Christmas with the Savior's Name on My Heart - Week 35 (Transfer 6, Week 4)

Hello All!!!!

Christmas was awesome. All of the missionaries always talk about how cool it is to be a missionary during Christmas and I'm like....reaaaaaallllyyyy. But then they were right, and it was!

Christmas morning we went over to the S* family. They are soooo awesome. We love them! Most of the people in that house are either non-religious, don't believe in God, or do believe in God but are mad at Him for some reason except for Brother S* who is our Branch Mission Leader. He is one of the kindest people I have ever met. He loves his wife soooo muchhh! It's so cute! They have an amazing family. Him and his wife are taking care of their adorable grandson. (Will attach a picture.) Anyway, so we had lunch with them and shared a short little message about the Savior. They were all very respectful and the Spirit was strong and we were so grateful for their love. I love people like that. Afterwards we went Caroling. This old lady answered the door and Sister Tang said, "We just want to sing you a song!" She said, "Come in!!!" So we went in. Hahahah! There we about 10 people there, having Christmas dinner around the table. We sang them all Silent Night and bore our witness of the Savior and His divine mission. The room went silent as they listened to us and their eyes all filled with tears. It was soooo sweet! Such an amazing moment that I was so grateful to spend with this family that I didn't know, but felt I had known for a long time. So that was a good experience. Also, the "man of the house" happened to own a recording studio and said we can come record a song for free. So yeah...we are going to...Get ready for me to send one home for you all to hear!!!!

It was so amazing to talk to my family. Felt like I had never even left. I love you guys.

Anyway, just want to let you all know that I know the Savior lives. I know families are forever. I know that I am supposed to be here, and I'm grateful that I got to spend Christmas with the Savior's name on my heart.

Love you all!!!!! Happy new year! I can't believe I'm old enough to be alive in 2016. Like holy cow this earth has been alive for a long time and I'm on it right now....such a crazy thought...epic.

Thank you for all of your cards and notes and gifts and emails and pictures, etc. You made my Christmas.

Love,

Sister Osman

Remember Who it is that we are celebrating. :) Merry Christmas - Week 34 (Transfer 6, Week 3)

Hello Everyone!!!!

Merry Christmas!!! I hope pictures are enough this week, cuz that's all I have time for. I love you all. And Merry Christmas! Remember Who it is that we are celebrating. :)

One of the BEST emails EVER!

Just a good week! - Week 31 (Transfer 5, Week 5)

Sudbury, Brampton, Weston, Barrie zones

Hey Everyone :)

This week was...it was good. :) We are seeing a lot of miracles here in Stayner, but there is still a lot of work to do.

This week we got to meet a member of the seventy. His name is Elder Perkins. We drove 2 hours to our meeting with him in Bracebridge, and then the meeting lasted from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. It was LONG but it didn't feel long at all. I was not expecting the overflow of the spirit that accompanied this man. When we got there in the morning, we were exhausted of course, but every word that Elder Perkins said seemed to speak directly to what I needed. I love being a missionary, but sometimes it's really hard and it was soooo good to receive guidance and direction and confirmation that Heavenly Father knows me. It's interesting--as a missionary you are always the one that teaches and helps others to feel the Spirit, so when the situation is turned you feel overwhelmingly relaxed. It felt so good to just be able to sit and listen and ask questions and get answers. I loved it!

Also, this week the Montreal Quebec temple was dedicated and we were blessed to go! It was awesome. And 3 of our new converts were able to go!

So since I have been here in Stayner we have been working with a part-member family. This week their daughter N* was baptized and it was such an amazing experience! N*'s mom has really been struggling with the gospel. It's been cool to see her faith renewed as she has helped her daughter to prepare for baptism. They were all able to go together as a family for the temple re-dedication. It was awesome!

Ummmm what elseeeee happened this weekkkkk. I dunno, I can't think right now. It was a good week.

Well people, miracles are happening everywhere. So long as there are still people in the world that have faith, miracles will continue. Our faith has power!

Love you all!

Sister Osman

P.S. Everyone should go look up Malachi 3:1-10 and read it in conjunction with 3 Nephi 24:1-10. It's so cool!

