Happy
Cinco de Mayo!!! :) May
5, 2014
What a week it has
been! Tuesday I went on an exchange in Bowmanville and it POURED rain
all day! We had an appointment that morning, but for the rest of the afternoon
we were out tracting in it. It was definitely an adventure! I've gone on at
least one exchange every transfer for my whole mission, but now I go on two
exchanges every week and the Sisters look to me as an example and for feedback
on how to improve. It was a little weird at first to be the leader, but I'm
getting used to it. I'm so grateful for the amazing sisters in this mission! On
every exchange I've been on so far the sisters have been so humble and willing
to change and they help me change and improve as well! I think I have the
better draw because I get to work with all these amazing sisters and learn from
them and they only have one exchange a transfer.
On Wednesday we went
to MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) and it was incredible! Absolutely
amazing! It was like a zone conference for all the zone leaders and sister
training leaders in the mission. It was pretty much a lot of instruction,
reporting, and discussing. It was humbling to be there for sure! Here are some
of the highlights:
The purpose of a council
is the find the will of God.
"A goal forgotten is
no longer a goal."
"Repentance is a
process of joy." -Sister Scott
President Scott did a
question and answer time instead of instruction, and it was inspiring to hear
his response to questions that have been on our minds. A main theme of the
questions was actually repentance and earning the Lord's trust.
Sister Scott is brilliant
at teaching from the scriptures, and she talked a lot about Moroni 7, which
happens to be my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon :) She asked this
question, "How am I being blessed because of the covenants I keep?" I
invite you all to ponder on that question as well.
All of the departing
missionaries and new leadership always bear their testimonies at MLC, and it
was a good time of reflection for me. I was the last to bear my testimony and
there were probably four or five who bore testimonies that are going home. Some
of them, probably most of them, talked about wishing they had more time on
their missions and how sad they were to leave. I thought about the six months I
have left and pondered on some ways to make the most of it. The Spirit bore a
strong testimony to me that I have complete control over how I react to the
time I have left on my mission. I am choosing to give it my all. I've tried
hard my whole mission to give it my all, but I feel a greater sense of urgency
since that meeting. Heavenly Father has called me. All of me, my whole soul to
serve Him here for 18 months. I only have 6 left and I want to do my best to
show my love for my Father in Heaven.
Friday we had Zone
Training meeting and the Zone Leaders asked Sister Zerkle and I to instruct. We
had 20 min to instruct on whatever we wanted. So we decided to instruct on this
line from the white handbook: "You will be expected to devote all your
time and attention to serving the Lord...As you do, the Lord will bless you and
you will become an effective advocate and messenger of truth." Our zone
has been struggling in the past few weeks to hit our full potential, so this was
a crucial meeting to pump everyone back up and give the zone the boost
necessary to reach our potential. We talked letting go of distractions through
focusing on the Christlike attributes. We highlighted one of my favorite
sentences in PMG about becoming Christlike missionaries and not just doing
missionary things. It went really well for our first instruction together.
Between our instruction, the Zone Leaders instruction, a KILLER musical number,
and a good council, the zone was on fire! This week we've seen so many miracles
in our zone. I've never felt so unified as a zone and I love it! We did a zone
fast and it worked miracles. I wish I could express how amazing it's been to
see it all unfold! And we're only on week three of the transfer!
We went on another
exchange on Saturday with the Bracebridge sisters and it was the
first time I stayed in Oshawa for the exchange and Sister Zerkle went to the
other area. I've only had two weeks to get to know the area, but it was good
for me to get to know the area even better.
We cover a few small towns
north of Oshawa as well and on Sunday we went out to a small town
called Port Perry and did some tracting. We met this incredible lady named
Alexandria. It was extremely apparent within the first few minutes that she was
a firm believer in Christ! She has such strong faith and usually people that
are that strong in their faith are usually strong in the church they go to as
well. But she was open and willing to listen. She actually had a Book of Mormon
and had previously met with missionaries in Calgary. She said the thing that
confused her last time she met with missionaries was why she needed to be
baptized again? She let us come in and explain the answer by teaching the
Restoration. It was incredible to watch her receive the answer as she
understood the pattern of prophets and priesthood authority through
dispensations. She understood at the end and committed to read and pray about
the Book of Mormon and be baptized again if she found it was true. We're so
excited about her!! There was something special about her and I feel she is
truly prepared!
I hope you all have a
great week!
Love and Prayers, Sister
Felix
Quote of the Week:
"If we are not improving, we are not repenting."
