Faith in God includes faith in His timing

Hello!                                                                                       September 16, 2013

           

It's definitely starting to cool down up here. Fall is here and winter is creeping up on us. Everyone says that Toronto is beautiful in the fall though. So I'm excited for the leaves to change colors. A few months before I left on my mission I was talking with my dad on the phone and he told me some exciting news that he realized that day! I only have to survive one Canadian winter :) Hahaha. So bring it on!

This week we had a dinner appointment! Yahoo! It was a family from Ecuador and they made us papoosas! Mmm!! I think I ate three... Yikes. No wonder missionaries gain weight! It was totally worth it though! The father told me to try a jalepeno pepper with it and it was super good. Just like my mom says, it's all about the food :)

We went on exchanges this week and the sister training leader I went with was so amazing! She's was born in New Zealand then moved to Australia when she was young, so she is a polynesian with an Australian accent! She's awesome. We went contacting at some places around a university campus because now that school has started there are a lot of YSA age people around there. She really helped me understand the principle from Preach My Gospel that says "teach when you find, find when you teach." We would start talking to someone and then ask if they wanted to learn more, and some of them did. So we sat on some grass and taught them about either the Restoration or the Plan of Salvation. We had one lesson with a guy that was from Lebanon, and the spirit was so strong! It was awesome! It was so nice to see another perspective and how another sister does missionary work because every missionary is different in the way they do missionary work, so it was nice to try new things and get some advice from a more experienced sister. Exchanges are a wonderful thing! It also made me realize how much I love Sister Crandall! After the exchange, we were so excited to see each other! We were talking yesterday about how one of our strengths as a companionship is our unity. She and I have gotten really close as we set goals, and then work together to achieve them.

We had an amazing lesson with Caryn this week! She has felt like she needs to slow things way down for her family's sake, but postponing her baptism would give the adversary more time to dissuade her. Sister Crandall and I have both felt really strongly that she needs to be baptized sooner rather than later. We knew we needed to help her set a baptismal date, we just didnt know what specific date. We prayed about it and really sought guidance from our Heavenly Father on when she should be baptized. We left our apartment and started driving to the lesson without knowing what date to commit her to! It reminded me of the scripture in 1 Nephi when he was walking into Jerusalem to get the brass plates and didn't know how he was going to get them, but he was "led by the spirit not knowing beforehand what he should do." That's how I felt. Once we got to the chapel where we were having the lesson we came together and said a prayer. We talked about a date and both felt peace. We planned as much as we could, we put our trust in God, and knew that He would provide a way for Caryn to be baptized on this day. When she got there and we began teaching her and talking about baptism and confirmation, the spirit was so strong. We tried to commit her to the date, but she was still worried about her family. We promised her as set apart representatives of Jesus Christ that if she exercised her faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the hearts of her family would be softened and she could be baptized on this date. She said she would pray about it, and let us know on Sunday. I think this lesson was the boldest I've ever been on my mission! After the lesson, Sister Crandall and I just sat there almost dumbstruck trying to believe the promises that we just extended to Caryn! But we know that they were inspired, and that God will back us up. She didn't come to church yesterday, and we haven't been able to contact her, so we don't know if she's accepted the baptismal date yet or not... We are praying very hard for her and we hope she's alright.

Another miracle of the week! So when Sister Sorensen and I were companions, Bishop gave us an assignment to visit a less active member in the ward. We tried calling the number and stopping by the address, but the phone number didn't work, and the person that lived at the address said she had moved years ago! So we told Bishop and moved on. But now Sister Sorensen is serving in Toronto, and she was on the bus the other day and met this less active girl! She got her new phone number and address and gave them to us throught the referral system. We called this girl and she said she would love to meet with us sometime! Miracle. I'm still trying to believe that happened :) I just think it's so cool how our Heavenly Father times everything perfectly! One of my favorite quotes is, "Faith in God includes faith in His timing." It's so true.

Well transfer calls are this sunday so pray for me :) I honestly can't believe this is the 6th week of my third transfer! Yikes times flies. I don't know whether I will go, or whether I will stay and finish training Sister Crandall. But I know I will be wherever the Lord needs me. I know this is Christ's church. I know it is built upon His Gospel. I know that only through His Atonement can we truly become converted so that when He comes again we will recognize Him. Because we will be like Him. I love being a missionary! And I love all of you :)

Have a great week!

Love and Prayers, Sister Brittnie Felix