P.P.S. Everyone should go listen to northern wind by city and colour. I thought of that song this week for the first time in forever. It just popped into my head and I was like "whoa song you gotta leave." But anyway, go listen to it.

London, Hamilton, Kitchener zones

Oshawa, North York, Ossington, Kingston zones

P.L.U.V.I.O.P.H.I.L.E - even in icerain --Week 30 (Transfer 5, Week 4)

Hey everyone!

This week was really amazing. :) C* was baptized. It was amazing. Then confirmed on Sunday. Our ward council is working together better and our branch is changing. I love seeing change.
Sister Tang is hilarious.

Highlight of my week:

We woke up one morning to do weekly planning, and by the time we finally finished around 3 or 4 in the afternoon and went down to drive to our appointment, the car battery had died because we left the lights on. So for the rest of the day we were stuck walking and it was pouring rain. So, we were walking down the street in the POURING rain. It was so cold and the wind was blowing super hard and the rain was turning into ice. There was this lady who passed by us so of course I stopped right in front of her and started, "Hello!...." And she walked RIGHT on past as if I were invisible. I looked at Sister Tang who was laughing me, with this sheepish look on my face and said, "Dang it. I FEAR NO MAN!!!!" Sister Tang, with a smirk on her face, in her silly Chinese accent said, "She's a woman." Hahahah I had to laugh so hard. And we just kept on walking in the pouring rain/ice. Our branch president finally was able to make it to our house to jump our car around 8 that night. We all stood around trying to get everything to work in the snow (the rain turned to snow) but Sister Tang and I weren't cold. We had been having such a fun time walking around in the weather. Finally we got the car going and President Zaugg said, "Now you know what you ladies are going to do right? You are going to drive this car around for 30 minutes and I'm going to follow you to make sure that nothing happens to you." We got in the car to drive, with all the snow, in the dark, with our EFY music and I just felt so glad that I got to go on a drive. Seriously, I had just been thinking about how I would love to just go for a drive. And we did. Anyway, I don't know if any of that makes sense. But oddly enough, this day was the highlight of my week even though so many other good things happened. I hope you all enjoyed yours as well!

Love

Sister Osman

From another email:

This week we saw so many miracles mommy. Arghhh I wish I could tell you them all! But it's too much to write in an email and it's not the same anyway. One cool thing though: Sister Tang and I were doing our nightly planning and she felt impressed that we needed to drop by the B*s. So we did the next day and right when we got there, brother bothwells friend was there. He had been investigating the *** religion and was so frustrated. As we talked with them he literally said, "There are so many different churches out there! How am I supposed to know which one is true? How am I supposed to know what God really wants?!" Oh my stars we were like AHHHHHHHHHHHH! That sounds just like Joseph Smith. We shared with him the first vision and he listened very well. Although he said he is tuckered out by religion right now and wasn't too interested in meeting this week, he said that maybe some day. It was so cool! Also, C* got baptized! We took pictures on Sister Tangs camera and i will send some to you.

Happiness is Homemade‏ - Week 28 (Transfer 5, Week 2)

Sister Tang & Sister Osman at Brother B*'s house, 2 Nov 15!

Mik left her camera charger in another area, so I had to befriend some branch members in Stayner & the dad of her companion in China to get to the goods. :) We get along splendidly via google translate as we don't speak a common language. So their pictures are Mik's for now. I sent her a charger today. :)

Anyhow, here is last week's letter:

Hey everyone! Sorry about no email last week, I didn't have time. :)

This week was amazing! We are seeing miracles in our companionship as Sister Tang and I learn to work together and communicate with each other. I've discovered that the gospel is all about lifting people and I hope that this transfer I can lift Sister Tang and help her see how much she is valued and loved! 

Stayner branch is amazing and the people here really try. Hopefully we can help them try harder. hahaha :) 

Well, I don't have much to say this week. But happy Halloween everyone! I hope you all had a lovely one. (That's for you missionaries out there too. #weeklyplanning You understand.) 

I know the Savior lives. I know He loves each and every one of us! 

