Week 18

Dear Family,
 
Naomi is getting baptized! :) We had an awesome lesson with her on Tuesday and the Spirit was really strong. I invited her to kneel and pray at the end of the lesson and ask if the church was true and anything else she wanted to ask. She prayed and asked that and also if the Book of Mormon was true and if He wanted her to be baptized. We were just in her bedroom with our friend Celest (who recently decided to serve a mission :)), but it really felt like the celestial room. She said she felt really warm and a lot of peace, but she wasn't sure about the answer just yet. Sister Allen invited her to be baptized on February 28th (not even remembering that was my birthday :)) and she agreed. Best way to spend my 20th ever. Naomi is 18 if I didn't mention this before, and Christian, but she's had a lot of questions. She broke up with her boyfriend last week (which we were soo happy to hear) and is the perfect example of being teachable and humble. Celest's best friend of 18 years ended their friendship the day we had our first lesson with Naomi and they are becoming really good friends.
 
Also, Sister Allen and I got high on Friday.... But we taught a really awesome native woman named Delores who is a survivor of a Residential school (one in Mission called St. Mary's which was supposed to be one of the worst.) She said she's been sexually abused since the time she was six and almost drank herself to death multiple times. But she has a firm belief in God and Jesus Christ (even after the school she went to!) and has quit the alcohol and drugs. She needs this gospel so much, and I am so happy we found her. We just need to teach her in a different house......
 
Sorry this letter is shorter! I can give you a short recap of the rest of the week:
(1) We taught a lesson with a woman named Shqipe who brought her friend Steve. Steve was trying to sell us on a quick, get rich (scam) he talked Shqipe into, while we were trying to teach the first discussion...
(2) We talked to like 100 people on Saturday because we walked all day. All day.
(3) A member gave us a popcorn machine that can make kettle corn. Guess what we've been eating all week?
(4) We found the cutest Greek Orthodox couple from Syria and Eygpt. They've been married for two years. When I asked how they met, Antoine said, I asked my family to find me a good wife, and they did! She just smiled really wide. They had an arranged marriage and are the happiest couple ever.
(5) We've had almost a whole week of sunshine. It feels like summer....
 
Love you all!
Sister Thomson
 
PS. I read this quote by Elder Holland this morning and am absolutely in love with it. I am really learning about the worth of one soul.
"Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?

"You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary. [...]

"The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more importantly than it will carry the investigators. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

Week 17

Dear Family,
 
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
There are really no words to describe this week. There really aren't. To follow up on my email from last week--where I gave a ton of statistics--here are some more! Remember how last week I said,
 
"The work is really, really hastening. An apostle is coming to the mission in March and he wants us to find 1,000. "?!?
 
I was thinking, all right, by March maybe.... guess how many the mission found last week?! 1084 new investigators. That's over 400 more people than our mission has ever found, ever. Remember that this is Canada, not Brazil. I read Alma 26 this morning with Sister Allen and just cried. I can't even describe "the smallest part that I feel." I would have been absolutely shocked just two weeks ago to hear that our mission would find this many new people to teach. I don't think I would have believed it! And that is really the way every week has been.
 
In addition, our zone found 168 new investigators just this last week. (meaning the week ending yesterday.) Just one week ago we found 77 (the same week the mission found 1084). Just one week ago! And THAT was astounding.
 
I can't believe I am lucky enough to be in this mission at this time. I just marvel! Missionaries that are about ready to leave said at the beginning of their missions, the mission was finding probably about 60 new investigators per week. And then President Monson declared that the time for the hastening is now! And look what's happening!
 
I know you may be like, this is great, but they're just numbers. But they're not! Listen to the miracles (and the faces behind some of these numbers) that Sister Allen and I have had this week:  !!
 
