Guelph

Lord, I Would Follow Thee

March 3, 2014   Well folks. It's week six of my 7th transfer... So that means transfer calls will be on Sunday night. I've been in Guelph for four months, but I've only been with Sister Sites for a transfer, so we'll just have to wait and see. Anything can happen with transfer calls!

Last night Sister Sites and I sang "Lord, I Would Follow Thee" at a musical fireside in the Guelph chapel. The Guelph ward sisters, Sister Wanlass and Sister Puruganan, arranged the whole thing and they did a fabulous job! It was called, "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?" and it was all about service! They had scriptures read, songs sung, and played a Mormon message. It was really powerful! They had an investigator family there which was really exciting! I think it got the ward excited about sharing the Gospel! Our song went really well considering the amount of practice time we had :) Miracles happen ladies and gentlemen! 

Dennis came to church yesterday and it was incredible! He has been hesitant to come to church because he attends his church in the morning and coming to an extra 3 hours of church would be too long when he has so much to study! But he slept in and missed his church, so he came :) Tender mercy! In gospel principles we talked about prophets and he said that was his favorite part! The teacher of that class is an incredible teacher and used examples, analogies, and object lessons that really made sense to Dennis! Sacrament meeting is last in this branch, so right after testimony meeting Sister Sites and I taught him a quick follow up lesson to see if he had any questions about church. Our branch mission leader and his fiance came as well. It was a short lesson, but the spirit was SO STRONG! Our branch mission leader bore a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ. He then told Dennis that when we, the missionaries, ask him to do something, it really isn't us, it's Jesus Christ inviting him to change. Then I looked Dennis straight in the eyes and said, "So Dennis, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority of God?" He was nodding the entire time I asked the question! Then Sister Sites invited him to work towards being baptized on the 16th of this month, and he said he would work for it! It was such an incredible lesson. Dennis's concern was that he wanted another confirmation from God to know this is right. His first confirmation came when he prayed about the Book of Mormon. He had a dream as an answer to his prayer! He said it wasn't all the way clear though, so he wanted another confirmation. I asked him what his second confirmation was, and he said, "It was my decision. My second confirmation was that I just decided to do it." I learned a valuable lesson about revelation from Dennis's experience, and response to that experience.

We found another new investigator named Abraham this week. He doesn't have a belief in God right now, but he hopes God is there. We read in Alma 22 with him when Aaron is teaching Lamoni's father, and he said that the phrase, "There is a God" kept catching his attention. He prayed at the end of the lesson and the Spirit was so strong. It was a highlight lesson for sure. He has a baptismal date for March 30th. He's got a lot of changes to make, but he's got the power to make them through the Atonement.

Zone conference was incredible... Absolutely incredible! Here are some highlights:

·  I got to see Sister Dyer :)

·  Through prayer individuals can know each member of the Godhead. In order for us to know the Father, we must first know His Son, Jesus Christ. In order to know Jesus Christ, we must feel the Spirit and recognize the Holy Ghost. All are involved in prayer.

·  Apostles keep the doctrine pure and protect ordinances. That is why apostasy happened. There were no apostles. No priesthood.

·  We talked about different councils that occurred during the apostasy where they decided on what the doctrine of the church would be. President Scott gave a great analogy about this. He talked about hiking huge mountains in Colorado and when one gets up so high into the mountain then you're in the clouds and one could get disoriented. He said it would be like a group of people lost in this fog trying to find north without any help, so they vote on it. They vote which way is north. It doesn't matter what the majority says. North is north. Truth is truth. God is constant.

·  Sister Scott's talk was about warriors. "There was a war in Heaven, which means there were warriors in Heaven. WE ARE WARRIORS STILL." She talked about Moroni "preparing the minds of the people" and how we have to fight that battle on two sides. Without and within. She said that warriors for God: 1. Have faith in and reverence for Christ. 2.Are repentant and obedient. 3. Know purpose and diligently work to achieve it. 4. Follows leaders. In closing, she said, "There is power in one. There is power in you." "Believe God. Trust Him. He knows you." Her talks are always so powerful! So powerful.

I know God is real. I have embarked on an intense study of the Atonement in preparation for a special meeting that is coming up at the end of March, and this morning I felt so powerfully of the reality of the Presidency of Heaven. God is our Father. Christ is our Savior. We can only know Them through the Holy Ghost. I love my Father, my Savior, and my Comforter. I am eternally grateful for each of Their roles in the glorious plan to return to live with Them. To receive answers, we just need to ask the right questions. Have a great week!

