned that One: We must be humble. Two: We need to have ears to hear and eyes to see. Three: The spirit is subtle. SO subtle. Four: The spirit is most delicate, yet most powerful. And that's only the beginning. I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father that waits for us to come to Him. Because when we come to Him, we show that we are willing to do what we need to do to become like Him.

I hope you all have a fantastic week! Enjoy the wonderful season of fall :)

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Missionary Culture in our Hearts!

Missionary Culture

Hello!                                                                                              Oct. 28, 2013

So much happened this week. I can't believe it's already the last week of October! It's definitely cooling off here... The wind goes right through you. And it's only going to get colder. Bring it on :) As missionaries, we battle the elements. Especially in Canada! Sister Crandall and I bought some warm clothes this week so we'll be ok. Don't worry :) Fleece lined tights are the secret.

I've got to tell you about yesterday. Kelly was confirmed and it was beautiful! And church was just absolutely amazing. A sister missionary came home this week from the Washington DC mission and gave her homecoming talk about the healing of the Atonement. It was one of those talks where nobody moved for the duration of it because everyone was hanging on to every word. The spirit was so strong! Her name is Jacqueline and she called us the second day she was home asking to come teaching with us. She's definitely in missionary mode and we love it! We've been discussing with our Ward Mission Leaders a lot about how to create a "missionary culture" in our ward where everyone's focus is to do missionary work. That is something I've been thinking a lot about. Missionary culture. I think if everyone could create this missionary culture in their hearts God's work would hasten faster than it already is! I think that's what God is trying to do with the members of the church is create a culture of missionary work. If you don't feel like your heart is part of this missionary culture, change that. God will bless you I promise.

We also had a new and progressing investigator at church yesterday named Chris. He's so awesome! Sister Waldron, my trainer, taught him back in February and at that time he wasn't ready to change and make commitments. But he texted us asking if he could come back to church and of course we said YES! So we've been meeting with him and he's reading, praying, and making a lot of changes in his life. It's amazing to see the Atonement take effect and make physical and chemical changes in a person.

After church, every single one of our plans fell through. I had a really bad headache and my stomach wasn't feeling well either. It's really hard to feel the spirit when your head and stomach hurts! So we prayed. Sister Crandall said a beautiful prayer asking Heavenly Father to place us where to need to be to find those who are ready to heed the words of Christ.  The whole time I was praying in my head too. I was asking Heavenly Father to heal me. I knew He could and I knew I couldn't be an effective missionary without the guidance of the spirit. After she closed the prayer, we sat there in silence for a minute. Then I turned on the car and we started driving. I didn't know where, but if there's anything I learned from my mission, it is that inspiration doesn't as we sit and wait for it. It comes when we move, act. As we were driving my head Sister Crandall suggested that we drive to Brampton to visit a potential investigator we met a few days ago. I didn't feel bad about that, so we went for it. We called him, he was available. We called Kashra, she was able to come with us. And we drove the half hour to Brampton. We had a few extra minutes after we picked up Kashra, so we decided to share a message with her. We asked her about how the gospel has blessed her life, and she bore powerful testimony of the reality of our Savior. I felt the spirit so strong. I didn't realize the exact moment when it happened, but my head and stomach didn't hurt anymore. Some might brush that off as a "coincidence" but I know that I had been healed. Physically healed. The spirit heals. We then taught Jamoi a powerful lesson about the Restoration and invited him to be baptized. He said that he would after he reads, prays, and when he feels it's right. After we left that lesson and dropped Kashra off, I was so drained yet energized with the joy of the spirit. I learned a lot last night about myself, faith, the Atonement, revelation, and the importance of the spirit. Last night wasn't simply a blessing, it was a miracle.

We tried to meet with Harriet with the Robinson's this week, but she moved and some other complications came up and we lost contact with her :( I am so sad about that! She is moving back to her house in December though, so we'll make a note so the missionaries in the area at that time can go teach her. Because she is such a sweetie!

We also went on exchanges this week. Sister Training Leaders are so amazing. They go on exchanges twice a week, every week! On top of all the other responsibilities normal missionaries have. I went to their area for the exchange, and the sister I was with was kind of stressed that day because of baptismal interviews and other things going on with their investigators. I felt bad because I didn't know any of their investigators and didn't know their area, so I felt kind of helpless most of the day. But I learned a lot, one of those being the importance of service. We cleaned one of their investigator's homes, and it was incredible. He is a single father. His wife was deported about a year ago. They have two daughters (ages three and one and a half). He is out of work because of some medical issues. As we cleaned, I just thought of how blessed I am to be a member of the church. We had a member with us, so with all of us cleaning, his home was beautiful after the 45 minutes we were there. We shared a message with him in his freshly cleaned home and the spirit was so strong. We are so blessed. So blessed.

We also had interviews with President Scott this week. While we're on deck waiting for our interview with President Scott we get to talk with Sister Scott, and she is my hero. Seriously. All she had to do was ask me how my understanding and appreciation for the Atonement has changed since I've been a missionary, and I started crying. I couldn't put it into words. She talked about how we turn over our hurt to our Savior through the Atonement when others say or do things that hurt us. She talked about how we need to let it go. But that doesn't mean just throwing that hurt into the wind! It's taking that brick of weight, or hurt, anger, or whatever is holding us back and handing it to the Savior. He will deal justly with it so we can let it go and not hold anything against that person. I have thought a lot about that this week... It makes sense, but is really hard to do. But it's possible.

I hope you all have a great week! This church is true. I know it with all my heart. I am so grateful that God gives us hard things to go through so that we can learn to rely on Him. I know that when we hand him our hurt, that is when we begin to heal. Love you all!

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Fall Photos