Love,

Sister Osman

P.S. From another email:

Things are going great here in Stayner branch... There are some really amazing members as well here who dedicate a lot of time, money, and love to helping us and the Lord and for that we are very grateful. Our branch mission leader is Brother S* who is incredibly dedicated and kind. He calls us every day to see how we are doing and to chat about his sister or whatever else he wants to tell us and to get an update of the days successes. On Sunday afternoons he has adopted the habit of coming tracting with us after church since he can't spend the gas money to come with us any other day of the week. This week he called us and left us a voicemail that said said, "Hey Sis I just wanted to let you guys know that I hope you like craft dinner (macaroni and cheese in Canadian) because I bought you five boxes just in case." Then he hung up. Hahahah, we were laughing so hard! He is awesome. The progress here is slow but it's coming. Sister Tang and I are VERY different. I mean, Chinese culture is extremely different, but we had a good talk last night and I am receiving more insights as to how I can help her feel loved and feel that I trust her. It is no easy thing coming from China to a western country with a new language to a tiny branch where the work is hard. Sister Tang amazes me! I don't know if I could have done it!

First week in Collingwood/Stayner (Week 27 (Transfer 5, Week 1)

Hello everyone!

Mikkia ran out of emailing time today and could not send a group email but she sends her love and wants all of you to know she is doing well and that she is sorry that she did not have enough time.

Last week, she reported that she got transferred to Barrie, actually though, she found out that she got transferred near Barrie to a small town named Collingwood, assigned to the Stayner Branch (a congregation that is smaller than a ward). Collingwood is absolutely beautiful, situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay with sandy, fresh water beaches and near the Blue Mountain ski resort. Mik loves to ski, but not this winter, though she will receive plenty of snow :) Anyhow, she loves her new area and her new companion Sister Tang from Hong Kong who is an absolute delight.

Excerpt from her email to me:

Stayner branch is really struggling. It only has 20 active members and 50 inactive so we have MUCH work to do and if we can't build this branch, they are going to close it. Which means many of these inactive people will likely never return to church and many of the active will go inactive. So I feel very much responsibility on my shoulders right now.... This area has so much work to be done! I'm glad that Heavenly Father sent me here!

Have a great week and thank you so much for all your love. Sister Osman is always so upbeat in part because she has all of your great support and she knows she's got a home where she is known.

Talita :)

Happy Hanukkah -Transferred to Barrie (Week 26 (Transfer 4, Week 6)

Sister Osman will miss Sister Price, so, so much!

Hey everyone!

It's not Hanukkah here. It was Thanksgiving this week but I wanted to be different.

This week was amazing! We went to the Francis' house for Thanksgiving and got to meet all of their family. I love the Francis'. They are such an incredible family and always have our back. We also got some cool new people to teach this week and had some really cool lessons. :) My favorite new investigator is Brother R*. His name is actually F*, but his last name is R* so we have fun and call him "brother". Because I mean...why not. 

This week one of my favorite experiences was teaching G*e. She is an investigator who we had previously taught about 3 times. We went over to teach her this week on Thursday and taught the Plan of Salvation. G* is the biggest sweetheart and has such an incredible relationship with the Savior. Everything we said she was agreeing with and the Spirit was so strong! When we got to the end of the lesson to teach her about the 3 kingdoms of glory, I was nervous because that is where most people want to argue. We read her a scripture from 1 Corinthians 15 that explains the different kingdoms. As we read and explained, her eyes lit up and she said, "Now I understand! There is this scriptures that comes to mind where the Savior is telling his disciples about the many mansions in the fathers house and that he prepares a place for us there. I never understood what it meant, but now it's so clear!" The Spirit was so strong and she started to cry and of course I got all teary and then we were all excited about how amazing the restored gospel is and she started to understand why there was a need for a restoration and it WAS SO AMAZING!!!!!! Two days later when we were teaching her best friend who happens to be a less active, we told her about the experience and she too felt the Spirit, as well as the member with us, and we all started to cry again! Hahaha and now she has decided to come back to church and get ready to go back to the temple and then the member who was with us at the lesson invited us for dinner. So the next day at the dinner appointment, as we shared a message about the gospel, again the Spirit was so strong. We had a very sacred conversation and I am so grateful for the amazing people here. They have changed my life. :)

Sadly, I'm getting transferred. I'm going to a new branch in Barrie, about 2 hours away from here. My new companion will be Sister Tang. I'm so sad about leaving, and did plenty of the silent-laying-in-bed-in-the-dark-pretending-not-to-cry-silenlty kind of crying last night but it's okay. Things will be great and my new area will be awesome. I'm excited for my new companion and Sister Price will be staying here and training a new missionary. Yayyyyy!!!!