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Quote of the Week: "We show our faith by studying, believing, and obeying God's revealed word." -Preach My Gospel, pg.73

SMILE YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL

Tired.....With a SMILE!

February 24, 2014     This week has been crazy... I don't ever remember being as tired as I have been this week. But somehow I still keep going! With a smile on my face :) Hahaha. 

This week we watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" with Austin, and it was so powerful! SO POWERFUL!! We haven't been able to meet with him since then because he's had a really really trying week. It's crazy to watch Satan give his best effort to tear one down, when that person is trying so hard to be good! It's quite frustrating... But those trials are what refine us. I just have to remember that.

We've been working with a less active for a while that is finally softening! He isn't "less active" on paper, because he attends church every week, but he is less active in the gospel. He's not living it. Therefore, no matter how often he goes to church, it's not going to do much for him. He resents leadership and would rather die than conform to anything. I guess you could say he likes to be and is proud of being a "free spirit." So we went over the baptismal interview questions with him, even though he was baptized seven years ago, and brought him back to the basics. Lately that's been a theme for me. "Refinement is in the basics." It's when we return to studying the scriptures and praying everyday and attending church weekly and the temple regularly that we are able to best cope with whatever life throws at us. And we won't only be given the power to cope, but to overcome. This less active is YSA age, but attends the Guelph ward, and yesterday was ward conference for the Guelph ward. He texted us after church yesterday and told us about the incredible spiritual experience that he had! The spirit confirmed to him that returning to the basics is what will ultimately bring him the peace and joy that he is yearning for. He's realizing that he must conform to God's will to be truly happy. It's a lesson we all have to learn. And we can learn that lesson the easy way: doing God's will (humbling ourself) or the hard way: fighting against God in our heart (then God will compel us to be humble). One way or another we're going to be humbled. That's something I've definitely learned as a missionary :) And I'll probably continue to learn that same principle as I go through life.

Zone Conference is coming up this week and I am SO EXCITED! We'll be going to London on Thursday to attend the conference. In preparation, President Scott has asked us to study each member of the Godhead and organize our learning into their unique roles and characteristics. He has also asked that we study the Apostasy and Restoration in greater depth. I've never really thought about studying the Apostasy in great depth, but man. I have a testimony of the Apostasy! It happened. And we're living in a world affected by it and the only thing that can overcome it is the truth. That truth was Restored. Now we have to help individuals restore the truth in themselves. The truth they knew in the Pre Earth life. I look forward to reading "The Great Apostasy" by James E. Talmage someday because I love chapter 40 in "Jesus the Christ." He throws down! I'm excited to see the discussions and insights that will be brought up at Zone Conference on Thursday.

I have such a testimony of the gospel. I feel that testimony deepening and refining and my conversion continuing to take root as well. I am so grateful for a Father in Heaven who knows me perfectly and loves me enough to let me overcome hard things with His divine help. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives.

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Listen

Hello!                                                                                                                          February 18, 2014

This week was crazy. So much happened this week. I dont even know where to start! We have seen so many miracles, and I want to start with two that happened yesterday. On Sunday, there was a returned missionary who shared his experience of learning to decipher the promptings of the Spirit and how he learned to determine whether it was the Spirit, or his own thoughts. He said he just did all the little thoughts that came into his head, and that's how he learned which was the Spirit, and which were his own thoughts. So yesterday I did everything I could do follow all the little thoughts that would come into my head. We were planning to drop by a recent convert and so we were at the station and got on the bus to go to his house, but then I saw a guy walk past and get on the bus behind us. I just had a little thought that I should talk with him. Immediately my second thought was how inconvenient the timing was and how inconvenient it would be to get off the bus we just got on and get on a different bus. But we did it anyway! I grabbed Sister Sites and we got off the bus and jumped onto the bus with that guy on it. Sister Sites is such a good companion, because she just trusted me even though she had no idea what was going on! I didnt have time to explain it to her :) I sat by this guy and started to talk with him. It was soon apparent that he had been in contact with the church before and he had lots of questions. He doesn't have a belief in God, but wants to know if He's there. He had some time right then, so we pulled the cord, got off the bus, and went and sat down in a Tim Horton's and answered some of his questions. We gave him a Book of Mormon and a Restoration pamphlet and we're meeting with him again tonight! Small and simple things :) The other miracle was later yesterday on the bus. A couple got on the bus and sat near me and I knew I needed to talk with them. I said a little prayer and asked Heavenly Father what restored truth they needed to hear. Family History. So I pulled out two family history pass along cards and started asking about their families. The girl was SO excited! She said she is right in the thick of doing her family history and feels she is at a road block with it! I actually happened to have a blank four generation pedigree chart that I gave to her and she was super excited about that too! I explained the reason we do family history and testified of forever families, and the spirit was so strong. It was definitely an incredible experience! See? Miracles :) The Spirit truly is a still, small voice. And those who heed it, will be given more promptings and more sensitivity and courage to follow them.

