Mikkia on a Mission: I think they were Mormons....‏ - Week 41 - Transfer 7, Week 5

Heyyy everyone.

Oh my stars. This week was....the reason I came on a mission in the first place. So amazing, so funny. Awesome.

This week Sister Gousse and I started off with a renewed excitement and approach for missionary work. (Thanks to a good friend far away.) We kicked off the week by visiting all of the people we are teaching and assessing their sincerity and interest in actually finding out if the message we share is actually true. We boldly explained to them our purpose (inviting others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel) and what our expectations for them are. It was amazing because we were able to figure out who was truly sincere in their search for the restored gospel and who was willing to make changes and put in effort to find out if everything we teach them is true. As a result, we dropped 7 people. Which sounds bad, but it was actually a miracle, because then everyone else that we hadn't dropped came to church this week. There were 9 people at church that we are teaching. On top of that, we had waayyyyy more time to go finding, because we were teaching 7 less people.

We found a family. A golden family. C*, his wife J* and their 3 sons who we taught yesterday. Their story is a miracle, and I am grateful that we have the chance to share the message with them that families are eternal. Families are forever. That's what the little boys needed to hear because their mother died two years ago from a 3 year battle with breast cancer. One of the little boys only about 5 years old was telling us the story and he said, "But she gave us everything she could before she died...." The gospel is true. God leads us to people.

Then yesterday we had another really fun experience as well! On Valentines day (Sunday) we had knocked on A* and C* door. A very adorable couple probably around my age actually. Maybe a couple years older. A* had pretty blonde hair and C* had awesome dreadlocks and a beer in hand. We asked them if we could come back and share a message with them about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, Angels, and Miracles. They agreed. So we went back yesterday. We sat down and began talking with them. We first asked them if they even believe in God at all and if so, who they believe He is. They were both hesitant with their answers but after mulling it over decided that they believe there must be something out there. After asking A* how she knew there was something out there she explained to us about nature and how the beauty of it signified to her that something greater is out there. We asked them if they had ever received answers to prayers and had the privilege of learning about how they receive answers. Sister Gousse and I took an opportunity as well to share with them many answers that we have had to prayer and how we know for ourselves that God is real. A* and C* got so excited! They were so excited by our sincerity and started to point out times when they had felt the same way....they started to recognize this Spirit and understand how God works through people, feelings, thoughts, impressions, words, and nature. It was awesome. Anyway, we only got to talk with them about God and prayer, invite them to church and to pray about the things we shared, but it didn't matter. It wasn't about teaching the lesson, it was about THEM. About making them feel heard, about helping them understand that God is real and that he DOES care. We set expectations to be in frequent contact and to see them at least twice a week and that they needed to find out for THEMSELVES is if our message is true. Then we asked them, "If you found out for yourself that this was true, what would that mean to you?" They paused and responded...."Well, that would mean I would change." AMAZING. Christ has the ability to change people. He has changed me. Anyway, we invited them to say the closing prayer and C* excitedly offered it. It was awesome. As we were packing up to go A* said, "Man, I like you guys! You actually listen to us and explain...It was like a conversation more than a lecture. One time we had missionaries over and they tried to force their opinion on us....I think they were MORMONS." Sister Gousse and I just looked at each other and spent the walk home laughing. A* has no idea.....

We are excited to teach them again on Saturday morning.

I love you all! Happy Valentines day! Pray for me that I don't get transferred.

Love,

Mikkia

Me and Sister Gousse.

Classic Canada. We are in the middle of nowhere.

R* and B* and I. R* only has 1 leg. We love them. He never wears pants either. Usually.

It was -24 C but with wind chill -39 C (according to the news that a member told us about) which is -38.2 F. When you are out walking the hairs on the inside of your throat freeze and you can't breathe because your body can't take in the oxygen. We had to stop walking several times and put our heads down to get a good gulp of air. Thank you mom for the coat.