Well I love you all. Have a lovely week. I hope yours was as amazing as mine.

Love,

Sister Mikkia

Good-Bye Companion. Wonderful Sister Price!

Canadian Thanksgiving!

S* our Catholic investigator. She's 88.
She's fiery. Just enough to singe the eyebrows.

Fall is here! So pretty!

Pluviophile: I just love the wonderful rain!

Great leaders are great servants! -- Week 25 (Transfer 4, Week 5)

A*'s baptism with Sister Price on the right.

Hey everyone!

This week was a great week. A very calm week compared to normal. We still taught as much, and had a baptism and confirmation, which was awesome, but I felt super relaxed! I don't know why. It just felt less busy this week.

One of my favorite things that happened this week was on Sunday. Sister Price and I were informed that there was no one to teach relief society, so we would be teaching. We quickly threw together a lesson and went into relief society to teach. Well, as they were doing announcements, the young mens president came in and said that they were preparing for a missionary fireside and he wanted us to come to class to help brainstorm some ideas. We didn't know what to do because we had to teach relief society! Then Sister Price had a brilliant idea--we could go on splits! Of course she didn't want to teach relief society by herself, so I offered to do it and the next thing I new, I was teaching an hour lesson all by myself that Sister Price and I had only been informed about 10 minutes before with a manual that was completely different than any I had used before. Oh man. Luckily, being a missionary, you can whip anything out. The lesson was on leadership, and of course when you are teaching about being a leader, you turn to the Saviors example. I whipped out some scriptures in Matthew 20 where the Savior explains about how the greatest leaders are those who serve. After all, Christ who was the greatest of us all, washed the feet of His disciples and gave His life for all mankind. The lesson went by so quickly and at the end I found that there was still more that I wanted to cover that we hadn't even gotten to in that hour! At the end I had the chance to bear my testimony to all of the lovely mothers in the room of their divine role and leadership. :) I told them all about my mom and that if it weren't for her, I wouldn't be the person I am today. I'm so grateful for her leadership, and the Saviors, and that Heavenly Father helped me teach that lesson!

Sister Price and the young men brainstormed some awesome ways to get the ward more involved in missionary work and change the mindset. We are so stoked! The ward has changed so much in the time that I've been here!

After church A* got baptized! We were so excited! But it was most gratifying to see his mom get up and bear her testimony. Her family has been inactive for years and she is sooo grateful to be back. She thanked us for our help and she totally had me in tears. It felt so good to know that we were able to help someone receive the gospel and accept the help of the Savior into their life again! And our ward has been so kind and supportive and they really have our back. I think they give us more credit than we deserve.

Anyway, I love you all!!!!

Love,

Sister Osman

What a great kid!

A Week to Remember - Week 24 (Transfer 4, Week 4)

Note from the editor: It is getting cold in Canada, but Mik is in good spirits though both her and her companion are a little under the weather! They are teaching around 30 lessons per week and are super busy and super tired and SUPER happy!

Here is her letter:

You know what I love? I love that missionary life is measured in weeks. And transfers. And hours. Our whole life is mapped out by the hour. Our planners are organized by transfers, and within those transfers is 6 weeks. It makes time FLY. I love it. I can't believe I've already been out for 5 whole months, almost 4 transfers! I'm so old.

This week was incredible! A number of things happened this week. First of all, we had general conference.  As I've been a missionary I've come to realize that in a very real way we have living apostles and a prophet called by God TODAY. So you can imagine my excitement to hear these men speak.

Elder Hollands talk on Christlike love really hit me. I'm so honored to have the privilege of being a mom some day. And mom--I love you! I'm so grateful for your example. Your love truly is an example of Christ's divine love for every single one of us. :)

I also loved how all of the talks seemed to be centered around discipleship. I think our leaders recognize that the worlds standards are getting farther and farther away from God's standards. To be a disciple truly means to be an example--set apart from the world. I love being a missionary--set apart from the world.