A couple of weeks ago we were having a really rough week and just were not finding anyone to teach. At the end of a long day, we had about 10 minutes left to find. We decided to go to a different street and knocked on probably one or two doors. Behind one of the doors was a man named Pierre. He was so receptive and just golden! We were so excited to give him to the Elders, because the day before, absolutely every one of their investigators dropped them. They have been teaching him and all we've really heard is that things are going great. On Saturday night, we went to the baptism of a woman named Jane where the Spirit was soo strong. Our mission president was there, and halfway through the evening, Sister Tilleman came up to me and said, "did you know that Pierre had been praying/pleading with the Lord for Him to send Pierre someone with the truth an hour-and-a-half before you knocked on his door?" How amazing right? God answers prayers. Except Pierre told us more of the specifics of his prayer and now I have to pray to be transferred, but it was a miracle none the less! :)
 
So the specifics were that he was engaged to a woman for 7 years and then found out she didn't want children. He was so upset because he just wants a virtuous woman to be his wife and have children for him, because he's the youngest of ten.... so he prayed (begged) that God would send him a virtuous woman and an hour later we knocked on his door. So... that's awkward. But he's progressing really well, and even though he was a little upset when the Elders came to the second lesson instead of us, he really likes both of them and is loving the discussions.
 
We also knocked on the door of this man named Stephen (what is it with single men?!! I don't understand....) and he thought it was crazy that we knocked when we did, because he'd just been texting with his friend about God and had all kind of questions that he didn't think could be answered. We were talking about the gospel for a while and I just started to testify of the Atonement in my life. I didn't know if any of it was really setting in until I looked in his eyes and saw a tear running down one of them. He told us how he had been numb for so long because he has lost so many people in his life and gone through a lot of hard things. I can't explain it. When I looked at Stephen, all you could see was darkness in his face and countenance. But I promise him that he could feel again and that the Savior could heal him. I told him about how a couple of years ago I looked in the mirror and wondered if I would ever feel anything ever again either. I was so numb to everything, and I didn't know how to fix myself. But I know that the Atonement healed me. I told him that in this church we make covenants that give us full access to the Atonement of Jesus Christ and we can literally be healed of every pain we go through. The Spirit was so strong. We taught him again on Saturday evening and the Spirit was again there so powerfully. He slept through church... but there's always next week.....
 
This mission truly is incredible. President told us a couple of weeks ago that he thinks there will be three types of missionaries in this time at the beginning of the hastening, 1) those who make the hastening happen, 2)those who watch the hastening occur, and 3) those who have no idea the hastening is happening at all. I really think this applies to everyone that is a member of this church, not just the missionaries! I don't want to be a 2 or 3 missionary (and I really really hope that I won't be!) and I hope you are all praying every day to fall into the first category as well! I love you all so much and I know that this is really is the work of salvation. There are so many starving souls out there who need to know about our Savior and need to have full access to His Atonement. Let's find them together!
 
Love you all and have the best week yet!
 Sister Thomson
 
PS. I have to admit something. I tried poutine about a month ago.... it was really good. That is all.
PPS. I am in love with Nanaimo bars.
PPPS. Perogie is now a normal part of my day-to-day conversation.
PPPPS. If anyone is reading this and thinking about a mission, just go!!!! There has never been a better time to serve.

Week 16

Dear Family,
 
This is the Best. Mission. Ever.
 
This was the best week ever. Really, it was. Our Mission President had an interview with both Sister Allen and I which was probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. (He has 280 missionaries and is insanely busy). We just sat there and listened to him talk. I really wouldn't want to do anything else. He told us so much and gave us so much advice. He told us about his accident at the beginning of his mission. He was attacked by a dog and then cracked his skull on a cement wall after passing out from loss of blood. He was parapalegic and doctors told him he would never be able to sit up again, let alone walk. I'm sure the story is online somewhere if you want to look it up. He got a Priesthood blessing, however that said he would completely recover and be fully healed. He was talking about discouragement, and this is what he said. He told us he had hundreds of emails to respond to from all the missionaries and a whole mission to run, but he could wiggle his finger. So he put all his energy into wiggling his finger until he could sign a baptismal record. And progressed from there. He focused on being able to wiggle his finger though, and didn't focus on all he couldn't do.
 
He also told us he would trust us with anything. It was the best thing to hear ever. It really was. Because he is very intense, and probably the hardest-working person I've ever met, and if you need correcting, he will give it. He's not here to babysit as he says, but he is the perfect leader. As a mission, we really follow him wherever. He told us the average mission finds on average 120 new investigators per week, and when he got here, this mission and some of the lowest numbers in the world. But on Christmas, which is historically the lowest finding week in missions around the world, we found 641 new investigators!!!! The work is really, really hastening. An apostle is coming to the mission in March and he wants us to find 1,000. :) I know these seem to be just numbers, but behind every number is a name and God numbers his children. :) I feel so blessed to be a missionary right now.
 