I think I mentioned Onneetse before. She is our investigator that is from Botswana and we've been meeting with her for a while, but she hasn't really been progressing. And she finally came to church on Sunday! And she loved it! Most people I talk to are so distraught that we have the audacity to go to church for three hours every week! But Onneetse thinks anything less wouldn't be enough :) We met with her on Saturday to explain what church would be like and review the Restoration, and at the beginning of the lesson we asked about her Book of Mormon reading to see how it was going. She said she went to lds.org

and something on the website took her to 2 Nephi 33 :) Oh yeah! I love this chapter! It's the one that says if you don't believe in the book, believe in Christ, and if you believe in Christ you will believe these words, because THEY ARE THE WORDS OF CHRIST! She said that when she read that she felt something. That is absolutely my favorite thing. Helping people recognize and feel the spirit! We helped her talk through it and process what she felt and help her understand that the Holy Ghost was testifying to her of truth. It was so great! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! Moments like that make walking through multiple feet of snow for several hours at a time WORTH IT! So worth it. No question.

I hope you all have a great week! I know this church is true. I know it with all my heart. And I love it. Pray. Read. Pray!

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Quote of the week:

"Seek to know your Father in Heaven. He loves you, and He has given you the precious opportunity to draw near to Him as you pray. Your prayers, offered in humility and sincerity, are heard and answered." True to the Faith, pg 75

Phone Miracle

Hello! I hope you've all had a fantastic week!                                                                                    February 10, 2014

On Tuesday, I went on exchanges with Sister Sorensen this week! :) It was so much fun! We taught three lessons that day, and we didn't miss a beat! It's weird that we were only companions for 6 weeks, and that was about six months ago, and we taught in such unity! It was incredible. Sister Sites was really sick early this week :( So she and Sister Waldron spent most of the day at the hospital for their exchange. Sister Sites is feeling better now though. So don't worry :)

Austin is still working towards being baptized! He set his baptismal date for the February 23, so keep on praying. He's still working hard to overcome his fears with faith. Church was so good yesterday though! Everything I heard was applicable to his situation. So I hope he received the strength he needs to overcome.

On Wednesday we had a zone training meeting. One of the business items the Zone Leaders talked about was not to lose our phones or our bus passes. They understood that it's accidental, but they just wanted us to be extra careful because they are expensive to replace. So guess what happened the next day... We lost our phone. I realized it wasn't in my pocket when we went to drop by our investigator, Ben, and he told us to text him later that night. I told Sister Sites and we both were sure it was probably back at our apartment. So we went back there and searched everywhere and couldn't find it. So we said a prayer. The last time I remembered having it when when we were running to the bus stop, so we went and checked the sidewalk by the bus stop and couldn't see it. We asked our landlord if we could borrow his phone for a minute to call our phone to see if we could hear it while in our house and car, but we didn't hear it. He let us take his phone to wherever we needed to go to look! So we want and checked by Ben's house again. And went back to where the bus stop was. This was about two hours later and my faith was almost exhausted. I was role playing in my head a much dreaded conversation with the zone leaders... Although we were tired and had somewhere to be soon, we decided to check one more time on the sidewalk. So we said another prayer. Sister Sites was walking on the side walk looking around and I was driving slowly next to her on the road. As she was walking, she stopped and had a feeling that she had just passed it. She looked back and down at the snow and kicked her foot into the snow. When she brought her foot back, there was the phone! Miracle. Prayers are answered WAY to many times to be merely coincidences. They are miracles. Nothing less. It was so nice to have a simple reminder that our Father in Heaven is in charge and knows all.

Another simple, faith-building experience happened on the bus on Friday. We got on the bus and I started talking to a man from Ukraine. He is an international student that is only here for 6 weeks. He goes home in two. I used simple terms to explain why I was talking to him and asked him what his beliefs about God are. He opened and closed his mouth several times obviously trying to translate in his mind how to express his beliefs in English. It was then that he told me to wait for a moment and he pulled out his phone. Using a translating app, he translated what he wanted to say. When he figured it out, he looked up from his phone and looked into my eyes, and said in simple english, "He is our Father." The Holy Ghost bore powerful witness to my heart that it was true. I smiled and said, "Yes He is." He got off the bus shortly after, but I was so grateful for that experience.