Also, the gospel is so simple! This applies so much to missionary work; as missionaries you need to simplify EVERYTHING that you teach. It is often when investigators get too caught up in the nit picky details that they end up confused rather than enriched. The truth is, we don't need to understand every detail of HOW God works. We just need to understand that HE DOES and that He loves us.

Also, this week: G* got baptized! It was such an amazing experience. And sooo funny. He had to be baptized TWICE by two people, and pushed under the water. Ahhh I love the hilarity of missionary life. You can only understand it if you're a missionary. Also, I got to sing at his baptism and play guitar! It was so fun! And next week I get to sing in sacrament meeting! I'm so pumped!

This week was ALSO Sister Price's birthday. And since we do everything together, it felt like my birthday too. We had cake for breakfast this morning. It was delish. But man oh man, even though this week was sooo amazzzzing and we saw so many miracles, I was so homesick! I don't know why! A good kind of homesick though. More like...grateful homesick.

Well I love you all!

Sister Osman

Sending an "I love you" sign!

G*s baptism! What a glorious day!

It's all About LOVE! - Week 23 (Transfer 4, Week 3)

Hellowww everyone!!!!

This week was a fantabulous week. We taught 30 lessons again! And we would have taught 36 but 6 lessons canceled and rescheduled. So it's okay. Sister Price is the BEST. I finally am able to be the missionary I knew I could be! I love it. Never better. But I swear, Sister Price and I are so busy that every week feels like an entire transfer. But it's incredible because the ward here has really stepped up. The members here are so amazing and so incredibly grateful! They thank us for the work we do and really make an effort to be involved, which I am so grateful for. It means the world to Sister Price and I that they want to work WITH us.

Man, I feel like so much has happened this week that I don't know where to even begin. It's weird when you are in a different country, with a jillion new people who none of your loved ones know, with an entirely new lifestyle, and no matter how much you want to just write down every detail and explain it all...you just never could because the only way to really understand our day is to live it. Haha missionary life is the most unique lifestyle ever, but I LOVE it.

This week we had some really cool experiences, but again, it's so hard to explain...

Our awesome investigator G* is going to be baptized next week and he is SO PUMPED. He truly is so amazing. I feel like I haven't even done anything...he just willingly accepted the gospel into his life. It's awesome. Also, we had a whole ton of less active members return to church for the first time this week in YEARS!!! And we found a lost member who no one knew about, and our ward, being as amazing as they are, stepped right up and he already has home teachers going out to visit him. Ah, and the members have started to text us and update us on our less actives and investigators that they are going to see and help. It's so amazing! People have no idea how much missionaries DEPEND on the members and I cannot be more grateful for the amazing members here. The work really is starting to progress and it's all because of the new mission vision which tells us we HAVE to work with the members. And we have!

This week we went over to a members house named the A*. They live in a retirement home and are just so sweet. Two floors down lives a less active member named Sister Z* so right after dinner with them we went downstairs to teach her. (She came back this Sunday and was at church!) At the end of the lesson we asked her if she could think of any of her friends who would be open to meeting with the missionaries. She said there was one lady but that she had already invited her to learn more and she said no. So anyway, we went back upstairs in the same apartment building because one of our investigators lives 2 doors down from the A*'s. As we waited at the door for S* the investigator to answer the door, the lady who Sister Z* was talking about passed by. We talked and she ended up inviting us in and agreeing to meet with us again! So we taught S* and this new lady G*! After the lesson we went downstairs to the lobby to leave and a bunch of old people were there. They asked us who we were and when we told them they said that they would love it if we arranged a time with the supervisor to invite everyone in the building to learn more! So pretty much we rounded up the whole building of old people and taught them. Oh man, that day was so exhausting. It was just lesson after lesson. But it was so fun!