We met an awesome girl named Naomi this week. She is 18 and Christian, but having a rough time because her parents just split up. We found out she is the daughter of a woman who is best friends with Sister Schmidt! The mother said we could teach Naomi anytime, because when the mom got home from work, Naomi was happy and nice, whereas she's normally angry.
 
I don't even know what to tell you all. We find so many people to teach I don't know which to tell. But I love my mission. This is really the best time of my life.
 
Love you all!
 
Sister Thomson

Week 15

Dear Family,
 
I love you all so much! You are seriously the best. I'm saying this now in case I don't get time to tell you later in emails to all of you personally.
 
This week has been so great. Sister Allen almost got eaten by a dog yesterday. Not that those are related.
 
Also, we weren't hit by a car on Tuesday! It was the biggest miracle. The light turned green and Sister Allen started to go, but she just put her foot on the break, without even thinking about it. At that moment, a little silver car came flying by and hit the van next to us. It luckily only took of the bumper, but if Sister Allen had gone, she would have been hit so directly. After we pulled over and gave them our witness information, we decided to pray and say thank you. Neither of us realized what a big deal it was until we prayed, and then we realized angels were totally looking out for us. You know your family is praying for you when....
 
We also had a potential investigator come to church yesterday. Her name is Shannon and she brought her two kids. It was one of those testimony meetings where every member of Relief Society gets up and cries. Shannon was kind of horrified, and kept asking why everyone was so sad. Luckily her son's football coach got up and shared his testimony and addressed Dmitri (who is autistic) and told him the testimony was for him. It was perfect. They all went to primary together and enjoyed that though! :) She said she'll come back next week and we told her church isn't normally that sad. She hasn't had any discussions and doesn't even know about the Book of Mormon yet, so she had a ton of questions all through Sacrament Meeting. It was scary to try and answer all of them, but I was so excited they came.
 
We also had a Navite man named Sheldon come to church who legally can't be in the building because his foster daughters are there, but he has so much real intent. He told us about his culture and how in his culture, everyone has gifts. He said his was to know the Creator is there. He told us about a dream he had had about a river and people trying to discourage people and blind them from choosing the right course; I don't remember the whole thing, but it was just like Lehi's dream in the Book of Mormon! Really it was amazing. So we had him read 1 Nephi 8. He talked about how in his culture, when they pray to the Creator, they have their ancestors talk to him--kind of like Jesus is our Mediator with the Father. He said when he was in his treatment center (he got out a couple of months ago--he's a recovering drug addict/alcoholic) he just wanted to talk to God directly, so he did. We talked about Alma 22 and how the king says he would give away all his sins to know God. It was an awesome lesson. He won't be coming back to our church, but the Elders will teach him at home and we'll try to get him to the building 40 minutes away.
 
I'm really coming to know the purpose of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost better on my mission. All of these covenants that we make give us full access to the Atonement of Jesus Christ so He can fully heal us. That is why it is so important that everyone make these covenants through the proper authority. When we do so, we can truely be washed away of all our sins when we are baptized and the guilt and shame that come from sin can be healed and leave us completely. Then we can be cleansed with the gift of the Holy Ghost, which can really be there in every instant. Because of the Atonement, the Holy Ghost can comfort us when we are down and heal our hearts when things go wrong that we cannot control. Our first counsellor last Sunday described a man and asked everyone to think if they would want to invite this person to church. He said he swears every other word, he drinks, his morals aren't great, he's had a couple of minor run-ins with the law, gets in frequent fights, and he smokes. Then he said, that was me. Before he was a member, our bishop had to kick him off of his (the bishop's) property when our first councelor was sent to be his electrician because he kept swearing so much. Everyone was in shock. Our first councelor seems perfect. He's just this happy, young dad who is so happy and strikes you kind of as real-life teddy bear. He has a sweet wife and his kids are just awesome.
 
Love you all!
 
Sister Thomson