I know God lives and loves us unconditionally. I know that after hundreds of years of darkness and confusion, a fourteen year old boy said a prayer with a specific question. His question was answered by a personal appearance of God the Father and His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith was called to be the first prophet of this dispensation. He translated the Book of Mormon, which is the keystone of our religion. I have no doubt that this happened. I came to know this through prayer. That is the only way to know spiritual truths. I'm so grateful that our Father in Heaven loves us enough to communicate with us directly. All we have to do is pray, then listen.

Have a great week and a fun valentines day! We're going to the Hudson's home for dinner :) I'm excited about that!

Love and Prayers,

Sister Felix

Quote of the Week:

"In every thing ye are enriched by him." 1 Corinthians 1:5

FEBRUARY ALREADY?!

February already?!                                                                                                                                    Feb. 3, 2014                       

 I can't believe I only have 9 months left...

I hope you have all had a great week! I surely have. I am so pumped about working with Sister Sites! This is the first time I have a companion who is the same age as me! She just turned 20 last month. She's from Twin Falls, Idaho. She's been out a year this month and is an incredible missionary! On the first day she was here, we were walking back to our apartment to eat dinner and we were talking about the huge snow piles everywhere. All of a sudden she pushed me sideways and I fell right into a huge snow drift!! Hahaha! I laid in the snow for a second, a little shocked, but then I just started laughing! She jumped in next to me and we sat there laughing for a while! I knew we were going to be good friends from that moment on :) We can also work hard together though. She's taught me so much and it's only been a week!

Austin is still working towards baptism, but Satan is working so hard! Why... Why does he want so badly for us to be bad?! It frustrates me sometimes. We've been talking a lot about faith with him lately, because that's really what it comes down to. He knows what he needs to do, he just needs the faith to do it. It's so interesting to see parallels in the lives of our investigators and my own. I feel like I learn so much for my own improvement as we study for them, teach them, and pray for them. Yesterday during the sacrament I was praying for Austin, and I just started tearing up a little bit. I want so badly for him to just take that leap of faith and see how much it will bless his life! But then I was reminded that there are leaps that I have to make too. It's so easy for me to see the blessings Austin will receive for being baptized, so then why is it so hard for me to take my own leaps of faith when I know Heavenly Father will bless me? It's a lesson learned over a lifetime.

I love fasting. So much. Austin fasted yesterday too and felt the difference. I learned something really cool in Relief Society yesterday that I want to share with you. The lesson was on being anxiously engaged, and one of the scriptures we read was in Matthew 22, about the first and great commandment. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." I think that is what this life is about. Learning to love God, and then express that love in the way that He has asked. I was thinking about loving/worshiping God with our soul. I read under "Spirit" in the Bible Dictionary, and it says, "The spirit and the body constitute a mortal soul." So then I got thinking about expressing love to God using our spirit and our body and different commandments God has given us to show our love for Him using our body and our spirit.

When I was thinking about worshiping God with our body, I remembered an experience that I had a few years ago. All of you who know me well know how much dance is a part of my life :) I went to a performance done by BYU-I's dance company in July of 2012 and the show was called "Come What May and Love it." It was in the conference center theater in Salt Lake. A certain dance really stood out to me during that performance. It was a contemporary style, which is a really expressive kind of dance. There was a dancer in a black body bag laying in the center of the stage and the other dancers mournfully danced around her. Part way through the dance, the girl in the body bag climbed out and was dressed in all white. She went around and comforted the dancers in black. Their expressions made it obvious that they could not see her, but they were comforted by her presence. Other dancers in white entered the stage and comforted the mourning mortals during the climax of the piece. I was in tears. That was such a powerful experience for me, and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father testifies to us of the reality and divinity of His plan so frequently. And that He was able to do it in a language I understood and love. I am so grateful that we have bodies so we can become more like our Father. I am so grateful that we can use this gift to worship Him in return.

Have a great week :) The Lord loves you. He died and lived for you. Do something to show your love for Him this week. Not only this week, but every week! How about everyday? :)

Love and Prayers, Sister Felix

Here's a picture of my in a maple leaf! And this is Sister Sites :) She says hello!