But oh poor Sister Price. This week she was SO sick, but because she is so positive she didn't say anything! Since she is the designated driver, I am ALWAYS on the phone setting up appointments and calling everyone including members, investigators, new converts, and returning members all day and so sometimes I wayyy over book us with appointments. So sometimes we don't have time for lunch and often even dinner (which I feel bad for), and so Sister Price has just been suffering! I don't know how she does it...but yesterday she finally said something and we ended up going over to a members house who lives two houses down for some help. They were so kind! Their name is the D* family, and Sister D* just took care of us. It was so cute. It made me think of my mom. She made us food and got Sister Price a bunch of medicine, and sat on the floor and rubbed Sister Price's feet while she told us stories about her son who went to Kenya on his mission. She told us how she wished that someone had taken care of her son when he was sick and that she knew how our mothers felt. It was so cute and made me even more grateful for my mom. She always made me food and took care of me. :) Awww. So anyway, after a while we realized that Sister Price was actually in a lot more pain than she let on and we ended up going to the hospital because no other clinic would help us since we are from out of the country. So Sister D* took us to the hospital and stayed with us for 10 hours while we waited for a doctor to see us. That is not an exaggeration. The healthcare here is terrible. The doctor didn't even do anything. He said nothing was wrong. But anyway, so finally at 1 am we went home and her son who is a recently returned missionary gave Sister Price a blessing and the spirit was so strong. We were all in tears and I just want my dad to know that I am so grateful that he is worthy of his Priesthood and that he has always been there for me and my family. I always want that in my life. So anyway, after he gave her a blessing we finally went home and slept and this morning she feels so much better. The doctor said it would take 10 days for her massive migraine to go away, but this morning it was gone. The priesthood is real people.

Okay well sorry for the long email. I love you all!!!!!

Love,

Mikkia. The Sister one.

P.S. Oh yeah, we got ambushed by Jehovah's Witnesses at an investigator lesson while we had a member with us. It was the worst

It's an HONOR! -- Week 22 (Transfer 4, Week 2)

Oh Canada!

Hey Everyone :)

This week has been truly humbling. I feel like this week has been an accumulation of every experience I've had on my mission so far, and every effort I've put in. It's so hard to try to explain the many miracles I've seen while I've been here in Canada and the many times I have felt the Savior by my side on a daily basis. I've come to truly recognize and understand the presence of the Spirit and the way that he talks to ME on a personal level. At times in my mission when I have felt alone, He has been there and for that I am so grateful. :)

This week was incredible! Sister Price and I have been working so hard to be UNIFIED and to put all of our ideas and efforts into the people here. She has taught me so much about what it means to be a real friend. It doesn't matter if we don't have much in common, or many of the same interests, or a different style, or even a different way of going about things. It only matters if we have a common goal and interest: to do the work of our Father in Heaven. I've found that so long as we consistently and constantly have our eyes set on the same goal, and are both equally committed to making that goal possible, then everything else will fall into place. This same principle can be applied to EVERYONE involved in this great work i.e; the ward members, the other missionaries, our leaders, our families, our friends, God, and all of these amazing people around us. The gospel is all about WORKING TOGETHER! And oh my stars, how the world changes when everyone is working together towards a common goal, towards Gods goal. So much of missionary work is about aligning your will with Gods will, the same way Christ demonstrated throughout His life in the garden of Gethsemane and on Calvary's hill. All that being said, I am so so so so so grateful for everyone's unique qualities and talents that set them apart from the rest of the world. Everyone here has a unique and very important purpose. :)

This week we were working very closely with our friend G* and with the L* family. G* is on track to be baptized Oct 4th and it is so cool to see how the gospel has already started to change his life. When we asked him in one of our lessons what it meant to him to know that he had the opportunity to be a part of God's one and only church he said very simply "It's an honor." I was stunned and so humbled. I recalled so many times before my mission, and maybe even during, when I had taken my knowledge of the gospel for granted. Truly, everything I have is because of my Father in Heaven, and every opportunity I have to be someone better is because of my Savior. I am so honored that my dear Friend would give His life for me, and that my Father would give His Son. It's an honor.

It's also been cool to see how the gospel has been changing the L* family! Their 9 year old son is ready for baptism on the 27th of this month, and his family is returning back to church after 10 years! I'm so grateful for the missionaries here in this area who served before me who paved the way for all of this progress!

A couple shout outs this week:

Shout out to the Burnett family! Your deck looks great. So glad it's done. C, you know what you should be doing. Do it. :) I miss you guys!

Shout out to my mom and dad. The cup cakes were the best. Thank you. :)

And shout out to my Uncle Jared and Aunt Anne. Ich liebe dich. Vielen dank!!!!

Love you all! I hope you know how much of a difference you make! The missionaries NEED you. You are our best ally.

Love,

Sister Osman

P.S. Since you asked, here is a normal day for us:

Tuesday Sept 15:

6:30 am wake up. Work out for half an hour. Which usually ends up being us laying on the floor doing leg lifts because we are so tired. Hahahaha
7:00 am get ready for the day! I usually lay on the couch for 10 min before I can get ready. Sometimes not.
8:00 am Personal studies!!!! We study for one hour by ourselves. I've been reading Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage and I am almost done! Also, I've been reading the Book of Mormon, and the a lot of the bible. I know my stuff A LOT better now. :)
9:00 am Companionship studies! Sister Price and I study together for an hour and make plans for all of our lessons. We role play the lessons and choose scriptures that people will need to hear and experiences that we have had that will help them. We practice practice practice!
10:00 am. Time to go out! If we don't have appointments we start tracting or talking to people on the street.
10:30 am. We had an appointment with * for one hour. He is a New Convert on the verge of less active. :)
11:30 drive to next appointment and make calls in the car.
12:00 pm * -he's a less active. We meet with him for an hour.
1:15 pm we go and see *!  also a less active. We pick up members to come with us in the 15 min between lessons.
2:30 pm We go teach * our investigator!
3:45 pm We go and teach * our investigator!
5: Dinner/make everything ready for other appointments
6: Go and teach *,* and *! A cute investigator family.
7: Go by a couple of potential investigators for an hour/tract
8: Virtual ward council! And make calls!
9: go home! plan for half an hour for the next day.
9:30 update teaching records, clean stuff
Then we get like an hour to take a shower, get ready for bed, chill...etc
10:30 go to bed!!!!! SO TIREDDDD

Yeah we are busy. :) Usually we are supposed to take a lunch break but we haven't had time. hahahahaha

This is G*. What a cutie!

Cupcakes from my mom & dad

Ward picnic

Out tracting with Sister Price

Cambridge for the win! - Week 21

Hey everyone!

Cambridge is amazing. The first day here, walking down the street, I just felt this overwhelming sense of peace. It felt like...the calm after the storm. The incredible thing is that Christ has the ability to calm any storm. Our area is quite large, but by the end of the week I had already met about 50% of the ward. I really feel like there are so many people here that I was meant to meet.

Another cool thing is that there have been A LOT of changes to the mission! President Clayton is very inspired. We now have new "key indicators", or numbers, that track EVERY area of the work. So we now track the progress of New Converts, Returning Members, and Investigators in our key indicators and we have new standards! Every companionship in every area should now have 2 investigators at church weekly, 1 baptism per transfer, and 1 ordinance date per transfer for New Converts and Returning members. And we are now required to teach at least 20 lessons per week. So we have NO TIME to tract at all. But it's soooo cooool because we still find people. I don't even know how, they just find us. But this week was INCREDIBLE because we taught 30 lessons! That is the most I've taught in a week my entire mission. But it totally works. It's awesome. So we are even more busy than before, but I love it because it really requires Sister Price and I to WORK TOGETHER.

And that's the other cool thing: Sister Price is amazing. I love her so much. She has the Spirit with her so incredibly strong. She is so kind and knows how to serve others. She is almost 21 and has been on her mission for almost a year now. She is 6ft and has red hair and is just the sweetest thing ever. We have had a ball of a week. So busy. Such a whirlwind. And she is now the designated driver, so I get to make all the calls while we are in the car. Which I LOVE because then I get to set up as many appointments as possible while we drive. It's awesome.

Well I love you all so much! I really hope you are all doing well. Also, if anyone has news about Coldplay and if they are going on tour soon, then please let me know. :) I need to know.

And everyone should go listen to Hazy by Rosi Golan because that song has been stuck in my head the past couple days and I don't think it will leave until everyone listens to it. So just do it. :)

Okay byeeeeeeeee

Love,

Sister Osman

Goodbye Georgetown, transferred to Cambridge Second Ward -- Week 20

Mikkia did not have enough time to write yesterday. So here is an excerpt from an email that she sent to me, so you know what is going on. We don't have her new address yet, we will pass it on when we get it. 

She met her new companion Sister Price today and she is so super excited for what the future will bring! Mikkia is doing well! Thank you for all your prayers!

"Okay so the assistants to the president called with transfer news last night. I was supposed to go back to Georgetown (which is why I only packed stuff for a week) but apparently President C says God wants me elsewhere after all. so I am going to the Cambridge Second Ward. No idea where that is. but that means that tonight we have to drive all the way back to GT from here (St. Catherines), get all my stuff, prepare everything for the elders who will be coming in (which is so stressful because I have to force myself to remember EVERYTHING I've learned about the area in the last 5 weeks and write it all down in a way that elders can understand hahaha) and then tomorrow morning we will be driving back to Brampton for transfers. My new companion's name is sister Price. I have no idea who she is but I'm stoked! 

Also, this week was so amazing. It was so nice to just have a vacation. At least that's what it felt like. But we taught some really hard investigators who almost convinced me that we are wrong. BUT I PRAYED SO HARD FOR SO LONG AND I READ THE SCRIPTURES FOR SO LONG AND I WENT TO THE TEMPLE and I ASKED God about it. And he answered my prayers. Again. But this time, more real than I have ever experience. In the Celestial room. The temple truly is...a gateway. It's so real. Mom, there are a lot of things that I still don't know and haven't received answers about yet, but this I do know: temples are real. God is real. Christ is real. And that's the end of it. No one can convince me otherwise ever. I know today there are still prophets on the earth. I know many things are restored. And I know many more things still need to be restored."

Love, MIK

Emergency transfer, Niagara Falls, and that lovely Raccoon...‏ -- Week 19

The Brampton Zone!

Hello everyone!!!

Oh my stars....where do I even begin? I swear, this week has been 6 months long but has also flown by. Well for starters Sister Anthony and I had an emergency transfer...it's a long story and I'm not sure how much I should tell but just know that the Lord is very aware of each and everyone of us and I am so grateful that President Clayton is so inspired as to what our mission needs right now. :) On Saturday Sister Anthony and I were still working in our lovely area Georgetown and by Sunday I was back with my old companion Sister Jolie for the day. Then Sister Jolie and I drove over to the mission home (in Brampton) where I received more news about my transfer call. I am now in a Trio companionship in Saint Catherines which is very close to Niagara Falls. My two new companions are Sister Bell and Sister Chelson and they are the sweetest girls ever. I feel like I'm on vacation here...it's weird. BUT I will only be here in Saint Catherines for the week. After this week I will be heading back to Georgetown and I will be having a new companion...I can't wait to find out who she is! But I am so excited to serve with these two lovely ladies for now. It's funny, as a missionary you go into peoples homes who you have never met, you tell your name to every stranger and give them your phone number, you live in places that you didn't even know existed, and you sleep in a bed that you have never seen with a blanket that isn't yours. Haha I love being a missionary because it has taught me to be sooooooo trusting and to just love everyone! :)

On other news: back in Georgetown earlier this week Sister Anthony and I noticed how every time we left food on the counter, it would be gone in the morning. Just completely eaten. This happened with an entire pizza, two cakes, and some macaroni and cheese. Well anyway we soon started to realize there must be a bigger animal living in our apartment than just a rat (although there are those too. But not to worry, we are getting that all taken care of. When I get back...) and decided we needed to figure out what it is. Well....it's a raccoon. But don't worry mom, it's okay. It's very cute. But we haven't had a chance to get rid of it yet because...well we got transferred....

So today I am in Saint Catherines and we got to go see Niagara falls!!!! It was SO BEAUTIFUL but man, I am so tuckered out. But I know that Heavenly Father is right here beside me because when I think I just can't keep going, He gives me more energy. It's awesome. :)

Also, one of our returning members named Brother M* will be going to the temple this Saturday for the first time!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!! Heavenly Father has blessed me so much. :) I love this gospel. It honestly has blessed my life in so many ways.

Well lovely people, I so appreciate your letters and e-mails. They mean so much to me! Keep writing. :)

Love,

Sister Osman

My new companions and district I

My new companions and district II

I found a tiny turtle while hiking

Oh hey look its 'Murica

Oh hey look its 'Murica